Hong 1

Alex Hong

Ms. Leila Chawkat

Intern/Mentor Program Period 6

Rod Lopez, Filmmaker

New Style Independent

24 April 2020

Pushing the Boundaries: Explaining Experimental Film

Abstract

This paper investigates experimental film, a genre of filmmaking that uses

unconventional filmmaking techniques that greatly differ from the expectations of mainstream

film. Because experimental films include a very broad net of work, this research mostly focuses

on symbolic films that have at least some resemblance of a plot. The research consisted of heavy

background information, searching for different experimental films and reading various

interpretations of those films’ imagery. All of this research was intended to discover why

experimental filmmakers use experimental films, and whether or not the presence of a

protagonist increases audience engagement.

Table of Contents

Abstract...page 1

Introduction…page 2

Literature Review...page 2

Data Collection...page 5

Conclusions...page 9

Works Cited...page 11
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I. Introduction

The experimental film genre has existed for as long as the art of film itself. It pushes and

explores all of the possibilities that film is capable of, opening up many opportunities to diversify

universal forms of storytelling. It is so diverse, in fact, that for the purposes of this research, the

definition of experimental film will be limited to symbolic films that have a plot. The research

collected a number of analyses of experimental films, as well as transcribed interviews with

various experimental filmmakers. The data collection saw the production of two identical films,

both of them original and of the experimental genre. The two films are the same in every way,

except that one has a protagonist and the other does not. The two films were then screened for a

test audience, who responded to a survey to summarize their level of engagement.

Literature Review

Though difficult to define, experimental films seek to explore unconventional styles of

filmmaking, veering away from traditional Hollywood storytelling by using abstract imagery and

unique sound design (“Experimental Film”). Anything goes in experimental film. The genre has

seen a wide variety of different kinds of films, from complex narratives with heavy symbolism to

plot-less films that are nothing more than rotating shapes. The exploratory nature of these films

allows filmmakers and audiences to discover how different editing techniques may alter the

influence of the film. Even the simplest cut can affect the way an audience perceives a movie.

For example, a phenomenon known as the Kuleshov Effect demonstrates how the addition of an

isolated image changes the meaning of a sequence (Aitken). This idea suggests that if there are

two shots of a person’s blank facial expression, with the image of a sandwich cut between those

two shots, the audience may perceive the subject as hungry. Replace the sandwich with a cup of
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water and now that same person is suddenly thought to be thirsty. This idea can be applied to

many different kinds of sequences.

With so many options for film editing, experimental filmmakers do not have to stay

within the bounds of realism and can edit absolutely whatever they want. They are often inflated

with abstract imagery and may lack characters, a setting or even a plot. The appeal of this style

is that each viewer in the audience can interpret and perceive the images however they want,

without the limits of a strict plot or explicit realism that tells the audience what to think. In fact,

abstract imagery specifically allows the brain to discover new, indescribable emotions in

complex ways. Abstract art frees space for the mind to consider concepts outside of familiar

reality, which allows the brain to form new cognitive and emotional associations, accessing areas

in the brain that would usually be difficult to access (Aviv). These reactions, though prompted

by the same imagery, can evoke different feelings from each viewer, as no brain is exactly the

same, emphasizing the experimental genre’s ability of diversifying film analysis (Kim, Jang-

Hyeon, et al.) Experimental film do not only see a manipulation of visuals, but of sound too.

Sound design is a major contributing factor to a movie’s influence, and can be just as effective as

the images if altered in certain ways. Some filmmakers have even observed an advantage to

lacking any sound at all, as it gives viewers even more space to imagine a world of sound unique

to themselves (Turim).

