short film experimental genre

• Film Theory

What is Experimental Film — History, Examples & Movements

W hat is an experimental film? This elusive and niche genre can be difficult to define, and there are many common misconceptions about experimental filmmaking, but we’ll be sorting through the fact and the fiction to provide a comprehensive overview of what it means for a film to be “experimental”. We’ll get started with a definition, then dig deeper into experimental filmmaking as a genre, and finally close things out by taking a look at some notable examples.

Avant garde film definition

First, let’s define experimental film.

There are many film terms and phrases that could use simple definitions, and we’ve compiled them all in our ultimate guide to filmmaking terminology . You can also look up definitions for every genre of film in our ultimate guide to movie genres .

EXPERIMENTAL FILM DEFINITION

What is an experimental film.

An experimental film is a project bucks the trends of conventional cinema and pushes the medium of film in unexplored ways. The spectrum of experimental films is extremely broad; this genre encompasses a great many types of projects of varying lengths, styles, and goals.

There are experimental feature films, though more experimental projects have shorter runtimes. This is due in part to many experimental films being made for low budgets and/or the fact that the majority of experimental films are never intended for mainstream appeal or traditional distribution.

AVANT GARDE FILM CHARACTERISTICS

• Can be any length
• Niche and often artsy
• Pushes boundaries and tries new things

Experimental filmmakers

Digging deeper into experimental film.

Let’s dig a little deeper into what it means for a project to be classified as an experimental film. There is a modicum of debate over what exactly constitutes an experimental film, and some projects blur the line between traditional cinema and experimental filmmaking by including elements of each. Experimentation can be found in the editing, in the filming, in the subject matter, or in the manipulation of the camera and celluloid’s chemical and mechanical processes.

A beginner’s guide to experimental cinema

There are many misconceptions about what experimental filmmaking is, so let’s dispel a couple. One common belief is that experimental films have no story. While some experimental films certainly lack anything that could be considered a traditional narrative, that does not hold true for all experimental films.

Another commonly held notion is that experimental films are weird for the sake of being weird or that they are simply filmed nonsense. This is quite a reductive stance to take on the entire genre, but it is an opinion shared by many. The audience for experimental films can be extremely niche, and experimental filmmakers are aware of this. They are not made for everyone.

Surreal = experimental is another common misconception. Containing an element of surrealism does not automatically make a project experimental in nature. However, there is an intrinsic linkage between surrealism and experimental cinema, so the misconception is understandable. Let’s clarify this point with an example.

Sexy Beast  •  dream sequence

This dream sequence from the gangster flick Sexy Beast is undoubtedly surreal yet there is nothing experimental at play. The surrealism is conjured through traditional filmmaking means only. So, while surrealism and experimental cinema often go hand-in-hand, surrealism alone is not enough to constitute a film being labeled as experimental; the filmmaking methods and the pushing or warping of boundaries play important roles as well.

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The history of experimental cinema

Experimental filmmaking over the years.

Since the first camera was invented , artists have been experimenting with the tool. At the dawn of cinema, everything was an experiment. It was only through the intervention of time that certain techniques and methods became standard.

While many of the techniques used in Voyage dans la Lune seem antiquated by modern filmmaking standards, they were absolutely boundary shattering way back in 1902. Radical experimentation was necessary to pull off so many things that had never before been seen or created in the medium of film.

A Trip to the Moon

As cinematic techniques improved and became seen as standards, there were still filmmakers willing to experiment and push the envelope. 1929’s Un Chien Andalou was an early masterpiece of both surrealism and experimental filmmaking. Many of the techniques used in Un Chien Andalou were experimental at the time but have since been integrated into more standard filmmaking techniques as the decades have passed. Salvador Dalí and Luis Buñuel were two master surrealists and played an important role in the common linkage between surrealism and experimentation through their boundary pushing methods.

Un Chien Andalou

By the 1940s, surrealism and experimental filmmaking were further linked through the work of Maya Deren. Over time, she has proven to be one of the most influential experimental filmmakers of all time. She created a number of experimental short films, the first of which, Meshes of the Afternoon , is often credited as a turning point for experimental and avant garde cinema. The short remains a highlight of the genre more than 70 years after it was first released.

If you are interested in making your own short films, check out our how to make a short film guide first.

Meshes of the Afternoon  •  Maya Deren

Andy Warhol is a name well known in the pop art world, but he made numerous contributions to the experimental film world as well. Warhol made nearly 150 experimental short films throughout his lifetime, and a number of them made throughout the 1960s were considered important contributions to the form. Below is a compilation of six of Warhol’s shorts made between 1964 and 1966.

Andy Warhol’s Screen Tests

David Lynch is perhaps the most well-known filmmaker to consistently experiment in his films. He earned a spot on our list of the best directors of all time . Some Lynch projects explore a blend between experimental cinema and traditional filmmaking, while other Lynch projects comfortably fall into the “wholly experimental” category. Since his debut feature in 1977 with Eraserhead , Lynch has continued to employ experimental techniques in his feature films to this day. A significant degree of Eraserhead’s experimentation can be found in the atmospheric sound design . Listen closely to the trailer below.

Eraserhead  •  trailer

Now that we’ve explored a brief history of experimental filmmaking, let’s see if we can sort experimental films into a few distinct categories.

Experimental film examples

Types of experimental films.

Though experimental films in general can be a bit difficult to categorize as they defy convention by their very nature, there are a few common types we can examine from a bird’s eye view . The first type is: experimental films that challenge the form of filmmaking . This includes projects that defy the expectation of what a film is and manipulate the creation process, like Stan Brakhage’s Dog Star Man .

Dog Star Man  •  complete

This piece of experimental filmmaking was originally produced as four shorts before being compiled as a singular project. Dog Star Man is often hailed as an experimental masterpiece and was made through various manipulations to the film stock, experimenting with different exposure types, and radical editing techniques.

Another film that lands in the “challenges the form” category is Derek Jarman’s Blue . This one-hour-19-minute experimental film features just a single, unchanging visual for the entire duration: a solid blue screen. An intricately orchestrated audio track underscores the static visual, and the two combine to form a highly emotional experience.

Blue  •  Derek Jarman

Our next type of experimental film is the experimental documentary . Check out our list of the best documentaries to set a baseline for traditional documentary filmmaking before we jump into the experimental side of the genre. This experimental category encompasses projects like the nearly century old Soviet-produced Man With a Movie Camera . The full documentary is available to watch below.

Man With a Movie Camera

Another experimental documentary found in this category comes from none other than Orson Welles with For for Fake . This documentary, essay-film hybrid blurs the lines between fact and fiction in a fascinating way.

F for Fake Video Essay

Experimental Animation is a tried and true category of experimental filmmaking with many worthwhile and envelope pushing entries. Again, you can set a baseline for the non-experimental side of this genre by checking out our list of the best animated films ever made . As for the experimental side of the medium, first, we can return to David Lynch for his contribution to the category.

Six Men Getting Sick

The above short film, Six Men Getting Sick , was David Lynch’s very first foray into filmmaking. He began his journey into the arts as a painter, and you can see him bridging the gap with this painted filmmaking experiment.

For further examples of experimental animation, we can look to the Quay Brothers. Their shorts utilize a dreamy blend of stop-motion animation and puppetry. A number of their shorts are in the criterion collection; here is a highlight reel for four of their shorts.

