This is my pilot for my project. Unfortunately the colour became staturated in the export from finalcut pro, which i will have to deal with when i come to using it in my final piece. I will also have to cut down some of the footage so that i can make it the allocated time slot.
Thanks to Paul Kenny who put his dignity on the line, Alex Tachauer, Chris Worth, Adam Lintott who provided supporting roles and Jess Bartram who helped edit/ stop me having a mental breakdown as the clips contanstly went offline, and of course those who were support actors.
Thursday, 15 December 2011
Wednesday, 14 December 2011
Research Report 7- Bibliography
"The Beach" (2000) Danny Boyle
" Lord of the Flies" (1952) William Golding
"Tintin in the Congo" (1930-1931) Herge
"Charles Baudelaire: A Lyric Poet in the Era of High Capitalism" (1997) Walter Benjamin
Ali Farka Toure "Le Miel N'est Jamais bin dans une saule Bouche" (2002) Marc Huraux
"Moi Un Noir" (1958) Jean Rouch
"BBC's Tribe" (2006-2007)
http://www.bbc.co.uk/tribe/bruce/index.shtml
A critique of:
http://www.ucl.ac.uk/archaeology/people/staff/basu/usercontent_profile/basu_reframing_ethnographic_film.pdf
"World's Lost Tribes" (2007-present)
And Critics of:
http://www.mediaite.com/tv/reality-series-accused-of-faking-scenes-and-misrepresenting-amazon-tribe-as-%E2%80%98sex-obsessed-savages%E2%80%99/
http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/2011/aug/02/mark-and-olly-living-with-machigenga
http://ethnoground.blogspot.com/2011/05/mark-and-olly-follies.html
" Lord of the Flies" (1952) William Golding
"Tintin in the Congo" (1930-1931) Herge
"Charles Baudelaire: A Lyric Poet in the Era of High Capitalism" (1997) Walter Benjamin
Ali Farka Toure "Le Miel N'est Jamais bin dans une saule Bouche" (2002) Marc Huraux
"Moi Un Noir" (1958) Jean Rouch
"BBC's Tribe" (2006-2007)
http://www.bbc.co.uk/tribe/bruce/index.shtml
A critique of:
http://www.ucl.ac.uk/archaeology/people/staff/basu/usercontent_profile/basu_reframing_ethnographic_film.pdf
"World's Lost Tribes" (2007-present)
And Critics of:
http://www.mediaite.com/tv/reality-series-accused-of-faking-scenes-and-misrepresenting-amazon-tribe-as-%E2%80%98sex-obsessed-savages%E2%80%99/
http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/2011/aug/02/mark-and-olly-living-with-machigenga
http://ethnoground.blogspot.com/2011/05/mark-and-olly-follies.html
Research Report 6- Theoretical Context
Within this film i am firstly exploring conventions of Anthropological film, this is fairly straight forward as i thoroughly analyse pieces of work by various ethnographers and depictations of western culture transposed in a tribal setting.
Also i am intereted in how anthropological despictations have been subverted. For instance "World's Lost Tribes" were accused off subverting their program to suit and grip the intended audience http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/2011/aug/02/mark-and-olly-living-with-machigenga and indeed Jean Rouch was accused by anthropologists as misrepresenting the African people, though this is an example of the train of thought that was in his era. Also i lightly looked at how Herges earlier work was accused of being rascist in its depictions of different ethnicities. I iwll be looking to subvert what the tribe says in the subtitles. I am still in process of deciding how i could further depict the Tribe, maybe through a scene in which a big deal is made out of something that really would not faze my tribe at all.
On filming anthroplogical documentaries Jean Rouch who has lived in the Niger region since a young man said “Personally. I am violently oppresses to film crews. My reasons are several. The sound engineer must fully understand the language of the people he is recording. It is thus indispensable that he belong to ethno group being filmed and that he be trained in the details of his job.
