Scott MacDonald response

I chose Scott MacDonald’s An Introduction to Avant-Garde Film as one of my reading choices. He is a familiar name to me, through Film 202, and his interviews with film makers whose films we have viewed in class. I was interested in knowing why his article was chosen as an option for reading, and to learn more about experimental films and the artists behind them. I have not exposed myself enough to Avant- Garde film. Scott MacDonald opened my mind to the number of different films and film makers.

He begins his article by expressing the reasons most movie goers have a difficult time understanding the avant-garde in film. That the dominating, conventional Hollywood has embedded in us (since childhood) , the sense of what a movie is. He goes on describing the origins of avant garde cinema, starting mainly in France and Germany, and the different groups of film makers that he considers to be the pioneers in this type of cinema. These film makers challenged the “rational” and “understandable” elements in common film. Avant Garde cinema (or alternative cinema), presents to movie goers the opportunity to think outside of the common cinema box. The text contains examples of films that have defied the “commercial movie going experience.” He ends by saying critical film is the most underappreciated achievements in film history.

Avant Garde cinema is a great example of artists challenging their viewers to think and look beyond what mainstream society presents to us. As an artist, my goal is to find and present something that is not seen or heard every day; to inspire a new thought and perspective.