Criterion teaser for the Quay Brothers

And for one last example of experimental animation found in a recent film, we can look to 2018’s German-Chilean production La Casa Lobo . Sculpture, stop-motion, traditional animation, and other artistic techniques were blended together in jaw dropping fashion that utilized life-size sets and dizzying camerawork. This experimental production pushes the boundaries of animation and accomplishes things never before seen in the medium. It gives the absolute best stop-motion films a run for their money.

The Wolf House  •  trailer

Experimental filmmaking remains alive and well in the modern filmmaking age. As long as there are boundaries left to push, filmmakers will continue to experiment.

What Was Dogme 95?

If you’re interested in experimental filmmaking, the Dogme 95 cinematic vow of chastity makes a fascinating case study into a radical filmmaking experiment. Learn about the movement, why and how it was created, the films that comprise it, and more, up next.

Up Next: What was Dogme 95? →

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What is an Experimental Short Film? A Beginner’s Guide to Avant-Garde Cinema

Experimental short films occupy a fascinating niche within the broader world of cinema. By throwing out conventions and challenging preconceived notions about film structure , storytelling, and meaning , avant-garde shorts provide viewers with a bold, innovative, and unconventional experience.

But what exactly defines an experimental short film? What characteristics and techniques set these avant-garde works apart from more mainstream narratives and cinema? In this beginner’s guide, we’ll unpack what makes experimental shorts unique along with tips for creating your own inventive film projects.

Table of Contents

Defining the Experimental Short Film Genre

First, let’s start with a working definition of what experimental short films are at their core:

Experimental shorts are typically brief films that purposefully break with narrative traditions of cinematic storytelling in favor of new, unconventional techniques and aesthetics .

As a genre, avant-garde filmmaking emphasizes original , conceptual , and abstract approaches to mood , tone , editing , story structure , lighting, and other technical elements .

The experimental director’s goal is often to challenge preconceived notions about cinema itself or convey a subjective inner experience rather than tell a linear story.

Some hallmarks of experimental shorts include:

• Non-linear, symbolic, or fragmented narratives rather than traditional story structure
• Surreal, perplexing, or dream-like visuals and editing
• Heavy focus on evoking specific tones, emotions, or sensory experiences
• Loose narratives taking place in subjective realities or stream-of-consciousness
• Utilizing techniques like rapid montage, jump cuts, improvised acting, or jarring shifts in audio/visuals
• Open-ended narratives and meanings left up for interpretation

Though “experimental film” originally referred to a period of avant-garde European and American cinema in the 1920s-50s, it remains a vibrant genre. Contemporary experimental shorts continue pushing the envelope today.

Early Origins of Avant-Garde Cinema

While every art form has its periods of progressive, experimental work that rebel against conventions, few had as radical an influence as the early avant-garde film movement did on cinema.

The late 19th and early 20th centuries saw rapid advancement in film technology, from the birth of motion pictures to the development of new editing and camera techniques.

Visionary European and American filmmakers embraced these innovations as tools for creating highly conceptual, non-narrative works that exemplified what art and cinema could be.

Some pioneering experimental directors and their influential works include:

• French artist Fernand Léger , whose 1924 Ballet Mécanique used rhythmic editing and everyday images to create sensations of movement and Industrial Age machinery.
• Surrealist artist Luis Buñuel , whose 1929 classic Un Chien Andalou (made with Salvador Dalí) used shocking, irrational sequences to tap into the subconscious mind.
• Photographer Man Ray , whose experimental films like Le Retour à la Raison (1923) incorporated techniques like rayographs, distorted exposures, and dreamy visual poetry.
• Maya Deren , whose films like Meshes of the Afternoon (1943) created trance-like moods through repetition, slow motion, and visions within dreams.
• Stan Brakhage , who painted and scratched film negatives to create oneiric films like Dog Star Man (1961-1964).

Common Themes and Characteristics

While avant-garde films vary wildly, some patterns and shared characteristics emerge:

Surrealism and Subjectivity

Many experimental shorts use surrealism or distorted realities to create highly subjective points of view and loose narratives connected to dreams or the subconscious.

For example, Buñuel and Dalí’s Un Chien Andalou depict shocking images like a sliced eyeball along with deadpan characters and dream logic transitions.

Minimalist Storytelling

Rather than feature-length plots, experimental shorts often have bare-bones frameworks or vignettes conveying mood. Brakhage’s The Act of Seeing with One’s Own Eyes is a 32-minute film depicting autopsy footage in a poetic, abstract way.

Metaphorical Visuals

Avant-garde films frequently rely on dense, symbolic visuals that function as metaphors open to interpretation rather than straightforward storytelling.

For example, Maya Deren’s At Land (1944) shows a woman moving through different environments to represent herself discovering freedom.

Rule-Breaking Techniques

Experimental directors intentionally break conventions through rapid editing , odd camera angles , distorting images , eliminating narrative coherence , and other innovative techniques that challenge notions of cinema.

Defamiliarization

By stripping objects, actions, and stories from their typical context, experimental films create a sense of “defamiliarization” that makes the viewer see things in a new light.

Dziga Vertov’s Man with a Movie Camera (1929) took mundane urban scenes but revealed novel perspectives through editing.

Social Commentary

Avant-garde films frequently include social commentary by satirizing norms or conveying harsh realities abstractly. Luis Buñuel’s Las Hurdes (1933) delivered a searing surrealist critique of the living conditions in rural Spain.

Why Create Experimental Short Films?

What motivates avant-garde filmmakers to toss out conventional storytelling and embrace radical concepts and techniques? Here are some key reasons experimental shorts remain compelling:

Artistic Freedom

Experimental directors are driven by pure artistic impulse and realizing fresh creative visions without commercial constraints. Form follows function in expressing an inner experience.

Challenging Perspectives

By subverting expectations, experimental films can make audiences reconsider social norms, culture, meaning-making, and viewing habits in new ways.

Avant-garde shorts push cinematic grammar forward through new approaches to editing, visuals, acting and narratives that influence mainstream media.

Evoking Reactions

From bewilderment to discomfort to inspiration, experimental films can elicit visceral reactions by making the familiar seem alien. Ambiguity invites individual interpretation.

Expanded Cinema

By expanding definitions and boundaries, experimental filmmakers argue cinema can encompass a broader spectrum of creative possibilities beyond mass entertainment.

Influential Experimental Short Film Directors

While we can’t chronicle every important avant-garde filmmaker, these visionaries expanded notions of what the medium could do:

The Ukrainian-American filmmaker created some of the most influential American avant-garde films of the 1940s-50s. Meshes of the Afternoon(1943) showed how editing and repetition could reflect feelings of alienation and dreams.

Stan Brakhage

The pioneering American director painted and scratched film negatives to convey raw emotion through abstract visual forms in classics like Mothlight (1963) and The Act of Seeing with One’s Own Eyes (1971) .

Kenneth Anger

Anger gained renown for his surreal homoerotic shorts like Fireworks (1947) and Scorpio Rising (1964) which blended provocative imagery, pop culture, the occult, and taboo topics.

David Lynch

Lynch’s surreal nightmare worlds reveal avant-garde underpinnings. Early short films like The Alphabet (1968) and The Grandmother (1970) incorporated unsettling soundscapes and symbolic storytelling.

