By Kimberly Bryant
The do-it-yourself spirit can take myriad shapes: from basic home renovation projects or more adventurous, creative projects like the eye-popping art made at Burning Man, DIY's core essence remains to make something with our own two hands, in our own unique way. We'll focus on the role the DIY spirit has played in experimental film movements like No Wave -- and how pushing the boundaries of taste is a lesson for all of us in creative risk-taking.
Creative risks are often born from working with limitations, whether self-imposed or externally-imposed. When we're forced to take matters into our own hands, anything can happen -- on the canvas, movie screen, or plays. (Photo by Kimberly Bryant.)
Burning Man's DIY spirit: building community
Part of what forms the invisible, yet felt, thread that connects everyone at Burning Man is the shared experience of relying on self, making art from the ground up, and pitching in. Many of the 10 principles capture the ethos of DIY, including using your talents and skills to create and contribute in whatever way possible -- self-reliance, self-expression, and participation are all intrinsic to DIY projects. Contributing to Burning Man's DIY spirit is part of what creates its sense of community.
No Wave movement
For me, the DIY spirit shows some of its greatest potential when applied to filmmaking. While I enjoy seeing any type of DIY project (from simple crafts to clothing), I'm truly inspired when I experience a film that pushes the boundaries both aesthetically and conceptually by virtue of low budgets and bravery. Film naturally lends itself to the rough and ready essence of DIY; as one of our most expensive creative mediums, DIY's hands-on, lo-fi ethos makes it accessible to anyone with determined desire to grab a video camera and run with it.
Having a lens this big (and expensive) does not make you more of filmmaker, photographer, or man (as it were); it's what you do with your equipment that counts...(Photo by Kimberly Bryant.)
Often, the creative nature of independent film is credited with the rise in technological advancements, and digital video cameras that are easy for the average layman to use effectively. However, DIY filmmaking has been in existence long before the recent explosion of digital equipment; evidence of this can be seen in the documentary Blank City, which covers the movement of No Wave cinema in New York during the mid-70s to mid-80s. Filmmakers like Jim Jarmusch and John Waters took movie matters into their own hands by using their lack of money to their creative advantage -- they simply began making movies with whatever they had. This included doing last minute, impromptu shoots, using their friends (who usually lacked acting experience) as cast members, using inexpensive, Super 8 video cameras, and thinking outside the box in terms of plot (having a discernible storyline was clearly not a requirement). The result? Experimental filmmaking at its most vulgar, exciting, and rebellious. While the No Wave films might not be your cup of tea, they're certainly original pieces of work, made with guts -- and gusto.
What interests me most about the No Wave movement -- and other movements that followed, such as Dogme 95 -- is how the DIY mentality of just a few filmmakers created a domino effect: as word spread, and like-minds came together, collaboration ensued, and a veritable movement was born. This is the power of grassroots creative efforts. The films that came out of the No Wave period are certainly not for everyone; in fact, most of them are fairly off-putting in nature -- but that was their intent: to challenge, to question, to dare to show life's extremes.
http://ignitechannel.com/films/embodying-diy-spirit-part-2-film-rebels/
No comments:
Post a Comment