Tag Archives: Encounters at the End of the World

Alone in a Field of White

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These two images both showcase being lost and isolated in various forms.  Although the penguin in the top clip chose to walk away from his pack, he is still lost and destined for an unfortunate future as the researchers are not allowed to help him.  The researchers in the bottom clip are simulated being lost and caught in a storm that is not their choice. I think being lost is a common theme in this movie as most the people interviewed or talked about felt lost before they came to Antarctica and didn’t really have a home.  Some people were sneaking into other countries in sewer pipes even.

The scene with the penguin helps reveal why the researchers are there, there is a great unknown as to why some animals act the way that they do and why this animal would just get up and leave, a question many would ask why these researchers left their life to go to Antarctica.  These two shots also use varying camera angles that contrast the two pieces and feelings of being lost. In the first clip with the penguin they use a close up of the penguin when he is with the pack followed by very wide and long shots as he is walking into the abyss. With the researchers on the bottom there isn’t a big wide shot like the penguin that shows they are truly lost.  There are some wide shots but the frame is generally crowded and you don’t get the same feeling as the penguin alone with the backdrop of mountains.  This could be because the researchers are not truly alone.

Them! Us!

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I chose these two stills because they represent a common theme throughout the documentary. Climate change and evolution, down to a molecular and single celled level is constantly discussed. In the first still, the science fiction movie they are watching is dealing with evolved creatures that are now taking over the world. Much like the science fiction movie they are watching, life not visible to the naked eye is doing just that. Herzog really gets the viewer thinking about how we as humans evolved from single celled organisms and in the second still, the scientists discuss how this single celled organism is actually demonstrating intelligent processes by separating and gathering grains of sand to protect its flimsy body by forming a rigid exoskeleton. Herzog’s open ended questions to experts on the topics they are discussing leave much up to vivid interpretation by the viewer and is much more interesting to watch than a cut and dried, scripted documentary.  The comparisons between the science fiction and the wild, undisturbed wilderness and vast expanses of underwater scenery place the viewer in a position to really start to question their existence and the reasons for our day to day actions and choices in life.

A Human-Centered Nature Documentary?

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Encounters at the End of the World is most assuredly a documentary, featuring interviews of real workers and scientists at a research center in Antarctica. From a certain lens, this film can be perceived as a nature documentary not because of the penguins and harsh, frozen landscape, but because of the humans at the center being observed so removed from their homes and the rest of society at large.

The first shot of the two above is a long shot reminiscent of those used when observing animals from afar in documentaries such as Planet Earth or Our Planet. Stefan Pashov, climbing down from the large piece of machinery, can be compared to a monkey in a tree or a lion in the middle of the African Savannah. The film wants the viewer to notice him as a subject, and this is what he does now; operating machinery is his new habitat in this almost case-study-like film.

In the second shot, William Jirsa is found and interviewed in a setting that does not initially become recognized as located in Antarctica. The gardens that surround him give the feel of a much more typically “natural” environment. The production crew also makes a point of keeping his awkward gestures, such as him scratching his nose, in the final cut of the documentary. This shot also reveals just how isolated the team is from the rest of society, as norms throughout the film seem to be different at the facility compared to the ones many of us practice at home. The awkwardness and social tension is incredibly thick both in this shot and in other areas of the film, which is part of what is being studied about them, as a typical nature film would showcase to you all of the interesting or odd social characteristics and behaviors of the animals under observation.

Alien World

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While watching Encounters at the End of the World, I couldn’t help but to be overwhelmed with a feeling of wonder and a sense of not belonging in that world. Someone watching these two clips could forget that these were shot on Earth and not on some distant world that is less evolved.  Therefore Herzog uses non-diegetic sound and otherworldly shots  to create a sense of mystery in order to transport the viewer to another world. By using music that doesn’t necessarily mesh with the scenery Herzog is creating a sense of alienation. The viewer should feel that they don’t belong and that maybe they are the “Aliens” in the world he is documenting. The theme for this week was Nationless and by showing these environments Herzog has created a documentary that isn’t tied to any Nation. We discussed last week that even though this is a documentary the film also has characteristics of western and syfy films. In these two clips Herzog has used elements of both. The bizarre music has a syfy feel to it. I would almost venture to say that the sound is edited to create this effect. The environments he films are also not inviting just like the early west. By using the music and environments Herzog has effectively created a strange world that removes the viewer from their own. Essentially making them “Nationless”.

