Installation

Our installation hopes to produce something different from what the other groups are trying. We wanted to do something from a more lighthearted perspective, and thus we will approach this installation with a playful approach. It'll be really fun to be in costume and have costume performers wandering the aisles of the audience while we all share this experience. 

The biggest challenge will be able to get people to play along with this. Understandably, I can see why some people probably don't like the idea of drugs, fake or otherwise, and if  they choose not to participate, there's not a lot we can do about this. But the extent to which people will play along, and to see a placebo affect in the audience, that will be the most interesting. 

Overall, this is to be fun. There's nothing heavy handed, our film won't be very violent or abrasive, and the performances should compliment the installation well. I look forward to being a part of it! 

Cucalorus

My first Cucalorus was this past weekend, and all I can say, is that I really need to get a bigger pass for next year. This was some of the most fun I've had all semester, it really was a delightful experience. It was great to meet up with people in the class and roam around the streets of downtown Wilmington and wander into different places and see some fantastic films. Of the six I went to, every single one was spot on. It was terrific. I went into every single screening not knowing a damn thing about what I was about to watch, and I was moved, gripped with fear, crying from laughing and leaving the theatre each time with a huge appreciation for independent filmmakers, and having the opportunity to watch some amazing films in some awesome spots. 

So, to start things off on Thursday, I saw A Short History of Decay, and Willow Creek. These two movies could not be more different from each other. Short History was a charming tale of a man in his mid thirties who after a breakup, goes to visit his ailing parents in Florida (which apparently looks a lot like Wrightsville beach.... almost as if they filmed there... hmmmm). Nothing real daring here, but it was a amazingly well told story that will have you laughing one minute and crying the next. A real go home and hug your parents kind of movie. Willow Creek was a "found footage" movie, a kind that I'm usually pretty skeptical of, but this was done well. I have what I'd call an unhealthy fascination with bigfoot documentaries for some reason, so when it was introduced as a bigfoot movie, the inner wierdo in me celebrated. It was a gripping film, hilarious at first but with a steadily mounting sense of dread. An eye popping 19 minute scene with no cuts was the standout moment of this one for me. Semi scripted, and scary as hell, it was an awesome film. And this was just the first night! 

Friday night we saw The Bounceback and Sacrament. Bounceback made me want to move to Austin. It showcased the city in a fun and delightful way, as if Shannon hadn't already sold us on it already. A hilarious story about a former couple meeting up with friends in Austin and a cat and mouse game that continues throughout the weekend, leaves us with the ultimate realization that these people are moving on after a breakup. A raunchy and hilarious coming of age tale of sorts. Had me laughing so hard my sides hurt. Easily the funniest one I saw this weekend, but smart as well. Fantastic. Leaving Thalian after that hilarity, and climbing the 3,000 steps to City Stage, Sacrament was up next. And it was brutal. Really, really, brutal. Despite being almost an exact retelling of the Jonestown cult from the late 1970's, and another found footage movie of sorts, Sacrament was hard to watch because of the slow decent into cult madness seen unfolding on the screen, but I couldn't look away. My hand turned white from gripping my seat so hard. Probably the best film I saw at Cucalorus this weekend, but not one I could sit down and watch everyday. Just stunning. The weight of the air at the end of the film was so incredibly heavy. I will say after watching a lack of humanity on screen, at the end there was a lady laughing hysterically while we saw the helicopter fly over the compound littered with dead bodies, and I began to realize maybe the psychopaths on screen weren't the only ones in the room. 

On Saturday came I Used to be Darker, and while I would call this another really good film, it was the weakest of the ones I saw. A slow paced movie, but with some fantastic musicianship and song on screen. The actors were incredible, but they were let down a bit by a story struggling to get traction off the line. The film is almost half over before any real story events or character relationships develop. Still, a powerful film in its own right. 

Waking up quite early to go see Act of Killing, I've heard mixed reviews about the film. According to hearsay, it's the best film in the festival, and the worst film. So, anything this polarizing, I must check out. I was a little taken aback by the presentation of this film. It's very analytical and slow paced. The presentation is almost as cold as the killers on screen. It lacked a bit of direction but the way it presents matter of fact mass murderers on screen is unlike anything I've ever see. The audience didn't even know whether to clap at the end of the movie. In my own opinion, it falls somewhere in between. 

Overall this was a fantastic weekend, and I couldn't have been happier with the experience that I had. 

