Post by Boz on Jan 21, 2007 21:03:33 GMT
Zoo 
Burt Haanstra 1962
My first day of my introduction to film class, and this was the first film we watched. A short documentary with no narration or dialogue, just a simple jazz score. Black and white photography showcasing a zoo; its people, its animals, and their similarities. It really effectively draws up parallels between humans and animals, and perhaps even brings humans off of our high horse and reminds us that in the end, we're all fundamentally the same. Haanstra, utilizing some great rapid editing cuts, shows humans and animals acting very similar, making similar facial expressions, making similar body motions. He shows mothers holding their children, families eating with one another, couples sleeping next to one another, all for both humans and animals. And yet sometimes, we see differences. Haanstra non-verbally draws up an interesting point as we watch a group of people standing outside of a monkey's cage making faces and jumping around and shouting trying to get his attention, and yet he just sits and stares blankly back at them. It makes you think who's really the more civilized one. At one point we even see a little boy strap a gorilla mask to a little girl, presenting perhaps the most direct image in relation to the overall theme. The jazz score is the real highlight here though, with Haanstra accompanying certain crescendos and fluctuations in the music with images of wildly moving animals, which works with great effectiveness.
Burt Haanstra 1962
My first day of my introduction to film class, and this was the first film we watched. A short documentary with no narration or dialogue, just a simple jazz score. Black and white photography showcasing a zoo; its people, its animals, and their similarities. It really effectively draws up parallels between humans and animals, and perhaps even brings humans off of our high horse and reminds us that in the end, we're all fundamentally the same. Haanstra, utilizing some great rapid editing cuts, shows humans and animals acting very similar, making similar facial expressions, making similar body motions. He shows mothers holding their children, families eating with one another, couples sleeping next to one another, all for both humans and animals. And yet sometimes, we see differences. Haanstra non-verbally draws up an interesting point as we watch a group of people standing outside of a monkey's cage making faces and jumping around and shouting trying to get his attention, and yet he just sits and stares blankly back at them. It makes you think who's really the more civilized one. At one point we even see a little boy strap a gorilla mask to a little girl, presenting perhaps the most direct image in relation to the overall theme. The jazz score is the real highlight here though, with Haanstra accompanying certain crescendos and fluctuations in the music with images of wildly moving animals, which works with great effectiveness.