First Short Film: The Earth Beneath His Feet

This is a short-film which explores issues concerning the earth, ecology, environment, and our difficult relationship with them.

The Plot: The protagonist, an archetype of modern man, has to face a few hard facts.He had achieved much more than what death could kill. But he feared ‘the six feet of earth’ to where he, like any other mortal, must return. He had a reason to fear. He tried everything at death -he denied… he was angry… he argued… he bargained… and finally the inevitable happened.

Watch the full film here The Earth Beneath His Feet (15.5 minutes)

The Earth Beneath His Feet (2008) is screened and discussed at Voices from the Waters International Film Festival. It is also catalogued by Film Division India.

The Thought Process

2008, the issue of farmers’ suicide was on the peek in India. I wanted to make a film on that. I began reading. I got the statistics and stories. My mind began to wander around the question of ‘why’. Why did farmers, who managed their life for time immemorial by themselves began ending their life all on a sudden? The reason was clear; their farms are not producing any more. They are under debt. Then I hit upon the data that farmers’ suicide is more on areas where farmers had huge success during the green revolution. Green revolution of course was needed to unfetter India out of the great famines. India had to produce more. But today those farms are not producing anymore. High-end Fertilisers and pesticides that they had used have completely sucked out the ability of the soil to produce anymore. The farmers began to use genetically modified seeds, as a result they had to depend every year on business people to get seeds for sowing, and they were expensive. We as a humanity and as a scientific community had messed up the soil; had done irreversible harm to the earth. I had number of newspaper articles and statistics to back it up.

The Big Idea: Focus of my film shifted to the state of humanity after humans had done irreversible harm to the earth. This film is about the difficult relationship that humans have with the earth. My starting question was, ‘we have harmed the earth; but one day we have to return back to the earth; how will the earth receive us back?’ The film is about the struggle of a man, someone who was directly instrumental for the green revolution, who in some sense represents the whole humanity, to return back to the earth, because he knows he has harmed the earth. How will the earth receive him back? He is on the run.

Theme: The film deals with dying; but who is dying? All see the scientist dying. That is the overarching main text and narrative. As we look deeper, it is about the death of the earth/soil, it is about the death of farmers, and it is about the death of humanity.

Those paying attention will discover that through the dialogues delivered by the protagonist the narrative goes through the five stages of dying by Elisabeth Kubler Rose: denial, anger, bargaining, depression, and acceptance. Be it the case of dying earth, dying farmers, or dying humanity, we are going through these stages. Some are in the stage of denial, some are angry, some are bargaining, some are depressed, some are have accepted the end.

There are many ironical facts to note. The film begins with the scientist boasting of him/humanity beginning their journey as a crawling tiny worm and went on to achieve everything; the film ends with the scientist/humanity reduced to a crawling worm. On prescription shown on the table as the scientist is drinking water, he is dying of a cancer caused by contamination of water and earth by pesticides; ironically he was the one who was inventing and promoting such pesticides. It is a film about all of us and the earth.

Comments

Visual Analysis: INTRODUCTION

Visual analysis is a systematic and scientific examination of visual materials that explores their communicative meaning, aesthetic qualities, and functional impact. As Susan Sontag noted, humans tend to linger in "mere images of the truth," making it crucial to develop a deeper understanding of visual interpretation. Study the PDF below (for academic use only) Introduction to Visual Analysis PDF The Nature of Seeing: The process of seeing is not as spontaneous or natural as commonly believed. According to John Berger, our way of seeing art has historically been influenced by privileged minorities to maintain social and economic dominance. Visual perception requires conscious effort and is heavily influenced by habits and conventions. The visual faculty consumes approximately two-third of a person’s used energy, highlighting its significance in human experience. The Framework of Visual Analysis: Visual analysis could be traced back to communication models, for example, Har...

Visual Analysis: SEMIOTICS

Visual analysis is a systematic and scientific approach to examining visual materials that goes far beyond casual observation. In our visually saturated world, images have become a inescapable universal language that shapes our perceptions, attitudes, and experiences. From the artworks adorning gallery walls to the advertisements lining city streets, visuals communicate narratives, evoke emotions, and reflect sociocultural ideologies. However, the process of seeing and interpreting visuals is not as spontaneous or natural as we often assume. As John Berger notably stated, "seeing is an active decision," suggesting that the process of interpreting visuals is neither spontaneous nor natural, but rather requires conscious effort and critical thinking. The way we perceive and interpret visual content is heavily influenced by habits, conventions, and our individual perspectives. Serious visual analyses requires conscious effort and critical analysis to unravel the laye...