Reflections

I would just like to reflect on my experiences with the class so far. The music video assignment for example, was one that I was very apprehensive about. I'd never directed anything before save a project in 201, so this was something I was a little anxious about. All the planning and whatnot, and the super 8 camera made me long for being able to shoot and see what I've done. But, it turned out we had a lot of fun, and hopefully we will have good footage to look over and edit here soon! This class has challenged me to think about some things differently, and I've went from wanting to be able to look over what I've done through digital technology, to becoming not as skeptical about film. It is what people worked with for the majority of the time that cinema has been around. 

The filmmaking presentations have been another thing that's been quite interesting. Just seeing the diverse backgrounds of different filmmakers I probably wouldn't have heard of otherwise has been rewarding and a great thing to learn about. Not all of them were particularly appealing, but seeing what people can do with a little money and a lot of imagination is inspiring no matter what kind of film you want to make. 

Lastly, at Cucalorus this week I'd really like to go see The Sacrament, Willow Creek, and Bringing it Home. Hopefully we can get a group together and see even more if I'm not too busy at work this weekend! 

Photo Exercise

Self Portrait

For the self portrait assignment, I'm honestly a little torn on what I think that I should do. I feel like this is a chance to both do something meaningful by taking an introspective look at myself, and commit something about myself to film, something I've never tried to do before. Trying to focus on the smaller things, smaller aspects of myself is rather challenging. I kinda regard myself as a bit of a boring person, so it's somewhat of a cop out of me to brush this off, saying that no matter what I choose, it won't be anything of particular interest. Yet at the same time, this is an exciting prospect. 

I'd like to do something humorous, because at heart I really to try and find the humor in everything. I don't like being all serious all the time, and I'd like to do something funny, or at least with a humorous element. After seeing some of the examples, its kind of easy to fall into this artsy trap, trying to make yourself out to be something more, deeper than what you actually are. To glorify oneself just because we are film majors and we are artsy people. I'm not sure if this is something I really want to do. 

I have a love for the ocean, and the beach. It's one of the major reasons that I chose to go to school here in the first place. I've wanted to live by the sea ever since I was a little kid, so in a way this is a dream come true for me. I'd like to mix these maritime images into my self portrait, because standing beside the ocean gives me a feeling like I never get anywhere else. To feel so small, so out of place beside something so vast is a humbling experience. Mixing a humorous element with coastal images probably will be a bit of a difficult task, but I feel like this is the direction that I'll take this self portrait. 

Lastly I'll leave you all with this images of a handsome man, petting a cat 

Music Video

As director of our group's music video, I was both honored to have the chance to direct this, and also immediately concerned that I was supposed to be the one who had the main idea for the concept of the video. Luckily we were able to get the rights to the song that I wanted to use, thus the ideas came more easily. The song "Welcome Home" was one that I've heard in a few different films, all accompanied by varying visuals. As I've listened to it over and over, several different ideas came to mind.

My original idea was more story based, a man obsessed with material wealth and losing a significant other, only to come home to their dream house, but without what he should've cared about the most. I'd like to show that success does come with a price often. For this video however, I still wanted to show the roving eye for material wealth, but in a more abstract way. To examine mechanical devices that liken themselves to the human mind, their gears turning are just like the thoughts that run through our own heads, and depict this nostalgic feeling that the song projects. Showing a transition from golden hewed antiques to an open field, a flashback of sorts and to show a world that "might've been", two lovers by themselves, a light and airy field, isolation. 

I know this is a lot to accomplish in a short amount of time, and hopefully we'll be able to pull it off. I've got a very specific vision both thematically and visually, and nothing would delight me more than to see this being brought to life. 

Music Video

For our group's music video, we received the rights to use the song "Welcome Home" by Radical Face. The talent we will be working with are Drew Grey and Tommie Boltinghouse. The locations that we will be filming at will be Old Wilmington Antiques, Greenfield Lake, Elaine's Antiques, and Maggy's Antiques. 

Art House

This was quite the reading. Being the strapping young lad that I am, I had never really known anything about these small art house cinemas. I come from a very small town. We had a $3 movie theatre that had four screens and only played blockbusters. Even the bigger theatres that were farther from home in Winston-Salem and Greensboro only played big blockbusters. This was my film experience and exposure while I was growing up. Then this thing called the internet came along. Suddenly I was exposed to an entire world of movie watching. Personally, I feel this is the wave of the future, but there is still something so simple, beautiful, and intimate as the theatre environment. This is not to say that all big budget movies are the devil, but with film, as many other things in life, if you don't keep an open mind, this can be extremely limiting to your experience. 

