Discuss some of the ways in which the film or video work you have studied for this topic requires a different kind of spectatorship from that which spectators bring to their mainstream film-going (35 marks)
Mainstream films and experimental films differ from each other in many ways. Mainstream films are easy to understand which makes then harder to write about however because experimental films are hard to understand it means there is much more you could talk about for example, experimental films don't always have a meaning or storyline which makes it hard for the audience to understanding whats going on. The Quay Brothers made many experimental films that don't have meaning and are very hard to make out what is actually happening in the films. In mainstream films such as Harry Potter, there is always a beginning, middle and end however this isn't clear cut in experimental. For example, The Cabinet of Jan Svankmajer where there are several chapters to the film giving the same message every scene of the teacher teaching the child.
Mainstream films also tend to be quite predictive however this isn't the case for experimental films. Some may say that they are 'art for arts sake' and they don't have to make sense to everyone.
Experimental films don't always require a different kind of spectatorship than spectators bring to mainstream films as Un Chien Andalou...
The Body song is also a good example of using a different kind of spectatorship as it makes you think from a philosophical point of view and really makes you question whether there is a God and if so why do people suffer? The Body Song makes you feel many different emotions as when the film first starts, it isn't very pleasant seeing the babies being born yet when the images of the babies a home with family and enjoying themselves it makes you really happy inside and makes you think that having children is like a miracle from God as a baby is only able to survive in the right environment and there are only 12 times you can conceive in a year. Also seeing the children growing up can make you relate to your own childhood memories. However when you see the war, poverty and death it really makes you think about how lucky you are to be living this life and makes you wonder why an all loving, all powerful God would let this happen. Many mainstream film, if not all of them don't address real life issues like these. On the other hand there are documentary films that do deal with these issues like Supersize Me, so there are some example to suggest that you don't need a different spectatorship when watching experimental and mainstream films.
