Bonnie Gross: At first I thought that “Plastic Bag,” was a bit corny, but I really liked the story at the end. I had thought that it would be a short meant to preach about the environment, but the short did not come off as preachy at all. I thought it was humorous at times, but maybe just a little creepy. They must have done a good job because I found myself feeling bad for the plastic bag during the short. I think that they did a good job of sending the environmental issue without overdoing it or being too straightforward. This was a really creative idea. The cinematography was really interesting because the way they followed the bag must have been very difficult to shoot. This is especially true when it floats in certain directions. At one point the plastic bag looks like it talking as it moves the handles like they are lips. I am not sure how they controlled all of that, but it was very impressive. Also I really loved all the under water shots. When the plastic bag first gets swallowed into the ocean, there are a series of shots of waves crashing. It made me feel like I was drowning myself. In all I thought it was very well done.
This was a somewhat interesting piece, even if a large amount of appeal was Werner Herzog's delivery of the lines. It tells a rather amusing, if somewhat cheesy story, which makes charming use of context and seeing common human activities from an outsider's perspective. As the short went on, however, I couldn't help but losing interest from being chained to a singular object for so long. No matter how much life the spoken lines could put into the experience, at the end I honestly felt like I'd just spent 18 minutes watching a plastic bag, and definitely didn't feel like any kind of meaning had been imparted.
As a student of film-making and someone interested in cinematography, but at the same time a person highly critical of these kinds of shorts, the way this film was shot has me quite torn. On the one hand, the amount of effort, execution, planning, and overall craftsmanship put into keeping the bag framed and in focus throughout almost 20 minutes of play time had to be an absolute nightmare. I admire the amount of work put into the film, and I am genuinely impressed with how good it looks. At the same time, due to being stuck focusing on a plastic bag, what I was actually seeing on screen was quite boring for me. Once again, watching a plastic bag for 18 minutes ends up being a bit boring.
In conclusion, the piece is well shot, well voiced, and well scripted, but ultimately tied down by a rather trite format and corny subject. If this was a 4-5 minute long film, I feel like I would have enjoyed it far more.
"Plastic Bag" is a very creative and unique short. This lady used this plastic bag for everything. The narration was so poetic which intrigued me the most about it. The narration successfully personified the bag so we can connect with it. It played with our emotions and our purposes in life.The plastic bag had emotions like every other human being. I felt like I was on a journey following the life of a plastic bag. Anyone that can create words and images that allows humans to connect to a non-living object such as a plastic bag is a genius.
The shot composition was very nice. There were a lot of close ups, which heightens the amount of emotions and connections we can get with the story and to the paper bag. Some of the shots were slightly out of focus but this might have been because they played with depth of field a lot through out the piece. The people who were in charge of the plastic bag and its movement did a good job because through the bag's movements, it was like it was alive, living, and breathing.
This was such a creative piece that shined the light upon environmental issues by appealing to our emotions in an artistic way.
Kaitlin Smith: I really enjoyed the Plastic Bag, I probably liked it most out the rest that we’ve watched so far. I guess because of the originality and uniqueness. It’s not everyday that so see a film where its main subject/character is a plastic bag and it can talk.
I thought the cinematography overall was amazing! To follow a paper bag around and have the camera perfectly aligned with it I know that was difficult especially with the windy scenes. I liked the point of view shot at the very beginning with the paper bag, because it helps humanize it.
I also really enjoyed the soundtrack that was composed for this short. I thought the music fit perfectly and had its high moments at the right times in the film. Especially in the end with the fish.
I wonder how he shot the end scenes with the fish. If he really went sucba diving or if they used CGI?
The story overall was very good. I believe this short was telling a message about the environment and he was successful in getting it through to the audience. I thought the shots at the landfill and in the water could impact people a lot. That why those shots were my favorite. Great story and short!
I thought this short was really wonderful. It had such a feeling about it, it really gave off vibes and an atmosphere of importance. At first, I thought it was going to be a cheesy comedy but after only a few minutes I was really hooked in the dramatic story of this bag.
The cinematography was great. I really liked how they never showed the girl's face, or anyone's face for that matter. I also liked the length of the shots and how they took time to show the movement of the bag.
The voiceover was really charming. I thought the tone of the voice was perfect. The words he spoke complimented the airy visuals so well. Although the video was fairly long for such a simple idea, I thought it worked well and built up to the last line in a very good way. I really enjoyed this film. It left me with a feeling I can't quite explain but a feeling nonetheless. This film touched on environmental issues by humanizing them as well as mortality. I thought it was very well done.
