ExPeRiMental short films (crap?)

[Joel Cox]

Um. Yeah.

But what does it mean?

[S. Spade]

I don't know what to think, just make it because a film is a film and words won't do it or your idea justice until it's made and its there for viewing in the form you've imagined it.

[NoahtGreat]

What this film means is that If I claim that something, no matter how meaningless and rediculous, is art then it becomes art because there's always people out there stupid enough to believe that it has some sort of transcendent meaning behind it.

If I ever make it (it would take about 3 hours I'd guess, music composition might take slightly longer) I'll make it real video and post it somewhere for all the world to see.

Art Films forever! (hopefully not much longer)

-=Noah the Great=-

[Chance1234]

sounds shite,

sounds like somethign an art student would do when there they realise dthey spent the hwole term drinking and smoozing and have to come up with somethign in a week

Unoriginal, Pointless and a waste of tape

you aksed


Chance




------------------
5YLAC Films

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download the deadlights trailer at

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ights_trailer1.rm>

[NoahtGreat]

good call chance! you got it exactly right!

[NoahtGreat]

Is it possible for an "Experimental" film to be anything but crap? I don't know. Here's my little description of my idea for an "Experimental Film."

Shot of girl holding a fruit. Voice over: This fruit shows me light.

Shot of me staring at an apple. Voice over: This is not my name.

Shot of Eyes looking back and forth. Voice over: This is god. He does not care.

Then we just go back and forth between different odd shots of the girl holding different fruits, and me staring at an apple remarking how "this is not my name." occasionally god will appear, pointing out that "he does not care." All of this will be set to an annoyingly ambient electronic soundtrack.

Towards the end the cuts will get faster and faster and the last shot will be me and the girl approaching an apple that is suspended in the air by a string. We will each lick the apple, then face the camera. The film will end there.

I think that's pretty experimental. Contains a lot of really deep meaning and socio-political parallels. And of course it would be shot mostly in black and white Hi8 video. Maybe even VHS, just to get it as grainy and low quality as possible.

Don't you think?

-=Noah the Great=-

[eddie]

Look, an experimental film is just what it says. If you make an 'experimental film' then you are taking time to experiment and hopefully learn something. This doesnt mean its automatically crap. Experimental might be underexposing everyshot by 2 stops, having all your actors standing on tip toes whilst giving their lines, shoot the whole thing backwards or in slow motion, might be simply shoot everything in a day, or edit in half an hour as an experiment. Its not a given that it will end up crap, for every 10 minutes of shit, you might hit on one minute of a brilliant stunning effect.

The reason Im ranting a bit is because Id consider what Im doing to be 'experimental' but I dont think its crap, nor does it need to be.

I dont know what you think 'art' is, but Id say that if you think that making something weird for the sake of it becomes art automatically then you are flying a kite, hoping someone will see something 'wonderful' - thats called pretentious. If you beleive in your images and sequences, and consider what you are doing carefully then you will get much more from it, whether anyone considers it 'art' or not, you will have made something *you* can be proud of.
Its sounds like you want to put a bunch of possibly symbolic scenes together haphazardly on the hope that someone influential will hail you as a artist. It wont ever work, you will have to explain your motives, if you cant, no one will give a shit.

[Red House Painter]

I am an art student and CHANCE knows what he is talking about!

Feel free to make a film to explore techniques and ideas, but remember abstract images don't have to mean anything until you use them as a basis for a more conventional film.

Take a look at Natural Born killers. It's full of abstract images such as timelapse photography of fruit going mouldy. It could be seen as representing the situation or any number of things but is mainly there to add that distinctive feel and look to the film. Don't write a script full of bollocks and think it's experimental. The idea of an experiment is to try and explain, create or dicover something other wise it is a waste of time.
As an art student there is nothing worse than a piece of work that has an obvious, immature or pretentious reasoning behind it.

Make a film about going to the shop that lasts 5 minutes and you will learn a lot more. You will be forced to keep the interest of the viewer by using various techniques.
Why not make a film aout the day in the life of a dog with a voiceover of what the dog is thinking and shot from the point of view of the dog.

[johnny16mm]

I'm just wondering if Chance could post again so we could see him TOTALLY butcher the art of spelling. Jesus man, there's a thing called proof-reading! That post bordered on illiterate!

Art films are another stick in the ass we must endure and are almost as abundant as struggling artist, writer, poet, musician films. Give me a break. If I have to sit through one more student film about some starving artist trying to stay "true" to his art form by eating plain bologne for a year and battling with an addiction while his stoner girlfriend fucks a guy in the next room, I think I'll implode.

But hell, at least somebody sat down and thought their art film out. Which is WAY more than I can say about most indie films I see these days.

[This message has been edited to PROVE THAT THERE IS A WAY TO EDIT YOUR POST WHEN YOU SPELL LIKE A CHIMPANZE IN SPEEDO'S!]



[This message has been edited by johnny16mm (edited February 26, 2001).]

[vitamin_D]

Chance said it first, but to reiterate -- your idea is silly at best, insulting at worst. Why not strive for something which has an impact on your audience (even if they are just you.) You can make a more abstract film, choosing for your premise emotions, moods or general ideas (they do this in film school.) Look at the following list :

Heat
Running out of time
Conflict

Pick one, make a film that conveys the concept clearly.

Or make a film that conveys an emotion -- push it more toward the abstract, as music is, an abstract transmission of emotion -- make 'cinematic music.'

That's my .02