Besides with the present techniques used in direct cinema the film maker must be the cameraman. And the ethnologist alone in my mind is the one who knows when where and how to film i.e. do the production . Finally and this is doubtless the decisive argument, the ethnologist should spend quite a long time in the field before undertaking the least bit of filmmaking. This period of reflection of learning of mutual understanding might be extremely long but such as stay is incomparable with the schedules and stays of the technicians.”
I can really apply this quote to my filming, as a student myself i am in essence looking at my own social group. Though subverting and exaggerating aspects of it, i have a greater understanding doing this then if i did an anthropological film on goth culture, which i would know nothing apart from the black clothing they wear. Or for example or if a film crew came in and did a study on students.
I have always been somewhat of a flaneur, coined by essayist Charles Baudelaire; someone who studies other humans and takes an interest in their cultures within our own culture, often when i am travelling. Evry human you make any contact with whether a glimpse in the street or the woman you sit opposite in a long train journey has a story to tell and this is one of the main things i am doing. I am engaging in a social group that is my life and is wholely interesting to me as i engage on this on an everyday aspect.
Also i am intereted in how anthropological despictations have been subverted. For instance "World's Lost Tribes" were accused off subverting their program to suit and grip the intended audience http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/2011/aug/02/mark-and-olly-living-with-machigenga and indeed Jean Rouch was accused by anthropologists as misrepresenting the African people, though this is an example of the train of thought that was in his era. Also i lightly looked at how Herges earlier work was accused of being rascist in its depictions of different ethnicities. I iwll be looking to subvert what the tribe says in the subtitles. I am still in process of deciding how i could further depict the Tribe, maybe through a scene in which a big deal is made out of something that really would not faze my tribe at all.
On filming anthroplogical documentaries Jean Rouch who has lived in the Niger region since a young man said “Personally. I am violently oppresses to film crews. My reasons are several. The sound engineer must fully understand the language of the people he is recording. It is thus indispensable that he belong to ethno group being filmed and that he be trained in the details of his job.
Besides with the present techniques used in direct cinema the film maker must be the cameraman. And the ethnologist alone in my mind is the one who knows when where and how to film i.e. do the production . Finally and this is doubtless the decisive argument, the ethnologist should spend quite a long time in the field before undertaking the least bit of filmmaking. This period of reflection of learning of mutual understanding might be extremely long but such as stay is incomparable with the schedules and stays of the technicians.”
I can really apply this quote to my filming, as a student myself i am in essence looking at my own social group. Though subverting and exaggerating aspects of it, i have a greater understanding doing this then if i did an anthropological film on goth culture, which i would know nothing apart from the black clothing they wear. Or for example or if a film crew came in and did a study on students.
I have always been somewhat of a flaneur, coined by essayist Charles Baudelaire; someone who studies other humans and takes an interest in their cultures within our own culture, often when i am travelling. Evry human you make any contact with whether a glimpse in the street or the woman you sit opposite in a long train journey has a story to tell and this is one of the main things i am doing. I am engaging in a social group that is my life and is wholely interesting to me as i engage on this on an everyday aspect.
Research Report 5- Production Planning
Filming Equipment
• Panasonic SD900 handy cam for conventional tribe shots-owned
• Finalcut Pro to edit footage-university
• Hardrive to store footage-owned
• Microphone for better sound quality of interviews-owned
• Marantz to pick up audio for voice over-university
The production schedule is simple in the fact I need little in the way of interview rooms permission to film at venues or studios as a lot of the footage is natural.
At the same time argueably in order to make a decent film i need the commitment of people to make it look like i have a tribe, two or three people would not suffice.
I talked to my friends about the project over the summer and they all found the idea to be a good one and interesting and fun to do. All that was really required was for them to comply with the structure of what was planned and improvise, with minimal swearing in the hope i may be able to possibly show this to my grandmother. The most important thing was the planning of teamwork, when i needed the most people around for shots. Without the help of my friends in the acting and assistance in filming i would not be able to undertake this project. Having worked in groups before i really relished the fact i could do a film with no influence in whatever but knew that the work would be more demanding as it would be all down to how much effort and enthusiasm i put into it.
