I really liked Blind Sight a lot because it took on so many things and pulled it off. It was a story about how blindness is treated in Buddhist countries, how one man dealt with his loss of sight, and how a team of guides deals with taking 6 or so disenfranchised blind kids on a trek to the top of a Himalayan mountain. The structure was appropriate—a little background, then a little action, then more back story of the kids’ lives interspersed with the footage of them attempting this outrageous feat. I love when a film can make me feel an array of emotions. I was angry when I heard the people shit talking the bind kids in Tibet, happy when all of their parents gave them permission to go, incredulous when they mapped out the trek, inspired when the kids kept going, worried when they kept getting headaches, and they even had comic relief with the infatuation with Imagine Me & You that seemed to exist among Tibetan kids.
The film also had something I think a lot of us wanted to see in Sound & Fury—a way for the subjects of the film to actually watch it, an announcer who described each shot. It awakened me to the fact that the film will still be perceived differently for a blind person than for a sighted person. It kept reminding me of the fact that those kids would still not ever be able to see the beautiful surroundings that they had managed to hike to. But as Sabriye said, and I ultimately agree with, the kids never really needed to reach the top of Lhaka Pri. They wanted to go on an adventure with their hero and their friends and they got that. The last scene was the perfect invitation to reflect on the film and if you didn’t at least almost cry you aren’t warm blooded.
Also I think I should exercise because I could feel an asthma attack coming on just watching them.
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ReplyDeletethought this film was more than amazing. I liked the structure because it was threaded with an adventure, but I loved how constantly throughout they gave you background stories that explained more. I liked this alot, because it allowed for the viewer to constantly get more involved in the film as you built a stronger relationship with the climbers.
ReplyDeleteI thought the film was shot nearly flawlessly. Everyshot, ecspecially the establishing shots, was very creative and compelling. I hope that one day I can be put in a situation that allows me to use landscapes similar to the ones in the movies. The implement of the narrarator telling you what was going on was a huge asset. Throughout the film, I would close my eyes for a minute or two to try to comprehend what it would be like for the blind. I think that it was pretty easy to follow along, but still I am so thankful that I have the means of actually enjoying the insane visuals. One particular reoccuring shot set up I found interesting was the dinner table of the hikers in the tent. I thought about how you can cover so much of a situation at a tight meeting place like a table. The food loosens people up and the viewer can people watch the individuals on the screen as well as pay close attention to the selected speaking character. I think we should be looking for places like a dinner table in our stories to use in various different ways in our work.
Lastly, I recognized the sound was done really well in this doc. The interviews were very personal and matched the characters, but the ambiance noises were done with justice and matched the beautiful places on the screen. The non-diagetic music was a good mix of emotional music that assisted in the turmoil, happiness, sadness, and humor.
I also really liked this film. I completely agree with Lauren in regards to my emotions...they were all over the place. I think that for the film makers to be able to accomplish that is a huge accomplishment, especially since I'm pretty cynical to begin with. I also kept thinking about how amazing it was that the camera people were not only climbing Mount Everest, they were doing it through the eye of a camera...what? who does that? I'm glad they did, but I would have been terrified...
ReplyDeleteThe only criticism I have for the film deals with the voice over. I think it was GREAT idea, and I'm glad they did it. My only qualm is that I would sometimes get confused as to where the line was between the narrator describing something and where he began to translate dialogue. I think it would be worse for someone who couldn't see since I could eventually see that there were no more subtitles and he must be describing the action. I thought hard about how you could fix that, because I think that this element helps make the film (not that it would have needed it) I think maybe a better idea would be to have one voice translating dialogue and another one describing the action. I think this would be a positive change and would help those instances where the overlap is a bit confusing.
Its nice to know that I'm not the only one who liked this documentary. The editor did an amazing job at generating suspense when it was needed, and left some really long shots when it was required. I love also as other people have mentioned already the structure. I think it work really well with the story, specially considering the amount of characters that kept jumping into the story.
ReplyDeleteMy biggest question, was how in the world did this person was able to get all that coverage??!! I think it was beautifully shot. I don't even remembering a shot where there is a boom in the shot, or where it gets too shaky that it distracts me. I have to completely give two thumps up for that, specially when you are filming going up a mountain...I mean, come on!
I do not have any big things that I can complain about it. I really liked it. From head to toe,even the credits, that child was precious at the end.
This has probably been my favorite documentary that we've screened so far. It was beautifully shot and structured well. The idea alone of blind people climbing Mt. Everest is amazing and interesting, but to capture it on film is epic. I enjoyed how they told every characters story and gave some insight to how they got to where they are and why we should care about them. At the same time telling so many stories did not take away from the big picture.
ReplyDeleteIt was one of those films that gets you so emotionally involved that it makes it hard to pay attention to the structure in itself. I thought they did a good job in mixing narration and cc so that blind and def people could watch it alike, however it was frustrating at times because the narration rarely matched up with the cc.
The fact that the teachers and the guides did not see eye-to-eye really added a sense of confrontation that certainly added to the story and showed the passion that both teacher and guide had for the kids safety and ultimate success.
All in all an amazing film that I would recomend to anyone.
CLH