The article itself seemed kind of sad about the death of these small, art house theatres. I was saddened to hear about the dying off of these places that I previously didn't know existed, but it's not a surprising thing. The general public doesn't really appreciate higher art films. This isn't to say that it's a good thing these places are dying off, but maybe just outdated. It's a great thing however to see these micro cinemas popping up, and the mobility, and ability to adapt is important if smaller films are to survive. This transition into the 21st century, has got to be the way to go. Sad though it may be, this might be the future of art house and small films in the U.S. 

Lastly, I had to watch both Passion of the Christ and An Inconvenient Truth in high school. It was quite humorous to hear that both these were considered independent films. They are... an experience. I'll leave my critiques of these films to that for now...

The Film Community

Looking back at the filmmaking community that we've studied this far in the semester, I'm both impressed at the works created, and the vast differences in the people that participate in this sensibility of experimental film. Having such diverse personalities converge and work in the same art is both incredible and strange all at the same time. The filmmakers that we've covered, seem to put their own lives into their works, and are almost as interesting to study as the films that they've produced. 

The work of Aaron Valdez seemed especially intriguing to me. In addition to being a dead ringer for Joh Stewart in my opinion, he seems to work in a mode of film that is both comical, and satirical, using very simple editing devices, and yet his work is a collage of different media forms. This combination produces quite distinctive works, and a coherent message and direction. It's quite strange and yet somewhat refreshing, its as if Mr. Valdez is able to see the puzzle pieces that comprise other works and forms of media, extract them, and place them together to make an all new puzzle that is totally different, but is reliant on the sum of its parts. Astounding. 

Michele Gondry's music video works really spoke to me as well. While most music videos are either pointless, "hey lets put the camera here and watch someone lip-sync for 3 to 4 minutes", he tries to turn it into a more sophisticated art form. And he succeeds. He blends different worlds together that are loosely tied together with music, a unifying bond that so loosely binds reality and fantasy. I also admire him for trying different modes of filmmaking, including refusing to settle for just one genre, and working on projects that others wouldn't expect him too. Green Hornet wasn't as bad as everyone says, you know. 

Shooting on Film

This assignment was another departure for me from what I'm used to. However, I consider it a very good thing that continually this class is pushing me to think of things in more abstract ways. Before this assignment, I really had no interest in touching a film camera, it was antiquated technology to me, more of a novelty than anything. While I'm not a total convert, this was a lot of fun (technical difficulties aside). There is something different than working with celluloid against pixels on a computer screen. Somehow it's a more organic experience. 

I was really hesitant to even touch the camera to begin with. I somehow viewed it as being fragile, and my uninformed oafishness would be its undoing. While we did have some very unfortunate technical difficulties, I was still pleasantly surprised with how this photos actually turned out. There is a depth and dimension to this that I feel can't quite be matched by digital. I can almost feel the textures reflected in some of these shots. 

I have no real revelations after doing this assignment, no huge conversions to a new way of thinking, but rather a quiet understanding that there is something very special and different about shooting on film. I've never really tried to tell a story with photos in this sort of way, but there is something organic and fresh to this dying art, unmatched in the sometimes staleness of digital. Maybe digital is too perfect, too much of a good thing. Maybe that's the point. Life isn't perfect, and if we didn't have imperfections to balance out the good things in life, we might also find that stale. 

Light Observations

This assignment was a big departure from what I'm used to having never worked with film cameras before. It's amazing to see the difference and the intricacies involved in this old school photography, and how you can paint such diverse paintings with small changes to the lighting. 

Bracketing was something that I thought was going to be a pain in the ass when I first heard we'd have to be doing it. Honestly I didn't understand the purpose but after going out in the field and applying it, it began to make more and more sense why we were doing this. This shot above is a perfect example. The bottom photo was the properly exposed shot based on the light meter, and while I don't remember the exact f-stop it was set at, it tells a much different story than the other photos. It was an overcast, misty day, and the light cast on this bush shows enough of the texture of the leaves, and the drops of water can also be seen. It's fairly neutral, an accurate rendering of the day that we were shooting.

The middle shot is the brightest and the overexposed image, and in contrast to the properly exposed photo, it bathes the plant in light. It appears like a bright spring day and seems to soften the textures on this bush a great deal. A totally different mood is conveyed in this overexposed image. 