The only filming done so far, the initiation sequence we had 25 people come down to make the tribe which i very touched by the amount of people who had come down to support. As luck would have it, it was too windy so the fire didn’t get going, and therefore had to reschedule for the next day in which still 15 people turned up. The hardest task to get people involved wasn’t actually as daunting and for the rest of production i don’t need as many people in scenes, maybe 5 for the hunt scene and similar numbers for the other scenes i have planned.
Props are pretty minimal as the Tribe exists with what it has. Instruments which we already posess and simple things that give it more a tribal feel, a bonfire in one of the later scenes.
I am hoping that with most of the scenes already planned and free time over the holidays me and some friends can film quite a few more scenes over the holidays.
• Panasonic SD900 handy cam for conventional tribe shots-owned
• Finalcut Pro to edit footage-university
• Hardrive to store footage-owned
• Microphone for better sound quality of interviews-owned
• Marantz to pick up audio for voice over-university
The production schedule is simple in the fact I need little in the way of interview rooms permission to film at venues or studios as a lot of the footage is natural.
At the same time argueably in order to make a decent film i need the commitment of people to make it look like i have a tribe, two or three people would not suffice.
I talked to my friends about the project over the summer and they all found the idea to be a good one and interesting and fun to do. All that was really required was for them to comply with the structure of what was planned and improvise, with minimal swearing in the hope i may be able to possibly show this to my grandmother. The most important thing was the planning of teamwork, when i needed the most people around for shots. Without the help of my friends in the acting and assistance in filming i would not be able to undertake this project. Having worked in groups before i really relished the fact i could do a film with no influence in whatever but knew that the work would be more demanding as it would be all down to how much effort and enthusiasm i put into it.
The only filming done so far, the initiation sequence we had 25 people come down to make the tribe which i very touched by the amount of people who had come down to support. As luck would have it, it was too windy so the fire didn’t get going, and therefore had to reschedule for the next day in which still 15 people turned up. The hardest task to get people involved wasn’t actually as daunting and for the rest of production i don’t need as many people in scenes, maybe 5 for the hunt scene and similar numbers for the other scenes i have planned.
Props are pretty minimal as the Tribe exists with what it has. Instruments which we already posess and simple things that give it more a tribal feel, a bonfire in one of the later scenes.
I am hoping that with most of the scenes already planned and free time over the holidays me and some friends can film quite a few more scenes over the holidays.
Research Report 4- Similar Work
The most similar work as a parody of Tribe is self explanatory, i have really gone into depth in the making of his films, and done extensive research through his website which includes interviews and behind the scenes. My similarities will take place in the form of
but other work had a profound influence on my ideas. The work of Marc Huraux talking to the professional Malian Musician Ali Farka Toure influenced me in that i thought to compose and create music would really create the tribal atmosphere as desired. The uses of music comes throughout Tribe, but in the form of ethnic instrumental were as other programs notably “World’s Lost Tribes” make use of a whole wide range of instruments, including the harmonica and slide guitar which are definitely not part of Papua New Guinean indigenous culture! Music really helps create the atmosphere that indeed this group of people is a tribe and is vital to how the film works. For example when we see the hunt sequence we will use drums which speed in tempo as the hunt gets more intense.
Similar work to Tribe and parody i am doing is “World’s Lost Tribe’s”. This was made a year after BBC embarked on its Tribe project and has striking familiarities in narrative, so much so that i really wondered why they had released such a similar program?
Upon further research i realized that this program was for the American audience, even though tribe had been shown over the other side of the pond. It seems tribe was too much of a British approach and i found that though incredibly similar the “World’s Lost Tribes” was thoroughly over dramatized in comparison.