A Critical Visual Analysis of Jan Banning's ‘Bureaucratics’

Jan Banning's photographic series Bureaucratics offers a remarkable anthropological study of civil servants across eight countries, revealing how power, hierarchy, and cultural identity manifest in governmental spaces. Through meticulously composed photographs taken from a citizen's perspective, Banning unveils the theatre of bureaucracy the most immediate visual impact comes from Banning's consistent methodology: each photograph is taken from the same height and distance, positioning the viewer in the role of a citizen approaching the bureaucrat's desk. The bureaucrats are photographed in their natural habitat – their offices – which become stages where power dynamics and cultural values are performed daily. Make visual analysis of Bureaucratics by Jan Banning given below. Bureaucratics by Jan Banning PDF (for academic use only) In examining the spatial arrangements, a clear pattern emerges: the desk serves as both barrier and symbol of authority. In many image...

Sigmund Freud on Creative Writing and Day-Dreaming

Freud in his essay, Creative Writers and Day-Dreaming, explores the psychological origins of artistic creativity and the impact of literature on readers. He draws parallels between the imaginative activity of creative writers and the day-dreaming of ordinary people. It is a discussion about the relationship between creative art and unconscious phantasy. In it, Freud talks about the role of daydreaming and fantasy in human behaviour, and how creative writers are able to express their daydreams without shame or self-reproach. Read the essay below (for academic use only) Creative Writers and Day Dreaming PDF Freud argues that the child's play and the adult's phantasies/daydreams share a common element—the desire to alter an unsatisfactory reality and fulfil unfulfilled wishes. The creative writer is like a successful daydreamer who is able to transform their private fantasies into works that provide pleasure to the audience. Freud suggests that the writer's choice of subject...

2025 Must Create Its Own Art

Tonight’s art becomes inadequate and useless when the sun rises in the morning. The mistake lies not in creating art for tonight, but in assuming tonight’s answers will serve tomorrow’s questions. Louise Bourgeois, a French American artist, reflected, “art is a guaranty of sanity;” but that guarantee must be renewed with each dawn, each cultural shift, and each evolution of human consciousness. If some art endures through generations, it is only because of its capacity to speak, its ability to demand fresh interpretations that test and challenge the new. To guarantee sanity in the coming year, 2025 must create its own art. Why create art? Why watch art? Why read literature? True art, in the words of Sunil P Ilayidam, shakes that which is rigid and unchangeable. Art serves as humanity’s persistent earthquake, destabilising comfortable certainties and creating space for new ways of seeing, thinking, and being in the world. An artist’s duty is to reflect the times, and we see this in...

The Evolution of Art Styles Through History

The journey of human artistic expression spans millennia, evolving from primitive cave paintings to today's digital creations and conceptual installations. This evolution reflects not just changing techniques and materials, but also the transforming human consciousness, societal values, and technological capabilities across different eras. Study the PDF below (for academic use only) Evolution of Art PDF Prehistoric Era (Before 8th Century BCE): The dawn of human artistic expression began in prehistoric times, characterised by raw, primal representations of daily life, hunting scenes, and spiritual beliefs. Cave paintings and rock art served as humanity's first canvas, using natural pigments to capture the essence of their existence. These early artists laid the foundation for all future artistic expression, demonstrating humanity's inherent need to create and communicate through visual means. Classical Period (8th Century BCE - 5th Century CE) : The Classical period, domi...

Sound Recording for Films: A Crucial Element of Cinematic Storytelling

Sound recording is a fundamental aspect of filmmaking that significantly contributes to the overall cinematic experience. It is the process of capturing and recording audio elements that complement the on-screen visuals. These audio elements form the foundation for creating an immersive auditory experience that enhances the film's storytelling and emotional impact. Study the PDF below (for academic use only) Sound Recording for Films PDF The components of a film's soundscape are diverse and multifaceted. They include dialogues , which are the actors' spoken lines recorded on set or dubbed later; Foley sounds, which represent the actors' interactions with their surroundings and add authenticity to scenes; ambient sound, which creates a subtle background soundscape to transport the audience to the film's environment; music or score, which evokes emotion and enhances the narrative; and sound effects , which augment the film's realism and atmosphere. To capture ...

photo.graph.art.design

Search This Blog