TASKIn this assignment, students were asked to visualize the information con-tained within a given artifact. As a rule, each artifact was rich with data, which made it essential for the end product to convey complexity with meticulous clarity and organization. A viewer unfamiliar with the artifact should be able to gain a good understanding of it simply by viewing the visual explanation.

The end result was required to take the form of a large, printed poster. The piece needed to be immediately interesting, as well as being mean-ingful upon deeper observation. The visual explanation should answer questions about the artifact as elementary as, “What is it?” and as com-plex as, “What does it mean?” and “What should I do with this informa-tion?” Whatever message it presented, the final piece had to be clear.

Koyaanisqatsi (Reggio, 1983)

ARTIFACTI was given the film Koyaanisqatsi, a 1983 “ecological documentary” directed by Godfrey Reggio, filmed by Ron Fricke, and with music by Philip Glass. The title is a Hopi Indian word that means “life out of balance.” Koyaanisqatsi visualizes the negative backlash that has oc-curred as people and nature collide. The scenes are a combination of slow motion and time lapsed shots of natural landscapes and cities. The film contains neither dialogue nor narration; the only words are a few chanted phrases in the musical score and their printed translations in the credits.

The film is the first in a trilogy that depicts the hazardous relationship between humans, technology, and the environment. According to the director, the films are intended merely to “create an experience.” It is up to the viewer to interpret their meaning.

Partial data inventory

duration pan speed subject speed color nature // people distance location camera movement subject movement camera location in relation to subject0 title red lines grow into name of movie 0:17

Beginning 1 pictogram/cave drawing "koyaanisqatsi" chant 4x 0:49 slow still red-brown nature & people close zoom in

2 rocket launch "koyaanisqatsi" chant 4x, two sets still slow mo red-brown/black people close still

Organic 3 desert aerial view of empty desert landscape dark instrumental 3:45 slow still red-brown nature far Santa Fe R to Lclose up of rock rormation same, but urgent slow still red-brown nature close Santa Fe R to Lclose up of rock formation same, but urgent slow still red-brown nature close Santa Fe T to Bclose up of rock formation same, but urgent slow still red-brown nature close Santa Fe L to Rclose up of rock formation, pan to view of sky same, but urgent slow still red-brown/blue nature close Santa Fe B to Taerial view of empty desert landscape dark instrumental slow still red-brown/blue nature far Santa Fe R to Laerial view of desert landscape with brush dark instrumental slow still red-brown/blue/green nature far Santa Fe R to Lrock formations in shadow dark instrumental still still shadowy brown, white sky nature far Santa Fe stillrock formations & desert, partly shadowed dark instrumental still still brown/green nature far Santa Fe stillrock formations & desert, partly shadowed dark instrumental slow still brown/green/blue nature far Santa Fe L to Raerial view of partly shadowed desert dark instrumental still still brown/blue nature far Santa Fe still

4 canyon canyon and river dark instrumental still, then slow still brown/blue nature far Santa Fe still, then L to Rsmoking rocks dark instrumental slow sped up brown rock, white smoke nature far Santa Fe zoom outsmoking rocks dark instrumental still sped up black/white nature close Santa Fe stillsmoking rocks dark instrumental still sped up black/white nature close Santa Fe stillsmoking rocks "koyaanisqatsi" chant 2x still sped up black/white nature close Santa Fe still

5 sand rippled sand dunes, blowing sand dark instrumental still sped up tan/white/gray nature far stillrippled sand dunes, blowing sand dark instrumental still sped up tan/white/gray nature close stillrippled sand dunes, blowing sand dark instrumental still sped up tan/white/gray nature close stillsand cliff, blowing sand "koyaanisqatsi" chant 2x still sped up white/gray nature close still

6 desert mountains rocky mountains with brush, swift cloud shadows urgent instrumental still sped up red-brown/green/gray nature far stillrocky mountains with brush, swift cloud shadows urgent instrumental still sped up red-brown/green/blue sky nature far stillclose up of rock formation, swift cloud shadows urgent instrumental still sped up red-brown/blue sky nature close stillaerial view of desert mountains being shadowed urgent instrumental still sped up red-brown/black nature far stillaerial view of desert mountains being shadowed urgent instrumental still sped up red-brown/black nature far stillclose up of shadows of birds on rock urgent instrumental slow sped up brown/black nature close zoom in

7 cave "koyaanisqatsi" chant 2x still real time tan/white/gray nature close still

"koyaanisqatsi" chant 1x still real time tan/white/gray nature close still

"koyaanisqatsi" chant 1x, then fade still real time tan/white/gray nature close stillbird chirps