Research Report 3- Research
In my research I viewed a lot of anthropological films and work depicting western culture as a tribe:
· In the Beach we find disillusioned westerners escaping the daily grind and forming their own hidden tribe. We see the utopia Richard finds gradually descend into dystopian mess, as his concepts of paradise are lost. The tribes that are portrayed in anthropological films often live hard physically but have a fairly peaceful existence amongst each other which is apparent initially but then disintegrates.
· Another example of western culture as a tribe is the Lord of the Flies. What might a bunch of westernized people be like if found in a tribal context The Novel is largely allegorical towards the worst in human nature, written in a time when the cold war was in full swing (1954) and shows the tribe of western children being dysfunctional from the start. The book displays allot of immorality of the biys. This is stark contrast to the hard but fairly idealist life of many tribes.
· Then i analyzed the cinematic conventions of Jean Rouch, Marc Huraux’s film "Le Miel N'est Jamais bon dans une saule Bouche" Bruce Parry’s Tribe and the American version of Tribe “World’s Lost Tribe” for discovery channel. In these i found that many of the cinematic conventions were similar but there were also allot of stark differences in how they approached the tribe, often a portrayal of the times they were made in.
· I also looked at colonial attitudes towards anthropology. This is very interesting as only with the advent of de-colonization in the 1960’s did attitudes towards anthropology change. In particular i looked at Herge’s early portrayals of ethnicity in Tintin.
To mould the film further i will look at more anthropological films and look more into student culture.
To mould the film further i will look at more anthropological films and look more into student culture.
Research Report 2- The Pilot
My pilot encompasses all of the five points of my tribe and encompasses what my project is all about. Throughout making the pilot i encountered various problems. The biggest was to do with the file locations on the computer. I got this set up by a teacher but along the way something went wrong, which i still do not know and will endeavour to find out before i start on the next scene. This meant that i started the project three times before i was successful and then only because i opted to work directly from the computer rather than the hard drive.
The scene is the initiation of a new tribal member and myself who is undertaking the role of Bruce Parry. Initiations are a big part of being accepted in societies whether western (the sweet sixteen or 18th birthday or in catholic countries conformation) or indigenous culture (in Tribe sometime taking hallucinogenic substances or in Australian aborigines, to go on a trek. Every culture has an initiation when you think about it. This scene encompasses a trait of humanity that is shown in many Anthropological films and therefore a good example of the convention of the ethnographical genre. For my tribe this is the dirty pint.
The scene itself shows a good example of techniques i will be using in my film. The interview with cut always to other people and the merging of numerous interviews with the same person, the contemplative talk to the camera, and cinematic convention in lighting (natural) and camera angles (low angle for interviews, handheld camera for most of the rest)
Also the pilot will be an example of all of the five points
1. Language Barrier, which will be presented by the subtitles
2. Issues, being part of a tribe and acceptance to the social group
3. Knowledge The dirty pint is a parody of a concoction that shamans and witch doctors create, for example medicinal reasons
4. Location, As part of a house in the village of the Tribes
5. Daily Life: As a part of tribal life. Innate in their culture.
One problem encountered during the export of the film was that the colour became very over saturated which wasn't like that when i watched the finsihed version in final cut. This will have to be dealt with when i turn this pilot as part of my final piece.
One problem encountered during the export of the film was that the colour became very over saturated which wasn't like that when i watched the finsihed version in final cut. This will have to be dealt with when i turn this pilot as part of my final piece.
Research Report 1. Project Proposal
I propose, using the conventions of narrative film as seen in Bruce Parry’s BBC Tribe, to create a parody of the series, focusing on students as the tribe.
My film will include cinematic conventions, so lighting (natural unconstructed) camera angles ( low angles mainly handheld) and sound (interviews and music) to create my parody. Sound will be especially important to creating the Tribal feel, so i will be uses extracts from African villages and composing my own music using indigenous instruments such as the didgeridoo, djembe and kalimba to create an atmosphere.
The program will also subvert certain parts of the parody, which mirrors what has been criticised in other contemporary Anthropological programs, which are often cited as misrepresenting the tribe.
