America in Pictures is on the more unique side of films that we’ve reviewed here at Microfilmmaker. It’s an experiment in 35mm, an art film of sorts. Imdb gives this description: “A majority of the film's images were produced using experimental light exposure techniques. The film's final sequence was created using 35mm negative stills placed over unexposed 16mm film stock. The unexposed film stock was briefly exposed to light, superimposing the 35mm still frames onto the 16mm film stock."
Content
The structure of this movie almost makes me think that it’s meant to be somewhat autobiographical. The images are slightly hazy, off-color, and sometimes angles wrongly – in the same way that memories of childhood often seem to be. One image that helps to cement this idea is a still photograph of a child wearing sunglasses. The color is lightened, implying age, and the boys clothes look rather out of style, leading one to guess that perhaps this is an old photograph of the director himself.
Even if my guess is incorrect, however, the film’s ambiguity can easily lend itself to many different interpretations. This, I think, is the great benefit of experimental/art films – every audience member will take something different and unique from the finished product based on their point of view, and their added insight will only serve to enhance the director’s original vision.
This unusual
movie...
...Is an experiment with
35mm negatives.
Visual Look
When filmmakers experiment with 35mm film stock, it’s always interesting to see the results. In the case of American In Pictures, there were some really interesting-looking images. Perhaps my favorite part was the altered footage of animals such as raccoons, foxes, and flocks of birds. There were also some nice black and white sequences - a train going by, a motel sign, and several leafless trees – that sort of added to the feeling of Anywhere, USA.
What usually becomes the problem in these kinds of experimental films, however, is how to bring all the different elements together. Sometimes the end results are more of a hodgepodge of altered footage that don’t quite seem to fit with each other, and I didn’t notice that this was somewhat the case here. While there were some transitional imageless shots included, the film still seemed to jump from one segment to the next without much continuity. For instance, there were a couple minutes of the footage of animals, then the image changed to something completely unrelated. It might have been a good idea to blend all these segments together rather than in its own little section. The sequence of animals seemed like the longest, so if that were spaced throughout the film, it might help to tie the entire thing together a little better. Though this may be a bit tricky in the editing process, it would make for a stronger concept overall.
