Over the course of this semester, I feel like I’ve come to
appreciate experimental filmmaking a lot more than I had initially. Honestly
the initial reason I took this course was it fit my schedule and narrative had
already been filled. However, this allowed me to experience an area of film
that I was more or less unfamiliar with and was very beneficial in helping me
grow as a student. I’ve come to learn that experimental is more than just an in
crowd of artists attempting to out-meta each other with their crazy new ideas
and is more about the lack of narrative, and the attempts at new ideas to break
the implied norms of filmmaking.
I will say, one of the harder things to keep up with this
class was the blog. It was not the first thing on my mind each week, and
sometimes I completely neglected to complete them. Perhaps reminders or having
them be physical items we turned in with feedback would help inspire students
to complete these for the class. Oftentimes it felt more like busy work than
something that would benefit the student’s performance in the class.
I will take the lessons I’ve learned from this class with me
when examining other forms of media. The experimental shots in film and using
sound to help create imagery were some of my favourite aspects discussed in
this class. My main focus as a film student is editing, and with the amount of
experimental opportunities as an editor, I am very thankful for this course. My
one complaint though was with the nature of these assignments, besides the self
portrait there weren’t many opportunities to explore post-production
experimentalism. Perhaps some more ideas there would liven up the class for the
technically inclined students.