Avant-Garde: Film Production and Analysis

... there is always a plot. There is a story that makes sense to me. But in the story, there are things that are more abstract. There are feelings, and cinema can say feelings and can say abstract thoughts. Cinema can go back in time, or forward, and it’s very magical. … What we need is ideas. That is the only thing we really need.

-        David Lynch, Ten Lessons in Filmmaking

The Cine-Eye is the art of organizing necessary movements of objects in space and time into a rhythmic artistic whole, in accordance with the characteristics of the whole and the internal rhythm of each object.

- Dziga Verov, We. A Version of a Manifesto.

Having seen and studied some forms of avant-garde film should prepare you to think about how these films operate and construct narratives; how they develop particular visual qualities; how they evoke emotions, etc.  These are done not only through the material presented but also by their organization (montage, cuts, focuses, etc.).  Cinema, as Lynch points out, also has the ability to use time and create new visions of the world and of ourselves.  But, at the center, is the idea: what is being attempted and why.

For the fist part of this assignment, you are to construct two short avant-garde films (around 8 minutes in length).  One of them has to be focused on architectural space, landscape, and/or urbanism.  The other can be focused on the theme of your choice.  However, both films have to have an idea behind them (ie. what is the intention of the film that you are producing? what is the meaning that you are trying to convey? how do the elements/effects/shots/montage work to support this idea? etc.)

The first film should be based on your own filmed footage.  The second should be composed of found footage – although it can also include your own footage.  You can find footage through websites such as YouTube, Vimeo, the Internet Archive, etc. or from films/shorts that you own.

Be sure to consider not only the narrative (and narrative logic/sequence) but also any textual information (in the form of voiceovers, captions, inter-titles, etc.).  Consider also the sound of the film: does it use music, ambient sounds, etc.?  How and when and for what purpose?  Also think about the transitions between scenes, effects, montage, etc.  Remember that still pictures can also be used and animated (ie. the so-called “Ken Burns” effect or as we saw in Chris Marker’s La Jetée).  Make sure that the films have a title, your name, and any credits (ie. film sources not your own, music, texts, etc).

It is expected that you learn to use some basic filmmaking software (ie. Apple’s Imovie or Adobe’s Premiere) and that you take advantage of the effects, transitions, filmic elements and devices, etc. that they provide (although you are not bound only to those).