Camper and MacDonald Response

The Fred Camper article touched on the how challenging it is to properly title an avant-garde or experimental film. It was quite humorous reading the part where Camper stated that he has students show up to the experimental screening expecting to see films for science experiments! All jokes aside, Camper brings up a great point about the genre title of "experimental". Camper states, "I made many experiments in the process of making film. I left then all in my editing room". If they are finished products then why DO we call it experimental? Camper wraps up the article with six steps or guidelines to follow for experimental/ avant-garde films. These "tests" were actually quite helpful to someone like myself who is not greatly educated on the genre, yet, and will come in hand while I watch and create my own experimental films. The MacDonald article explored the fact that when most people experience avant-garde films for the first time, they are old enough (usually in the teens or early twenties) to have a great understanding what movies are, what they are supposed to do, how we are supposed to watch them, etc. But avant-garde is introduced and wrecks those understandings. I enjoyed MacDonald's point of, "we recognize that the obvious anger and frustration are a function of the fact that these films confront us with the necessity of redefining an experience we were sure we understood". The article continues with a brief history of avant-garde filmmaking and MacDonald states that it is up to the filmmakers and their level of passion to keep the genre rollin!