Spectatorship - Approaches to Experimental and Expanded Film/Video

When studying approaches to Spectatorship and Experimental and Expanded Film/Video it is essential to consider your own experiences of film viewing and what you expect from film viewing itself. Mainstream expectations always interfere with contrasting approaches to film construction and can lead to negative viewpoints. Experimental films, by their very nature, seek to subvert conventional expectations of film form and narrative. They tend to explore experiences and observations that can't be visualised by the more formal structures of  mainstream cinema. 

Whenever discussing experimental films an analysis must therefore include the content of the film itself (the techniques employed) and the expectations involved in the experience of viewing each work. The conditions of viewing must also be taken into consideration as every viewing can be defined as different and can have notably varying experiences due to its circumstances (a classroom environment being one). When you respond in a group you may adopt the views of 'others' which may influence your own personal response.

A good response will:

• Take into account the technical elements of cinema construction
• Be aware of the themes of the film (an ability to construct meaning)
• Acknowledge that the film will challenge the spectator
• Discuss the techniques that the film employs
• Respond on a personal level
• Discuss an understanding or a lack of understanding
• Understand that confusion or boredom/lack of interest may be a response 
• Be able to recognise experimental approaches and debate the use of film techniques opposed to pre-determined ideas of more formal mainstream cinema

 

FM4 - Spectatorship - Experimental and Expanded Film/Video

Patrick Phillips is Chief Examiner for A Level Film Studies, his understanding in the area of meaning and response, the relationship between film text and spectator, as well as counter cinema may prove useful in developing your critical responses to this topic.

Experimental film handles time in quite bizarre ways, unlike mainstream cinema logic. Often there is the sense of being outside of time, or perhaps, being in a sort of dream time.

Space is often problematic in experimental film, location is often vague and can have the sense of a theatrical set or, as above, a sense of being in a dream landscape. Some films, often those dealing in abstract shapes, are more about the interaction of light and space.

Causality is often nowhere to be found, there is an incoherence and illogicality that appears to defy the normal rules of cause and effect. This defiance or refusal of logic is one of the major generic signifiers of experimental film as is its insistence that the only logic is the logic of dreams.

It is perfectly possible in the more abstract forms of experimental or expanded Cinema for there to be no characters at all. They are often people free zones. Characters, if they appear, will often seem trapped in a range of behaviours that may seem to us spectators without either motivation, coherence or any definable logic. They can appear rather like the puppet creatures of an unknown and indecipherable puppet master.

In experimental cinema an obvious narrative is generally dispensed with in favour of something far more problematic and challenging. It is often as if the jigsaw of narrative has been scattered to the four winds. In some people free films there is no narrative to be discovered at all except perhaps to speculate where the joins come in a looped film.

Making meaning is the kernel of the problem for the spectator at a showing of experimental or expanded Cinema. The spectator is bereft of the usual genre signifiers which in mainstream cinema help him or her with responses. Basically the spectator is unsure as to what mode of reception he should settle into.

• Should she attempt to make sense of what she’s viewing or should she abandon logics and attempt to make aesthetic sense of what is before her?
• Should she read the gallery catalogue and count the number of artwords she does not understand?
• She probably often exists in a continual state of interpretive confusion or uncertainty.

While there can be suspense and emotion generated by experimental cinema it is not usually its principal aim or concern. Images can be particularly powerful and visceral, think of the cutting of that eyeball in 'The Andalusian Dog', however, experimental cinema is more often described as challenging or unsettling as the imagery and construction is often powerful enough to produce these mental and emotional states in the spectator. Conversely there is, all too often, a take it or leave it approach to the spectator in that his comfort, her interests are not catered to at all.

Running times of experimental cinema rarely conform to mainstream practice. Only 'Man with a Movie Camera' and 'Run Lola Run' seem to have been intended for the general cinema goer. Andy Warhol’s film which watches the Manhattan skyline for hours and hours and hours and hours certainly does not conform.

The phrase, determining limits to originality, would be loathed by those involved in experimental cinema. Genre conventions would be equally despised and only hinted at to be subverted.

The aim is never to provide cosy recognition for the audience, rather they are to be made uncomfortable and unsettled.

While some experimental or expanded Cinema can seem more like hard work than pleasure, much of this genre continues to offer pleasure but pleasure of a more cerebral and aesthetic sort. It can also help break the mould of conventional ways of seeing and experiencing the moving image which can be life enhancing in that it expands modes of consciousness. It can also, through its modes of expression, be importantly memorable in the way that good poetry is. Indeed, it can often aspire to the condition of great music.

