Our Winter Grass Experience

Surely we expected to be spending our time on an app that was far from normal. The app, while lacking any form of action was surprisingly entertaining. There were several subtle aspects of the grass app that left me at the point of applauding. The most surprising was observed as I rotated the iPad and discovered the reorientation of the grass stems to an upright position no matter the position of the iPad.

The app, meditation, while incredibly simplistic, instills a calm within the player which actually can be attributed to its simplicity. The focus is on a man meditating amongst clouds and mountains and while the graphics aren't anything close to impressive to a person of our generation and younger, we still find a way to be entertained by this app. Perhaps something to be gained by this app would be that while activities in nature aren't necessary complex, they can sill be engaging, peaceful, and entertaining.

One thing that is certainly positive concerning the eagle cam is it makes the viewer aware of the beauty of these creatures and of nature as a whole. Many people are rarely, if not ever, exposed to eagles and this allows the viewing of their lives as they grow and start families. However, the downside to this is that it certainly seem like an invasion of privacy of the eagles, and it seems as if humans won't allow them to live in peace. This raises questions towards the ethics behind the project, because it clearly shows disrespect for nature and only pays heed to our entertainment "needs."

Even the Rain

           The scene I found most powerful was also the scene that was intended to be the most significant part of the movie about Christopher Columbus. This was of course during the burning of Daniel’s character among others in the name of Christianity. Things such as shot angle, close-ups, and the focus of the shots. These elements were used to make the film more moving and draw parallels from Christopher Columbus’ to the filming itself.

            Sebastian’s movie was intended to reveal the extreme mistreatment of the indigenous people when Christopher Columbus arrived.  In this, Sebastian was clearly trying to show that the Spaniards, who thought so highly of themselves due to Christianity, weren’t the heroes to these people; these people were in fact above them, they were far more important and far more admirable.  This is why I believe they film, from a high angle, looking over the shoulder of Daniel’s character when he spits on the Spaniard.  This is to convey that Daniel’s character and his people are above the Spaniards and their oppression.  And Daniel’s character was filmed from ground level which makes us believe he is bigger than us, than this entire issue, that he cannot be swayed.  This is one reason that makes this scene particularly moving, because it fuels our hatred for the Spaniards who are supposedly acting to change lives for the better, just as Sebastian is trying to do with the film he’s making.

            We also see several close-ups on Daniel; the most significant one was clearly when he was being burned alive.  We see and hear him ask if Christians go to heaven, and he receives the answer of yes.  He responds with saying, “Then let me burn in hell!”  We see this small, powerful man being burned to death, screaming in agony, a result of his refusal to accept the Christian ideals.

This scene was the most important part of the movie in my opinion; we see the filming of a movie about Christopher Columbus that was essentially pointing out the poor treatment of the indigenous people.  However, what the director of this film, Sebastian, didn’t realize is that he was essentially doing the same exact thing as the Spaniards.   The scene allows us to draw parallels to how the government is oppressive and holds water from the people and that Sebastian is only paying the workers 2 dollars for each day of hard work.  Sebastian is no better than Columbus himself.  It made me dislike Sebastian, because he believed that this film would change people; but in reality, Sebastian needed to change himself.

The Cave of Forgotten Dreams

In what seemed an attempt to only lengthen the film, Herzog included a pair of albino alligators.  This attempt had originally appeared to me as a poor addition for I believed it didn’t add anything relevant to the film.  But then he raised several points that compared us to the crocs, which seemed to actually be a fantastic metaphor for humanity, for we have changed significantly from our ancestors as have these crocodiles that barely resemble even their parents.

                What can be drawn from the main part of The Cave of Forgotten Dreams was the ancient peoples’ immense appreciation and respect for nature.  The majority of all cave drawings were that of animals rather than themselves, which leads us to the conclusion that they were extremely connected to the environment.  However, in the postscript, Herzog compares us (humans) to albino alligators, and how they no longer resemble their parents or ancestors.  The alligators were included in the film as a metaphor for human beings.  Herzog’s postscript intends to point out that human beings have become extremely disconnected from the environment, and he illustrates this by noting that the albino alligators now live in baths that are fed water from the nuclear power plant nearby. Additionally, these crocs are so far removed from their actual habitat that they seem foreign compared to their ancestors, and in a sense, so are human beings. We now disregard nature and it seems as if we only add toxins to the air and water around us. We now look different than our ancestors, and we resemble them in seemingly no way at all when we compare our appreciation for the environment.  Herzog did a fantastic job at pointing out how humans have made many changes for the worse.  And I think that in a way, he was trying to say that we need to return to our roots, and revive our respect for nature.

