Film Studies 2270 Introduction to Film Studies
It is very hard to define Avant-garde films. They are basically known as being odd or different without a story, and the viewer is typically puzzled after the film is done. Most of the films are intense with great cinematography. Almost all of these films have some of these characteristics: Experimental film with a small…
https://s1.wp.com/i/favicon.ico
Film Studies 2270 Introduction to Film Studies
It is very hard to define Avant-garde films. They are basically known as being odd or different without a story, and the viewer is typically puzzled after the film is done. Most of the films are intense with great cinematography. Almost all of these films have some of these characteristics:

Experimental film with a small budget, typically from the filmmakers own budget

Typically non-linear narrative, non-traditional film, usually told by the filmmaker’s point of view without any message.

Typically an experimental film with conscious use of medium to create eccentric, dream-like sequences.

Respects art, culture, and politics. Poetic or lyrical

Focus on surrealism, abstract, and impressionistic studies

Avant-garde films allow the viewers to question and challenge their thinking about what they see. There is typically no conventional point to the films. The films explore issues of time, space, dreams, fantasy, and perception. Most of the films are innovative, eccentric, unique, and some frightening. Many of the films are shocking, disturbing, and inappropriate. The viewer is not just watching the film; it is an experience that involves thinking and perceiving. The films challenge the viewer with a radical break from tradition. The films explore surface, texture, hue, light, and reflections. This genre is known for their short films, but feature length films are becoming more popular since the start of avant-garde films in the 1920s. Feature length films typically have the same characteristics as a short film, but most of the time there is a narrative. It is thought that avant-garde films have been around since the camera was developed due to people filming at home. This type of film gives viewers a different way to look at film.

“Avant-garde films necessitate a different kind of viewing experience, one that requires discipline, patience, and enthusiasm for alternative forms of representation and presentation. Avant-garde films involve the senses in ways that are atypical of mainstream films; nothing is ever clearly denoted for you, so you have to work.” (Verrone, 2011)

Most of the filmmakers are underground and independent, they receive much criticism for their work, but they have a vision and want others to view the world differently. Notable Avant-garde directors and films are Maya Deren’s Meshes in the afternoon; this film has the viewer experience a surrealist dreamlike state. Stan Brakhage’s is a well-known avant-garde filmmaker with titles including Dog Star man and Window water baby moving; an intense short film with great use of editing and lighting. David Lynch’s feature film Eraserhed; a black and white film about irresponsible sex producing a reptilian-like baby. Chris Marker, Luis Bunuel, Stanley Kubrick, Woody Allen, David Cronenberg, Jan Svankmajer are also other notable filmmakers in the avant-garde- genre.

“Avant-garde films are known for their originality, their precise and dedicated attempts at reinventing what we think we know about how films construct and communicate meaning through the audio-visual experience.” (Verrone, 2011)

Reference:

Verrone, William E. B.. Avant-Garde Feature Film : A Critical History. Jefferson, NC, USA: McFarland & Company, 2011. ProQuest ebrary. Web. 26 July 2014.

—–

History of Avant-Garde (Significant Events, People, Films)

The avant-garde film genre, also known as experimental film, is known for their odd and artistic storylines. These films featured in this genre are abstract and often low-budget, presenting unique concepts that people often neglect to understand. How do these films compare/contrast to the modern theatrical film we go see at the cinema? When we refer to these films as being low budget we are not talking in the sense of low as in $10 million dollars or in comparison to a James Cameron Blockbuster film (e.g. Titanic, Avatar). Avant-garde films unfold in a non-linear manner that follows no clear narrative or predictable storyline, offering no clear message to the viewer. So how have we transitioned to the more contemporary American forms of experimental film?

The genre began in the 1920’s and can be traced back to French Avant-Garde film. The French style of film focused on “surrealism in film” and a romanticism not present in the mainstream “Hollywood” cinema industry. According to writer Charlotte Hopson, surrealism focused on the use of disengaged narrative cinema, lack of rapid montages, familiar character types, sense of diegetic time and space, and shared cinematographic techniques of popular films at the time. The films presented a free functioning thought free of any reason and the lack of any real or rational explanation. (Hopson, 4) Made on typical low budgets, these films were presented to audiences in the theatre format where class hierarchy was extinct, unlike the Shakespearean era theatres. These films, like later Maya Deren films, rely on dream sequences that move artificial boundaries and a chronological order that seems “botched” to the viewer, redrawing artificial boundaries and presenting a sexual nature. Widely considered the cornerstone of early avant-garde film and possibly the greatest short film ever by Roger Ebert, Un Chien Andalou uses dream sequence and aspects of hallucinations that we see in many of the surrealist avant-garde films at this time. (Sterritt, 1)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BIKYF07Y4kA

