14. ‘Experimental and Expanded Film/Video most often offers artistic representations which open our senses to new ways of experiencing aspects of our world.’ Explore what kinds of demands this makes on the spectator.

I think that experimental film challenges the spectator in the case of it being watched in a different way to mainstream films. In mainstream films we see films as having the movement, image and sound as expected to appeal to our senses. With experimental film it is made to be different and can be more challenging for the spectator.

For example the film Koyaanasquatsi there is no dialogue or conventional narrative. Instead the movie focuses on the visuals of the many establishing shots and the score. The aim of this is to create an emotional response within the audience. In the opening credits it mostly consists of a black screen which takes a long period of time accompanied by humming of the films title. This made me feel bored, as well as humour when I get the idea that this is all the film is.

In the change scene we see that the films  message of life out of balance is presented as it cuts harshly between a the wide shot of the natural world and similar shot of the built up city. This shows how different the world has become and makes us look at the world differently as the first half of the movie we see the world from the perspective of the rocks, the plants and the wind. This made me feel bad when all of that went away. After this I felt the movie started to drag as I already got the message of the film and felt I had seen all the film could be.

La Jette is made to be different from mainstream films with the way it is edited being mostly static shots for long lengths of shot. At the start this was quite jarring for me as my senses had to adjust to pace and technique. The sound is also made hard as there is no music and very monotone non- diegetic voiceover with a few diegetic sound effects this made me feel bored at first. This is in black and white which gives it a historical feel like looking through old photos or at a museum. We are looking at the future like we are looking at the past.

The pace of the film is not like this all the way through the film in the bedroom scene there is a short piece of video. I did not notice this at the first because at that point in the film my senses had adapted to it. It seems so out of place it made me question whether it happened or not. The past scenes contrast from the gritty mise en scene of the future this make us appreciate the time we are living in more.

In Jan Svankmajer's Alice we see the sense of sound is purposely off with the footsteps in the following rabbit scene being off key. This creates a distorted effect on me knowing something is not right but not picking up on instantly. The visuals also give the effect of the uncanny vally with the doll scene having the mise en scene of the porceline mask look disturbing. While the story has nothing dark and in it the mise en scene and the colour make it seem more adult take on the story. Makes us question what is good and wholesome and what is dark or creepy blurring the lines between them.

In conclusion I think that Experimental films do offer artistic representations which open our senses in many different ways and that does sometimes affect how we see the world but I don't think this affects everyone equally. Some people may be very affected by these film while others may have no reaction at all. It varys between people.