Many experimental works of art are formalist—that is, they are concerned with issues of form rather than issues of content. Formal exploration of the qualities of light, the poetry of motion, and the juxtaposition of sound and image, as well as phenomenological inquiry into our ways of seeing, motivate many different experimental practices. These films may be non-narrative, lacking well-defined plots or characters, or abstract, using color, line, and shape to create patterns and rhythms.

While mainstream narrative films have predictable patterns of conflict and resolution, and documentaries follow one of a number of expository practices, experimental works organize experiences either in ways that defy realism and rational logic or in patterns that follow strict formal principles. The three major patterns of organization used in experimental films are associative, structural, and participatory.

Associative organizations create psychological or formal resonances, giving such films a dreamlike quality that engages viewers’ emotions and curiosity. Two types of associate organization are metaphoric and symbolic. Metaphoric associations link together different objects, images, events, or individuals in order to generate a new perception, emotion, or idea. Less concrete than metaphoric associations, symbolic associations isolate discrete objects or singular images that can generate or be assigned abstract meanings.

Structural films reject the illusionism of narrative film and instead follow a particular logic or problem, such as challenging the audience’s perceptions with a focus on the material of the film or its formal principles.

Participatory films emphasize the centrality of the viewer and the time and place of exhibition to the cinematic phenomenon. Such films include installation and multimedia artworks. Artists now also work with online interactive environments as well as social media to create new user experiences. Fan art, video blogs, and the vast range of user-generated content on Web sites such as YouTube relate to these participatory traditions, even when their content is not consciously artistic.