Baraka
In the film Baraka, the director uses many different transitions to represent the way we as humans live our lives. In this film transitions such as classifying similar actions between ones culture, or using the same type of music for many video clips each give the viewer a lasting impression in their mind. These transitions give the film its rich sense of willpower for the human society to "clean up its act".
As an Asian man is filmed bathing in a public tub, his back is magnified, showing a beautiful tattoo completely covering his back. The tattoo is filled bright colors and many culturalistic characters. As the image of the man's back gets closer, it flashes to a small tribal child wearing bright face paints, also, representing his culture. This transition shows that the human race does not differ in many traditions; rather we just differ in the way they are presented.
Because there is no script in this film, the music must be strong and vibrant. Images of nature and human interaction with nature are connected with this eclectic collection of a soundtrack. For example, in one part of the film we are shown a tree being cut down. The tree falls with a bang, there is silence. We see a man from a tribe, and then we are shown a large explosion of rocks that goes into a town filled with upbeat, fast-paced music. With these transitions of sound we are shown the connection between how nature is neglected by the human civilization, and how many of us do not care that this is happening and also how many of us in different cultures are hurt by these selfish actions. Showing fast clips of many things is an easy way to create a strong statement. For example, we are shown eggs getting processed through a factory. The next image is baby chicks being moved through a factory as well, they are on a conveyor belt and then sent down a funnel where they are stamped and marked, almost passing an inspection. The next set of images is...
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