The top shot is the underexposed one and is my favorite. While the properly exposed one is fairly neutral, and the overexposed image looks bright and hopeful, this one is quite dark and gloomy. The plant hardly looks illuminated at all, its textures fade into the shadows rather than stand out. The mist is hardly visible. While the first two shots have enough light, this one doesn't and looks more dead and dreary. It's amazing how different it looks to me based solely on the amount of light we allowed through. A totally different atmosphere is conveyed and in my opinion matched the dreariness of the day most accurately. It's awesome to see what a difference a little tweak can make. 

Sound Design

Our sound design project was one that going in, I really had to idea what we would be able to accomplish. However, as this particular class is forcing me to think in more abstract ways, when me and Ally met up in the lab I knew that we would be able to create something that could be really freaking cool. The hardest part of this sound design project was divorcing myself from just trying to tell a story with sound. The challenge was to focus more conceptually rather than narratively, to have distinct parts of the project, but not form a typical three act structure. This wasn't the easiest thing to do for me honestly, it kinda hurt my brain a little. 

Ally simply asked me what our title made me think of. "The underside: padded like a wolf's foot" immediately made me think of course of wolves walking around in the woods, and for some reason whenever I envision wolves I always think of Alaska, someplace snowy and cold. It also made me think of The Grey (great movie, Liam Neeson is a badass) and the hopeless sort of environment. Cold, unforgiving, hostile. The images that we were coming up with I felt we could paint a picture with sound, and put the listener in that space, and make them experience the same kind of things we were trying to convey. I also considered how dark and spooky the woods can be, and thought also of how people and the machines that they create can also penetrate this space. So the concept quickly evolved into running through a haunted forest with machines and abrasive noises. 

We began to choose sound that we felt were appropriate and fell into the type of environment  the we were trying to create and after a few hours, it had all come together! I didn't want this project just to be a jumbled mess of abrasive noise, I wanted it to feel like something. A less is more approach to this project felt right to us, and the first time we listened to it through the headphones we were blown away. Sitting in the editing lab, in the dark at midnight listening to our project and how incredibly creepy and powerful it was turned out to be quite the experience. I take away from this that sound effects can really put you into a whole new world, and painting a picture with this sound turned out to be a really, really fun experience. 

Absolute Film

When we assembled for class on Wednesday, I have to admit I was apprehensive about giving my own presentation. I knew that I had spent a great deal of time researching, but it's always a wake up call when you get to see the amount of effort that others put it. And wow. The other presenters absolutely killed it. I had no idea they would be able to serve out the amount of information that they did. I felt like they knew almost everything about the filmmakers they were presenting on! 

Richter seemed like quite an interesting guy, and his whole concept of creating a new audio/visual language seemed like an incredibly complex undertaking. I was slightly underwhelmed by the first film if I am to be honest, the squares and rectangles moving around didn't amaze me. But on the first viewing of this, it may be too harsh of a judgement. The second film clip we saw seemed delightfully odd and entertaining, while I may not have fully appreciated the Rhythmus films of Richter's, the charming quality of seeing items coming to life and the unconventional techniques used made for a visually and thematically interesting piece of filmmaking. 

Jonas Mekas. What a guy. Just his life story alone was enough to keep me captivated throughout the entire presentation, but to hear all that he accomplished just floored me. Just like Channing said he did have his hand in so many pots. From making his own documentary films and raising money to support other filmmakers and the creation of the archives, Mekas continues to be a very busy man. Such a celebration of filmmaking and art in such a humble man, Mekas truly amazed me. 

As humble and generous as Mekas was, Harry Smith seemed stark raving mad to me. But wonderfully so. Out of all the presentations, I felt that Smith may have been the greatest and most imaginative artist of the day. While his personal life was questionable, the work he produced and the detail was just incredible. He truly worked and suffered for his art, and lived the life that he wanted to live. His entire life was art, and he cared little for anything else. 

The absolute film article, was just crammed full of information from all kinds of early filmmakers. While Moritz's writing was quite good, if he could have learned to hit the tab button every now and then it would've made it much easier to read than the gigantic run on sentence that was the second half of this article. Formatting flaws aside, the point that "absolute film" is the culmination of all the visual, auditory and sensory possibilities that film can do. Also the term absolute film may be more accurate than terms such as "experimental" (which has implications that the filmmakers doesn't fully understand what he or she is doing, and "avante-garde"which implies military scouts in enemy territory. 

