The filming of “Waste, and Other Forms of Management” involved seven different films There were two that stuck out for me the most.
In “Overseas” it Wawa Kai throughout the day. There was a nice use of scenes with the revel about Wawa. We see her sick in the bathroom as she was ill at work. But she appeared scared here, looking in the mirror towards the door before leaving to meet the police officer. We find out she was raped in a bathroom where the man had blocked the door. We also find out she is there to report the crime to get get an abortion. These scenes all tie this together as they lead up to this revel. One scene that really stuck out was the last bits where she asks the officer if he could protect her from the man who did this to her if, she gave a description like he is asking. Showing why she refuses to give a description and waited two months to report it. The officer is shown looking at her before looking down at his desk with no repose. Wawa is stuck in a situation where she needs an abortion but must give information first that could cause future harm from the man who did this to her. Police cannot guarantee protection. She is stuck in a losing situation either way, as the only option for her would be a dangerous illegal abortion. This is a good look into how women are treated on abortion rights and rape.
“Four Boys, White Whiskey, and Grilled Mouse” shows four boys drinking and eating a mouse they had caught and grilled in the paddy field. We see close-ups of the boys pouring drinks and eating with the paddy field in the background. It all seems like fun as they talk lounge around and then later leave for the day. But the last scene seems to hint at the boys being on their own. The last scene is of the main boy sitting alone in a room devoid of anything other than a television.
There was one film that everyone who watched it seemed to not like. It was a film of a recycling plant called “”. The filmmakers something to say about this one unlike the two I mentioned. The idea they were trying to get across was how so much money is spent on creating these machines and yet they often break or don’t work as well as they should leading to more money being spent on the process. I did see a lot of trash scattered around the machines in many still shots instead of running along the conveyor belt and the floors covered with pieces of plastic. One scene was done by placing the camera in-between the metal bars near a conveyor belt. The filmmaker had microphones on his glasses as well as on his shirt to get the audio recorded. The problem everyone had with the film was that it felt really long and tedious due to all the scenes of just the machines. Many people asked why only three shots were done of the workers. The filmmakers said that they tried to edit the film down to a reasonable size but the lack of workers was a choice they made. They felt look much footage of the workers would cause the audience to focus too on the workers instead of the environment of the recycling plant.
Three of the films “Bread”, “Spoon”, “Cream” were short two minutes of dialogue with the same man talking based on a prompt given. The camera was focused on him for the whole time with him facing forward talking. I think he used the prompts which are the titles of each as metaphors for all the problems facing his home of Damascus throughout the time the filming was being done. He talks about how the bread had drops of poison in it which could be the promise of freedom that ended up not happening. In Spoon he talks about the spoon working for him before it breaks and he has to eat with his hands. Maybe symbolizing how the government is supposed to work for the people but throws away those that need help. Especially in countries that are very poor and detailing with civil war like Damascus was as well as thirty years of occupation and the prime minister being assassinated. I wish this was made clear in the films as I had to read the handout given before we started watching to understand what these short films were about. Maybe they could have given their interviewee some more advice on it to make things clear what he was discussing. I think something was also wrong with the picture and audio when “Cream” was shown. There were moments throughout the film where the picture would lag and the audio crackled and had noise in it.
“Pigs” was a filming of a farm in Las Negas Nevada. It was mentioned that the film was made to show how foods from the casino’s and other businesses in the area that are spoiled or left over are used to feed the pigs to avoid wasting food as the casinos always make more food then what their customers will eat. But with how much time the pigs were shown before this I feel it could have had more of this. Maybe show some scenes of the casino. A shot of people eating, the table with plenty of food afterwards before it’s handed over the food to whoever delivers it. I originally thought it was discussing treating animals as waste from the pigs living conditions.
“The Last Supper” also did a similar message as “Pigs” as it focused on a message of wasting resources of food. It did this by placing a table floating on a swamp covered in green moss and placing spoiled food on it along with expensive looking dishes and silverware. The camera then shows the swamp and table at various angles. One shot showed the table with a dolly. The film makers found the swamp perfect and liked the green moss-covered water thinking it would work well with their idea.
The first film was “Soup Can” which was a short animation of photographs and old posters. They transitioned from one to another by animating figures in the pictures or in one case having the picture rip in half to show the next. It reminded me a lot of the opening animation to Monty Python. A lot of the work was done using papers elements in the way of moving the animation forward in an entertaining way.
