Way Down Here
| Leave a comment. Without words it would also be challenging creating, countless films discussing this issue. One scene that caught my eye in particular was when they paralleled a parking lot full of cars with a parking lot full of tanks. I expected an extensive documentary which sent out to investigate a problem, interviewed regular people as well as representatives of business and government. It is clear that man can create something on the same level as nature. Cars rush past like ants on hyperdrive, trash and debris pile up on the dirty sidewalks while broken lampposts swing in the wind. Then the movie turns to images of smokestacks, factories and expressways. While reassessing the film, I noticed that the first shot and the final shot were bookending the experience, were of rockets. As you watch, you get the sense that humans are making themselves part of a machine that runs their lives, one that they’ve constructed themselves. And the problem stems from this fundamental flaw in human nature. There was no plot, no commentary, nothing concrete that my mind could really grasp onto. I had another problem. On the community level, a group might sponsor an ad campaign, gather signatures for a petition or a hold a local event to raise awareness. If you want to add yourself as a user, please log in, using your existing Macaulay Eportfolio account. But on some level, I’m thinking more about how small and insignificant I am. Found on the film’s website (http://koyaanisqatsi.org/films/koyaanisqatsi.php), Reggio spoke about the intentions in making the film: KOYAANISQATSI is not so much about something, nor does it have a specific meaning or value…It stimulates the viewer to insert their own meaning, their own value. If you meant one of those, just click and go. I thought that Koyaansqatsi parallels some very interesting ideas and events that are relevant to our MHC 200 course and leaves a strong message in the viewers mind. There should be more strain put on the importance of shifting to renewable energy. Perhaps the point is that these processes are not removed from nature: they take place within the context of Earth’s ecosystems. It seemed like all the problems caused by corporations and people could be reversed with such a paradigm shift. Later we see scenes of abandoned buildings, of poor neighborhoods and poverty. At one point the afore-mentioned scenes of poverty collide with destruction: the demolition of a whole series of decrepit high rises happens before our eyes. The people inside, flickering their light switches on and off, are electrons zipping along the processor. They’re too busy, and too estranged from the planet, to create anything truly lasting. The music takes a more urgent and unsettling tone as the telephone wires, and huge factories are shown. In photography and filmmaking contrast refers to the difference in tones from the lightest tone to the darkest tone. Our usual lives in the post-industrial world are so removed from nature and centered around consumption that even trees and unobstructed sunlight become things to be sold to us. The canyons in the lake served as buildings and the animals in the area were food and clothing. The film focuses in on a hotdog factory and a Twinkie factory, examples of low-quality, unhealthy food. The mysterious images show human-like figures that may represent spirits or gods. The end of Koyaanisqatsi was what really drove home the message. Some people smile at the camera, others scowl and look away, and others pose, but all of them seem too occupied with their lives—with wherever they need to go next—to give much thought to most of what is around them. I went through the first quarter of the film appreciating nature as it was—its beauty, its independence, its enormity. Office Hours: Wednesdays. The film questions the assertion that technological advancement and expansion is inherently good. Sustainability should be an absolute social and legal must. Cars were produced efficiently with the development of the assembly line, and airplanes were invented. In the 19th and even 20th century, there was an overwhelming stench of anthropocentrism. This first work of The Qatsi Trilogy wordlessly surveys the rapidly changing environments of the Northern Hemisphere, in an astonishing collage created by the director, cinematographer Ron Fricke, and composer Philip Glass. We replicate the replicated, what we have witnessed in the natural world, contorting it, somehow misplacing our spirits along the way. Each building looks like a microchip. I’ll be honest and say that I started watching Koyaanisqatsi expecting a lot more of a compelling storyline. "Koyaanisqatsi," then, is an invitation to knee-jerk environmentalism of the most sentimental kind. The image of a baby on a beach is juxtaposed with that of the factory looming behind the beach. In forgetting Reggio’s influence on the film, and taking a meaning that was purely my own, I was able to take a greater point from the film. Until all of us can genuinely develop such an emotional attachment, humans now and in the future are bound to suffer heavily because of the mistakes we’ve made. Reggio uses the same technique of sweeping the view of the camera from far away to give a better understanding of the scale of the landscape. Throughout the course of the film, there are more and more depictions of this interaction. Life has sunk into a rushed routine. I will leave James’s thoughts on the movie to his assignment, but the conversation sparked some research that left me reconsidering my first impression of the film. The filmmakers of Koyaanisqatsi creatively used contrast in images to display time passing and to build or lesson the drama to transition to the next scene. The music now is in a clear contrast to the slower, grander melody at the beginning of the movie. We are constantly at the mercy of nature. THE LOSS OF CONNECTION Where do we fit within nature’s chaos? John Luther Adams used unique stage set up and performance location to share his environmental message. It was at times a little difficult to focus on, but the images and music were as a whole fairly stimulating and served to capture my interest. I expected each point to be concise but well-developed, and to lead together into a decisive closing statement. We see assembly lines creating cars and stock markets where new companies find capital. The problem is not that we are unable to take steps to save our environment, we just do not have the drive to do so.
Hank Williams Jr - Lone Wolf, Simon Woodroffe, Isshin Kurosaki, Seducing Songs, Dinosaur Tracks Benson Az, Papaya Listen To My Word Lyrics, The Power Of Now Walmart, Queen Creek Zip Code, Dunzo Office In Mumbai, North Shore Tavern Pittsburgh,
