Visualizing Anthropology

This documentary explores the lives of Native American people who live on Pine Ridge Indian Reservation, an Ogala Lakota reservation in South Dakota. Filmed in the last year, this documentary explores how Lakota Native Americans are working to instill their history and culture in the reservation’s youth, despite obstacles such as drug abuse, alcoholism, and disrespect to their way of life, (as manifested, for example, in the DAPL).

The filmmakers did an excellent job portraying the humanity of the film’s characters. For instance, the filmmakers feature Ms. Tiny, a woman who struggles with family problems but nevertheless serves as a respected guide to Lakota youth on the reservation. The filmmakers even portray the reservation’s high school teacher, a young Caucasian male, in a positive light after one student questions why “white people” put “our people [Native Americans]” onto reservations “like cattle”. The mid-range shots and close-ups helped foster the humanity among the film’s characters. Considering that the filmmakers are not American themselves, I appreciate the respect that the filmmakers afforded to the film’s characters. Another aspect that the filmmakers did particularly well was connecting characters’ personal stories to larger social events, like the DAPL protests at Standing Rock and drug abuse in the reservation. Although I would have preferred less “voice of God” narration, I understand that the narration helped add context to the film’s events.

The film’s conclusion mentions that President Trump intends to continue work on DAPL, in effect reversing President Obama’s decision to halt work on the pipeline. I am curious to see how the film’s characters react to this news. Perhaps my curiosity is a testament to the film’s success in bridging human connections between viewers and the film’s characters and stories.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qFf_dTLj6EY

This film follows a family who hunts rabbits in south Florida. Without the title and the first establishing shots, you wouldn’t be able to tell right away, but the leading in occurs at a beautiful pace.

The first shot we observe is a wide shot of a waterway with very tall grass which is then followed by two shots of a factory that doesn’t apparently correlate with our title. The second shot of the factory has a young person riding their bike from the direction of the factory, letting us know this may be a spot frequented by civilians in some way and that we will return to this location or a similar industrial setting.

We are then taken into the home of a black family where we are introduced to one of the central people in our story. A young man looking to be in his late teens or early twenties is pouring pure white granulated sugar (the cheapest one is able to purchase at your local grocery) onto Frosty Flakes (a generic brand of Frosted Flakes one may find in their local grocery) with an open coil stove (an antiquated model in this time of technological advancement). We learn so much from this establishing shot alone. We are being introduced into the lives of a black family who may not be financial thriving, are intertwined somehow with the natural landscape of the rivers and fields and the industrial setting we were acquaintanced with in the beginning of the film.

The camera then introduces us to other family members as the young boy finishes making his breakfast, eating it, then taking a phone call with a man we will not be introduced to, but plays a vital role in the development of this story.

The family gets into the van and follows the directions to the landmarked coordinates then man on the phone gave them. The scene then switches to our fellow driving the vehicle following a cohort of industrial grade vehicles. We soon arrive back at the fields we were graced with at the beginning with the cooling towers in the not too distant backgrounds. A couple of the larger tractors begin to plow through the tall grass fields which seem to reach nearly 10 feet in height and expel fire as they lay down the grasses. A raccoon runs out of the conflagration but no one seems to pay it any mind. Shortly after our young man runs on screen chasing a small animal with a pole. He is followed by two others who begin to encircle the small animal, then we see a rabbit emerge and escape the swift strikes of sticks the young men carry.

Now we understand how this black family is tied together with not only the resources that are present (the fields, the rabbits, and the cooperation with the workers) and see there is a goal in mind for this rabbit hunt.

After following the young men and young girl that chase, strike, and capture rabbits, we hop back in the car on the journey back to their neighborhood. We pass through what looks to be a few miles of countryside agriculture to finally return to the subdivision the which the family resides. As they drive by neighbors they wave to acknowledge their presence as they come back to their home setting.

We pass by children on hoverboards and dirt bikes, but then settle in what seems to be the backyard of our family where our young man begins to severe rabbit heads/ paws, and skin them. One of the younger boys with him hands him the phone to which he lets the person on the other end know that he has 16 rabbits. The newly skinned rabbits are placed into a bucket of water, then passed off to one of the women who goes to thoroughly clean the rabbits in the sink. He then reappears on screen announcing once again he has sixteen rabbits. He reaches someone who says they would like 5 of the sixteen and asks for one of his family members to grab a plastic bag to place the rabbit meat into.

