The definition of Experimental Film taken from the article suggestions that it is willfully nonconformist, and with that notion in mind sets out to challenge orthodox notions of what can and cannot be shown in film. Experimental filmmakers have a message that they want to tell, and they get the message across in eccentric ways forcing the audience to make their own interpretations, making them think about what they have seen as opposed to having it spoon fed to them such as is the role of mainstream media.
Maya Deren is one of the key influences of the Avant Garde movement and is well known in the Experimental Film circuit, namely her film Meshes of the afternoon which is a good example of Experimental Filmmaking. It allows the audience to make their own conclusion of the happening.
For me this film is a dream sequence in which a woman in in turmoil, battling with herself, which can be denoted by the mirror faced haunting figure. Her delusions of what is real and what is fantasy also cants out perspective where we are left to conclude for ourselves whether what we are seeing is true.
Experimental Films can also be sub-catagorized.
Abstract
The main example the article uses, and one that I have come across in many occasions is Ballet Mécanique, by Dudley Murphy and Fernand Léger where the use of shapes and glimpses of imagery are used to almost sedate the audience. For me watching this piece makes me feel like I am being brainwashed, as the images move so quickly.
The last two forms of experimental filmmaking the article mention are; Associational and Animated, the former using poetry and or images that link in a rhythmic way to get a message to the audience, whilst the latter can employ abstract or associational techniques but giving a new form of view by its ability to distort or simply design what we see.
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