As you can see from the clip, the filmmakers use of dream aspects such as and the gaze of the moon into the cutting of the eye, the hand with ants pouring out and other aspects present a dreamy aspect that blurs reality and images of illusion. Time aspects “skip” around in a “botched” manner that follows no chronological order as the film skips from present to eight years later to 16 years earlier, creating no clear-cut narrative structure. Surrealism films use free association of images to move the film along. The genre relies on associative connections in which the filmmaker makes “associations between images and scenes based on their appearance or function – on the basis of something other than storyline.” (Anonymous, 1) In Un Chien Andalou, we notice the box that the woman carries through multiple scenes, establishing the only relationship we see in the film that establishes familiarity from one scene to the next. As P. Thomas Stitney writes, the film uses surreal imagery and abrupt change of place, violent eroticism and dream imagery. The surrealism relies on its ability to evoke madness, voyeurism, horror, and irrationality of the unconscious – just a few that he talks about. (Stitney, 10, 11)

Maya Deren, one of the founders of post-war American avant-garde, and her film Meshes of the Afternoon has been widely recognized as the first experimental film in the United States. Supportive of the notion “experimental,” many first generation “Hollywood” film students using their 16mm cameras experimented with the process during this time. (Anonymous, 1) While surrealism relies on irrationality of the irrationality of the unconscious, experimental requires subconscious affirmation. American avant-garde used experimental cinematique techniques such as “jump cuts,” seen repeatedly in “Meshes” with scenes like the edit of the flower turning into a knife, and slow motion to emphasize a dream or recurring vision. (Anonymous, 1) Unlike the French surrealist films of the 1920’s, “Meshes” provides a meaningful storyline that is recognizable to the viewer. Both “Meshes” and Un Chien Andalou utilized multiple endings, keeping the dream sequence maintained after the film has concluded, prefaced in surrealism like a memorable dream. According to P. Adams Stitney, A-G films of this industry utilized “visual style and smooth cutting on movement to extend the continuity of the gestures and actions, alteration of the perspective due to camera movement and the newly introduced framing of certain objects to bring other objects into play” – all of which be seen throughout Deren’s “Meshes.” (Stitney, 9, 10) All of these aspects can be seen exhibited in the clip below.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YSY0TA-ttMA

As you can see in the transition to “Meshes,” this film uses more fading or intercutting from one object to another (flower to knife) that include cutting an action across disjunctive spaces. (Stitney, 12) Aside from the additional editing transition techniques, these films used expanded camera angles such as bird’s eye view, point of view, and extreme close-ups. As can also be seen, the concept of avant-garde has continued key similarities but also continued to evolve.

While the Deren’s played a huge role in avant-garde films appearing in America, Jonas Mekas is often credited as the “godfather” of the American avant-garde movement. His contribution to the underground movement was instrumental in running film screenings of this newly popular genre as well as creating an equally popular magazine on the subject. The 1960’s marked a move towards “experimentalism” and film as a rebellion on the mainstream film industry. While the French movement was embraced by the industry, even amassing numerous celebrities to appear at the Un Chien Andalou premiere, the American industry saw the movement as inappropriate and unnecessary. Filmmakers like Stan Brakhage were instrumental in experimenting with new ways of making and distributing film – especially in areas like New York and San Francisco. (Mousley, 1) This period was marked by the distinction of experimentation in film. For example, “Brakhage created films that merge the lyrical with the metaphysical, exploiting the materiality of the film by physically altering its surface. Frampton borrowed from his love of photography, painting, and mathematics to reinvent its structures, while Gehr deconstructed traditional modes of film production and transformed the cinematic image into an idea through innovative camerawork.” (Mousley, 1) These are just a few of the examples of the experimentation that characterized this era of avant-garde film.

Over time the experimental film or avant-garde genre has grown and while many still utilize certain key aspects many experimental films have slightly broadened or moved away from traditional avant-garde. The genre has evolved to include music videos, “found footage,” and other high budget experimental films that are opposite the traditional financial woes. The Blair Witch Project utilized both the low-budget and “shaky cam” aspects derived from this genre. It has evolved to more detailed storylines and occasional theatrical destinations over the years while enjoying occasional massive profits seen typically as unlikely for films of this genre.

Stitney, P. A. (2002). Visionary film: the American avant-garde, 1943-2000. New York, N.Y.; Oxford: Oxford university press.

