14. Identify and discuss particular aspects of the experimental films you have studied which have challenged you as spectator.

The experimental film La Jette  has challenged me with its use of still photos to tell a narrative rather than mostly consisting of moving video. This along with the black and white is used in the opening scene to set up the destructive world. It is like you are looking at historical photographs which many of the photos used really were. This challenged me as I am used to mainstream movies being faster and more engaging.

This technique is used for most of the film, although in the bedroom scene we see moving video used in a close up of a woman's eye. This was to difficult to make out for me as it was between many fade transitions which made me unsure if what happened actuality happened. This created a dream like experience relating to the man feeling like this is a perfect life in this scene.

The other thing I feel was challenging was the non diegetic voice over used in the future scene. This was due to how monotone the voice was, on first watch this caused me to lose interest in the film. This made less challenging by the diegetic sound effects the film uses such as the heart beats of the man. This helped me relate to the character as it put me in his position.

Andy Warhol's Heat was also a very challenging film for me as it was made so fundamentally flawed. This was done on purpose to push the boundaries of what a film can be without the conventional technical qualities. For example in the table scene the camera is moving around without focusing on any particularly character or following the conversation. This made it hard to work out what was going on or really care about any of it.

The other thing that made this movie challenging was the characters. There was nobody in the film that I could relate to along with them having no stories or character arcs they meant they acted so inhuman that my only instinct was to dislike them.  In the pool scene the character of Jessica  was made incredibly unlikeable with her performance being loud, vain and uncaring of her own girlfriend's suicide attempt. For this they used a low angle wide shot this does not suite the scene as we cannot see any emotion or conflict taking place and there is nothing else in the shot that we are meant to be seeing. It does not serve a purpose. This made the scene displeasurable to me.

Another film that challenged me was Koyaanasquatsi as the film had no conventional narrative mainly focusing on visuals and the films non diegetic score. This at first made me quite frustrated as in the opening scene I felt like I was waiting for the film to start or for something to happen. This was quite challenging for me as there wasn't anything for me to relate to. As the film went on I felt more for the breathtaking natural landscapes. This made me feel empathy and guilt during the change scene where the editing cuts to man-made buildings for the natural environment that has been destroyed.

In conclusion while I think these aspects have challenged me as a spectator someone else will react differently. Experimental film rely's on the mindset of the viewer watching them. If someone goes into an experimental open to different ways of film making they are less likely to be challenged by them. It also depends on whether they are used to that kind of film. Although even after watching other experimental films, many of these films still challenged because by definition they are all different.