Luis Buñuel

The Spanish surrealist master pioneered experimental strategies in iconic films like Un Chien Andalou (1929) and L’Âge d’Or (1930) , taking liberties with narrative to convey dream logic.

Jean-Luc Godard

The iconoclastic French New Wave director incorporated avant-garde techniques into narrative films. Shorts like Caméra-Oeil (1967) and One Plus One (1968) revealed his radical approach.

Tips for Creating Your Own Experimental Shorts

Want to take inspiration from the avant-garde and create your own experimental shorts? Here are some tips to guide your innovative film projects:

Have a Clear Creative Vision

Even if the narrative is opaque, start with a focused creative concept or emotions/ ideas to convey. Know why you’re breaking conventions in service of the vision.

Learn the “Rules” Before Breaking Them

It helps to understand basic film form , editing , camera work , lighting , etc. before subverting accepted wisdom. Know the rules to break them fully.

Edit Unconventionally

Editing can make or break experimental shorts. Play with pacing, cuts, montages, repetition, and sequencing to provoke new perspectives.

Embrace Non-Narrative Forms

Liberate yourself from linear stories. Try poetic assemblages, sensory collages, non-literal vignettes, or associative sequences instead.

Lean Into Tone and Mood

Use visuals, acting, music , and sound design to cultivate potent emotional tones. Prioritize conveying how something feels.

Be Intentional With “Mistakes”

Subtlety is key with techniques like jump cuts or broken continuity. They shouldn’t just feel sloppy.

Leave Meaning Open to Interpretation

Resist over-explaining everything. Allow space for individual reactions and ambiguity.

The Future of Experimental Filmmaking

While some question if “pure” avant-garde cinema endures in today’s digital world of instant video and CGI effects, many filmmakers keep the experimental spirit alive in new forms:

Digital Avant-Garde

Directors like David Lynch have incorporated glitch effects, multimedia, and other digital tactics into recent experimental works, evolving the genre.

Short Form Experimentation

YouTube and Vimeo provide ready avenues for experimental shorts, music videos, and other projects to reach audiences directly.

Hybrid Approaches

Many indie directors blend experimental touches into narrative films, commercials, and other media, revealing avant-garde influence.

Underground Film Communities

Though not mainstream, vibrant underground communities of experimental filmmakers collaborate and share work outside the Hollywood system.

VR/Interactive Media

Immersive technologies like VR, AI, and interactive video provide new frontiers for avant-garde concepts that subvert passive viewing and linear narrative conventions.

A Living Art Form

While challenging, non-commercial short films will likely remain a niche art form, experimental pioneers continue advancing cinema and culture by revealing bold new possibilities. Their creative spirit lives on.

Conclusion – What is an Experimental Short Film

The avant-garde short films expand perspectives, push aesthetic boundaries, and champion pure creative vision over commercial considerations. By subverting expectations and predictable formulas, experimental shorts refresh your senses and reveal cinema’s exciting potential.

Ready to delve deeper into the radical possibilities of avant-garde filmmaking? Pick up a camera, break some rules, and let your creative impulses run wild. With an artistic vision and willingness to innovate, your groundbreaking experimental short could be the next to influence generations. The limits are only what you make them.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do you know if a film is experimental.

• It breaks the conventions of traditional narrative storytelling
• Uses avant-garde techniques like jump cuts, rapid editing, montages
• Has a non-linear, symbolic, abstract, or fragmented storyline
• Emphasizes tone, and mood and elicits reactions over clear plot points
• Contains surreal, perplexing, or dream-like sequences
• Leaves the meaning and interpretation open-ended

How do you make an experimental short film?

• Start with a focused creative vision or emotions you want to convey
• Learn basic filmmaking techniques before deciding which “rules” to break
• Edit in unconventional, provocative ways to challenge perspectives
• Use music, lighting, and effects to create a specific tone or mood
• Embrace non-narrative forms like poetic montage or symbolic vignettes
• Be intentional about jarring edits, sequencing, distortions, and mistakes

What do experimental films tend to be?

• Brief, typically under 30 minutes long
• Abstract and symbolic rather than linear narratives
• Focused on innovative aesthetics and form over straightforward plots
• Enigmatic, produces bewilderment or requires interpretations
• Subversive of film conventions and social/cultural norms
• Evocative, aimed more at eliciting reactions than telling stories

What are the 3 characteristics of experimental film?

• Non-linear or fragmented narrative structure
• Rule-breaking creative techniques and aesthetics
• Symbolic visuals and editing are open to interpretation

What are the six characteristics of experimental films?

• Surreal or dream-like narratives and visuals
• Heavy use of metaphorical imagery
• Rapid, disjunctive editing techniques
• Improvised, nonlinear storytelling
• Jarring or shocking content
• Audience engagement through interactive elements

Do experimental films avoid telling stories?

Experimental films often avoid or subvert traditional narratives, but may imply loose, subjective storyline fragments. They emphasize form, abstractions, mood, and reactions over plot-driven stories.

Do most experimental films do not tell a story?

Most experimental films primarily focus on innovative aesthetics, rule-breaking techniques, and evoking reactions rather than conveying a clear storyline from start to finish. However, some may incorporate loose narrative threads or vignettes as a structural framework.

What’s another name for experimental films?

• Avant-garde films
• Underground films
• Non-narrative films
• Alternative films

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What Is Experimental Film: The Essential Guide

What is an experimental film? It’s a question that deserves an answer. It may also be the phrase most likely used to describe films in the most pretentious and least helpful manner possible. But what does it actually mean?

Etymologically speaking, there’s nothing particularly experimental about “experimental film.” The word comes from the Latin word experimentum or “test,” and was initially used in chemistry in reference to scientific experiments.

However, it soon found its way into other scientific fields, as well as philosophy and mathematics. The concept of a “test” soon became associated with pushing boundaries, trying new things, and generally not taking the easy road.

This isn’t too far off from how we use it today. Experimental films are typically more concerned with form than content. They can eschew traditional narrative structure or display techniques that aren’t commonly seen in mainstream cinema.  

What Is experimental film

What is experimental film.

Experimental film, also known as avant-garde film or underground film, describes a category of films that are often made outside of the mainstream commercial filmmaking industry.

The primary characteristic of experimental films is to focus on the exploration of new cinematic techniques and visual expression.

Experimental films are often either manipulated photographic images, collage films, short films , or a combination of all three.

Some feature abstract film techniques, sound manipulation, rapid changes in image size and style, or alternate frame rates. Some rely on mechanical devices that use optical effects such as mirrors.

Experimental film is a realm where filmmakers break free from conventional storytelling, exploring new narrative techniques and visual styles.

It’s where the norm is defied and creativity knows no bounds.

In our deep jump into the world of experimental cinema, we’ll uncover the essence of what makes a film ‘experimental’ and why these films are vital to the evolution of the cinematic arts.

We’ll explore the pioneers of this genre and their groundbreaking works that continue to inspire filmmakers and audiences alike.

Join us as we unravel the captivating elements of experimental film that challenge our perceptions and push the boundaries of what film can be.

Definition Of Experimental Film

When we jump into the essence of experimental film, we encounter a realm that transcends traditional storytelling.

These films are often characterized by their non-linear narratives and avant-garde aesthetic.

The very nature of experimental film defies easy categorization.