Sound and Cymatics

The sound recording experience I had, was quite the positive one. When we first showed up at Kenan hall on a Friday night, I don't think anyone in my group had a clear idea of what we really wanted to record, or any sort of creative direction that we wanted to take this project. It was James who suggested that we go out into the courtyard (complete with that weird shaped brick structure, I have no clue what it is) and try to bounce some sounds off it. James and I had a pretty good time stomping and jumping and clapping and running around like idiots making some of the first sounds of the night, and the echos produced by the courtyard were astounding. I'm still impressed with how well our sound effects turned out. From there we went inside and explored and tried to create further sound effects with just normal objects, such as tapping on glass, footsteps, making the faux leather couches squeak (quite the pleasant noise), and just experimenting with whatever we could find. Probably the most fun was going into the sound booth in the lab and doing the voice based sounds. It was completely goofy, but I was impressed with how they turned out. For a project that we honestly put very little planning into, once the three of us got together, the creativity kicked in, and we fortunately got quite a few sounds recorded. And they turned out great! 

Regarding synesthesia, I don't think I'm any less intelligent by saying this is still a topic that is difficult for me to wrap my head around. I've read about it before over the summer in Andre's class, and I didn't really give it the attention that it deserved. Perhaps synesthesia is a gift, an expansion of what the human mind is possible of. Perhaps it is a curse, I've never met anyone who has claimed this extra-sensory experience. To me depending on what senses were being blended could be quite a disturbing experience, especially if I couldn't consciously control what I'm perceiving, like being able to zone out or focus on one thing of my choosing. Tasting colors, or feeling the texture of sounds all seem pretty alien to a (seemingly) average person such as myself. This is a topic that I wish we could know more about, but I have no idea how we can go about doing such things. For now, it remains a mystery to me and many others I'm assuming. Perhaps it's a miracle. I really can't tell how I feel about it from the outside looking in. 

As abstract as synesthesia is, I feel cymatics may be something slightly easier to wrap my head around. I think this is honestly really friggin' cool. Cymatics may be a way to study the invisible around us, that in reality affects everything. The study of this science is still in it's infancy of course, but the fact that sound waves influence the natural world is no surprise. To see these waves and vibrations visually represented though is quite striking. Wild and exotic shapes created by things we cannot even see. As an artist is concerned, this stuff is pretty wild. What this study will bring us is unknown, but from what little I've seen so far, I'm quite impressed. Who knows what the study of cymatics will bring us in the future? 

Noise, noise, noise

Sound is something that's all around us. It's not even something that you have to think about. Its incredible when you realize there are constant vibrations assaulting your ears at all times and our brain has the ability to tune it out, filter sounds and discard "excess" stimulation and cut through the din and focus on important things. So when I was asked to go into two different public places and focus on this din, just to hear the things that I tune out, I was quite interested. 

I was riding the bus back from school on Thursday afternoon, and as on most days, I had my headphones in because I don't actually don't usually care to listen to other people's idiotic conversations. However about a minute into the bus ride I started to think about this very assignment and paused my music to casually observe the noise around me. As I sat there and closed my eyes, I couldn't believe some of the things that I heard. Two girls a few seeks in front of me were having a conversation about a friend of their's who was dating a guy from Honduras, and they didn't like this very much. My window was cracked and the sound of wind was rushing in. There was something loose in the back of the bus was banging against the wall, and was making an incredible racket. The whole bus seemed to the creaking and groaning. The engine had one note as it strained to come up through the gears. Countless horns were going off all around us (why does everyone in Wilmington honk their horn constantly?). The seats on the bus creaked as people shifted in their seats, faux leather is far from being a quite material. When I opened my eyes I was amazed (and slightly thankful that I usually am listening to music) at how much noise I usually tune out. It was so noisy, and chaotic, it's enough to make one feel quite uncomfortable. 