Mousley, S., & Davis, E. (n.d.). The Renegades: American Avant-Garde Film, 1960-1973. The Renegades: American Avant-Garde Film, 1960â“1973 — Calendar —. Retrieved August 1, 2014, from http://www.walkerart.org/calendar/2012/the-renegades-american-avant-garde-film-1960

Sterritt, D. (n.d.). Un Chien Andalou. Turner Classic Movies. Retrieved August 1, 2014, from http://www.tcm.com/this-month/article.html?id=650688%7C650078

Hopson, C. (n.d.). Why did European Avant-Garde artists turn to film in the 1920s? Academia.edu. Retrieved August 1, 2014, from http://www.academia.edu/1439806/Why_did_European_Avant-Garde_artists_turn_to_film_in_the_1920s

Avant-garde film. (n.d.). Week 8: avant-garde film. Retrieved August 1, 2014, from http://www.swampgirl67.net/iat242/week8/wk8-avantgarde_film.htm

(Nicholas A. Jordan: History: Above)

—

(Nicholas Cronin: Below)

Feminist Avant Garde

The Avant Garde movement started after World War I during the 1920’s. The movement began in France, and one of the French avant-garde movement leaders was Germaine Dulac. From the very beginning women had a part to play in this movement.

Opening the door for the likes of Sally Potter, Chantal Akerman, Martha Rosler, Shirley Clarke, Joyce Wieland, and Cecelia Condit. All female filmmakers or directors, whose influence in avant-garde, have correspondingly affected the feminist movement. Sally Potter a famous director started her career in the experimental genre, created short films like Jerk (1969) and Play (1970). With the experiences gained from the experimental films, she went on to direct seven feature films. Laura Mulvey another prominent avant-garde film maker in the 1970’s and 1980’s creating works like Queen of the Amazons (1974), Riddles of the Sphinx (1977), and Crystal Gazing (1982). All these women led the way as female avant-garde filmmakers and had important impacts on the avant-garde genre. Female avant-garde filmmakers led the path to experimental work in the 1980’s on feminist, gay, and other political subjects.

“Women, then stands in patriarchal culture as a signifier for the male other, bound by a symbolic order in which man can live our his fantasies and obsessions through linguistic command, by imposing them on the silent image of women still tied to her place as bearer of meaning not maker of meaning.” – Laura Mulvey (Mulvey 482)

The Godfather of Avant-Garde

Jonas Mekas is one of the most famous avant-garde filmmaker, commonly known as the “Godfather” of avant-garde. Mekas came from a troubling childhood where he was imprisoned in Germany during World War II. He escaped with his brother in 1944. After moving to Brooklyn, New York, he bought his first 16mm camera and opened a business with his brother called Film Culture. In the 1960s was part of an underground movement, disapproving of censorship laws. He was one of the founders of Film-Makers Cooperation, which later turned “into the Anthology Film Archives, one of the world’s largest and most important repositories of avant-garde cinema, and a screening venue”. Mekas major works included The Brig (1963), Walden (1969), Lost Lost Lost (1975), and Gun of the trees (1962). He is one of the most important figures in avant-garde history.

“As a film-maker and a poet, I feel it’s my duty to be an eye and an antenna to what’s happening around me. I always felt a solidarity with those who are desperate and confused and misused and are seeking a way out of it” –Jonas Mekas (website 3)

Avant-Garde Filming Techniques

As avant-garde being more unusual than normal films, it takes a different type of camera work and directing. First the camera might use methods like distorting lenses, shoot at frequently changing speeds, and use flash film. Second the film stock can use clear, paint, and scratch frames to tone and tint the development. Third, while editing the director may not use interconnected scenes of action, or use hyper-edit to establish aesthetic rather than narrative principles. Lastly sounds are often abstract and counterpoint to image. And use unusual combinations of instruments. The goal of these different techniques is to question, challenge, and critique dominant ideologies. Altogether these techniques help determine the avant-garde filming style.

Influences on Today’s Cinema

Garde films were never massive box office hits, and most of the films were seen by a miniscule number of people. But this doesn’t limit the effect Avant Garde has had on modern day cinema. The technique used by Avant Garde filmmakers has led to important development in editing, visual effects, cinematography, and aesthetics. These all play a significant role in modern day filmmaking. And in every film directors are using techniques created by the Avant Garde whether they know it or not.

Prime examples of modern Avant Garde are music videos and television advertising. Avant Garde films focus of the unusual, different, emotion, and non-narrative story. The genre focus is perfect for artist and musicians. Musicians make so many music videos, that in some of them they want to experiment with how to display their songs message. Furthermore, music videos are usually low budget and using Avant Garde techniques is a way to get the most out of the artist video. Since avant-garde is a strong form of art and connects with artists.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DDGHSBsR_Pk

References:

“Jonas Mekas.” Jonas Mekas. N.p., n.d. Web. 03 Aug. 2014.

Belcastro, Jack. “Top 10 Avant-Garde Filmmakers – Listverse.” Listverse. Listverse, 11 Aug. 2011. Web. 03 Aug. 2014

Mulvey, Laura. “Visual Pleasure and Narrative Cinema” Film and Theory: An Anthology. Eds. Robert Stam and Toby Miller. Malden: Blackwell Publishers, 2000. 483-494.

“Jonas Mekas Quotes.” BrainyQuote. Xplore, n.d. Web. 03 Aug. 2014.

—