Baraka and Non-narrative Film

As a fan of documentaries, I’ve become fairly well acquainted with the various styles found in the genre. One of the less-discussed styles that greatly intrigues me is non-narrative docs/nonfiction films - particularly those that lack any sort of narration whatsoever. 

The first time I saw this sort of thing was back in middle school, when our music teacher showed us some clips from Godfrey Reggio’s Koyaanisqatsi (we watched it in music class because of its remarkable score by Philip Glass). And as a middle school kid, of course I found it to be the most boring thing I’d ever seen. After that experience I stayed away from the genre until I found Ron Fricke’s 1992 film Baraka a few years later. 

Baraka opened the door for me to the world of non-verbal film. It is a movie shot in 25 different countries on 6 different continents, and it completely avoids the use of dialogue, narration, and narrative. It is comprised of footage of people, nature, vehicles, infrastructure, etc. over a beautiful score. Regarding the film, producer Mark Magidson said “[the goal] was to reach past language, nationality, religion and politics and speak to the inner viewer.” 

Baraka is remarkably captivating, yet in a different way from most films. There is no story to become invested in, or characters you get to know. However the cinematography is absolutely gorgeous, and the film keeps your interest by providing vastly different aesthetics as locations change. Here is an example, in a particularly depressing scene:

The film was shot in 70mm and later scanned at a ridiculous 8k for their 2008 blu-ray remaster. Even though I (or pretty much anyone, for that matter) am not getting anywhere near that resolution on my TV, it still looks absurdly good and it's certainly one of the best blu-ray film restorations I've seen. Take a look at the original trailer vs. a re-cut trailer with the restored footage: 

I highly suggest checking out the Baraka blu-ray, it's good stuff. A sequel to Baraka called Samsara was released a few years ago, and it is equally as stunning. 

4K filming changing the gam

As the supper bowl is coming our way, many people are excited for the game, the commercials, food, friends, but what a lot of tech geeks are looking forward to is the 100+ cameras (several of which being 4K) they will be using.

What a lot of people don’t realize is that enormous amount of background work that goes into media aspect of such an event. Other than the $3,000,000 30second commercial spots, the technology that will be used to make this showdown is unfathomable.

Unfortunately, we are not at the point where we can film the entire supper bowl in 4K nor are we at the point where we can view it at that quality, but it is coming soon. Many people will not be able to appreciate the picture quality that will come from these cameras because it will be broadcast on television in 1080p and available for streaming in only 720p, regardless, it is quite the triumph to get where we are today. A majority of the cameras being used will be the HDC-1500 and HDC-2500, which will be routed to any of the 5 production trucks used during the game. I am still trying to get a grasp on the FS-100 so it will take some research for me to full grasp the capabilities of the cameras they are using now.

What Fox is trying to do with these cameras is allow for a type of digital zoom the will not degrade the picture quality but allow for cropping on original 4K images to fit a full HD resolution. In essence Fox is trying to improve their picture quality through placing their new cameras along the sideline, goal line, and will be used to improve officials reviews of plays. This new technology is going to change not only football, but all sports, TV shows, and News. Movie theaters have already adapted to the new ways and movies are already being shot and viewed with 4K technology. For instance, “The Hobbit” was beautifully made shot with high-resolution cameras that gave an amazing dynamic to the film.

 All forms of broadcasting are changing rapidly, soon it will be the norm to have only 4K TVs and say bye to 1080p HD.  I am excited for what will be coming next; I heard 8K cameras are in the making…