0UGD401: Avante-garde Cinema.

Avante-garde cinema sets out to be in opposition to mainstream cinema. 

They do not develop a coherent narrative, without a plot. Deemed 'Unwatchable' by some, however it is only unwatchable due to the conventions in which we have been taught to watch cinema by Hollywood. 

Require watchers to be active spectators. 

'Un Perro Andalou' (1929) Dir. Luis Bunuel.

Plots developed by the occurrence of random events, co created with Salvador Dali. 

One of the starting points of radical cinema. 

Matthew Barney- Cremaster Cycle 3 (2002)

People began to make cinema that had no actors in, they would focus on the film experimenting with the proces of filming. 

Spirals, Oskar Fischinger. (1924)

Plays with optics and the process of seeing. 

'An Optical poem'

James Whitney, Lapis, 1966.

Concentrating on optics and sensory processing. 

Lyrical abstract, perceived as poetic, and hints at the oncoming of romanticism. 

Stan Brakhage- black Ice (1994)

Scratches into film and paints ontop of it, Radical film maker. One of the most important abstract film makers in the 20th century.

Aims to create a hypnogogic vision- the time between being awake and falling asleep.
Black Ice is my favourite piece of abstract cinema that we viewed, I like the way in which the film has undergone a physical process by scratching and painting the film, rather than trying to create these effects digitally. 

Andy Warhol films deemed very unwatchable - Film of the empire state building spans over 10 and a half hours. Filmed from one perspective.

Goes against filming for capitalism and creates film not for making money, therefore this type of film has integrity.