But, it’s essential to pinpoint certain elements that are hallmarks of this innovative genre:

• A focus on the visual and auditory experience over conventional narrative structure,
• The use of abstract or symbolic content to convey themes and emotions,
• An emphasis on the filmmaker’s personal artistic vision.

Filmmakers in this space are liberated from the constraints of commercial filmmaking.

Their works are personal and can be seen as an extension of the artist’s thoughts and feelings.

One might argue that experimental film is akin to poetry in motion.

Like a poem, these films invite multiple interpretations and affect viewers on a deeply subjective level.

Groundbreaking experimental works like Meshes of the Afternoon challenge audiences to engage with the medium in a radically different way.

These films often require an active viewer – one who’s ready to piece together the story from a disjointed narrative or to find meaning in a seemingly unrelated sequence of images.

The landscape of experimental film is ever-changing and hard to pin down.

It’s a genre that’s constantly evolving as artists push the boundaries of what’s possible within the medium of film.

Breaking Free From Conventional Storytelling

In the vibrant world of experimental film, we find a refreshing liberation from traditional cinematic narratives.

Conventional plots, predictable character arcs, and the familiar three-act structure are eschewed in favor of a form that’s boundless and unconfined.

Filmmakers venturing into this domain aren’t just telling stories – they’re exploring the medium itself.

Every shot, cut, and sound in experimental cinema is an opportunity to innovate and communicate ideas and emotions beyond the scope of words.

Drawn to the possibilities of the canvas that is the screen, artists behind experimental films use their visual lexicon to create unique experiences.

Consider the powerful aesthetics in Meshes of the Afternoon , where the visual language speaks volumes, rendering dialogue almost unnecessary.

The hallmarks of experimental film often include –

• Non-linear narratives – Innovative use of camera techniques and editing,
• Emphasis on mood and tone over plot,
• Abstract imagery to evoke a range of interpretations.

As filmmakers, our goal isn’t to simply entertain but to evoke, provoke, and question.

We aim to challenge the viewer’s perception and provide a cinematic experience that resonates on a deeper, often more personal level.

By deliberately stepping away from mainstream storytelling, experimental film opens up new horizons for cinematic expression.

The intersection of film and viewer in this arena is a space ripe for exploration, where the act of viewing becomes a participatory experience.

In embracing the experimental, we provide a counterpoint to the familiar, a contrast that often highlights the potential and elasticity of the film medium.

Audiences who step into the world of experimental film become part of a conversation – a dialogue between creator and consumer where the rules are rewritten with every frame.

Exploring New Narrative Techniques

In the world of experimental film, narrative takes on a form as malleable as clay.

We encounter stories that twist time, space, and reality to create something wholly unique.

Through various means – fragmented storylines , dream sequences , or unreliable narrator s – these films push the boundaries of how a story can be told.

One noteworthy approach to narrative is the use of hyperlink cinema .

Flicks like Babel or Syriana create a tapestry of interwoven story threads, connecting characters and events across different narratives.

This style mimics the interconnected nature of our digital world and offers a rich ground for exploration.

Experimental filmmakers often employ visual symbolism to convey meaning, sidelining traditional dialogue-driven plot development.

Consider The Tree of Life ; its visual sequences speak volumes without a single line of dialogue.

The essence of experimental narrative is to ask fundamental questions about cinema itself.

What are the limits of film?

How can we transcend them?

Such questions lead to techniques including:

• Non-linear storytelling,
• The use of montage to suggest rather than narrate,
• Mixed media formats that combine film with animation, still photography, or digital effects.

In our quest to understand experimental cinema, we look to pieces like Enter the Void .

It’s a film that shatters conventional narrative structures, offering a sensory overload that defies easy description.

The narrative unfolds not as a straight line but as a spiral, looping and re-looping through a character’s life.

We examine how Dogville stretches the concept of a set to its limits.

The film unfolds on a nearly bare stage, challenging audiences to enrich the sparse visuals with their own imagination.

The journey into the heart of experimental narrative techniques is an ever-evolving adventure.

As we jump into more films, we unlock new ways to mold and understand the stories we tell.

https://youtube.com/watch?v=ZiqBTZMJ-b0

Pushing The Boundaries Of Visual Styles

We see experimental films as audacious art forms that dare to challenge and redefine the aesthetic norms of mainstream cinema.

They plunge into uncharted visual territories, often achieving a unique cinematic language that can be both perplexing and fascinating.

These artistic ventures frequently embrace a variety of unconventional visual styles.

We’ve observed a range of groundbreaking approaches in films like Enter the Void where neon-drenched visuals complement a narrative that defies linearity.

One significant trend within these films is the manipulation of color and light to create an emotional impact.

We consider The Fall a prime example, with its kaleidoscope of vibrant hues painting each frame to not just tell a story but evoke a visceral response.

Experimental filmmakers also experiment with:

• Aspect ratios – altering the viewer’s perspective,
• Camera techniques – embracing handheld or drone footage,
• Post-production effects – using CGI to generate new realities.

By pushing these boundaries, film becomes more than storytelling; it becomes an immersive experience.

Under the Skin utilizes minimal dialogue paired with stark, haunting imagery to invite us deeper into the alien perspective of its protagonist.

Textures and patterns play an essential role as well.

They can transform the mundane into the extraordinary, like the intricate shadow play in The Cabinet of Dr.

Caligari, which still inspires filmmakers today.

Our exploration of experimental film reminds us that the medium is a canvas for innovation.

Each frame, with its meticulous composition and thoughtful design, can redefine what we consider possible in the art of filmmaking.

Pioneers Of Experimental Cinema

When we explore the origins of experimental film, it’s impossible to overlook the groundbreaking work of Maya Deren.

With her film Meshes of the Afternoon , she catapulted herself into the spotlight, setting a precedent for personal and avant-garde narrative structures in cinema.

She blazed a trail for filmmakers seeking to express complex subjects outside the confines of traditional storytelling.

Another luminary in the field was Luis Buñuel , whose collaboration with Salvador Dalí on Un Chien Andalou remains a quintessential work.

This film challenged viewers with its dreamlike sequences and stark, surreal imagery.

It demonstrated the power of cinema to tap into the subconscious, liberating film from the shackles of linear narratives.

Stan Brakhage, an icon of the American avant-garde scene, pushed the boundaries of what film could be.

His body of work, most notably Dog Star Man , exemplified the use of hand-held cameras and rapid editing.

Brakhage’s emphasis on visual perception as a personal, almost tactile experience redefined the role of the viewer.

The impact of these pioneers can be seen across various aspects of modern and classic cinema –

• Reinforcement of personal narrative,
• Exploration of dreamlike and surreal imagery,
• Challenge to traditional story structures.

Their contributions are not merely historical footnotes; they continue to influence filmmakers who strive to forge unique visual narratives.

These trailblazers showed us that experimentation isn’t just about breaking rules – it’s about creating a new language for storytelling that’s only bound by the limits of our imagination.

https://youtube.com/watch?v=wcr98xQ39-k

Groundbreaking Works And Their Influence

We can’t talk about experimental film without acknowledging Meshes of the Afternoon by Maya Deren.

This film set the stage for narrative flexibility in cinema.

With its circular story and symbolic imagery, it inspired filmmakers to jump into the subconscious of their audiences.

L’Âge d’Or , created by Luis Buñuel, disrupted the film industry with its bold critique of bourgeois society.