“But Why”

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The two scenes put together share a common theme. That theme is “why we do things.” As for the penguin, the question “why” is to figure out the mindset of the penguin that drove it to walk out towards the mountains where the penguin has never been before. As for William Jirsa, the linguist in the clip, his “why” is what brought him to Antarctica. Both scenarios in the clip stage the question of why each one does what it does, as for the linguist we get an answer. Jirsa says that “people who are not tied down by anything fall to the bottom of the planet.” So, for him it’s because nothing was tying him down any where else, so he came there. The penguin on the other hand cannot answer the question, which leads to a mysterious situation. Herzog asks these questions the way he does to make the viewer think in a very philosophical manner. Many of the questions are left open ended so that the viewer can interpret it the way we want to. For me, the penguin walks to the mountain in hope of finding food he does not have to compete for, and for others it may be that the penguin actually is insane.

Ideal Truth

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I chose to compare these two scenes because I think they interchange relationships between humans and animals and the idea of truth. In the first still, the penguin knows his truth and has decided he will waddle his way into central Antarctica to certain death. They state in the film that there would be no use in trying to stop this penguin because he would most certainly make his way back to the exact spot. In the second still, scientists have their ears to the ice trying to listen to hypnotic seal sounds. The scientists have instruments they use to listen to the seal sounds, which resemble that of science-fiction noises. The imagery of these scientists listening to the ice gives more light to the idea of a world on the other side, which can be said of the same for the penguin in the first still, he is wandering into a new, unknown, world. I suggested the interchange between human and animals because the penguin in the first still is very determined to exhume his truth while the scientists are using more animal like tactics (never mind the instruments) by laying on the ice listening for seal sounds. The ideas of many different worlds comes from Herzog’s belief that truth can be fabricated through poetic and artistic choices.

Humans in Nature

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The scenes that chose represent the theme of nature shown through the film “Encounters at the End of the World”. More specifically, I think the film really touches on how humans interact with nature and these scenes contribute to this theme. Herzog uses camera angles, lighting, and plots throughout the film to show us what is the right way that humans should interact with nature and what is the wrong way to interact with nature. In the first screenshot, the base that researchers live at. The scenes from the base seem gray and deary, I think this conveys that infiltrating nature is not something that we as humans should be doing. Other scenes in the film that are filmed at the base, the scenery all seem gray and drab. This is contrasted by the screenshot from the other scene at the very beginning of the film, where the researchers are looking at the ice in Antarctica, where the scene is vibrant and light. There are other moments where they are observing nature and there is a usage of color and light that contrasts the scenes from the base, such as when Herzog was interviewing the penguin researcher. This shows how humans should interact with nature, we as humans should observe and preserve nature, not try to infiltrate it or change it.

Inhuman Encounters at the End of the World

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These images exemplify a common theme weaved throughout Werner Herzog’s film Encounters at the End of the World. The theme is searching for humanity in an inhuman place. Herzog believes such humanity exists and he attempts to reveal it in Antarctica by focusing on the people that visit the McMurdo station rather than the frozen wild itself. However, a closer look at his work reveals the reality of the situation; humanity cannot be found in an inhuman world. These two stills demonstrate that reality.

The top still arrives early in the film when Herzog visits seal scientists stationed outside of McMurdo. Here the scientists press their ears to the ice to listen for seal calls while an extradiegetic recording of the calls plays in the background. The second still comes later in the film when Herzog visits other biologists at a dive station. Here, a professional diver pivots to face the camera as he ascends beneath the ice. With these shots, Herzog juxtaposes the familiar, the human, with the unfamiliar, the Antarctic wild. He finds the humans in an inhuman place. However, color, clothing and shot composition in these stills expose the people’s inhuman-ness and their misplacement in this setting.

Tones of blue engulf the people in each shot, suggesting their domination by the cold environment. The people’s own hues of black and red stand out against the elements, alerting the viewer to their misplacement. Further, both shots depict quasi-human figures. Antarctic gear obscures their bodies and faces so that only their silhouettes are distinguishable as human. This costuming, so to speak, suggests that human penetration of an inhuman world warps the human, so that she or he becomes unrecognizable. This warping points to the idea that humanity cannot be naturally found in a place such as Antarctica.

Finally, there is something to be said about the shot composition of these stills. It is impeccable, and therefore uncanny. Herzog is only too familiar with cinematographic techniques such as obeying the rule thirds and working with depth of field. In the first shot, he places the horizon in the upper third of the frame, places the people in each lateral third of the frame, and adds depth to the image by placing figures in the foreground and background. The second shot, though not taken by Herzog, symmetrically positions the diver with his arms and head occupying the lateral thirds of the frame, and with two lines in the ice running symmetrically toward his shoulders. These manipulations of shot composition superficially work to conflate the people with their surroundings. The aesthetics are somewhat harmonizing and are suggestive of the people’s rightful place in Antarctic. However, it is precisely this manipulation that renders the shots uncanny. They are too perfect. The composition actually exposes the staged-ness of the shots, reminding the viewer of the unnatural presence of people in this world. Though Herzog finds humans in an inhuman place, his film highlights the idea that they should not be there.