Essay Writing Style Advice

WAFFLE AND PADDING: Don’t make a great essay

Don’t use superfluous words, phrases or sentences. If a sentence means the same thing with a word taken out, take it out. The same applies to whole phrases and sentences within the wider context of a paragraph. Using words and phrases which don’t add anything to what you’re saying will mean that your examiners will conclude that (a) you don’t have enough to say to meet the required essay length, and that (b) you are trying to hide this by means of a slow, repetitive and boring writing style. Which is not clever.

The left hand column contains 250% more words than the right-hand column, but it contains 0% more information. Examiners spot this kind of thing.

Furthermore, by not inflating the essay with space-filling nonsense, the writer of the right-hand column has got room to show their understanding of the subject by expanding on further points: what did Lil Ze do? Why might he be seen as power-crazed, or influential? How has he demonstrated his personal power? In other words, there is more room for lots of analysis, which is good news.

Good Essay Writing

Essay writing is a difficult skill to grasp, and sometimes people get bogged down in learning a 'formula’ and try to produce a perfect essay regardless of what the question is.

Plan Plan Plan

• Bullet point your main points;

• number those bullet points;

• associate them with pieces of evidence from your case studies or film/TV texts;

Essential features of a ‘good’ essay

• A logical argument; once you have decided what the ‘answer’ is, you need to prove your answer in relation to a question or statement. 

• A clear structure where the reader can ‘follow’ you through the essay – if you plan (numbering your points), you can ensure that each point is linked and will flow to create a smooth transition between your points.

• An argument based on close textual reading. All of your ideas should stem from the case studies from class and your own wider reading/viewing; this will ensure that your comments are relevant, if they closely link back to a relevant piece of evidence.

• An awareness of texts as ‘constructs’ – the creation of resources based on a series of deliberate choices.

•  Equally you need to consider context; how contemporary audiences and producers differ from those in the past.

'Fight Club': Single Film Critical Study (Nietzche)

Friedrich Nietzsche & the concept of ‘The Superman’

Friedrich Nietzsche (1844–1900) was a German philosopher of the late 19th century who challenged the foundations of Christianity and traditional morality. He was interested in the enhancement of individual and cultural health, and believed in life, creativity, power, and the realities of the world we live in, rather than those situated in a world beyond. Central to his philosophy is the idea of “life-affirmation,” which involves an honest questioning of all doctrines that drain life's expansive energies, however socially prevalent those views might be. Often referred to as one of the first existentialist philosophers he developed the concept of ‘the superman’ and nihilism as a mode of existence. Nietzsche's revitalising philosophy has inspired leading figures in all walks of cultural life, including dancers, poets, novelists, painters, psychologists, philosophers, sociologists and social revolutionaries.

Useful quotes: (Apply these quotes to events within the narrative of ‘Fight Club’. They will deepen your understanding of a Nietzschean philosophical perspective)

Battle not with monsters, lest ye become a monster, and if you gaze into the abyss, the abyss gazes also into you.

Be careful when you fight the monsters, lest you become one.

In heaven all the interesting people are missing.

Insanity in individuals is something rare - but in groups, parties, nations and epochs, it is the rule.

Man is the cruellest animal.

No price is too high to pay for the privilege of owning yourself.

Talking much about oneself can also be a means to conceal oneself.

The individual has always had to struggle to keep from being overwhelmed by the tribe. If you try it, you will be lonely often, and sometimes frightened. But no price is too high to pay for the privilege of owning yourself.

The irrationality of a thing is no argument against its existence, rather a condition of it.

The visionary lies to himself, the liar only to others.

To forget one's purpose is the commonest form of stupidity.

What else is love but understanding and rejoicing in the fact that another person lives, acts, and experiences otherwise than we do…?

When you stare into the abyss the abyss stares back at you.

You need chaos in your soul to give birth to a dancing star.

There is always some madness in love. But there is also always some reason in madness.

God is dead.

He who fights with monsters might take care lest he thereby become a monster. And if you gaze for long into an abyss, the abyss gazes also into you.

What is done out of love always takes place beyond good and evil.

Become what you are 

'Fight Club' Themes: Video Essay

'Fight Club': Single Film Critical Study (Freud)

Freud proposed that the human psyche could be divided into three parts: Id, ego and super-ego. Freud discussed this model in the 1920 essay Beyond the Pleasure Principle, and fully elaborated upon it in The Ego and the Id (1923), in which he developed it as an alternative to his previous topographic schema (i.e., conscious, unconscious and preconscious). The id is the completely unconscious, impulsive, childlike portion of the psyche that operates on the "pleasure principle" and is the source of basic impulses and drives; it seeks immediate pleasure and gratification.