It used surrealism to unlock new forms of expression.

Buñuel’s work left a permanent mark on the film landscape by breaking down narratives steeped in reality and reimagining them through a dream-like lens.

Stan Brakhage’s Dog Star Man exemplified the power of editing to create meaning.

His splicing technique questioned the very essence of moving images.

Brakhage’s contribution lies in his ability to evoke raw emotions, encouraging filmmakers to explore the visceral potential of their medium.

These experimental films sparked movements which continue to influence today’s cinema:

• Meshes of the Afternoon paved the way for films that challenge linear storytelling,
• L’Âge d’Or served as a blueprint for satirical narratives in contemporary film,
• Dog Star Man remains a master class in editing, inspiring innovative ways to manipulate time and space on screen.

Their nonconformist methods were revolutionary.

They urged filmmakers to view the camera as an extension of the human eye.

Not just to capture reality but to create a tapestry of perception that defies it.

Each one of these works embodies experimentation beyond just form and narrative structure.

They embed complex themes and emotions into the visual language.

Our understanding of film as an art form is richer for their daring explorations.

Captivating Elements Of Experimental Film

Experimental film thrives on the fringe of conventional cinema, challenging viewers with its unique characteristics and aesthetics.

What Is Experimental Film – Wrap Up

We’ve delved into the essence of experimental film, uncovering its power to transcend traditional storytelling and engage us on a profound level.

These films challenge our perceptions, inviting us to experience cinema through a fresh, often avant-garde lens.

As we embrace the unconventional rhythms and narratives of experimental cinema, we’re reminded that film is not just entertainment but a dynamic art form capable of endless evolution.

Let’s continue to celebrate the bold creators who dare to express their visions without boundaries, forever changing how we perceive the art of filmmaking.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is the structure of experimental films.

Experimental films often feature a nonlinear structure that manipulates time, crafts fragmented storylines, and fosters unique connections with the audience.

How Do Visual Effects Enhance Experimental Cinema?

In experimental cinema, visual effects and editing techniques are used more for expressive purposes rather than simply for aesthetic appeal.

What Role Does Sound Play In Experimental Films?

Soundtracks in experimental films aim to defy conventional expectations and help create immersive and often unexpected auditory experiences.

Are Experimental Films Limited To Specific Genres?

No, experimental films are not confined to specific genres.

They often explore a wide range of philosophical and psychological issues.

How Do Experimental Films Utilize The Camera?

Experimental films push the boundaries of traditional camera usage, redefining it as a creative tool rather than a passive recording device.

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Film Genres

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Film Studies Librarian

Other library resource(s)

Keeping up with Film Studies journal literature

You can get the app from the App Store or Google Play.

Don't own or use a mobile device? You can still use BrowZine! It's also available in a web version. You can get to it here . The web version works the same way as the app version. Find the journals you like, create a custom Bookshelf, get ToCs and read the articles you want.

An introduction to Experimental films

This definition covers experimental films, artists' films and avant-garde films An international film practice that has explored cinema’s capacity to manipulate light, motion, space, and time, and/or expresses the filmmaker’s personal artistic vision. Usually linked to broader trends and practices in fine art, avant-garde film is particularly closely associated with modernism , tracing its origins to 1920s Europe in the work of artists motivated by a desire to add a temporal dimension to painting and sculpture. Formative early works Rhythmus 21 (Hans Richter, Germany, 1923–25) and Symphonie diagonale (Viking Eggeling, Germany, 1923–24) explore the musical organization of filmic time; while Le ballet mécanique (Fernand Léger, France, 1924) and Anémic cinema (Marcel Duchamp, France, 1926) offer graphic investigations of Cubist space. The influence of Surrealism is apparent in La coquille et le clergyman (Germaine Dulac, France, 1927) and Un chien Andalou (Salvador Dali and Luis Buñuel, France, 1928); and that of Futurism and Constructivism in Chelovek s kinoapparatom/Man with a Movie Camera (Dziga Vertov, USSR, 1929). Elsewhere in pre World War II Europe, the avant-garde impulse informs the work of Len Lye, Norman McLaren and Alberto Cavalcanti in Britain , as well as the poetic documentaries of Joris Ivens in the Netherlands and Henri Storck in Belgium . In 1929, the first international conference on avant-garde film, held in La Sarraz, Switzerland, was attended by Sergei Eisenstein, Cavalcanti, and Richter, among others.   ... Kuhn, A., & Westwell, G. (2020).  Avant-garde film . In  A Dictionary of Film Studies . Oxford University Press. Retrieved 17 Nov. 2022

In the Library collections

To find books and other resources about experimental films in the Library's collections, use the subject heading experimental films . Use this same search to find actual experimental films located in the Jones Media Center. Other related subject headings are listed below.

• experimental films Most works are located on Baker Stack Level 4 in the call number range PN 1995.9 .E96 .
• surrealist films
• avant-garde film This is a keyword search looking specific at titles in the online catalog.
• avant-garde cinema This is a keyword search looking specific at titles in the online catalog.
• cinematography, abstract
• video art This is a subject search in the online catalog.
• video art history and criticism

Introductory reading(s)

Selected book title(s)

Finding scholarly articles & journal title(s)

Articles and other writings about experimental films can be found in many publications. Our collection does not include titles which look exclusively at Experimental films.  You can use Film & Television Literature Index , or Academic Search Complete to find articles. MLA International Bibliography is another option for articles.

A selected list of experimental films

Find more experimental films in the online catalog .

• Avant-garde. 3: experimental cinema, 1922-1954 by Kino International Call Number: Jones Media DVD #9705 Long before home video there flourished an alternative cinema culture on college campuses and around art theaters, where foreign film fare was often accompanied by a short subject. As reliable 16mm film equipment became available to non-professionals, artists independent of film centers began experimenting with cinema. Serious film societies sprang up in New York, San Francisco, and Los Angeles, holding semi-private screenings of non-commercial artistic films. For years, these pictures have been exhibited only in infrequent museum screenings, if at all. This collection is of mainly American pictures, principally one-man artistic endeavors made from little more than an artist's desire to express feelings with a camera.

Internet resource(s)

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• Next: Exploitation films >>
• Last Updated: Oct 24, 2024 1:05 PM
• URL: https://researchguides.dartmouth.edu/filmgenres

By Amelia Ames

April 17, 2017

After MoMA's Bruce Conner retrospective this past summer and the Whitney's celebrated "Dreamlands: Immersive Cinema and Art" survey, experimental film finally seems to be back on the New York art world's agenda. But for a long time, film was the thorn of art history after that thing called "Hollywood" came along, which threatened the avant-garde film's separation from mainstream cinema.

Experimental or avant-garde film can be traced all the way back to canonical artists like Marcel Duchamp and Many Ray , but what happens post-Hollywood? Here's a quick guide to postwar experimental film in the United States, ranging from Expanded Cinema of the '60s to the origins of underground queer cinema with artists like Jack Smith. We've got the critics and the crucial texts you need to read (each essay has been linked) and the artists you need to know.

