Week 1: Introduction to Experimental Film

The Magicican of Defamiliarization

by Lily Frame

                   The first thing students are introduced to in World Cinema are the Lumiere Brothers and George Melies. Perhaps teachers choose to introduce students to the prehistoric, but rich beginnings of cinematic history. Maybe they begin with Arrival of the Train (1895) and The Kingdom of the Fairies to (1903) to illustrate cinema’s technological advancements. Maybe they do this to illustrate that, we, as a society have come to accept things as reality. The magic of sensationalism is now lost. Having previously invented talking heads, double exposures, magic lanterns, rear projections, and dissolves in the name of magic, it is safe to say that magicians were the pioneers of film. They were masters of defamiliarization- the art of making things familiar unfamiliar and the unfamiliar familiar. As a filmmaker and student of life, I am constantly learning how to be the magician of demilitarization. Studying the optics of filmmaking, I hope to learn how to transform my knowledge into a spectacular affect of defamiliarizing. Inspired by the inventiveness of magicians, I, too, hope to explore each technical function and carefully devised moments to expose the dramatic possibilities of cinemas future. I want to spark the childhood excitement of illusion. As Ingmar Bergman once stated, “I am really a conjurer, since cinematography is based on deception of the human eye.” I, too, hope to show audiences a visually stimulating art that pushes societies realizations. As both a filmmaker and a magician of defamiliarzation, I want to create a festival ready short that pushes the mode of filmmaking.

                        Before this semester, I thought there was a slight chance that avante-garde had a slim opportunity to be defined. I once believed avante-garde cinema provided the viewers an opportunity to merge with the creators, but after begining the History of Avante-Garde yesterday I came to a realization that no few or many words can define this broad expressive art. It is obscure. It has infinite functions. It triggers feelings and emotions, but it is merely an opportunity to experience film as film itself. I once read Naming and Defining Avante-Garde or Experimental Film last semester, but now it has a greater meaning to me. Although there aren't any definitions applicable to this medium, there are characteristic. Camper lists six different characteristics, but to categorize a film as an experimental, it must meet 5 of these 6 characteristics. 

                   After being a year divulged into the Film Studies major, I have always wondered if there was a secret to getting the most out of your production courses in the short time we are given weekly. It always seems impossible looking at the impending doom dates, but overall I have learned that it is merely an act of setting squad goals. In previous production classes I have had to carry the weight of my fellow classmates and it has left me drained and less passionate from when I started. By thinking about stereotypes and assumptions and how it might affect group dynamics, I want to summon a change. I want to leave a project feeling empowered and more passionate than when I once began. 

                  After readign Maya Deren's Amateur Versus Professional, I felt as if I really had an understanding about my artist manifesto. Perhaps cinema has lost its sensationalism because professionals working on commercialism are afraid to take risks (stemming from the profit). The word amateur does have "an apologetic ring", but I would rather be an amateur than a robot working for profit.