A Brief Introduction...
Hello all!
Welcome to my
blog. My name is Gabrielle Despaigne and I am a senior at the University of
North Carolina Wilmington. There's not much you really need to know about me,
other than the fact that I am a Film Studies major with an Entrepreneurship
minor.
I love film (if you haven’t noticed from my film
major or the name of this blog), particularly anything and everything from the New
Wave, social justice documentaries, science fiction, and erotica. I define
myself mainly as a documentarian who focuses on social justice issues,
especially LGBT-related or based on racial inequality. My favorite film is tied
between Bladerunner (1982), Barbarella
(1968), and Sweet Movie (1975). My
current film project is a documentary titled “Kill Your Gays” which analyzes
why the television trope of “bury your gays” exists today and its correlation with
high teenage suicide rates. I will complete the film by the end of the
semester!
This blog will chronicle my responses, thoughts,
and progress in my FST 302 class. Our first blog assignment consists of a
response to Fred Camper’s article, “What Is Experimental Film?” and “Amateur vs
Professional” by Maya Deren.
The Camper article suggests different bulleted
characteristics that may be used in declaring a film “experimental”, including:
low budgets, informal production line, abstract ideas, manipulation of material
already made, and even non-linear narratives, just to name a few. I found the
Camper article extremely helpful and calming, as I have always had trouble
defining an experimental film, especially when it came to my own work. I’ve
always asked myself, “Are you being experimental in the making of this film?”,
but never have had a solid explanation or basis to decide if I was indeed
creating an experimental film. I also appreciate how Camper warns that his
defined criteria are a “loose” definition and an experimental film does not
have to adhere to his criteria in a strict sense.
The Deren article is more of a call to action,
encouraging young filmmakers to ignore the word “amateur” and to simply make
films as a form of artistic freedom. I agree full heartedly, as many times the
glow of Hollywood big-budget productions discourage many from pursuing film as
they feel their work must be of that particular perceived “quality”. Many
budding filmmakers, including some of my friends from school, should realize
that fancy cameras and equipment will not make a great film. I agree with the
sentiment of substance over production value, and I began filmmaking at age 12
purely out of the artistic value of the medium. My sophomore year of high
school, I made the short film “This Was It” while experimenting with the film
medium. The short was made on an old point-n-shoot camera, had a simple story,
no budget, but it helped express myself, and ended up being screened in a
couple of film festivals, including the Cucalorus Film Festival. Amateur
filmmakers should make film regardless of their budget and enjoy the freedom
that comes with experimental filmmaking.
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