Arbeiter verlassen die Fabrik (Germany, 1995) Harun Farocki
*Repetition to allow comparisons*
A hundred years after the first film ever was shot by the Lumière Brothers outside the gate of their factory, Harun Farocki made a film around this theme that has been present in film ever since 1895. His film is an essay in which he looks at what we can read into all these shots of workers leaving the factory.
Aesthetically, repetition is crucial to the film. We see the Lumière clip at least four times, each time with a different commentary. Other clips return too, like the contemporary commercial for gate security. Repetition also exists in showing shots of workers leaving the factory over the last century, to allow viewers to compare over time and between places.
The commentary is an essay. It describes sometimes the images, to position them in place and time. It also interpretes them: the first Lumière film, of their own factory gate in Lyon, is interpreted by Farocki as everyone walking fast, ‘as if something pulls them forward’; no one stands still in front of the factory. 1975 in Emden at the Volkswagen factory, the workers run out, again as if something ‘pulls them forward.’ 1926 running workers in Detroit, ‘as if they have already lost too much time.’ Workers in Lyon, 1957, are running ‘as if they know where life is better.’
Repetition allows you to bring together very different material into a film; compare what you bring together, and speculate about differences of the shots you have put together. Not all of this needs to be done by the filmmaker as Farocki shows, s/he can leave it partly to the viewer too by refraining from commentary now and then.
This openness is interesting for design research, were you might want to choose how much you analyse and speculate for the team you do your research for, and how much you them to do that themselves.
I did not find this film on tape or DVD
Arbeiter verlassen die Fabrik (Germany, 1995) Harun Farocki
*Repetition to allow comparisons*
A hundred years after the first film ever was shot by the Lumière Brothers outside the gate of their factory, Harun Farocki made a film around this theme that has been present in film ever since 1895. His film is an essay in which he looks at what we can read into all these shots of workers leaving the factory.
Aesthetically, repetition is crucial to the film. We see the Lumière clip at least four times, each time with a different commentary. Other clips return too, like the contemporary commercial for gate security. Repetition also exists in showing shots of workers leaving the factory over the last century, to allow viewers to compare over time and between places.
The commentary is an essay. It describes sometimes the images, to position them in place and time. It also interpretes them: the first Lumière film, of their own factory gate in Lyon, is interpreted by Farocki as everyone walking fast, ‘as if something pulls them forward’; no one stands still in front of the factory. 1975 in Emden at the Volkswagen factory, the workers run out, again as if something ‘pulls them forward.’ 1926 running workers in Detroit, ‘as if they have already lost too much time.’ Workers in Lyon, 1957, are running ‘as if they know where life is better.’
Repetition allows you to bring together very different material into a film; compare what you bring together, and speculate about differences of the shots you have put together. Not all of this needs to be done by the filmmaker as Farocki shows, s/he can leave it partly to the viewer too by refraining from commentary now and then.
This openness is interesting for design research, were you might want to choose how much you analyse and speculate for the team you do your research for, and how much you them to do that themselves.
I did not find this film on tape or DVD