EXPERIMENTAL FILM EXAM QUESTION CONTENT

 EXAM QUESTION : TO WHAT EXTENT AND IN WHAT WAYS CAN YOUR CHOSEN FILM BE DESCRIBED AS AN EXPERIMENTAL FILM   ( 20 marks )

Consider the following questions  and  techniques and include at least some of the following content .

You should be discussing  how and why the film uses some experimental or postmodern techniques and 

decide in a personal response how "experimental" the film actually is. 

 

Is Pulp Fiction an experimental film ?  

Is it non-narrative cinema or an art film ( like some purely experimental films ) NO 

Does it feature narratives and more traditional cinematic storytelling with some use of experimental techniques ?  YES / A BIT / TO SOME EXTENT

EXPERIMENTAL TECHNIQUES

FILM FORM AND NARRATIVE 

 Does the film contain any experiments or subversions of the rules of film form or narrative  structure or  enigmas ?  

LIST YOUR EXAMPLES

GENRE

Does the film just follow or does it play with or subvert any audience expectations or conventions of the crime genre ?

Consider ideas of stereotypical or familiar characters in crime movies, familiar stories and iconography  narrative structure and resolutions in crime movies  and how enigmas are usually resolved in the crime genre

POSTMODERNIST TECHNIQUES

Article on postmodernism in film : good summary of the main content

Is Pulp Fiction a postmodernist film ? Which postmodernist techniques does it use ?

What do these techniques add in terms of content or meaning ?

 

Intertextuality : For example, intertextuality.  Pulp Fiction has a huge variety of explicit and more subtle intertextual references. Does it make the film more realistic or change the meaning of the text in any way ? What doe these references add ?

Does it have a classic postmodern dark and ironic mood , with a casual attitude to violence ? Does the film have a single and clear meaning and resolution or a more ambiguous and fractured resolution ?

Eclecticism : Does the film have a range of influences from both high  culture ( e.g literature, European art film ) and low culture ( e.g comic books, American TV , action films ) ?

Are any whole scenes or stories complete pastiches or parodies of other films or genres or does Tarantino just use  intertextual references and occasionally steal plot ideas  ?  For example

Reflexivity : Does the film ( or any scenes ) draw attention to itself as a media text in a self-concsious way  e.g breaking the fourth wall ? I couldn't think of anything apart from some of the more extreme uses of framing and camera movement that feel "self-concsious"

FURTHER HELP

excellent examplar on how experimental the narrative is

A reddit discussion

video on some more "intertextual references" Tarantino makes in his films and general discussion of postmodernist originality

Opening scenes

Let's get into character : talking at work

Jack Rabbit Slims : 

 a place made of intertextual references

Ending ( ?)

EXPERIMENTAL FILM : Introduction

 Summarise  what is meant by " experimental" film , including examples of the experimental techniques  in film form and narrative  that have been used  by previous filmmakers.

Consider ideas such as audience pleasures, the influence of other art forms and art movements, the genre and type of film being made ,  and  the purpose of  using such techniques. Your examples should range from purely experimental " non-narrative" or art  films to techniques used in modern mainstream Hollywood films.

Try to find examples of how the "rules" and audience expectations of each element of film form and narrative can and have been broken. 

Use the information on the Experimental film blog to help

SILENT COMEDY : EXAM QUESTION 1

 

Explore how far your film option can be considered as either a realist or expressive cinema

( 20 marks )  30 minutes  

BLOG : Realist v Expressionist critical debate ( including Bazin )

your film option :  Keaton's 4 short films 1920-22

You should make reference to key sequences from at least 2 of the films

BUSTER KEATON : PAPER 2 : Silent Comedy Analysis part 2

 Summarise the following elements of both The High Sign  and Cops  with specific examples of scenes and moments from the films

Use of Film  Form

 use of cinematography ,lighting and framing : e.g  framing to fit the joke, use of 2d , naturalistic bright lighting

style of editing ( invisible/when necessary ) , use of cuts and special effects, 

use and role of mise-en-scene, e.g props and background used actively as part of narrative and jokes

 performance ( body language, facial expression , size and contrast in physique )

Buster Keaton's film persona

e.g aspirational everyman, romantic suitor or outsider clown , links to performance 



Representations

e.g gender roles , police, class, social institutions/rituals  such as marriage and religion



General Silent comedy  conventions

e.g use of stunts, chase scenes , falls, props, animals , slapstick humour, vaudeville tropes and routines e.g banana peel

Keaton's specific use of conventions and techniques

 "postmodern" techniques such as breaking fourth wall , cartoon gags , layering and building of jokes, subverting classic vaudeville routines and expectations, interest in technology/media 

Cultural  contexts and references 

e.g advertising, art , technologies, vaudeville, political and news events 

BUSTER KEATON : 'One Week' and 'The Scarecrow' analysis

Summarise the following elements of both One Week and The Scarecrow with specific examples of scenes and moments from the films


Use of Film  Form

e.g use of lighting and framing, style of editing , use of cuts and special effects, use and role of mise-en-scene, performance ( body language, facial expression , size and contrast in physique )


Buster Keaton's film persona

e.g aspirational everyman, romantic suitor or outsider clown


Representations

e.g women, marriage,police, class


Silent comedy  techniques

e.g use of stunts,chase scenes , falls, props, animals , slapstick humour, "postmodern" techniques such as breaking fourth wall , 


Cultural  contexts and references

e.g advertising, technologies, vaudeville,technologies