Expanded Cinema of the '60s

Critic to Know: GENE YOUNGBLOOD Seminal Text to Know: Expanded Cinema (1970)

Gene Youngblood was a crucial theorist of media arts and alternative cinema during the 1960s and '70s. He was the first to consider video an art form, folding computer and media art into the genre. His seminal book Expanded Cinema was the first to define one of the most heterogeneous movements in film history. As you can probably guess from term, “expanded cinema” refers to cinema that expands beyond the bounds of traditional uses of celluloid film, to inhabit a wide range of other materials and forms including video, television, light shows, computer art, multimedia installation and performance, kinetic sculpture, theater, and even holography. Mixing psychedelic consciousness and Marxist theory, Youngblood explains “when we say expanded cinema we actually mean an expanded consciousness.” So if you’re still confused after seeing Stan Vanderbeek’s immersive psychedelic Movie Drome (1965) at the Whitney’s Dreamlands exhibition this year, take a look at the first chapter of Youngblood’s Expanded Cinema (the entire book is available on the PDF link above).

ARTISTS TO KNOW: Stan Vanderbeek, Carolee Schneemann , Malcom Le Grice, Mark Leckey

Found Footage Film

Critic to Know: CRAIG BALDWIN Seminal Text to Know: From Junk to Funk to Punk to Link : A survey of found-footage film in San Francisco Bay Area

Any narrative of postwar experimental film has to begin in California. Reacting against the expansion of Hollywood, experimental film was, in essence, a form of cinema that radically opposed the aesthetics and politics of mainstream media. The rise of psychedelic light shows, beatnik films, and alternative outdoor venues like Canyon Cinema (a filmmakers cooperative started by Bruce Baillie that exhibited independent, non-commercial film) all lead the Bay area to become an epicenter of avant-garde film in the second half of the century. Experimental filmmaker Craig Baldwin’s essay “From Junk to Funk to Punk to Link” is a must-read for anyone interested in a short genealogy of found footage film, seen in likes of Bruce Conner and Gunvor Nelson's work. A pioneer of found-footage himself, Baldwin remains in San Francisco to this day where he continues to program content for Artist’s Television Access, which broadcasts art films on Public-access television. For more on experimental film in the Bay Area click here to see the Berkeley Art Museum’s catalogue, “Radical Light: Alternative Film and Video in the San Francisco Bay Area, 1945-2000.”

ARTISTS TO KNOW: Bruce Conner , Craig Baldwin, Robert & Gunvor Nelson, Chick Strand

Structuralist Film

Critic to Know: PETER GIDAL Seminal Text: "Introduction" of Structural Film Anthology (1976)

Structuralist or Materialist film is what Minimalism was to sculpture in the 1960s. In his paradigm book Structural Film Anthology (1976), English theoretician and filmmaker Peter Gidal writes frankly that "Structural/Materialist film attempts to be non-illusionist" in its attempt to "demystify the film process." Structuralist film, like Minimalist objects, doesn't actually represent anything. Instead, it exposes the relations between the camera and the way an image is presented, and explores the characteristics specific to the medium—spotlighting elements like flatness, grain, light, and movement. Tony Conrad's film The Flicker (1966), exemplary of the movement, consists purely of rapidly alternating black and white frames, achieving a kind of strobe light effect. If you're hesitant to submit yourself to the full fifteen minutes of Flicker (we don't blame you), then take a look at Gidal's introduction in the Structural Film Anthology to get a better idea about what this strange movement was really about.

ARTISTS TO KNOW: Tony Conrad, Hollis Frampton, Michael Snow

Feminist Film

Critic to Know: LAURA MULVEY Seminal Text: Visual Pleasure and Narrative Cinema (1975)

Laura Mulvey is a British feminist film theorist, currently teaching film and media studies at Birbeck, University of London. Drawing from psychoanalysts Sigmund Freud and Jacques Lacan, Mulvey’s seminal essay “Visual Pleasure and Narrative Cinema” (1975) was crucial in inaugurating the intersection of film theory, psychoanalysis, and feminism. Mulvey was the first to term what has come to be known as the “male gaze.” In the essay, she argues that classic Hollywood cinema inevitably positioned the spectator as a masculine and active voyeur, and the passive woman on screen as object of his scopic desire. The essay challenged conventional film theory and paved the way for an entire era of feminist artist’s work on the male gaze (think Cindy Sherman’s Untitled film stills.). After reading “Visual Pleasure and Narrative Cinema” you’ll never look at a Hitchcock or John Wayne the same.

ARTISTS TO KNOW: Peggy Ahwesh, Barbara Hammer, Laurie Simmons

Camp & Queer Cinema

Critic to Know: SUSAN SONTAG Seminal Text: "Notes On Camp" (1964)

Susan Sontag was one of the most revered writers, filmmakers, political activists, and critics of her generation. Sontag wrote extensively about photography, culture and media, AIDS, and the Vietnam War. Sontag’s most well known essay, “Notes on Camp,” is crucial for anyone interested in the legacy of queer filmmakers like Jack Smith, who is most known for his banned film Flaming Creatures (1963) that right-wing politician Strom Thurmand mentioned in anti-pornography speeches. Although Sontag does not define camp, she writes that the essence of a “camp” sensibility lies in “its love of the unnatural: of artifice and exaggeration.” For anyone interested in the kitschy, exotic films of Jack Smith and underground Queer Cinema, Sontag’s “Notes on Camp” is a must.

ARTISTS TO KNOW: Jack Smith, Andy Warhol , Isaac Julien

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A Critical Guide to Understanding Experimental Film

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Experimental Filmmaking for Dummies (Part 1): Why You Should Be Making Experimental Films

Into the weird and wonderful world of experimental film you've come to the right place..

Here at NFS, we've covered experimental films from time to time, sharing details on how they're made and things of that nature. Last month we even shared a delightful, albeit brief, history of experimental cinema that touched on a few of the core concepts and definitive filmmakers of the genre. Despite these brief forays into the avant-garde, however, we've never actually talked about making experimental films. Until now, that is. In our new series, "Experimental Filmmaking for Dummies", we'll explore not only the multitude of reasons why every filmmaker can benefit from experimental filmmaking, but also how to get started with making shorts in all of the most popular experimental sub-genres. Stick with us on this one. It'll be a fun ride.

What Is Experimental Filmmaking?

Experimental film is difficult to define, not because its guidelines are so abstract or even esoteric, but because it's such a wide-ranging genre that defining it almost defeats the purpose of the genre itself. In one sense, it refers to anything that defies the conventions of traditional narrative and documentary cinema. It doesn't have to tell a story. There don't have to be characters. There doesn't even necessarily need to be a message of any kind. It can be visceral or mundane, engaging or a complete bore. It can be highly personal or overtly political. It can be literally anything.

On the other hand, experimental film is an aesthetic and aural art form. Film inherently takes some of the most expressive elements from other artistic mediums and combines them into a magnificent smörgåsbord of sight and sound. All films have elements of photography, music, painting, dance, etc. However, narrative and documentary films don't necessarily use all of these artistic elements to their full potential; they're more focused on creating an enhanced sense of narrative reality than creating pure aesthetic art. With experimental films, however, the extent to which these elements can be mixed and manipulated to evoke or portray emotion or ideology is infinite.

As a result, experimental filmmaking is an absurdly powerful artistic medium that can be matched by few, if any, other art forms in terms of pure expressionistic potential. If that's not reason enough to get started with this fantastic genre, here are a few more of its copious benefits.

Benefits of Experimental Filmmaking

There are numerous reasons why you might want to make experimental films alongside (or instead of) narrative and documentary films. These reasons are varied, and there are certainly more than I can list and write about here. But the following reasons should give you a basic sense of why experimental filmmaking might just be one of the most beneficial things that you can do as a filmmaker.