Experimental films give imaginative freedom to the audience, but are also very liberating

for creators as well. Experimental films allow filmmakers to make what they want to make, not

what society wants or expects them to produce. If a plot gets in the way of what the filmmaker

wants to achieve, they can forget about the plot. If they simply want to experiment with shapes

and color, they do not have to waste time developing characters. They can focus on the things
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they want to, without having to limit their creativity or waste time and money on things that do

not interest them (Deren). Filmmakers have so many different opportunities in the experimental

genre, allowing them to expand on a world of expression unique to themselves. Experimental

film director David Lynch believes that a filmmaker’s freedom of expression is a very unique

experience that can be shared with the audience in a way that no other genre can. He often talks

about his distinct style, which tends to use dreams as a major part of his films because it allows

him to depart from reality and use bizarre imagery in a context where it would be appropriate, if

the story so requires a level of realism (Bulkeley). However, when asked about the meaning

behind certain images in his films, Lynch refused to explicitly assign a message to his work. He

completely believes in letting audiences find their own meaning in a movie without their

opinions being influenced by the director, a value upheld by many other experimental

filmmakers and artists in the avant-garde (“Eraserhead: Is There Life After Birth?”).

Experimental films have a great power behind them, but do not reach a very wide variety

of audiences. This means that the majority of casual moviegoers miss out on the uniquities of

the avant-garde genre. If more audiences are aware of and interested in experimental films, art

culture could be greatly expanded, diversifying the way artists express themselves. Art is not

just a way to pass the time, but a real way to teach people about culture in order to build empathy

between people and communities (Caldwell). Since viewers are drawn to stories about

sympathetic people with whom they can relate to (Snyder), if an experimental film has a main

character for the audience to follow, the audience will be more engaged in that film than one

without a protagonist.

Data Collection and Analysis

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This data collection used quantitative measures to describe qualitative data through use of

a Likert scale. Subjects could rate their emotional engagement with the two films on a scale of 1

to 5, 1 being not engaged and 5 being very engaged. The method of this data collection was

experimental, seeking to understand if the presence of a protagonist in a movie affects the

audience’s emotional engagement. Whether or not the film had a protagonist was the

independent variable, the level to which the audience felt engaged with the movie was the

dependent variable. The control group was the film without a protagonist.

The two films could not have any explicit direction with one specific meaning, as the

experimental filmmakers in the literature review insist that the best experimental films are those

that simply present imagery to an audience and allow the audience to make their own

interpretations of the content. Though the films had an intended meaning, there was also some

abstract imagery inserted into the film for no describable reason to broaden the web of what the

film as a whole might mean.

The tool used for this data collection was a brief survey that was sent to subjects,

containing the two films with a Likert scale for each of them, as well as some extra questions

allowing the subjects to describe the emotions they felt during the film’s progression. This tool

was appropriate because it allowed the research to reach the target audience of experimental

films, the viewers. Subjects found out about the survey through a social media link and

attachment.

Some limitations of that data collection was that it can be very hard to judge and describe

human emotions as accurately as they feel. Additionally, some people claimed that they thought

one version of the movie was more engaging, but they still enjoyed the other movie better
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overall. The research could have had more of a distinction between emotionally engaging and

emotionally enjoyable, as some responses treated the two separately.

The thesis claimed that the film with a protagonist would be more emotionally engaging

to the audience than the one without a protagonist. This is supported by the data collection,

which shows Version A (the film with the protagonist) receiving much higher scores indicating

stronger engagement, with an average score of 3.947, a median of 4 and a mode of 4. Version B

(the film without the protagonist) received lower scores, with an average of 3.105, a median of 3

and a mode of 2 and 3. A question asking the subject which film they preferred found that
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63.2% preferred Version A, 26.3% preferred Version B, and 10.5% had no preference. This data

supports the thesis, providing evidence that audiences are more engaged in films with a

protagonist than those without.

A final question provided a text box for subjects to describe the different emotions felt in

the movie and what they believed the film was about. Though not without some recurring

themes, the responses yielded a wide range of different interpretations, saying that the film was

about anxiety, stress, depression, or even the supernatural.

These findings give evidence to support the thesis, which claimed that experimental films

with a protagonist to follow would be more emotionally engaging than experimental films
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without a protagonist. With this in mind, experimental filmmakers can use the protagonist figure

to their advantage. There are endless possibilities in a genre so boundless. The filmmakers

could make the protagonist more sympathetic for the audience to connect to, or they can

manipulate the audience by having a unique protagonist that one may not normally relate to.

