What I See

For this assignment I watched Herbert Sauper’s Darwin’s Nightmare. I had seen the film before but the first time I watch a film I prefer to just enjoy it and allow myself to be transported. With subsequent viewings I can dissect the method in which the filmmaker has affected me. One of the reasons I enjoyed Darwin’s Nightmare so much is the intimacy that the viewer and filmmaker feel with the subjects. There is definitely a feeling of sympathy for the poor of Tanzania but the sentiment does not degrade into pity. One way the filmmaker achieves this is through shot composition. Whenever his subject is outside Sauper uses a wide lens and frames them so that they are on one side of the composition and are visually surrounded by their environment. This way we may not judge the individual but are forced to see him as part of a larger whole. From the prostitutes to the street children and even the eastern European airplane pilots, everyone is part of a larger structure over which they are essentially powerless. The intimacy in the film is enhanced by the camera angles. Usually Sauper films people from either a slightly low angle or level as though we are standing in the room with them. In one of the films most powerful moments, the interview with the prostitute Eliza, the frame is almost entirely taken up by her face. Apparently while filming Sauper was also holding the candle that served as the scenes sole light source. One of the aspects of this film that I love is that even though many of the filming techniques are dictated by budget (or lack of) and the necessity of a crew of only one or two people, the shots still carry meaning and add to the story.

More AMMI images

Life mask of Marlon Brando


Animatronic Wolf

Star Wars figurine


Projectors (I like to throw filters on images)


Model from the movie Blade Runner


Medieval image viewer


Early motion study

American Museum of the Moving Image

I really enjoyed our trip to the Museum of the Moving Image. I had never been before and the history of broadcasting is something that I am very interested in. For me the most interesting was the rise of television as a medium made to appeal to women. When we look at early personal radios they seem to appeal to a manly aesthetic. The large carved wooden boxes are cast as solid unmoving centerpieces in a living room where after the work day the family can gather round and be entertained and enlightened. Many of the early televisions, however were designed to be used by women. They were designed to look like washing machines and were sometimes portable so that women would be comfortable taking them around the house as they performed their work. Women were the ones at home all day so they were initially targeted as a primary audience. I believe in some ways this is still the case with television programming. The programs and advertising targeted at women are still broadcast during the day today, but I think what makes the early televisions so remarkable is their significance as one of the first media that was versatile enough to target women during the day and men in the evenings.