Wind Turbine Sonnet

Wind turbine, wind turbine, you do provide,

A source of power that’s green.

But if suddenly, the wind had died,

You know what that would mean.

Our source of green power would be gone,

And we’d return to fossil fuels.

More and more oil, will be drawn,

To power our little school.

So we pray to the wind, for the wind to stay,

For the wind is a handy tool.

And we’ll use this wind, every day,

To run our beautiful school.

We get this power, the power that’s green,

Every day the turbine is spinning.

The Cove

The men and women behind the making of The Cove certainly went to great lengths to protect a species other than our own.  What is really interesting about the film other than the sudden urge to aid in the preservation of the dolphins was the “covert op” aspect many parts of the film gave off.  We were viewing these activists and fishermen with hidden cameras and hi-tech thermal vision which gave an impression that this was a war between the two groups.  It added an intensity that only complemented the film and added urgency to aiding the dolphins. 

The dolphins were often filmed up close, either while being used by humans for entertainment or in their natural habitat living their lives as they should.  This unexpectedly stirred emotions in me and made me want to help these poor creatures being slaughtered only to be used in human entertainment or as a replacement for whale.  What struck me most when viewing this film was the bird’s eye view of the dolphins being mercilessly killed by the fishermen, and watching the water turn red with blood.  The makers of this film had no need for close up shots, it was very simple but so “eloquent” in that it served its purpose in every way imaginable – for this wasn’t the killing of individual dolphins, but rather, thousands.  It was surely difficult to watch through the killing as dolphins are seen fleeing for their lives and being slaughtered, all the while the screams of pain filling the background.  This film did a fantastic job to kick-start the emotions of the viewer and made me personally want to contribute to the cause.

Plastic Bag

                What stuck out to me most was when he, the bag, described his first being used as his first breath.  This bag’s story is told in first person and there is a lot of personification going on.  He describes himself as breathing and feeling.  There is also envy present and the bag feels as if he is not being appreciated for everything he “does.”  This film essentially brings to mind how hard it is to dispose of a plastic bag, as he describes himself as nearly impossible to get rid of.  The short is certainly intended to raise awareness to our repeated use of these materials that take even more energy to dispose of.  The film actually worried me as we see this indestructible bag “floating” amongst barren cities left behind by the humans who built them.  In the film we also see the bag rolling past nature’s beauties and the bag states “I wonder if they knew these places existed.”  I think this was intended to say that there are beautiful places out there that we need to be aware of so that we can fight to preserve them.  The bag eventually makes his way to the ocean and tells of ocean life nibbling away at his “flesh.”  He wishes that he wasn’t immortal, that he could die, much like a paper bag.  The idea behind this film is to recycle and reuse, and to save the environment. 

Wall-E

The title of the movie is derived from the name of the main character Wall-E who is a small, trash compacting, robot.  We see personification of this robot in that he shows several human emotions such as fear and love.  This allows the audience, mainly children, to connect with the protagonist and feel empathetic for one of two moving things we see living in a wasteland caused by our own excess.  Wall-E appears to be the only “eco-friendly” machine built by humans throughout the entire movie.  He is solar powered, which aids in the audience supporting the protagonist.   It shows to us that we have the ability to make “green” choices every day and this will certainly help the earth as we lower the use of fossil fuels and the emission of greenhouse gasses

The message that is certainly intended to be gained by Wall-E is that the excessive human consumption with no regard to the environment will certainly result in our own demise.  In the opening scene, we easily discover the motive behind the film as we see massive piles composed of trash with windmills placed on top that shows that every day we continue to consume and disregard the environment.  Humans have become so attached to technology, they have become addicted.  This addiction will eventually cause us to lose hold on what’s real in this world, and it will cause us to miss out on the finer things in life.  For example, until the man was knocked from his chair and the woman had her screen turned off, their eyes were opened to their surroundings.  This allowed them to develop a relationship between each other.  The movie is setting out to show that technology is actually pushing us apart from each other and the world around us.  

While viewing this movie, I observed what I thought to be several problems.  Its message is clearly a message to be heard by all but as I viewed Wall-E, which is presented to us in a cartoon form, I began to think that maybe it focused a little too much on being comical as opposed to environmentally focused.  We see Wall-E getting tossed this way and that which was indeed humorous but it distracts us from the moral of the story.  I also felt as if there was a heavier emphasis on the “love story” between Wall-E and the robot searching for life, Eve, than on the negative effects humans are having on the environment.  This is certain to get the attention of the children but this focus surely makes them overlook the real message behind the movie. The movie has the right idea, and raises several good points, but its target audience will not likely receive the message that is intended.