REEL-ILLUSIONARY ZONE

They all laughed at Edison, and even at Einstein.

There is a genre of film that many of you, probably most of you, possibly all of you will never see.  “Is it the foreign language film?”, you ask.  Close! but not what I had in mind.  “Is it the Japanese Cowboy movie?”, you suggest.  Good guess, but again, not what I was thinking.  “Surely, you must mean the War Horror Musical?”, you ask.  No, I believe there’ll be War Horror Musicals in theaters by Spring.  No, no no – I’m talking about the “experimental” film.

Many of our most creative film makers have made these experimental “art house” films early in their career.  These generally don’t tell a conventional narrative in the traditional sense.  Instead, they are often a project in which a film maker is trying out some idea or technique.  For example: Suppose I just got a new fish-eye lens.  I might say to myself, “I wonder what would happen if I filmed a doorway to a building with people walking in and out.  But then, very 5 minutes or so, I rotated the lens 15 degrees, so that after half an hour, the image is on its side – and after an hour, the picture is upside down, etc.  Boy, wouldn’t that be cool!”  Now, I might show my film to the public to find out what they think, and they might say that the picture on its side or upside down looked stupid, but at about 15 to 30 degrees, it caused a sense of uneasiness and tension.  So now when I go to make my “real” movie, and I want the viewer to feel tension or uneasy, I’ll rotate my lens 15 degrees ,so that the picture is slanted.

Art House films are not only about experimenting with technique, although there is usually some of that in nearly every one, the film maker may also have an unusual idea that he wants to pursue.  Perhaps it’s an adventure story with a cast made up entirely of trees (damn!  that’s a great idea!).  Whatever the idea, whatever the reason, the film maker needs to get it out on film (or tape – or hard drive – or flash memory).  There is almost never any budget for this kind of project so these films tend to be pretty spare.  This is good, because it forces film makers to be creative.  If you ever get to see experimental films, don’t expect to see the kind of film normally shown in theaters.  They’re not like that.  One cannot use the same basis of comparison or rating that we use for traditional films.  Art House films are not “good” or “bad” in the same way that traditional films are good or bad.  I guess you could say that Art House films are the modern art paintings of the film world.  They’re not for everybody.  Plenty of people will look at a Pollack and say, “It’s just paint thrown onto a canvas.”  It’s meant to bypass all traditional points of reference and allow you to look directly into the artist’s mind.

This week’s film REEL-ILLUSIONARY ZONE, from Reel Groovy Films, written and directed by John Hartman, is such a film.  Don’t expect to see it advertised on TV.  Don’t expect to see the trailer shown before “High School Musical 9″.  Don’t expect to see it shown at your local cinema multiplex, or even at the local independent film theater (there aren’t any near me, but I’ve heard rumors of their existence).  In fact, the only way to see this film at this time, is during special showings by the film makers (click the link to see upcoming schedules)  or by ordering the dvd (check for availability) directly from Reel-Groovy Films.  I met director John Hartman and producer “Z” of Unfolding Story Pictures at a special showing of another of their collaborations, Bridge Crusader (more about this in a future posting).  I was so impressed with their obvious commitment, excitement, and dedication that I agreed to screen and review REEL-ILLUSIONARY ZONE.  Of course, having been distracted by the exotic dancers, I probably would have agreed to anything.

The movie:  As an experiment, techniques both in cinematography and in storytelling are being explored here.

The cinematography is spectacular.  Hartman uses an ancient super 8mm hand-held camera with film (yes – actual film) to produce a color palette that is deep and rich.  He uses other techniques, such as  shooting through filters and skewed viewing angles to produce, sometime bizarre effects, and give the illusion of an old silent film.  Stop-action photography give rise to special effects not possible in the silent film era.  Although there is no spoken dialog, the film is not silent, featuring sound effects and an music original soundtrack.

The story itself centers on a toy maker who toys rebel and head for the real world.  Without any prior experiences, they must somehow safely navigate this bizarre world, with funny and frightening consequences.  Simultaneously whimsical and dark, it compares favorably with the works of other experimental film makers, such as Jan Svankmajer, Maya Deren, Guy Maddin, and David Lynch.  These film makers, not only made experimental films early in their careers, but are still making  them today (except for Maya Deren who died in 1961 when her brain exploded because she couldn’t get her ideas out and onto film fast enough).

REEL-ILLUSIONARY ZONE is not an easy film to find, it’s not an easy film to watch.  It disconnects the brain from common film-viewing reference points and makes you work for it.  It assaults your sense of sight and hearing, as well as your sense of reason.   But it should be seen.  You might like it or you might not.  You might think it’s a masterpiece of film making, or you might think it’s just paint flung onto a canvas …..but you should at least see it.

I’ve been thinking lately about making my own experimental film.  In my case, they would HAVE to be experimental because I really don’t know how to make a film, but I do have some ideas that I wanted to share with you.

1. A 15 minute short in which I film the camera that I use to film the camera.  I doesn’t really ‘do’ anything, hence it’s only a short.  If the camera actually had moving parts, well …..there’d be a feature film in that.
2. FranksFilms – the Movie!
3. A film about my daily life – except that every 5 minutes, I would lean an additional 15 degrees to the left.   So that after half an hour, I would be lying on my side – and after an hour, I would be upside down.  There would be a time (at about 15 – 30 degrees) where I would feel an uneasy tension, and throw up.
4. In the spirit of going with upcoming trends, a War Horror Musical in which WWII Nazi zombies do “Grease”.
5. As an homage to David Lynch, a documentary which just replays the lesbian scene from Mulholland Drive ….over and over and over …..
6. FranksFilms – the Movie!  Really!  I mean, really.  Doesn’t that have a great ring to it???
7. A re-telling of the Joan of Arc story with a cast made up entirely of  potted plants.  Not just flowers but herbs too, and perhaps vegetables as well.  Really, it’s just a metaphor for ……… er, for ……….er, well, I’m still trying to work that one out.
8. An avant-garde film that totally bucks the Hollywood system.  It’ll be so avant-garde that it won’t hit one false note, will not succumb to commercial influence,  will be for its own sake and will not pander to any audience.  It will be so avant-garde, that it won’t even show the theaters.  It’ll be so avant-garde, that it won’t ever make it to dvd.  In fact, I won’t even film it – that’s how avant-garde it will be.
9. A time-lapse motion picture that follows a laptop computer booting up Windows 7 for the first time, until the day it crashes for the final time.  That’s a lot of crash/reboot sequences.
10. Silent films have no sound.  How about a film that has sound but no video!  Yes – I know they used to do exactly that back in the days of radio – but my “film” would play in cinemas.  The next step would be a 3D version ……….in IMAX!!!!!

REEL-ILLUSIONARY ZONE
How adventurous are you?
Enjoy