Rebecca Bynum: "Plastic Bag" was a very unique short. It focused on spreading an environmental message about recycling in the world. It made me not want to use a plastic bag anymore because it'll be swimming along the bottom of the ocean, floating in the air, or sitting in a junk yard somewhere. The cinematography was amazing. My favorite shot was when the plastic bag entered the ware house and it followed it to the ground through the water's reflection of the bag. It must of been hard to get perfectly composed shots with a plastic bag since it's not something we can really control altogether. They made it seem like the plastic bag was alive, with its constant movement and narration behind the short itself. I really enjoyed this short and impressed at their ability to be able to handle the plastic bad in the wind for 18 minutes of playtime.
Joel Jarvis: A new take on the "if theses walls could talk idea". Much like Mike said above.. The effort put into following this bag must have been overwhelming but I disagree about watching this bag for 20 minutes as boring. After a few minutes I ignored the bag altogether and started to look at the scenery around the bag. It was very easy to get swallowed up into this world. I was sad to see in the end Mr.Bag had begun to doubt his own sanity. Wondering if he had a maker at all or if he just imagined it.
My favorite line was just after the truck at the land fill ran over the bag and it says "Nothing can destroy me". I had to pause the video to compose myself.
Plastic bag was pretty interesting. I thought the cinematography was really nice and thoughtful. The storyline was pretty cool. I liked that it made you feel for this plastic bag and you follow it on this journey. I liked that at the end it revealed that it wished it's maker had made it able to die, which is like a read between the lines kind of message. It makes you think about all the debris and trash on this plant and that how most of it never goes away.
The one thing I didn't like about it was the voice for the bag it was weird and creepy/
Steven Hiott Plastic Bag was an interesting short, but it did not really cater to my taste. I got the feeling that the director was trying too hard to convey the environmental message and not enough time really getting the viewer getting emotionally involved. At least I was not when I was watching. I do not relate with plastic bags. I think watching a plastic bag for such an extended amount of time is boring. I understand that they were trying to humanize the bag, but it just seemed weird and unidentifiable. The voice was a good choice to help convey the films central message. It was complementary to the film and I think it was the perfect mixture of convincing and easy-going.
Bonnie Gross: At first I thought that “Plastic Bag,” was a bit corny, but I really liked the story at the end. I had thought that it would be a short meant to preach about the environment, but the short did not come off as preachy at all. I thought it was humorous at times, but maybe just a little creepy. They must have done a good job because I found myself feeling bad for the plastic bag during the short. I think that they did a good job of sending the environmental issue without overdoing it or being too straightforward. This was a really creative idea. The cinematography was really interesting because the way they followed the bag must have been very difficult to shoot. This is especially true when it floats in certain directions. At one point the plastic bag looks like it talking as it moves the handles like they are lips. I am not sure how they controlled all of that, but it was very impressive. Also I really loved all the under water shots. When the plastic bag first gets swallowed into the ocean, there are a series of shots of waves crashing. It made me feel like I was drowning myself. In all I thought it was very well done.
ReplyDeleteMike McGee:
ReplyDeleteThis was a somewhat interesting piece, even if a large amount of appeal was Werner Herzog's delivery of the lines. It tells a rather amusing, if somewhat cheesy story, which makes charming use of context and seeing common human activities from an outsider's perspective. As the short went on, however, I couldn't help but losing interest from being chained to a singular object for so long. No matter how much life the spoken lines could put into the experience, at the end I honestly felt like I'd just spent 18 minutes watching a plastic bag, and definitely didn't feel like any kind of meaning had been imparted.
As a student of film-making and someone interested in cinematography, but at the same time a person highly critical of these kinds of shorts, the way this film was shot has me quite torn. On the one hand, the amount of effort, execution, planning, and overall craftsmanship put into keeping the bag framed and in focus throughout almost 20 minutes of play time had to be an absolute nightmare. I admire the amount of work put into the film, and I am genuinely impressed with how good it looks. At the same time, due to being stuck focusing on a plastic bag, what I was actually seeing on screen was quite boring for me. Once again, watching a plastic bag for 18 minutes ends up being a bit boring.
In conclusion, the piece is well shot, well voiced, and well scripted, but ultimately tied down by a rather trite format and corny subject. If this was a 4-5 minute long film, I feel like I would have enjoyed it far more.
Nia Barnes
ReplyDelete"Plastic Bag" is a very creative and unique short. This lady used this plastic bag for everything. The narration was so poetic which intrigued me the most about it. The narration successfully personified the bag so we can connect with it. It played with our emotions and our purposes in life.The plastic bag had emotions like every other human being. I felt like I was on a journey following the life of a plastic bag. Anyone that can create words and images that allows humans to connect to a non-living object such as a plastic bag is a genius.