Creative Freedom: First and foremost, this type of filmmaking is one of the most creatively freeing things that a person can do. Narrative filmmaking, like it or not, is all about restraint in what you show and how you show it. Even the narrative films that break away from convention are subject to the idea that every image and every sound needs to be in service of the story and the characters.

With experimental filmmaking, however, you're free to throw any and all restraint to the wind and make creative decisions that would be "unacceptable" in the world of narrative film. You can express emotions, ideas, concepts, and literally anything else through literal or abstract imagery, through juxtapositional editing, through creative use of sound design. You can disregard the technical, and focus solely on the creative.

Spontaneity: In narrative filmmaking, it's difficult to be truly spontaneous. When time is money, which it always is in a narrative environment, people tend to stick to the schedule and get the shots they need to tell the story. This isn't a bad thing in the slightest, but it's not conducive to creating art, which requires at least a certain amount of spontaneity.

With experimental filmmaking, creative decisions can be well thought out choices made prior to shooting, or the shooting can be a spontaneous act of expression in and of itself. When you're not burdened with schedules and shot lists, and the AD isn't hassling you to get the next shot set up, you are free to make creative decisions as you see fit, right on the spot.

Personal Expression: Narrative filmmaking, by its very nature, is a collaborative craft. In order for narrative films to be made properly, it takes dozens (if not hundreds) of individuals, each with a specific role in the production of that piece. Even though we still promote the idea of the auteur in our current filmmaking climate, pure personal expression is nearly impossible in an environment where hundreds of unique voices coexist. Don't get me wrong, creative collaboration is a fantastic thing, and it's the best way to make narrative films, but it can be detrimental to the idea of the personal art.

Experimental filmmaking, however, offers filmmakers the ability to express whatever the hell they want, in any way they want. Your cat just died and you're all torn up inside? Make a film about it. Girlfriend dumped you for a guy named Chad? Make a film about it. The point is that making films like these can be both cathartic and productive, and oftentimes the process of making the film can help you resolve, or at least gain perspective about whatever issues you might be going through.

Social Expression: A good many narrative films have cultural, social, political, or religious undertones implicitly stated through narrative conventions. However, when tremendous amounts of money are on the line, investors and EPs tend not to want their finished films to be political or religious statements due to the fact that those types of films alienate audiences, which is the last thing you'd want to do in the pursuit of making a commercially successful film.

Just like the previous section, experimental filmmaking allows you to focus your creative efforts squarely on the statement that you're trying to make with your film, without any of the back and forth politics that come with narrative filmmaking. If you want to make films about your displeasure with the US Congress, then you can make the most scathing critique known to man. That's your prerogative as an experimental filmmaker.

Creative Betterment: With experimental filmmaking, anything and everything is possible. You can try things with the camera that you would never think to do on a narrative set. In the editing room you can stack, manipulate, and composite video to your heart's content. You can create the most mundane or insanely abstract images and sounds and re-arrange them in any way you see fit.

When you have no creative restrictions, you're more likely to try new things and, well, experiment. It's through this experimentation that you can begin to bolster your creative toolset, and create and master techniques that you may be able to incorporate into your narrative and documentary films.

Defining a Unique Cinematic Voice: It might seem fairly cynical of me to say this, but most narrative films these days are all strikingly similar to one another in terms of their style and what they offer the audience in an artistic sense. Most of us grow up watching and studying the same films, and when it comes time to make our own, we draw from the same cinematic vocabulary that most other filmmakers are using. The result is relative conformity.

In my opinion, that's what makes filmmakers such as Steve McQueen so successful and prevalent today. As someone with a background in fine art and video installation art, McQueen has forged a unique style and perspective that has allowed him to take the narrative filmmaking world by storm with his three features. No one is making films like McQueen, and that can be at least partly attributed to his early career as an experimental filmmaker and artist.

In the same vein as McQueen, you can begin to develop your own unique cinematic voice through an exploration of and involvement in experimental filmmaking.

There Are No Wrong Answers: In the world of narrative and documentary cinema, there are definite guidelines as to what constitutes a good or a bad film. Whether or not a film is good or not all depends on the writing, the directing, the acting, the cinematography, the editing, the sound, and so on. With experimental cinema, however, these "restraints" can be tossed out the window because expression is the primary purpose, not technical perfection.

This might sound like a cop-out, and to a certain extent, it is. With that said, just because the primary goal of this type of expression doesn't mean that we should be sloppy in the technical aspects of making these films. However, technical knowledge isn't a prerequisite for experimental filmmaking. There are no major barriers to speak of. You don't necessarily need a camera or an in-depth knowledge of After Effects . The only thing you really need to get started is an inherent desire to create and express yourself.

Experimental filmmaking is a world all its own, and it's one that is often overlooked by the majority of filmmakers these days. It certainly shouldn't be, though. It's a unique and powerful art form that provides countless benefits beyond the fact that it allows us to be artists in the truest sense of the word.

In order to get you guys even more stoked about making experimental films, here's one of the greatest of all time, Maya Deren's Meshes of the Afternoon:

In our next article, we'll talk about the easiest way to get started with making experimental films, the "found footage" film.

What do you guys think? Do you have any experience with experimental filmmaking? If so, what did you think of it, and what were the benefits (or disadvantages) of that experience? Let us know in the comments!

• A (Very Brief) History of Experimental Cinema ›
• Dissecting the Experimental Genre in Film and TV ›
• Experimental Filmmaking for Dummies (Part 1): Why You Should Be Making Experimental Films ›
• What are the Best Experimental Films of All Time? | No Film School ›
• How to go about writing the screenplay for an experimental short film ... ›
• Tips for starting with experimental films? : r/Filmmakers ›

Tips for Cinematically Achieving a '90s Look

Dp powell robinson on recreating a '90s aesthetic for hulu’s mr. crocket..

Not only do films of the 1990’s feel different than ones released today, but they also look a lot different. Why is this? One of the major factors was the actual type of film that was used. Many movies in the 90’s were shot on vibrant film stocks that emphasized contrast and saturation. The chemical processes that were used in developing these films often produced rich colors that are less common in digital cinematography. Those rich colors were also accentuated through different lighting techniques , which changed to a more naturalist look by the early 2000’s.

When DP Powell Robinson signed on to the Hulu horror film, Mr. Crocket , one of the main directions the film’s director, Brandon Espy, told him was that he wanted the film to feel like a gritty '90s drama. The reference films that were specifically mentioned being Menace II Society , Juice, and New Nightmare for the horror aspect.

To get this specific look Powell says, “I made the choice to forgo vintage lenses for a lens that matched the direction lens makers were going during that time period with the PV primos in 89, and the Zeiss Ultra Primes and Cooke S4 at the end of the '90s—aberration free, sharp, but still having their own distinct attitude.” He talks about this and many other ways of achieving a '90s look in the below interview.

No Film School: How did you become involved with Mr. Crocket ?

Powell Robinson : The production company behind Mr.   Crocket actually produced the last film I shot for Hulu as well, Appendage . It was a great on-boarding process because they brought along a bunch of other close friends and dept heads who worked on Appendage as well: editor Alex Familian, production designer Michelle Patterson, wardrobe Naomi Wolff Lachter.

