ABSTRACT
This chapter discusses some of the features that define Zappa's filmmaking style and the way it impacts his consideration of cinema as a tool for social mobilisation. After several attempts at directing films, Zappa finally premiered 200 Motels in 1971. The film was shot and edited on video and transferred to 35 mm after completing post-production for its exhibition in theatres. In his movies, Zappa expresses his opinions on the same topics he expounds in his records: music industry, politics, anti-drugs statements, etc. The influence of Vertov and avant-garde films should not be surprising for several reasons: for the direct link between these films and Western underground cinema in the seventies and the respect that Zappa had for the Dadaist movement. The different clips by Bickford and Zappa make a sort of collage of American society, showing sexual and violent scenes with the intention of catching the viewer's eye and questioning the conservative construction of the United States.