The second chance I took to observe the sound that I usually ignore was at work. My place of employment I'll choose not to name (but I do hate it). I work in a grocery store, and it maybe be one of the largest repositories of strangeness that I've ever visited. On top of that, it's a really, really weird place. I was on break, and took an opportunity to close my eyes (trying to cure the headache incurred from working with the public) and focus on the sound around me. The first thing I noticed was the constant humming and buzzing of the fluorescent lights overhead. It sounded as if ten thousand hornets were trapped inside them and they were about to burst out. Just outside the door is the stocking room, I heard the thunderous beeping of the forklift being thrown in reverse, the sound of it's rubber tires sticking to the floor, the whoosh of it's hydraulics as it moved in position to grab something from up high. This symphony of moving heavy things was broken by the shriek of a frantic voice calling for help at the front end. After that, the double doors to the storage room flew open with a thunderclap of heavy plastic and a gust of air flowing into the space. Usually when I'm on my break however, I'm on my phone. And I notice none of these things that I've just mentioned. 

After looking of Balzas' article, some good points were made about how sound impacts us in relation to the cinema. I particularly liked her observation about how powerful silence is, something I didn't quite have the opportunity to experience when I was doing my sound observations. In the space of the cinema, the sudden onset of silence has an incredibly powerful effect. An eeriness conveyed in cinema. Film is the only single medium that can make us experience silence, something literature, radio, not even the theatre can convey. This isn't something that I had perviously considered, but a well stated point. Another element of sound in film that can emphasize is to make it asynchronous. As Balzas states, the most powerful way that a director can highlight the important of a sound and make it stand out and demand to be notice, it to divorce the relationship between image and sound. Asynchronous sound sticks out like a sore thumb, it doesn't belong, it's odd. It makes us feel uncomfortable. In this crazy world, we are always trying to make sense out of something, even sounds in a series of images whipping by at twenty four frames per second. 

Artist Manifesto/Deren/Camper

Truthfully, I find it somewhat difficult to create an artist manifesto for myself this early into my career in film. While I am proud of the most of the short films that I have worked on so far in my studies at the university, I would say the product does not match the vision that I have. Thus, based on work alone, so far I cannot truthfully create an artist manifesto for myself. I can however, speak briefly of the things that intrigue me most about films themselves. From early on, I found myself always putting myself into the shoes of characters in these films. My favorite films are works in which the one finds themselves empathizing and connecting with a character on deep levels. When a film presents dynamic characters and lets us see into the psyches, to examine details of their lives and what makes them tick, that is one of the most attractive elements I take away from a film. 

My favorite film all time is Christopher Nolan's The Prestige. A story of two illusionists at the turn of the 20th century, they develop a rivalry in their stage shows that will eventually drive both of them stark raving mad and to the point of death. The film so meticulously shows both characters slow decent into madness over the years with a complex and constant shuffling between the years. A film that presents such a rich atmosphere of period work, combining drama and illusion, coupled with such dynamic characters going after each other, is just an example of why film compels me so much. To create such characters and display their twisted minds to an audience is something I hope to be able to do someday. I haven't achieved that yet, but this is my goal that I am working towards. 

Maya Deren's short article really spoke to me when she described that no matter how technical you can make a tripod, or any piece of gear, that we as humans are already in possession of the ultimate filmmaking tool: our bodies equipped with a brain. Deren says that we all shouldn't be limited by any factor because we are possessing creativity in our ability to make films, and that imagination and freedom should be the determining factor in what we can produce. I couldn't agree more. Any film, even a clichéd, overused attempt at making money, is an expression of creativity, and a product of the human mind working together to make a film. Truly imaginative film is like art in motion, just like Deren says. Just like a photographer can capture a moment in time to create their art, we as filmmakers can celebrate the art of motion in the creation of our art. 

In Fred Camper's short article, he tries to lay out several criteria or basic guidelines for what constitutes an experimental film. Camper asses that an experimental film usually is made by a single person, or at the very least, very few people, often filling most roles of a normal production and eschewing the normal production model for a mainstream film. Camper says that an experimental film doesn't usually tell any sort of story, and if it does, it is in a nonlinear fashion. An experimental film also draws attention to the medium of film itself, such as through scratches and paintings and collage work done right on the film stock, as if to scream out "hey! look at me, I'm a film!!" Camper also contends that these types of films buck the usual trends of mass media, and don't usually have any sort of message. I agree with most of Campers points on experimental films, but I feel personally that in this realm of filmmaking, it is so wide open, it's really difficult and somewhat pointless to try and attach or categorize experimental films. They are what they are, and that can very well be anything that they damn well please to be. Experimental filmmaking is moving art, an expression of freedom, and while Camper does create a nifty little list to try and pin down what exactly constitutes an experimental film, I think this misses the point. This mode of filmmaking is freedom, so we shouldn't go about trying to pin down and define something that often cannot be defined.