Importantly this project will have its scene planned around the “5 points” that Bruce Parry, the presenter uses to engage an understanding of the Tribe, these are in no particular order, language, issues, knowledge, daily life, location. These points applied to my film will be crucial to an accurate parody of Tribe.
Anthropology has been a huge interest for my throughout my life and i came to university with this idea in my head, and have waited till the third year to attempt this task. I will rely on the good will of my friends to help me as compared to allot of other ideas, this really relies on teamwork and the co-operation of others.
Sunday, 11 December 2011
Location Shooting
First Script and Planning For a scene from the film
Initiation Scene Sequence of Events
Props:
Bonfire
Beer
Totems
Events:
On the Sofa To the camera
“Tonight the Chief informed me that he would like me to become an honouree member of the tribe. This is a great privilege as relatively few outsiders are admitted into the tribe as it is a very close knit community and tends to stick to its academic year.
The process for being admitted into the tribe is by way of the dirty pint, which we saw the shaman prepare and ferment early innate in student culture as a way of proving yourself to the rest of the tribe.
I will be taking the dirty pint along with Paul, a first year whom the chieftain has deemed worthy to join the group and become part of the group. Upon seeing the dirty pint the other day I was really feeling sorry for the poor chap and now I’m starting to get this feeling of dread. “
Narrative By Finian over the shots of the Event Gathering shots of people drinking beer, laughing MCU and CU shots of the fire.
“Student Culture tradition states that those who join the tribe must undergo an initiation, and in this tribe it is to consume the dirty pint a concoction of alcohol and condiments to prove their worth as a student. I’m going to meet the fresher who will be initiated and see how he feels.
Interview with Paul shot MCU of face from a low angle
FV: Hello Paul, nice to meet you
PK: Alright matey, you’re in for the pint as well i hear?
FV: Yes, it was quite a surprise for me, I feel so honoured to have been so readily accepted by your tribe, how you feeling about it?
PK: Bit nervous, I guess there will be quite a few people watching it and the attention will be on me, I just hope I don’t screw up or anything. Not looking forward to the taste either, but once its done I’ll be a lad and accepted into the tribe
FV: Yes I saw the preparation of it, doesn’t look pleasant, but once it’s done its done and you will be a full member of the tribe!
Pk: It means a lot to me, I’ve been waiting for this moment for a long long time, i’m going to prepare myself ready now. See you on the other side.
To camera MCU
“As part of the pre-ritual the Shaman selects a track for the new member to listen to before they take their rite of passage reflecting on their personality”
MCU of face from a low angle
FV: “So what have you selected for Paul and why?”
AT “ I have been observing what kind of a man Paul is for some time and have chosen Waterfall by the stone roses as his pre ritual track, i would say the track is about an unstoppable force meeting an immovable object which i feel is a good example of Pauls stoic approach to life”
CU of Pauls head in hands and swaying head, engrossed in the music.
FV: And have you any idea what my track will be?
Message to camera helpers: To get the authenticity of tribe, it is vital we use low camera angle shot and make full use of the fire
Shots of People Drinking and Laughing, as natural as can be. Getting psyched up for the initiation. Subjects raising their drinks to the camera.
These will be in medium MCU and CU low angles,
CU of feet with a can getting dropped on the floor
Panning shot of crowd singing a song
LCU Then AT: Announces that the fresher shall be brought to prove himself a “Lad”. Cheering
CU Shots of cheering
CU of people whooping clapping Pete beating drums
Paul is carried into the space panning shot hand held as he comes in
AT MCU handing paul the drink
CU AT’s face “Silence on my mark”!!!
MCU AT Lifts hands in air “ A ZUBBA ZUBBA”
Panning a “Zubba Zubba Zub a zubba zubba zub”
CU of different faces
PK Downs DIRTY PINT cu of this.
Finishes it CU of chucking glass.
