Experimental film night compiled and presented by Ian Helliwell, screening alternative and unusual shorts based around a specific theme – this month focussing on films which demonstrate split-screen effects.
Experiments with motion picture presentation have taken place throughout the history of cinema, and particularly at World’s Fairs in the 1960s, ideas were tested out for new ways to project film and reimagine the size and shape of a cinema screen. Images were multiplied within the film frame, and multiple screens carried different shots and angles simultaneously for a more immersive viewing experience. Experimental filmmakers began to explore expanded cinema using a much broader audiovisual pallet than a single projector, and for a time in the late 1960s and early 70s, some Hollywood feature films incorporated split-screen sequences, including The Thomas Crown Affair; The Boston Strangler; and The Andromeda Strain. To give a flavour of this type of multivision effect, Ian will present a whole programme of split-screen experimental shorts.
Synch Pulse is a monthly free entry experimental film night featuring a different theme for each programme, represented by archive and contemporary shorts, animations, documentaries, vintage adverts and trailers, and public information films, with a strong emphasis on electronic music and experimental soundtracks.