Discuss some of the ways in which the film or video work you have studied for the topic requires a different kind of spectatorship for that which spectators bring to their mainstream film-going. [35]
Some of the ways an experimental film's spectatorship opinions differ from a mainstream's is mainly based on the fact that a mainstream film is a lot easier to watch in terms of the narrative and any other subliminal messages hidden in it. This is can certainly be seen in 'Un Chien Andalou', directed by Luis Bunuel in 1929. This is a very surrealist film, which was based on a dream that Bunuel and Salvador Dali, a surrealist artist, had about a man with a hand made up of ants. It could be argued that this film is very difficult to watch as parts of it are very disturbing, such as the beginning sequence where an eye is cut open with a knife. It has been stated that this is very hard to watch and makes audiences cringe as the human eye is a very important part of the human body so seeing it cut open makes us fear it happening to ourselves. I personally found this film very disturbing and weird because of these factors. Compared to a mainstream cinema film, such as '127 Hours', where similar things happen which strike a reaction like in 'Un Chien Andalou' (such as the protagonist cutting his own arm off due to it being trapped under a rock) this film, is very difficult to watch. A mainstream film is arguably a lot easier to watch than an experimental film due to it being watched in a cinema by a wider amount of people.
Another experimental film which may contain a different spectatorship view to a mainstream film, is 'Meshes Of The Afternoon', directed by Maya Deren in 1943. This surrealist film, based on the male's perceptions of females is a very surreal film. The film argues that the
male opinions which state that women should say at home and be in the kitchen all day, is wrong, and this is shown in many ways including the director Maya Deren being female. As well as influencing other forms of film, such as Muse's music video Supermassive Black Hole, which could be considered as a short film, there have also been references to Meshes featured in films such as David Lynch's Inland Empire (2006). As an actress starts to adopt the persona of her character in a film, her world starts to become nightmarish and surreal is the main narrative of the film. However as David Lynch's films are very surreal this question may not refer to Meshes and the spectatorship views of these films.
An experimental film that has certainly got a different spectatorship view to a mainstream film is Kenneth Anger's 'Fireworks'. Made in 1947, the homoerotic underground film is about a young man being homosexual and getting beaten up for it. Some of the spectatorship views for this film may include references to the film being hard to watch as in the present, it is less common to hear about somebody being hurt due to their sexuality, whereas in the 1940's it was illegal to be homosexual. A mainstream film such as 'Brokeback Mountain' has very different spectatorship view as it is a film which was shown in cinemas, that features homosexuality, and was very successful as it won 3 Oscars and many other awards such as, Best Motion Picture - Drama at the Golden Globes. Audiences nowadays have a more open opinion on homosexuality as there are more people coming out everyday, and people are more acceptant of it, whereas 60 years ago when 'Fireworks' was made nobody would allow it.
The last experimental film that I am going to discuss is Chris Cunningham's "Rubber Johnny", a 6 minute short film in the style of a music video which could be seen as very weird. Whilst watching this film, I was very confused for the majority of it because it is unclear what is going on and there is no clear narrative. When you are watching this film you also get the sense of not wanting to watch it as you are unsure what is going on, however you are intrigued as to what is going to happen so you are unable to not watch it. Compared to a full-length mainstream film such as "Titanic" where is it clear what is going to happen, as it is based on a true story, "Rubber Johnny" has the element of surprise in terms of what it happening on screen.