MCU “ Paul Shouting FUCKING LAD”
MCU CU OF PEOPLE CHEERING JUMPING UP AND DOWN CHANTING PAUL
Finian: Talks to camera, improvised naturalistic speech ends with a good old British “Here goes”
Finians Dirty Pint Similar to PKS in many ways
AT “Bring in the fresher!!!!
Finian Enters with Adam of Lintott lifting his arm up (like in boxing ring) Panning Handheld
CU Shots of cheering
CU of people whooping clapping Pete beating drums
AT MCU handing Finian the drink
CU Finian “Oh my God what’s happened to him?”
CU of PK passed out on floor
MCU AT “he will be ok”
CU and MCU of the faces chanting “We like to drink with Finian because Finian.....”
MCU fin downs pint
CU Shots of cheering
CU of people whooping clapping Pete beating drums
AT MCU “Our Freshers are now lads, let the party begin” (Leonidas style?)
CU MCU of DRUM AND BASS TRACK tribe dancing.
Finian talks to the camera CU background noise of DNB
Then finian gets in the dance
Few shots of mcu and cu dancing with tribal members
Shots of moon (already done)
END OF SEQUENCE
Tribes 5 points applied to my Tribe
Knowledge.
Skills picked up in the field of working and living as a student
· -Foraging
· Procrastination
· Computer Games
· Sports
Language, The barrier presented by the tribe can be replicated by getting my subjects to talk as thickly as they can in their colloquial accents, whilst responding in oxford English. The dialect can then be subtitled and subverted.
Issues- The student riots would be the most obvious point of issue however i feel as myself and my friends who are helping out and acting have little interest in the student riots, especially if there are thousands of more important issues globally, i may have this as a past event that happened to their ancestors and the tribe could talk about this as a distant memory
I was thinking instead of the lack of money would also be appropriate as an issue that would crop up in the film.
Daily Life-Eating bad unhealthy food
Leisure
Computer Games
Girls
Studys
As is the convention for tribe we will se the film crew advancing though a wilderness to get to the village, to show the tribe as remote. Initial opening sequences set the expectations of what we perceive from the tribe, this will include stereotypes and tense moments within the program, to grasp the audience with a narrative of the tribe. In this we will see recycled footage from the scences i have filmed.
The village will be the estate i live on which has an enclosure behind which gives it a tribal feel.
Conventions of Anthroplogical Fim, From BBC's TRIBE
Camera
· Low Angles
· Depth of field
· Scene setting shots
· Medium Close ups
· Handheld on the whole
Lighting
· Night Vision
· Minimal Natural Lighting
Narrative 5 points
1 Knowledge
2 Issues
3 Daily Life
4 Language
5 Location
· Largely Linear except from the start where we are introduce to the tribe through snnipets of later dialogue
· Adoption by a tribe member
· Reflection of his day to the cameraman
· An understanding of the five points and a design of my own to promote the 5 points in “otherness” and the unknown will be crucial
Dialogue
· No scripted dialogue
· Ethnic music in parts for atmosphere
The Kombai, World’ Lost Tribes- DISCOVERY CHANNEL
World’ Lost Tribes
As a comparision to tribe i will watch a program on the Kombai, with whom two British Men Mark Anstice and Olly Steeds live for a few months as compared to Bruce Parry’s 1 month stay with the Kombai. The program though with British presenters is an American production.
Example Episode 2, Sustaining the people.
· Like Tribe we have incredibly similar shots of the surroundings
· Like Tribe there are many uses of low angles shots
· We see extensive use of depth of field, which Tribe doesn’t so much
· Different Music, Harmonicas uses as well as ethnic African Music, Slide Guitars as well as Djembes and Kalimbas.
· Subtitles done differently to the side of the member speaking.
· The narrative changes from an American narrator to one of the presenters
· Much more dramatised, in both programs the presenters work cutting a tree and break an axe. The American version makes a lot of drama out of it whereas Bruce Parry’s counterpart if not even fazed
· Also the lack of food seen as a far greater problem then ever made out in Tribe.
