Experimental Film Analysis: Nostalgia

I have chosen to look at Nostalgia by Hollis Frampton, as I associate it with the form of subjective personal view, a form that I am basing my experimental film on. It could be argued as a strictly formalist piece but I think it falls neatly under both. Subjective personal view is a presentation of a story, action, memory or place through the filmmaker’s personal association with the subject. In Nostalgia, a photograph is laid over a flame that slowly ignites and begins to burn the photo. A narrator tells a story about the photo, or rather a photo, as the narrator’s monologue does not match the description of the photo on screen. The photo comes into frame after its matching narration ‘…thus forces us to weigh everything we see and hear in its own terms…’ (Bordwell and Thompson).  I feel that symbolism is created out of the use of non-sync narration, representing the idea that the narrator’s memories of each photo are left behind in the past and that they disappear with the burning of the picture on the next take. It also creates a representation of what we think the picture will look like and it may or may not conform to that expectation.

Jarman's Garden Audio Analysis 

http://www.thirdcoastfestival.org/library/4-jarman-s-garden

Jarman’s Garden is a really melancholy and soulful audio piece. It begins with a monologue of Jarmen as he describes his garden and the labour and love he has put into it. In harmony with this the sounds of pebbles being walked over, garden tools being knocked and a radio or sonar machine rapidly beeping are played in a rhythmic pattern, creating a soundtrack that really gives a sense of the visual space in which Sherre Delys is trying to capture and depict. I feel that the repeating of sounds, such as gusts of wind, waves rolling on the coast and chimes clanging are really successful in creating a visual image for the listener. 

Listening to Jarman’s Garden, feels therapeutic and soothing. The garden and surrounding areas feel real; a place we would want to escape to. As the piece progresses, there are moments when there is an absence of dialogue and only the audio track plays. At this part towards the very end of the track, the tone becomes somewhat sombre, perhaps in commemoration of Jarman and the illness he was facing. The crashing waves begin to be slowly overshadowed by an echoing beat, and a low, almost buzzing sound effect that ends rather abruptly and marking an end to this beautiful land. 

Strange Lights: Analysis

Strange Lights from Joe King & Rosie Pedlow on Vimeo.

Strange Lights begins with a series of time lapses, showing the starry night sky's rotation and constellations. Shooting stars criss cross the frame and a haze of clouds and atmospheric dust flow underneath, depicting a massive, morphing but beautiful landscape. This series of lengthy time lapse shots is paired with a haunting soundtrack; high pitched sounds ring out and clash with deep mechanical groans and there is an aggressive desert storm wind that continues throughout. Though the imagery captivates, there is a sense of something sinister and far darker than the stars in the sky. That sense pervades the beginning of the film and lays out an eerie feeling for the rest of the feature.

I think that Strange Lights succeeds in creating an unnerving and off beat tone, especially through the use of radio chatter and real dialogue, as it dramatises the events being depicted in the film. There is a rising action during the film, in which the lights begin to flash more frequently and chaotically, darting and streaking in seemingly random directions, the static chatter from the radios blaring in each time, showing the technical strength of the film.

Overall, Strange Lights successfully creates an ominous and unnerving atmosphere that also plays into a conspiracy style narrative through its use of a haunting soundtrack and archived dialogue.