Fred Camper Response

Fred Camper’s Naming, and Defining, Avant-Garde or Experimental Film argues that labeling the genre that is usually known to have limitless form is impossible to actually confine to one title.  He attributes this problem to the constant progression of the self-proclaimed avant-garde film, and the vast range of characteristics that develop from this that have come to define the field.  Films such as Man Ray’s “Le retour à la raison” have distinguishing production techniques, such as the use of the photogram and the absence of a linear storyline, that are unusual and often unexpected compared to the traditional commercial cinema. By juxtaposing the individual films with a set of generalizations, there comes into form of one genre that is completely separate of the mainstream culture.