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.