They could even go the opposite direction and, if they want the audience to feel disconnected

from the world of the movie, reduce the role of the main character in the film’s progression.

Of course, this research was not perfect and had its limitations. It can be hard for people

to describe their own emotions, so the Likert scale may not have been the best way to measure

something that can only be understood by feeling the emotion itself. Additionally, the subject

can only watch one film at a time, and it is possible for many subjects that the film they preferred

was only chosen because it was watched with fresh eyes. It is possible that this issue could be

resolved by having a larger sample participate in the research. The sample would be equally

divided, with each subject randomly assigned to just one film to watch. The results would then

be compared between two groups of people, instead of one group where a subject’s response was

compared to another one of his own responses.

This research contributes to the world of visual arts by emphasizing the influence a film

can have and how that influence can change if such a simple element as the presence of a

protagonist is altered. With a better understanding of what experimental films have to offer,

experimental filmmakers can expand their artistic palettes and express themselves in unique

ways never seen before.

Conclusions
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Experimental film is a very unique genre of film that allows filmmakers to explore the

bizarre, expanding possibilities of self expression for creators everywhere. Notable filmmakers

like David Lynch, Andy Warhol and Maya Deren assert that experimental filmmaking’s purpose

is to have no purpose other than to satisfy the creator’s artistic vision. Any themes presented in

the film cannot be explicit, since experimental films must also allow their audiences to interpret

the film personally for themselves. According to the data, experimental films with a protagonist

are more effective in engaging the audience than films without a protagonist. With this

engagement, audiences can more easily experience the emotions evoked by the film,

strengthening the sense of effective storytelling in society.

Works Cited

Aitken, Ian. "Determinism and Symbolism in the Film Theory of Eisenstein."

European Film Theory and Cinema, Indiana UP, 2001.

Aviv, Vered. "What Does the Brain Tell as about Abstract Art?" Frontiers in
Human Neuroscience, Feb. 2014, doi:10.3389/fnhum.2014.00085. Accessed
13 Nov. 2019.

Bulkeley, Kelly. "Dreaming and the Cinema of David Lynch." Dreaming, vol. 13,
no. 1, Mar. 2003, doi:10.1023/A:1022190318612. Accessed 12 Dec. 2019.

Caldwell, Ellen C. "Can Art Help People Develop Empathy?" JSTOR Daily, 16 Jan.
2018, daily.jstor.org/can-art-help-people-develop-empathy/. Accessed 13 Dec. 2019.

Deren, Maya. "Amateur versus Professional." Essential Deren: Collected Writings

on Film by Maya Deren, McPherson & Company, 2005.

"Eraserhead: Is There Life after Birth?" David Lynch Interviews, edited by Richard A.
Barney, UP of Mississippi, 2009.

"Experimental Film." Schirmer Encyclopedia of Film, edited by Barry Keith Grant, vol.
2, Schirmer Reference, 2007, pp. 149-162. Gale Virtual Reference Library,
http://link.galegroup.com/apps/doc/CX2587600077/GVRL?
u=glen20233&sid=GVRL&xid=412ba457. Accessed 16 July 2019.
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Keller, Sarah. "Teaching Meshes of the Afternoon." The Cine-Files, no. 9, Fall
2015.

Kim, Jang-Hyeon, et al. "Costume Color Design as a Symbolic Expression in the

Independent Film (Bittersweet Life)." The Research Journal of the Costume Culture, vol.
22, no. 1, Feb. 2014,
www.researchgate.net/profile/Young_Sam_Kim2/publication/264187232_Costume_colo
r_design_as_a_symbolic_expression_in_the_independent_film_Bittersweet_Life_-
_Images_in_situations_of_movie_location_-/links/56498e6f08aef646e6d239b8.pdf.
Accessed 17 Nov. 2019.

Snyder, Blake. Save the Cat! The Last Book on Screenwriting You'll Ever Need. Michael
Wiese Productions, 2005.

Turim, Maureen Cheryn. Abstraction in Avant-Garde Films. Ann Arbor, UMI Research
Press, 1978.