Samsara & Baraka
Samsara & Baraka are two Observational documentaries by director Ron Fricke, who has explored the furthest corners of the world, in attempt to document human life. Filmed over nearly 5 years in twenty-five different countries on five continents Samsara documents social expressionism in different cultures, as well as looking at the diversity of life on planet earth. This motion picture transports the audience to a dissimilar worlds of sacred grounds, disaster zones, industrial complexes and natural wonders.
The film was visually breath taking, which was down to the fact that director Ron Fricke shot the whole film in Panorama seventy-millimetre film. Nonetheless my favourite aspect of this film is the way it was co-ordinated, the amount time and detail Fricke has placed into this film is remarkable. Fricke needed to acquire major government and regulatory clearances to access certain parts of the world, he waited patiently for certain seasons or lunar phases to acquire the lighting he wanted in his film. All placed together by composer Michael Stearns who composed the music for the film after the motion picture was 'silently edited'. The entity of the music itself combined with a 7.1 surround sound design is testament to the artistry of the film. The 70mm negative has digitally scanned and rendered at 8k resolution making Samsara truly the first 4k film of its nature.
Fricke's distinctive time-lapse sequences in Samsara has drawn my attention to the way in which the film was shot. Fricke in an interview with comingsoon.net explained how him and his crew navigated their equipment through hostile terrain with a team of five. After traveling over 58 different countries through the course of Baraka and Samsara, the team had learnt to set up the large-scale equipment in a minimum amount of time. This was due to the crew years of over-all experience. Having built and designed most of their own custom equipment it became an easy routine for them to set up quickly if needs be. Fricke explained that the size of their camera weren't massive but nor were they handheld, nonetheless the team have a regular rhythm that makes this type of complex shooting manageable. This degree of team work has made me reflect on my one-man-camera approach to film making. I like to take control, yet I am open minded and work extraordinarily in a creative team. Understanding the team process of a full scale film crew has contributed to the idea that film making in essence is problem solving. That the more I produce the more problems I face. From the care and attention of the delicate equipment equipment, to the different continuity errors that the life throws at you.
The film was visually breath taking, which was down to the fact that director Ron Fricke shot the whole film in Panorama seventy-millimetre film. Nonetheless my favourite aspect of this film is the way it was co-ordinated, the amount time and detail Fricke has placed into this film is remarkable. Fricke needed to acquire major government and regulatory clearances to access certain parts of the world, he waited patiently for certain seasons or lunar phases to acquire the lighting he wanted in his film. All placed together by composer Michael Stearns who composed the music for the film after the motion picture was 'silently edited'. The entity of the music itself combined with a 7.1 surround sound design is testament to the artistry of the film. The 70mm negative has digitally scanned and rendered at 8k resolution making Samsara truly the first 4k film of its nature.
Fricke's distinctive time-lapse sequences in Samsara has drawn my attention to the way in which the film was shot. Fricke in an interview with comingsoon.net explained how him and his crew navigated their equipment through hostile terrain with a team of five. After traveling over 58 different countries through the course of Baraka and Samsara, the team had learnt to set up the large-scale equipment in a minimum amount of time. This was due to the crew years of over-all experience. Having built and designed most of their own custom equipment it became an easy routine for them to set up quickly if needs be. Fricke explained that the size of their camera weren't massive but nor were they handheld, nonetheless the team have a regular rhythm that makes this type of complex shooting manageable. This degree of team work has made me reflect on my one-man-camera approach to film making. I like to take control, yet I am open minded and work extraordinarily in a creative team. Understanding the team process of a full scale film crew has contributed to the idea that film making in essence is problem solving. That the more I produce the more problems I face. From the care and attention of the delicate equipment equipment, to the different continuity errors that the life throws at you.
No comments:
Post a Comment