Experimental movies have completely changed my outlook on what the definition of film is. Before watching these clips, I had a very stereotypical mindset of what the typical Hollywood movie was. If I had watched a clip such as the ones presented in class, I would have never thought to consider it a piece of film or art. The Avant-Garde film I chose was “Her Morning Elegance” music video by Oren Lavie and Merav Nathan. This clip especially caught my attention because of the form in which it was done. First of all, I thought the use of photographic frames was outstanding and key to the overall mood of the video. The quick jerky jumps and movements we get from the characters and objects in the video are what make this film an experimental journey. I thought it was very innovative in the sense that I had never seen a music video done this way, creating a whole new reality based upon still photographs. I also thought it was very interesting the way through which the producers were able to recreate certain content from the song. For example, the song talks about a storm. In the video we observe how Lavie and Nathan are able to create this stormy setting through photographs and the careful placing of objects around the main character. Overall, this clip has definitely changed my perception on the notion of experimental film and art.
In my opinion, I do think that our generation views experimental videos completely different from other generations. The main reason as to why this is, in my opinion, is the availability of this form of art to a large audience. I think our generation is more aware and open to this new type of film because it has become main stream and in a way “cool.” Once something becomes main stream and open to the public, we begin to accept it more rapidly because of the influence of those around us. For previous generations, since these types of films were only shown to specific targeted audiences, it might have been thought of as taboo. They might have thought of this type of art and film as “weird” and unusual because very few people understood and knew about it. It is more widely accepted today not because the content has changed, but because it is easily circulated throughout the world.