Freud acknowledged that his use of the term Id (das Es, "the It") derives from the writings of Georg Groddeck. The super-ego is the moral component of the psyche, which takes into account no special circumstances in which the morally right thing may not be right for a given situation. The rational ego attempts to exact a balance between the impractical hedonism of the id and the equally impractical moralism of the super-ego; it is the part of the psyche that is usually reflected most directly in a person's actions. When overburdened or threatened by its tasks, it may employ defense mechanisms including denial, repression, and displacement. This concept is usually represented by the "Iceberg Model". This model represents the roles the Id, Ego, and Super Ego play in relation to conscious and unconscious thought.

Freud compared the relationship between the ego and the id to that between a charioteer and his horses: the horses provide the energy and drive, while the charioteer provides direction.

Fight Club: Booklet (New Version)

'Fight Club': Philosophy & Film

Fight Club: Philosophy & Film

'Fight Club': Single Film Critical Study (Freud - Id, Ego, Superego)

Id: The most primitive drive, concerned only with fulfilling pleasure. Has sometimes been referred to as the irrational and emotional part of the mind. It is often regarded as being selfish, because it’s concerned only with its own self-satisfaction. Babies and young children are often used as examples because they’re usually driven by the pleasure and instant gratification principles. Key word: want

Ego: Based on the reality principle. The ego is capable of understanding that one’s own desires may vary for people around (reality), and is willing to make this consideration. The ego tries to meet the basic needs of the id but also takes into account the real world. The ego understands that actions have effects, whether positive or negative, and tries to balance out thinking before carrying out decisions/actions. Key word: balance

Superego: Based on moral principles instilled by rearing and moral/ethical restraints placed upon by caregivers. The superego encompasses an individual’s ideals, goals, and conscience as well as society’s. The superego is concerned with what other will think, and stands in opposition to the id. The superego acts to perfect and civilize our behavior. Key words: morals, compromise

According to Freud, a healthy individual will have developed a strongest ego to keep the id and superego in check. If the id becomes too strong, impulses and desires may become overwhelming (resulting in a selfish, inconsiderate individual) and affect interpersonal relationships. However, if the superego is too strong, an individual may feel excessive rigid moral constraints that result in judgmental individuals, thus straining interpersonal relationships as well.

Re-posted from: houseofmind.tumblr

Fight Club: Analysis/Articles

Fight Club: Critical Approaches

Verisimilitude: Term Definition/Approach

Verisimilitude means being believable, or having the appearance of being true. You can create the appearance of reality by using the sound and visuals to create verisimilitude.

Verisimilitude comes from the Latin verisimilitudo "likeness to truth" and is used to describe stories. In it, you'll see the word similar, meaning it is similar to what's real. Art that aims for realism seeks verisimilitude. An actual synonym for verisimilitude is 'truthlikeness'.

City of God: Approaches to Exam Responses

What is the importance of mise-en-scène and/or sound in creating meaning and generating response in the films you have studied?

• Describe the mise-en-scene in each scene (in detail) and discuss what meaning is conveyed to the viewer in light of your knowledge of the culture of each social environment.

• Discuss how the environment has changed over the course of time in some detail - refer to the way that issues of power, poverty and conflict has changed social structures.

• How does the mise-en-scene reflect and/or reinforce key social messages?

• How does sound reflect or reinforce those key social messages - diegetic and non-diegetic?

• Who has the power at key points in the narrative?

• How did they gain this power?

• What are the consequences of this struggle for control? 

• Consider how friendships, relationships and gender are affected  by these struggles.

FM4 - Single Film - Critical Study: Fight Club

Here is the 'Death Of The Cat Lady' sequence from 'A Clockwork Orange' which resembles a key scene from 'Fight Club' - when Tyler visits Marla after an overdose and nudges the cabinet in the doorway (mirroring the actions of Alex). There is clear similarity and intertextuality between the films in terms of theme and style (misogyny and violence) ; an aspect of postmodernism is therefore at play. The image above also relates to another scene in the film (forcing the viewer to experience the violence) and supports the idea that the director, David Fincher, is playfully referencing elements of this influential film in his work.

