See the video at: http://vimeo.com/23877963
From the beginning, during the shots of people working around the coal at 1:00, usage of a blurred, circular focus to point out feet against coal. It's hard to look at, but that's the point. The view shows the harsh impact of the environment against the workers.
After that scene almost five minutes into the video, it feels like the blurred circle used to draw focus is used far too much. It looks like it's in every scene, which is disappointing as there are scenes which need the full frame to be in focus. During minute six, I would've loved everything in focus to see all the bags and workers sort them out clearly, it would have a much greater impact. Instead the six minute section is far too limited. At 8:24, it would've been nice to have the full shot in focus to see the boats and how they tie into the pollution.
Throughout multiple interviews, text is misspelled. It looks like a rushed job, but you can still understand what whoever is speaking is trying to say.
I can't tell if the circle blur is on purpose or if something is wrong with his camera, but at the 10 minute mark I'm feeling just as bothered by it, because what you want to see is not always in focus.
That being said the entire documentary is an amazing view of the people that make India run. the footage combined with interviews is a powerful punch to the viewer, from the interview with a woman who says she disobeys Allah in her work (1:00), to the Rickshaw who discusses his work (10:20).
Review by Jacob Beltran
It was hard to watch Machine Men because of that blur you were talking about. They added a vignette to the footage, which blurs the edges of the film. I agree, it's blanketed throughout the film instead of being used to highlight specific pieces. And even then, I don't think adding a vignette for this type of documentary style footage is effective, or acceptable.
ReplyDeleteI also think this film would have been great with interviews overimposed on the ambient audio of the mines, shoveling, digging, etc. An interview of one of the diggers, or actually I noticed they didnt include an interview of the foreman, or owners. It would be great to get their POV while showing what the workers are doing.
By the 5 minute mark I wanted to turn it off because I was already frustrated that all this great video footage didn't carry dialogue to explain what was going on, or why it's important to record people doing these processes.
Overall, not enough context to like how long it was, and the vignette (blurred edges) bugged the hell out of me the whole time.
I like the frequent exchange of shots of close-up, medium, and overall shots in the beginning part. It was well connected and help understand what the author want us to see. I don't like the editing or camera effect that the image at the 4 corners were blurry. It seemed to be created on purpose and I don't like documentary video to have this kind of effect. What does that softness added to the story?
ReplyDeleteI can see the blur on the left and right side of the screen in the video. It does seem as though it is intentional. The use of audio to show culture, and the noise of the machines is great. I like the use of b-roll it gives the viewer a sense of time and age of the people. The videographer was able to tell the story of change by showing old and young working. They also showed the effects of industrial growth. I really like the video.
ReplyDeleteReviewed by Riley Stephens
I agree with Jacob on the blur. I thought the blur to be a bit dreamy, as if in the beginning to work its way into the video. The author used the blur to focus in on the work. Close ups on the work and the sound to go with it all allowed for the video to get the main theme across which is human beings being treated as a machine. The way that the Bangladesh men was putting the bricks on top of his head to move them over to the boat. The men the who were pulling the ship in unity. I think that the authors Alfonso Moral and Roser Corella did a good job in that respect of what they meant by Machine Man.
ReplyDeleteAlso what I would have liked to see more is the out come of their work. While watching the movie I wanted to see what happens after that. Then also the panning at the end where the young man was blowing the hand made pen flute was clever.