NFS: Can you break down what preproduction looked like for you on the film?

Robinson: Very fast. I only had two weeks of hard prep in New Jersey, so it was very lucky Brandon Espy, the director, lived in Los Angeles as well so we could meet up in the month leading up to our travel out to Jersey to get a head start on our shotlisting. During that process, even just at a coffee shop, we’d start taking reference frames for really specific angles we knew we needed for the cut.

Once we got out there, a lot of our time was spent nailing down the utilization of our sound stage with Michelle (PD) since we had both the Mr.   Crocket set and the partial interior build of the Beverly household (hallway, Major’s bedroom, and Summer’s bedroom) packed into one room.

But most important was figuring out our lighting setup for both the happy Mr. Crocket ’s World show and the hell world version. We knew it would have to be based around the same units / overhead, so we came up with a plan to use a classic ring-of-fire, tungsten overhead rig to get that high key, blasted broadcast set-look for the 70’s show (shot WB neutral), and then use the same units, but blow it all up for hell world.

NFS: So, on a technical level, what was actually done to create the change from the happy world of Mr. Crocket ’s show, to the hell world version depicted in the finale?

Robinson: We hung black velvet 30x30 rags around the back edge of the stage for infinite black void fall-off, slanted the overhead rigging pipe, panned the lights all over, and the most fun part of all, we sent all the tungsten units into a massive ratpac receiver rigged in the ceiling, which was then transmitted to my gaffer’s iPad so we create an oscillating pattern that runs throughout the whole hell world finale.

It always seemed fitting that hell world be fire-y orange and red, but we didn’t want to deal with VFX fire, and having it be motivated by a nightmare-version of a once happy lighting setup felt much more in character for Crocket. The oscillating pattern, as well as white balancing in camera to 7000 Kelvin gave the now partially dimmed tungsten units a very warm light, which felt fire reminiscent , but not exactly like a traditional fire effect.

Before and after:

Once we got to post we also made one very small change to the whole hell world sequence: we’d been working with a thicker grain pattern for the whole film when we started the grading process, but switched to something sharper for the movie overall. However, we left our original thick grain structure for hell world—it kept it feeling grittier but also, on a character-level, it feels like vintage '70s grain, so even outside of the show, Crocket seems to manifest a more retro aura in his realm.

NFS: Did you get inspiration from any other films for Mr. Crocket ?

Powell: Yes! The main references Brandon gave me were an invaluable influence on the overall look of the film because they were so refreshing to receive in regards to a prepping horror movie.

Brandon told me he really wanted Mr.   Crocket to feel like Menace II Society and Juice . On the horror front, we did discuss New Nightmare as a good reference as well, but to us, the specific feeling of gritty '90s dramas needed to drive the overall aesthetic of the film, and then we could sprinkle '80s horror characteristics on top.

One of the most important things that grew out of these references were the colors of Mr. Crocket ’s portal (seen in the first photo above). Early on in Menace II Society , there is a party scene lit exclusively by red and purple light, and the second I saw it I immediately made the connection to the look of the portal and I called Brandon on the spot. It brought an element of cosmic horror that I enjoyed, as well as just being both an unexpected, but fitting, choice for a character as colorful as Mr. Crocket. My team would build me a “doorway” out of asteras in a strobing pattern moving between those two colors anytime a scene called for the portal to open so the actors could actually walk through it.

NFS: How else did you go about making sure the film looked like it belonged in that '90s era? What camera and lenses did you use on Mr. Crocket and did you experiment with anything you have never used before?

Robinson : A few ways: First, from the beginning Brandon knew he wanted a 1.85 aspect ratio, based on both our ref movies.

Second, I made the choice to forgo vintage lenses for a lens that matched the direction lens makers were going during that time period with the PV primos in 89, and the Zeiss Ultra Primes and Cooke S4 at the end of the '90s—aberration free, sharp, but still having their own distinct attitude. I landed on Signature Primes, which we then exposed between a T4-T11 for most of the film, since deeper stops were also far more common in the pre-digital era of filmmaking—something I would say was newer for me, since I usually love a good 2.8.

Third, our moonlight is based on the HMI plus full CTB heavy blue look of '80s and '90s moon, especially in horror movies like Nightmare on Elm Street .

And fourth, close-ups! In the current age of volume walls and large format sensors, so much content is currently shot in mediums. Film was so beautiful and forgiving in portrait/close framing, since the shift to digital I feel like people have gotten scared of close shots.

And lastly, what marries it all together is a '90s film emulation grade + grain texture from maestro colorist Damien Vandercruyssen.

NFS: Mr. Crocket ’s world that we see on the tv screen has a very different feel than the world that the film takes place in. Can you talk about the tv screen world and how you filmed it differently than the rest of the movie?

Robinson: Absolutely, it’s one of the elements I’m most proud of with this film! We knew from the beginning the show was going to have to feel as authentic as possible to sell people on Crocket’s backstory feeling legitimate, and Crocket himself feeling real, as if the clips from the show were archival footage we licensed from an actual '70s kids tv show.

To start, we shot that in s35 cropped mode on the LF sensor rather than open gate like the rest of the film. We switched to zoom lenses, and lived on a fisher dolly, in dance floor mode on the stage floor to feel more like a multi-cam/broadcast setup. And as mentioned earlier, the lighting was designed to mimic the overhead rigging of in-studio tv.

Then once we got to post, the real fun started. We teamed up with Circuit Bent TV (run by the analog mastermind Danny Erb) to remaster the footage using a CRT scanning process and create custom glitch art for all the times the tv goes on the fritz as Crocket’s influence gets stronger. The base plates were sent to colorist Jared Rosenthal for a '70s film emulation pass, then to Circuit Bent to be run through a VCR, using his custom chain of DMX-controlled circuit bending glitch boards, which we filmed on a Blackmagic pocket 6k on a fancy CRT TV to capture the highest quality possible interpretation of the analog signal, with the texture of the screen itself and all the strange halation, aberration, and chromatic weirdness that accompanies playing something back on one of those TVs and seeing it close up which post can’t fake. This dramatically helped the compositing onto the plates we took on set of the CRT’s feel far more authentic, and it’s something a VFX overlay could never accomplish because the glitches are actually based on or sampling the real footage, not just some flickering static stock image you cut to randomly.

NFS: There are many vibrant color choices used throughout the film. Can you talk about the thought process behind this palette?

Robinson : It came naturally from the reference films and media from the era and cascaded from there—the choice to do the red and purple portal and the blue moonlight really pushed us to feel like the movie wanted to be more rich and vibrant overall than what you usually see in a horror movie.

Combine that with Crocket’s kid show history, and his Freddy Kreuger-esque psycho glee, it seemed fitting to play with the color palette much as we could.

NFS:   There is a great shot of Rhonda trying to connect with Crocket while touching the tv with Summer and Eddie behind her. How much of this shot was inspired by Poltergeist ?

Robinson: This type of shot will always feel reminiscent of Poltergeist , but I wouldn’t say it was the first thing that came to mind. I felt this was our most sci-fi moment in the film and I wanted to lean into the ‘hacking the Matrix ’ aspect of it and play up the cool, but grimy blue and green tones. Maybe just cause I’m a huge Matrix fan…

Let us know what you thought of this interview in the comments!

Mr. Crocket is now available to stream on Hulu .

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