I have been researching various different types of experimental film to help me come up with ideas and techniques for my own one. Two particular films that caught my eye were L'Age d'Or (1930) by Luis Buñuel, and Un Chien Andalou (1929) also by Luis Buñuel. Both these experimental films where composed in compliance with the film theory of surrealism and focused on bizarre imagery with no real narrative, which gave the films an almost 'dream' feel to them. These two films were of particular interest to me as they used the same camera and editing techniques. These mainly consisted of close ups of body parts, commonly hands, and bits of a continuous shot being cut out to give the film a 'jumpy' feel. In L'Age d'Or, text is cut in, inside a shot which breaks up the film and makes the film have no rhythm at all which satisfies the surrealist films codes and conventions. It also uses a composed soundtrack in the background with no diegetic sound throughout. This means the audience cannot relate with the characters or get to know them which alters the focus to the mise en scene of the shots and also the connotations that they hold.
Un Chien Andalou also uses similar techniques such as the non-diegetic sound, quick cutting between shots and the focus on body parts with uses of close ups, however, it also uses lighting a lot more effectively to give a focused effect to the thing in the shot. For example the opening shot in this scene is of a woman staring at her hand and most of the background behind her is dark and flickering so we cannot see where this scene is. This technique of spot lighting one thing is very in surrealist films but also in every form of film as in almost forces the audience to focus on one thing and nothing else.
This film also uses one or two cross-fade transitions between shots which connotes the blur in reality and connection between them.
I preferred Un Chien Andalou out of the two as it uses more complex techniques that L'Age d'Or in terms of lighting and editing techniques, but I will attempt to incorporate both films techniques in my own film.
In last week's seminar, we learnt about the roles needed to create a film from start to finish. This seminar was a massive eye opener for me in terms of the sheer quantity of people needed for the production and planning of films and it also gave me an insight into what I may want to attempt a career in.
A film crew is made up of numerous roles, some more crucial than others, and these roles share the workload producing a film undertakes.
The main roles are Producer and Director who basically organise and tell everyone what to do and how to do it and they watch over everything that goes on within a production. As you can see in the table above, everyone is made up of different groups and works collaboratively to get the job done quickly and to the best standard possible. My personal aspirations lay in editing as I enjoy how you get to see all the footage in its raw element with no additions to it, and then get to perfect the flow of the film and make its seem like a seamless piece of footage.
In a seminar a few weeks ago when we were viewing a range of short films and one in particular that caught my interest was called Salaryman 6 (2002) by Jake Knight and told a story of a Japanese office worker that is caught in a routine of going to work, going home, going to bed, waking up etc through the repetition of the same shots at the same angle with the use of some time lapses. This film has given me ideas to use within my experimental project as I may try and adapt the message of stuck in daily routines and not trying to break out of them, and also the loneliness connoted by being stuck in this with no one attempting to help you out as they are in the same position as you.
The film also uses split screen images of different things happening at once with different framing's which is also very interesting as it is quite an abstract and experimental technique to use because the audience will find it difficult to watch both pieces of action at once which messes with the focus and narrative of the film. However since our project is on experimental film I will try and use these techniques as effectively as they have done here to portray meaning. Its done very well in this film because the narrative needs to be split up as if the character is in two different minds about his situation, on the one hand he's complacent with his role in life but in another you can see his frustration at what he's doing and how he wants to change it.
In our brainstorming for the experimental film, me and George have settled on the idea of trying to give a sense of a busy place, so we can potentially draw inspiration from this film in terms of business and frustration at the fact that no one gives enough time for one another.