· Switches in Depth of field
· More interference in way of life of the Kombai where the tribe has more of a laissez faire attitude. The two compared programs show sustainability but with different methods of fishing and hunting
The two programs i have compared have remarkable similarities in many ways and i am quite surprised that a program was commissioned so soon after Tribes venture to the Kombai, maybe they thought they could capitalise on this.
However the two programs, though sharing ethnographical conventions are originally intended for U.S and U.K audiences.
A point of interest is the category the translations caused; the producers were accused of fabricating the interviews to portray the tribe as sex obsessed savages which has been cited by Anthropologist Glenn Sheppard as “Staged false and misrepresentative”
I found the show enjoyable enough but too over dramatised in parts with a very American style to representation. I enjoyed seeing other parts of life that tribe could not touch upon in its hour long show.
The Kombai- BBC TRIBE
I can analyse the Kombai not only from Tribe but also from another program shown on the discovery channel. I am quite familiar with Papuan Culture as i had previously read a book on the tribes there and have a good friend who was born their and whose house is full of interesting artefacts’ from their time lived their.
Tribes website says: The dense forests of Papua are a rich and complicated mosaic of different tribal groups. Far from the coast, at the foothills of the highlands, from an aircraft the land seems like mile after mile of empty barren swamp. But this is where the Kombai have stayed hidden from the outside world for generations, pursuing their ancient way of life as hunter-gatherers.
Bruce talks about Papua and the Kombai
Bruce talks to a preacher and learns of missionary influence on life
Bruce arrives at first Kombai settlement
Bruce eats pork with his hosts
Bruce goes hunting in the forest for pig
Bruce sleeps in tree house with kombai hunters
Bruce helps out in chopping sago palms
Bruce goes fishing in the forest
Bruce learns about cannibalism amongst the kombai
Bruce tries to hunt barefoot
Bruce has his nose pierced with a sago thorn
Bruce tries to have his penis inverted
Bruce explains changes to Kombai life
Bruce bids Kombai farewell and looks back on his stay
Links
Papua is the Indonesian half of New Guinea Island, one of the last places on earth that still has blanks on the map. About 250 languages are spoken in Papua. Most groups are made up of just a few hundred people; some have been contacted by the outside world only very recently.
Kombai life
There are 4,000 or so members of the Kombai, most of whom live in isolated family homesteads in tree houses. As well as providing an escape from the heat and mosquitoes, the tree houses probably originated as their height is a defence against flooding during heavy rains as well as offering protection in times of conflict. Headhunting tribes such as the Asmat from the south used to terrorise these swampy lowlands.
The tribal communities of inland New Guinea were arguably the last peoples on earth to trade in metal goods such as knives or axes. In the remotest parts of this island this is still the case and the local people use stone axes to fell trees, bamboo slivers to slice their meat and traded shells or bamboo to hold their water. Cooking is done without receptacles, but using a method of heated stones.
The Kombai are typical hunter gatherers. The men hunt a wide range of prey including cassowary, wild boar and marsupials in the forest using their bows and arrows with their dogs as trackers Pigs are domesticated for ritual use.
The staple food is starch harvested from sago palms growing wild in the jungle. It takes the women a few hours to drain and dry a few bundles of starch from the palm, and a large tree can provide enough starch to sustain a family for seven to ten days. Usually, dozens of trees are found in the same area. Once they have been used, a family will move to a new location within clan territory. In addition, the sago provides a particular Kombai delicacy: the sago grub, the larva of the Capricorn beetle. A palm is cut down, left for a month, then wrapped in leaves where it continues to rot, during which time the grubs develop within the tree. The Kombai return three months later when the trunk is full of larvae.
The jungle is divided into clan territories. There are also territories of the spirits where no clans live. For a stranger to enter a clan's territory is viewed as a threat - potentially to life itself. It's telling that kwai, which means 'spirit' or 'ghost', is also the word to describe an outsider.