<

Fight Club: Article/Notes

FM4 - Small-scale Research Project

Guillermo del Toro is a Mexican director, producer, screenwriter, novelist and designer. He is mostly known for his acclaimed films, Blade II, Pan's Labyrinth and the Hellboy film franchise. He is a frequent collaborator with Ron Perlman, Federico Luppi and Doug Jones. His films draw heavily on sources as diverse as weird fiction, fantasy and war.

Del Toro can clearly be seen as an auteur due to his recurring themes and frequent collaborations. In this Culture Show interview from 2006 Mark Kermode discusses the directors work whilst questioning his personal experiences and influences. It can be seen as a good guide for what critical approaches should be applied to your own study and how examples of a directors work can be used to indicate a 'consistency of style'.

'Quotes': Experimental & Expanded Film/Video

Avant-garde: Quotes

Here are some quotes from a variety of critics, artists and philosophers that may assist your perspective or viewpoint on experimental or avant-garde art. They may help you to form a more critical interpretation of the films we have studied for this topic.

Some certified nut
Will try to tell you it’s poetry,
(It’s extraordinary, it makes a great deal of sense)
But watch out or he’ll start with some
New notion or other....
John Ashbury (Poet)

There is a certain kind of person who is so dominated by the desire to be loved for himself alone that he has constantly to test those around him by tiresome behavior; what he says and does must be admired, not because it is intrinsically admirable, but because it is his remark, his act. Does not this explain a good deal of avant-garde art?
W.H.Auden (Author)

An avant-garde man is like an enemy inside a city he is bent on destroying, against which he rebels; for like any system of government, an established form of expression is also a form of oppression. The avant-garde man is the opponent of an existing system.
Eugène Ionesco (Playwright)

Avant-gardism is an addiction that can be appeased only by a revolution in permanence.
Harold Rosenberg (Art Critic)

The difficult and risky task of meeting and mastering the new—whether it be the settlement of new lands or the initiation of new ways of life—is not undertaken by the vanguard of society but by its rear. It is the misfits, failures, fugitives, outcasts and their like who are among the first to grapple with the new.
Eric Hoffer (Philosopher)

Spectatorship: Experimental - A Grade Content Guidance

Freudian Theory: Id, Ego & Superego (Fight Club)

Jean-Luc Godard: The Original Auteur

Se7en Magazine:

When one thinks of an auteur director, who is the first that comes to mind? Martin Scorsese? The Coens? Pedro Almódovar? Though these three would all make an iconic filmmakers list, the word “auteur” would have a different meaning, if it existed at all, if it were not for Jean-Luc Godard. He matches both radical themes and eccentric characters with unconventional cinematography – breaking diegesis left, right and centre. During a time when the French film industry could only be described as “Le Cinema du Papa”, Godard rebelled in a massive way, disregarding the traditions of lavish sets, rigid scripts and willowy, upper-class characters; he had his own way of telling a story.

Born in 1930’s Paris to wealthy parents, Godard first began his quest into filmmaking when he co-founded a Gazette du cinema in 1950. A year later, his parents had cut off his financial support and left young Godard with little money but big ideas. Along with contemporaries André Bazin, Jacques Rivette and François Truffaut, Godard began his foray into experimental cinema, forming the nucleus of what we now call “French New Wave directors” or cahiers du cinéma. He dabbled in documentaries and short films before finally making his most successful and iconic feature film: Á bout de souffle.

Roughly translated as "Breathless", Godard’s first feature film, co-written by Truffaut, was released in 1960. It was praised for its uniqueness and innovation; never before has a director used the jump cut so prolifically. He uses back-to-basics filmmaking, abandoning sets in favour of real locations. He rarely uses anything but natural lighting and handheld cameras and intentionally breaks the spell of cinema. He has no problem with revealing cinematic artifice; at one point, our hero, Michel Poiccard is humming a tune while the shot cuts several times despite tune remaining intact. Poiccard also uses direct address. Here Godard uses abstract realism. His themes reflect the existential boredom suffered by the youth of the time, explored through his non-motivated dialogue and fragmented narrative.

Keyframe presents the online debut of Godardloop, a multi-part video essay on the films of Jean-Luc Godard. Produced by Michael Baute and edited by Bettina Blickwede, this video explores a treasure trove of imagery found in dozens of Godard’s features and shorts, grouping them among several distinct themes. 47 films spanning 50 years of filmmaking are transformed into a stream of images that attest to an inimitable talent: an artist who can transform the world simply by the way he looks at it through his camera.

Godardloop - Visual Motifs in Films of Jean-Luc Godard from Fandor Keyframe on Vimeo.