The difference between formative abstraction and conceptual abstraction is that the former looks only at the elements and the latter starts to look at story structure or traditional canon and starts to break them down, and is not relying entirely on formal elements: it may use formal elements but it might start to break down film language.
Historically experimentation in these ares do not cancer mass media or commercial industry; festivals however are the place where these works are showcased most of the times. Futurists, Dadaist, Surrealist and Cubists left their mark of film and on animation. In the 1930′ to the 50′ wars, social and cultural arrests take place and concepts in films and art reflects the society at that time. Conceptual abstraction in experimental film reflects a personal vision and is usually an independent film (it may be commissioned). Independent production is harder to define in genre than the mainstream and by nature requires alternative strategies to appraise it.
The semiotics, the metaphor, the symbolism, the juxtaposition of traditional cannons are the elements that characterise conceptual abstraction. These films feature dialogue but not in a traditional sense since is a visual dialogue rather than a sound one. Non-dialogue films challenge the communicator to convey information through gesture and performance, filmic language and alternative audio components.
Jan Svankmajer was an animator pivotal in stop motion, time lapse. This film is an example of a non-dialogue film with dialogue not in a traditional sense. There are many metaphors and symbolism alluding to the human condition, how we communicate with each other and political issues as well: Three surreal depictions of failures of communication that occur on all levels of human society.
Max Hattler is a German CGI artist. This can be consider as an homage to the early experimental artist, during the industrial age, German expressionism.
This film is an example of how it can be possible to create a visual political comment through the use of abstraction. The audio is telling the audience the story. the whole feel of the piece is very engaging not a direct comment but the association is clear: Islamic patterns and American quilts and the colours and geometry of flags as an abstract field of reflection.
This is an experimental portrait of one of the most vertical cities in the world: Hong Kong. There is a strong sense of rhythm and patterns. This experimental animation renders the overwhelming feelings of missing horizon views within megalopoles subjected to densification, while using a photographic technique to reveal the continuity in the buildings’ facades.
Expanded cinema Expanded cinema is used to describe a film, video, multi-media performance or an immersive environment that pushes the boundaries of cinema and rejects the traditional one-way relationship between the audience and the screen. What Max hatter did for this piece put up some fountains that spray water and he projected the film on that cloud of water created by the fountain itself.
this is a chain of animators working together. This not necessarily an experimental animation, however it shows how even different animation can fit together starting from a basic action, in this case a red ball.
These following examples form Bálazs Simon showcase the “commercial side” of experimental animation: you are producing original work, you can still not work in the traditional cannon but still being employable within a studio.