The customer arrives within an hour and a half later and receives the rabbits. She gives our gentleman some money and he sits down in a quiet place away from the raised voices our our young kids to put the money he received into a jar, which he then stashes on the bottom shelf of a nightstand behind a sheer curtain.

We are then taken back to the kitchen where boiling grease becomes our soundtrack to him seasoning the rest of the rabbit meat. He takes his time delicately rubbing the seasonings and sauces on the the meat as well as turning it in the boiling grease.

After frying them all to a crisp golden color, he places them in an aluminum pan and picks out a piece for himself. With precision and intention he drips hot sauce on both sides then sits down at the table to enjoy their catch.

The visual language was perfect for this film. We were guided through a lifestyle of this southern Floridian family that would be seem as gruesome and gory to many, yet humanizes the aspect of hunting for a livelihood. Beautiful.

 

This documentary follows the story of Genevieve Iron Lightning, a young woman from the Lakota Native American tribe. Genevieve along with her grandmother, and other community members narrate the film, but there are no “formal interview shots” which I think was a great decision on the director’s part. I say this because the tone of the film is melancholy and moves towards optimistic and the sequence of the various scenes reflect this tone effectively without the boxed in feel of a one on one interview setting.

The cinematography justified each word Genevieve spoke. From the introduction of her story, Genevieve said that she had to gather her brothers and her things to leave an unhealthy situation with her mother. The shots that cycle through are Genevieve putting on makeup and brushing her hair, presenting a strong and composed demeanor in the face of struggle, because ultimately she had to gather her strength and make a tough decision in that moment.

When one of the leaders of Cheyenne River Youth Project begins her narration to talk about the poverty, abandonment, and drug usage on Native American reservations, a series of footage simply flying over and driving by homes speaks enormously just by the dilapidated facades of the structures. Without having to look inside, one’s mind goes to wonder “what is going on inside?”

I appreciate the pacing set by the timing of the images as well as the musical scoring. It allows for a slow digestion of each scene and the imagery of each word as we are walked through Cheyenne River County.

Really hats off to Mohammed Gorjestani for directing this piece, but greater hats off to the Lakota people who have continued to remain persistent and resilient though faced with daily daunting challenges.

So this short film is entitled  “Beautiful Monster” which takes place in New York City with a slow paced hip hop beat with a sample that contains a call and response “Can I have it like that?” “You got it like that.” At first, the title along with the beat doesn’t make much sense to me and I’m sitting here trying to find out what the meaning of this piece is. I take a moment and think about each of the clips and the order in which they are organized. Seeing flashes of big scenes then back to people and spaces in which they commune and communicate, I start to piece together that this “Beautiful Monster” is the grande locale and intimidating cityscape and architecture coupled with the intricacies of the various individuals that reside within the city. Everything occupies a space, animate, inanimate. Living, nonliving. Either way, they all come together to make this environment where countless interactions occur at any given moment. Had there not been a sequential pattern of shots I may not have been able to figure it out, and who’s to say my explanation was not the purpose of them film, but that is what I pulled from it. There is a lot more ambiguity when you’re following a story that’s not laid out via narration or images that hold more cultural fluidity, but that’s where the importance of image composition, full composition flow, and compositional additions such as text and scores come into play.

The concept of this film was so simple yet so moving. Amid hundreds of people passing through the subway turnstiles, one aspiring passenger just can’t seem to get through due to his ignorance of appropriately swiping his Metro card. As older faces swipe their cards and pull their small carts behind, young kids effortlessly squeeze beneath the turnstiles’ restrictive outstretched arm. The man in the yellow sweatshirts remains unable to pass and for the time being, only capable of watching others travel through the automated gateway.

The man seems to be having dialogue with someone off camera, perhaps inquiring how to pass through, trusting that his Metro card is sufficient enough to allow him to pass. Though he maintains a conversation with this off camera figure, surprisingly no one in his immediate reach bothers to assist. It could be perhaps he’s a male in a hoodie with skin darker that most that move through this subway space. Either way, it’s not until a few failed attempts and trips off camera that a subway worker accompanies the man to the turnstiles to provide instruction on how to swipe his card: rapidly and in one swift movement.

This film utilizes one frame, one shot, no zooms, no motion. The size of the frame captures so much of the setting though that allows the audience to know the setting and observe the actions of not only the subject, but surrounding characters that seamlessly drift in and out of frame, fluidly moving to their destinations. The barely audible conversation we hear from our subject along with the constant flow of people moving in and out keeps me on edge wondering “When will someone help him?”

I believe this was a great use of natural setting, light, and sound to tell a story some of us may know very well, even if translated across different contexts.