Pine Flat

Each ten minute clip in the film Pine Flat were more like photographs than actual clips. One way to describe having to watch a boy sleep for ten minutes (or what felt like eternity) is boring. A film clip is supposed to encompass action and that is what differentiates it from the stillness of photography. However, there is no action at all in watching a boy sleep. In another clip, a boy is waiting for a bus in the country-side, but you never actually see the bus stop to pick the kid up. This again results in this clips lack of action, which makes this clip more about observing the nature around the boy as opposed to focusing on the boy’s character or problems—producing more of a photograph than an actual film.

These short clips also have to do with the human disruption of nature. One of the clips has a boy playing a harmonica, which disturbs the peaceful and natural scene of the creek. The sound of an airplane flying overhead also disturbs the peacefulness of the creek. This seems to be a reoccurring theme in these clips as shown by the clip of the two girls playing on a swing in an open field. The field itself feels very tranquil and calm, but the two girls start bickering and fighting.

-Christopher Melgaard