🧠🗑️ #292 - Trying an experiment
It's all-in on experimental film for Inneresting this week. Let's try something new!
Steven Zeitchik reports on a study about creativity and brain rot from the University of California, Santa Barbara:
...among a totally random population, levels of creativity for the people watching the experimental films were immediately higher compared to those watching YouTube videos, which didn't move much at all. So was openness to seeing the world in new ways.
For years many people have had the sense that the kind of low-nutrition, algorithmically driven videos that flash across our feeds and brainscapes dozens of times per day are bad for us. [Jonathan] Schooler and [Madeleine] Gross have a new column of scientific evidence. Even more important (and encouraging): they have a prescription for what to do about it.
Experimental film counteracts doomscrolling? Let's consider this...
Watching experimental film (a primer)
You may have already watched experimental films in the past, or seen concepts from experimental films put to use in narrative storytelling. But if you find yourself watching something that seems like it's scratching the right spot on your brain, but you can't figure out why, these questions might help:
- What are you seeing? What are you hearing? Do these things fit together, or do they clash?
- What is familiar? Is it being presented in an unfamiliar way?
- Is something repeating? An image? A sound? A voice? Is there a pattern?
- How do you feel after watching it? How do you feel during? What moments spike a reaction?
Seeking out more experimental films
Robert Lang compiles a list of short experimental films and narrative features with experimental influences.
NOWNESS keeps up a wide collection of shorts by topic, like the essay film/character piece Cauliflower, dance piece Circle, or the contained relationship/immigration drama of Photo Booth.
Short of the Week regularly features not only experimental short films, but a variety of genres.
The Library of Congress tags experimental films, and also has a wide collection of other films to watch free online.
Ubuweb keeps a large list of filmmakers to explore, including works by Brian Eno, Hiraki Sawa, and Lynne Sachs.
But I'm a writer!
Yes, this all might sound like an "eat your vegetables" kind of argument. Or telling you that instead of putting the phone down and touching grass you should just do something else with your phone.
But exploring new methods of expressing ideas isn't just beneficial to editors and cinematographers: Writers can use these concepts to create unexpected and novel ways of telling a story.
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In case you missed it...
In the most clicked link from our last issue, 8BitJoystick shares a method for overcoming decision paralysis when you have a long list of things you want to read/watch/play in your limited free time.
What else is Inneresting?
- Archer Green composes an ode to Martin Scorsese, as well as the value of looking to filmmaking's past for inspiration.
- Lucas Waldron, Patricia Callahan, Daniel Zender, and Zisiga Mukulu illustrate data from Stanford University researchers on how many people could die in the next 25 years if common vaccines are no longer available.
- Steph Balzer on the different speeds of cultural vs. systemic change, and asking yourself what work will likely matter to you later.
And that’s what’s inneresting this week!
Inneresting is edited by Chris Csont, with contributions from readers like you and the entire Quote-Unquote team.
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