Clouds 8 clouds transition from dark clouds to light (sunrise?) anxious instrumental 11:42 slow sped up blue/white/gray nature far T to Bclouds in shadow, brighter clouds beyond anxious instrumental still sped up white/gray nature far still L to Rclouds in shadow, brighter clouds beyond anxious instrumental still sped up white/gray nature far still R to Lclouds in shadow, brighter clouds & sun beyond anxious instrumental still sped up blue/white/gray nature far still R to Lon top of fluffy white clouds anxious instrumental still sped up blue/white nature far still R to L aboverolling clouds in mountain basin anxious instrumental still sped up white/gray nature far still R to L aboveclouds in shadow, blue sky beyond anxious instrumental still sped up blue/white/gray nature far still L to R beside

9 water rushing waterfall anxious instrumental 13:31 (1:12:30) slow real time blue/white/gray nature far R to L B to T abovegentle waves anxious instrumental 1:12:10 still real time blue/gray nature far still L to R besidegentle waves anxious instrumental 1:11:59 still real time blue/gray nature far still T to B beside

10 clouds moving clouds anxious instrumental 1:11:48 still sped up blue/white nature far still L to R belowmoving clouds anxious instrumental 1:11:32 still sped up blue/white nature far still L to R besidemoving clouds anxious instrumental 1:11:26 still sped up blue/white nature far still R to L above

11 water choppy waves anxious instrumental 1:11:14 still slow mo black/white nature far still L to R abovechoppy waves anxious instrumental 1:10:59 still slow mo black/white nature far still T to B above

12 clouds rolling clouds in mountain basin anxious instrumental 1:10:35 still sped up blue/white/gray nature far still L to R besiderolling clouds in mountain basin anxious instrumental 1:10:19 still sped up blue/white/gray nature far still L to R besiderolling clouds in mountain basin anxious instrumental 1:10:13 still sped up blue/white/gray nature far still R to L besiderolling clouds in mountain basin anxious instrumental 1:10:07 still sped up blue/white/gray nature far still T to B besiderolling clouds in mountain basin anxious instrumental 1:09:59 still sped up blue/white/gray nature far still L to R besidefoggy mountain basin anxious instrumental 1:09:52 slow real time blue/white/black nature far R to L B to T above

Resource 13 green mountains peaceful instrumental 16:24 1:09:38 fast still green/yellow/blue nature far Lake Powell B to T still above

14 fields aeriel view of rows of colorful flowers/crops peaceful instrumental 1:08:53 fast still green, yellow, orange, pink, white, red (stripes) nature & people far B to T still above15 rocks/water peaceful instrumental 1:08:34 fast still blue/red-brown nature close/far B to T, then zoom still above & beside

16 explosions exploding ground peaceful instrumental 1:07:54 still real time gray/white people far still B to T besideexploding cliff peaceful instrumental 1:07:49 still real time brown/white people far still T to B beside

17 truck ominous instrumental 1:07:42 slow slow red/green/yellow/black people close zoom out L to R (barely) in front of

pipe cutting through desert 1:07:07power lines in desert (5 scenes)aerial view of smoking power plantclose ups of cooling ponds in desert

18 machinery close up of swinging anchor thing urgencyexplosionmachinerymachinerycrushing machinery/flamesincinerator

19 explosions explosionexplosion/mushroom cloud (NM) abrupt end to urgency

Vessels 20 people sleeping sunbathers with power plant beyond haunting/peaceful 23:01 San Onofre zoom outcrowd staring at skyskyscraper with reflection of clouds stillrunway, blurry with heat, oncoming airplane 24:06:00 orange/red/blue/white LAX

21 vehicles gaining momentum 26:10:00

rainbow of parked carsmilitary tanksair force plane/pilot (2 shots)view from an army plane over desertmissile landingmissile launchingrocket & debris explodingunlaunched atomic bomb ("Fat Boy") model of Hiroshima bombmilitary barges (e=mc2)

22 explosions 18 shots of various explosions/bombs/missile Napalm in VietnamCloudscape 23 cityscape NYC skycrapers, time lapsed cloud shadows abrupt silence 31:05:00Pruitt Igoe 24 pan along river beside skyline sounds of traffic 31:44:00

shots of desolate buildings, debris, no people dark instrumental Bedford-Stuyvesant, slumpeople on doorstep, trash in street "human surplus"girl eating a banana out of windowneglected slidebroken street lampbroken windows

urgency St. Louis

25 demolition demolition of those same buildings (3 shots) urgent vocals begincranes/rigs simultaneously fallbridge explodeshighrise demolishedskyscrapers demolished (3 shots)close up of smoke and debris

26 clouds over city smoke fades into time lapsed clouds over city music softensClouds & buildings 27 clouds & buildings reflections of clouds & blue skies on skyscrapers slow, minor instrumental 39:19:00

