Maya Deren response

8.26.2014

Maya Deren’s reflection on the nature of experimental films is an effective one because of her comparison with studio features. After addressing the innate discouragement some experimental filmmakers may feel, she reassures us as to the freedom of the craft by pointing to the lack of it in large-budget productions. Deadlines, portability, creative decisions, all of these work in favor of poetic films. The burden of worrying about financial success can even be a pleasant absence if a filmmaker expects none. While I disagree with her notion of the incredible tripod of the human body, and would prefer to have large clunky camera mechanisms at my disposal, I appreciate her thoughts.

Fred Camper response

8.26.2014

Fred Camper’s classification of experimental films mostly aligns with mine; but his idea that they usually don’t portray a linear narrative is one that I find too eliminatory. Most short experimental films that I’ve seen indeed make no attempt to convey a theatrical storyline, but perhaps his definition of experimental films is erred by his notion of their lengths. One might classify certain 90-minute features as “experimental,” and they very often do undergo a narrative if released across the world. But the most important part of his article is that he acknowledges the inanity of developing a rigid system with which to classify experimental films, and acknowledges the ambiguity therein.

Brief Artist Bio

My deep-seated connection to art and storytelling is manifested most in cinema and literature. I’ve seen films and read books from many genres, but fantasy has always captivated my mind the most. I love any story that is creative and powerfully delivered, and in the films I’ve made and literature I’ve written so far, I’ve always aimed for that sensation. Poetry and experimental films lend themselves to that nameless vibration of thought and experience we all carry, and I look forward to enhancing it in myself and in others as we combine our visions and learn together with each film.     

-Sam Askew