Review - Koyaanisqatsi

Koyannisqatsi was created in 1982 by Ron Fricke, Michael Hoenig, Godfrey Reggio and Alton Walpole, with Director and Producing also by Godfrey Reggio.

It's name comes from Hopi Indian language and means "Life out of balance".

The video shows destruction and chaos throughout the world, by showing a series of clips from chaotic streets, to rubbish filled roads, to busy new yorkers. It gives off the impression that the creators of this film, are trying to send the audience a message, that if the world doesn't help one another out now, then the future will become more crowded and damaged.

The name of the film is almost exactly what you think of, when you are watching Koyaanisqatsi; Life out of balance. The way in which life is making no sense and has confusing connotations.

The audio in this film is made up of non-digetic sounds mostly, with music composed by Phillip Glass.

Questions posed by this film is why? Why is this 86mins of footage so important to us? Why does this all look familiar?

The editing in this film is made up of photography, by using both slow motion photography and time lapse photography.

The slow motion photography is used to get the audience to really take note of what is happening in that clip. It's where the filming or photography is grouped and the timing is slowed down, so the clip itself is stretched out in time, and has more of an affect on the audience. With the clip being slowed down, the audience are able to understand the effects of what is being shown to them.

Review - Doll Face

Doll Face is an Experimental video produced by Andy Huang. This short film is animation based using technology.
The ending of this short video really made an impression on me; the face smashing against the floor and breaking into pieces. It shows how some people will go so far for perfection, that they could potentially injuring themselves so far as to causing death.

In the beginning the mechanical girl is plain and grey, showing no facial expression. This is when the television is switched on and she tries to copy what is being shown on it. This is when you get the first sense that the media (the TV) is making her want to change her appearance. The mechanical body could also be interpreted as the media itself; how she has no body and the clogs and wheels are controlling her.

When the television is then switched on and sees the image, that's when you see how the girl wants to look like the person on the screen. As she puts the make up on she smiles, but for only as second. When the TV pulls backwards, a more human face is shown, with a whole new look, however the mechanical girl swaps her smile for a sad look and again changes her appearance to match the one on the screen. You can see from this that she is not happy herself, but will change her looks anyways.

As the TV pulls away again, the girl pushes herself to see the screen again, until the box she is in locks the wheels and she can not pull herself closer. At this point, she is forcing herself to move when sparks begin to fly from the metal and locks her tighter. With one last push she ends up pulling apart from the box, causing her face to crash down onto the floor; her face is smashed with parts no longer attached to her.

The last image is the TV screen playing a video which is the mechanical girl lying on the floor; when the TV switches of, you can see a reflection of the box in which the girl was primarily attached to. The box is empty, which could be interpreted to mean that if you try too hard for perfection nothing will be left!

How far will someone go for perfection? This video shows exactly how far! To death of themselves is how far they would go to make their look immaculate and perfect. The media is a huge contribution to this happening. Allowing teenagers to have surgery, magazines branding people overweight, underweight and even commenting on how celebrities look awful with no make-up on. With all this being advertised to young girls, they are more likely to keep up to date with fashion in case they get teased, wear too much make-up so they don't look different to their friends and even go to the extreme of surgery so they can change their personal features!