Experimental films often follow no boundary's when it comes to conformity. The storyline often lacks or is extremely loose, but most can portray a message that is often signalised at the end, making some sense of vague storyline that sums up the moral or the meaning of the story.
This genre of film continues to be produced to this day, however there are significant pieces of film made in the past that have a large influence as well. John Smiths "The Girl Chewing Gum" would be one such example as pre-contemporary film art, using simple camera skills and lack of sophisticated special effects.
The director of this particular film mainly relys on the voice-over to keep the audience entertained, which to a great degree he does using creative wording which captivates the viewer with a substitution for visual delights. The plot is discreetly recognisable as the narrator describes one of the pedestrians subjects as a bank robber.
'Koyaanisqatsi' would be another prime example of pre-contemporary experimental art with its origins dating back to 1983. It also follows no plot, but is merely a series of clips showing industrialisation, boom and bust, military operations and a few other subjects relating to modern and 20th century life.
Godfrey Reggios "Koyaanisqatsi" differs tremendously with John Smiths "The Girl Chewing Gum" , but they still follow an experimental nonsensical underlying meaning. It can be agreed that "The Girl Chewing Gum" is easier to make sense of, simply because it follows a narration as opposed to "Koyaanisqatsi", which shows a more visual element to the audience.
"Gisele Kerozene" is of a different characteristic and nature compared to the other films I previously mentioned. It is entirely made of stop motion, which differs from conventional experiments which use normal running footage. This is a contemporary piece of work, using a fully colour, clean cut standard of film which contrasts with the aging footage of "The Girl Chewing Gum" and "Koyaanisqatsi".
The storyline is questionable in a sense of having no particular organisation or structure, other than a flock of witch-like characters chasing each other. Again, even if it is hard to understand or follow the plot of an experimental film, most find some sort of conformity for sharing this ideology.
Technology usually differs when it comes to when it was made. It goes by the standard that the earlier the film was made, the less likely the use of special effects and the quality of film. This can be directly visible through some of the experimental films I have viewed. "The Girl Chewing Gum" is an example of earlier experimental film, with no special effects, degraded film quality and a simple narrational voice over.
"Telling Lies" shows a more modern aspect to experimental media, showing sound as wave lines for a modern, more elaborate visual element. As with time, technology differs, and the chances are it will continue to do so in the future.
Money can also play a role. In order to afford extravagant CGI (Computer-generated imagery), one must have the nummary to achieve such operations. Andrew Huangs "Doll Face" is an example of CGI, something the John Smiths "The Girl Chewing Gum" would not be able to achieve due to its sub-standard budget and the period of time it was made.
A lot of experimental films lack a basic storyline, opting for a more varied experience, however this is not always the case. The typical "Beginning, Middle and End" structure is very flexible when it comes to this particular genre of film. "Gisele Kerozene" roughly follows this convention, with the witches successfully taking back some sort of statue from the thief.
These various films which I have watched can give me a very good idea of what the Experimental genre is all about. It portrays itself as a very flexible subject which does not follow a convention or typical expected storyline, however a slight storyline is a fairly common feature in many experimental films.
The interpretation from the audience is important as it can provide critical analysis of the piece. The various reactions can range from crying and sobbing, to laughing and snickering, as the piece is renouned to portray a variety of tear jerking moments.
With almost all films, you cannot just have one single interpretation unless the selected film is of extremist or shocking nature. A lot of the time, it is up to peoples imaginations to decide an opinion of a experimental film. If that were not the case, then we would probably be guinea pigs of a brainwashing campaign!
All humans react differently to things, and reacting differently to films is no exception. That is a large part of the experimental film genre, to provoke certain thoughts and emotions not known in alot of conventional productions.
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