It seems that cannibalism is still carried out by the Kombai. It appears to be a form of tribal punishment: only men identified as witches by the communities - known as Khakhua-Kumu or men who practice witchcraft - are killed and eaten. There are tribe members living who have clearly eaten male witches.
'I am scared of Khakhua-Kumu', one Kombai man tells Bruce Parry. 'Every time I am walking alone or hunting alone I think about them and I'm scared... If a Khakhua-Kumu kills either of my brothers, I will kill that man. If he comes from another clan I will kill him and eat him. If he comes from among us, I will give him to other people to be eaten.
The Kombai believe that the Khakhua-Kumu eat the souls of their victims, and that they must be killed and eaten in return. As the soul is thought to lie in the brain and the stomach, retribution comes by eating those organs of the Khakhua-Kumu, to bring their terror to an end.
Other traditions include the Kombai piercing their noses with a sago thorn. At times, the digits of bats will also be used for this ornamentation, especially by the women. Another tradition includes the men inverting their penises. This appears to involve pushing the penis back into their bodies, and wrapping what's left in a leaf.
The future
New Guinea is a hotbed of politics. Mining, logging, inter-tribal conflicts, Indonesian military atrocities, missionary influences, unscrupulous traders and entrepreneurs, transmigration camps and ethnic cleansing: the region has hardly been out of the news in 20 years.
Most of the tribal communities and villages in the highlands have been approached by the missionaries and local authorities, as have many of those groups on the banks of New Guinea's immense rives which finger their way through the jungles and swamps. But in some areas, like where the Kombai live, there still has been little influence.
Papua has been occupied by Indonesia since 1963. The Jakarta government has moved hundreds of thousands of settlers to the island. The occupation has been brutal, with reports of killings, rapes and other human rights abuses by the army, and for several years there was an active armed resistance. There is a local form of government, with an upper house of native Papuans, but its power is limited. Real power - including control of the police and army - is held in Jakarta.
It has been recently reported that tribal groups in Papua have been the victims of Indonesian Police violence. Read the report here.
Papua sits on rich deposits of gold and copper. Huge copper deposits, including the world's second largest copper mine at Freeport McMoRan, have brought benefits to Indonesia, but little of the profit stays in Papua.
Another valuable resource is the gaharu tree, whose scented wood - particularly from older trees - is very valuable throughout Asia and the Middle East. Papua has one of the last remaining large stocks of mature trees. Illegal entrepreneur traders fly in or boat upriver carrying a myriad of goods such as axes, knives, food, clothing and pots to exchange with the Kombai for the small chunks of gaharu wood they collect. If managed sustainably for the benefit of the tribal peoples, it could protect their environment and provide them with a valuable resource for trade.
But deforestation is becoming a major problem. Indonesian loggers who have destroyed millions of hectares of virgin forest in Sumatra and Kalimantan have now set their sights on Papua. Under the government's 'Go East' policy, four Jakarta-based timber barons have divided up the country between them. The government is paying for logging roads into what were once impenetrable forests. These in turn create land erosion and the destruction of habitat. There's nothing simple about the future here: some changes would be welcome to the Kombai. But the traditional ways of life in the forest are under great threat.
Notes
· Early on, lighting on the chief is unnatural, something i did not think the producers would do, how could they in the jungle? Generators? Rabbit torches?
· Introduction setting, We see the tribe first in shots telling us what the program will entail.
· Bruce explains the language barrier is breached by his use of Indonesian
· Large Depth of Field
· Rule of thirds in shots of Bruce
· Use of Firelight in talk about issues, which will be used when we have the tribal initiation
· Lots of shots of feet
· Low angle shots on stationary settings
· Handheld Camera working through the foliage. I will use this on the hunt to create atmosphere.
· A lot of the humour and topics are not so intensive in this episode. Much of this episode is taken up watching the Kombai sustain them selves.
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