The shot composition was very nice. There were a lot of close ups, which heightens the amount of emotions and connections we can get with the story and to the paper bag. Some of the shots were slightly out of focus but this might have been because they played with depth of field a lot through out the piece. The people who were in charge of the plastic bag and its movement did a good job because through the bag's movements, it was like it was alive, living, and breathing.
This was such a creative piece that shined the light upon environmental issues by appealing to our emotions in an artistic way.
Kaitlin Smith: I really enjoyed the Plastic Bag, I probably liked it most out the rest that we’ve watched so far. I guess because of the originality and uniqueness. It’s not everyday that so see a film where its main subject/character is a plastic bag and it can talk.
ReplyDeleteI thought the cinematography overall was amazing! To follow a paper bag around and have the camera perfectly aligned with it I know that was difficult especially with the windy scenes. I liked the point of view shot at the very beginning with the paper bag, because it helps humanize it.
I also really enjoyed the soundtrack that was composed for this short. I thought the music fit perfectly and had its high moments at the right times in the film. Especially in the end with the fish.
I wonder how he shot the end scenes with the fish. If he really went sucba diving or if they used CGI?
The story overall was very good. I believe this short was telling a message about the environment and he was successful in getting it through to the audience. I thought the shots at the landfill and in the water could impact people a lot. That why those shots were my favorite. Great story and short!
Lauren Musgrove:
ReplyDeleteI thought this short was really wonderful. It had such a feeling about it, it really gave off vibes and an atmosphere of importance. At first, I thought it was going to be a cheesy comedy but after only a few minutes I was really hooked in the dramatic story of this bag.
The cinematography was great. I really liked how they never showed the girl's face, or anyone's face for that matter. I also liked the length of the shots and how they took time to show the movement of the bag.
The voiceover was really charming. I thought the tone of the voice was perfect. The words he spoke complimented the airy visuals so well. Although the video was fairly long for such a simple idea, I thought it worked well and built up to the last line in a very good way. I really enjoyed this film. It left me with a feeling I can't quite explain but a feeling nonetheless. This film touched on environmental issues by humanizing them as well as mortality. I thought it was very well done.
Rebecca Bynum: "Plastic Bag" was a very unique short. It focused on spreading an environmental message about recycling in the world. It made me not want to use a plastic bag anymore because it'll be swimming along the bottom of the ocean, floating in the air, or sitting in a junk yard somewhere. The cinematography was amazing. My favorite shot was when the plastic bag entered the ware house and it followed it to the ground through the water's reflection of the bag. It must of been hard to get perfectly composed shots with a plastic bag since it's not something we can really control altogether. They made it seem like the plastic bag was alive, with its constant movement and narration behind the short itself. I really enjoyed this short and impressed at their ability to be able to handle the plastic bad in the wind for 18 minutes of playtime.
ReplyDeleteJoel Jarvis:
ReplyDeleteA new take on the "if theses walls could talk idea". Much like Mike said above.. The effort put into following this bag must have been overwhelming but I disagree about watching this bag for 20 minutes as boring. After a few minutes I ignored the bag altogether and started to look at the scenery around the bag. It was very easy to get swallowed up into this world. I was sad to see in the end Mr.Bag had begun to doubt his own sanity. Wondering if he had a maker at all or if he just imagined it.
My favorite line was just after the truck at the land fill ran over the bag and it says "Nothing can destroy me". I had to pause the video to compose myself.
Ellen Schwartz
ReplyDeletePlastic bag was pretty interesting. I thought the cinematography was really nice and thoughtful. The storyline was pretty cool. I liked that it made you feel for this plastic bag and you follow it on this journey. I liked that at the end it revealed that it wished it's maker had made it able to die, which is like a read between the lines kind of message. It makes you think about all the debris and trash on this plant and that how most of it never goes away.
The one thing I didn't like about it was the voice for the bag it was weird and creepy/
Steven Hiott
ReplyDeletePlastic Bag was an interesting short, but it did not really cater to my taste. I got the feeling that the director was trying too hard to convey the environmental message and not enough time really getting the viewer getting emotionally involved. At least I was not when I was watching. I do not relate with plastic bags. I think watching a plastic bag for such an extended amount of time is boring. I understand that they were trying to humanize the bag, but it just seemed weird and unidentifiable.
The voice was a good choice to help convey the films central message. It was complementary to the film and I think it was the perfect mixture of convincing and easy-going.