(4 separate, extended shots)Slow people 28 people people noises 40:49:00

dark instrumental "Have a barrel of fun"

faces through bus windows29 portraits woman in front of moving vehicle (2 shots)

pilot in front of airplanecasino women music fades

The Grid 30 skyscrapers lights in windows, turn off and on slow, sustained beats 44:09:00 LAmost hopeful yetcockneyed

moon rising behind skyscraper speeding up31 traffic time lapse of cars in the dark (6 shots)32 sunrise sunrise beyind skyscrapers vocals33 city taxicabs stopped at busy crosswalk

crosswalkbusy city streetbright marquee and busy city streetbusy city street, synchronized traffic lightsGrand Station, time lapsedpeople getting off escalatorsrevolving doorspeople using stairs over highwaytraffic on overpasses above highwayclose up of revolving doorsynchronized lights againpeople going up escalatorsclose up of feet as people exit escalators

34 factory machinery/gears vocalspackaged weeniesmotorized machinesclose up of lines of factory workerswoman sewing jeans

{repetitive motions} assembly line of people building TV setswomen testing TVswomen processing checkscopy machinemen at weeny factoryclose up of weenies being cut and cased

35 escalator people going up escalators36 highway time lapse of cars in dark

video game of driving cars37 people women playing pacman arcade game

man and baby at arcadeboy at arcadebowling lanesmovie theater time lapsemall time lapsegrocery store checkouts time lapseTwinkie factorywomen eating at mall food courttime lapse of dinerpoptart factorylunch meat factorycouple eating at food court

{shots speed up} family eating at food courtwoman eating alone at food courtnewspapers disappearing from newsstandcar factory, welding, assemblingflickering money machinemicrochip machinepeople leaving a factoryclose up of traffic stopped at a lighthighway traffic (domino effect)

revolving doorsubway turnstiles close ups, tickets & doorspeople entering subwaywoman walking through subway corridorlots of people walking through undergroundcamera attached to car on highwaycamera attached to car on city street, looking upslow mo shots of people on sidewalkVegas billboard with smoky power plant behindsunbatherscamero attached to car on highwaycamera attached to car on bridgecamera attached to car in tunnelcamera attached to factory conveyor beltdescending shots of floors of escalatorscamera amid twinkiescamera on grocery cartfamily watching tvs in a storereflection of kid in video gametime lapsed TV, news, commercials

portraits man in eagle shirtwoman with beehive hairtime lapse highway, attached to car at nightsame shot, but sitting in backseatfaster and faster, harder to distinguish objects

explosionspeople slow mo couple

highwayscitydance club, lights on floor

{height of stress!} arcade game with similar colorslast thing we see is highways

Microchip 38 city aerial view of city, highways, green spaces silence 1:05:50zoomed out view of reverse-color city blue/pinkclose ups of microchips (resemble city grids)

Prophecies 39 nighttime city time lapse of lights turning on and off eerie 1:07:49night worker at factory

{slow}

slow mo moving subwayportraits old man in sightseeing hat

young black manold man shaving in middle of sidewalkyoung woman with big hairsad old man chanting peopleman in furry hatwoman cutting through stream of pedestriansold woman smokingpolice handcuffing a hobo, put him on stretcherpretty girl through car window, window rolls upnaked man in wondowblack people after firefirefighter walking through smokeold woman's hand, young nurse grasps itold man counting change in his handservers shake hands, serve pink ice creamyoung black man smoking in streetimmigrant couple staresold man in windbreaker

betting office windows time lapse of customers & tellersrocket debris falling

engines flamingtake off

Ending 40 far away shot of it flying/flaming 1:16:40rocket explodes and falls back to earth "koyaanisquatsi" chant 4x (four times)

pictogram back to opening shot of cave drawings

definition of title, translation of prophecies 1:21:09produced/directed by godfrey reggiofilmed by ron frickemusic by philip glass

aerial pans of abandoned high-density residences, close

ups of broken windows

time lapsed shot of fast moving people in a very crowded

subway station

slow mo shots of people walking on city sidewalks, KFC

billboard, "Grand illusion", bellies jiggle, briefcases wag

wider shot of city with time lapsed traffic & taillights

time lapse of city street, office building in foreground with

man hard at work

reflections of people in mirrored elevator doors that

abruptly open, let people off, more squish in

smoky interior view of cave, peripheral light, birds flying

smoky interior view of cave, peripheral light, birds flying

aerial view of lush mountains, descends to skim water of a

manmade lake that produces power

close up pan of rock, then water, then rock formations in

water

slowly rolling mining truck, first shot of a person, truck is

slowly enveloped in black smoke

aerial views of cars on highways, with each subsequent shot

getting closer and closer; shifts to view oncoming traffic;

airplane in background

KOYAANISQATSI: content, structure, navigationimage music

several darkly shadowed figures standing next to a taller

figure with a crown

machinery helping a rocket lift-off, debris flying, flames &

smoke

smoky interior view of cave, peripheral light, birds flying

DATAI began the data inventory by recording what was happening in each individual scene, including the imagery, music, duration, and emotion created. I also documented information like colors, the speed of the camera, the speed of the subject, the pace of the playback, and the physical relation of the camera to the subject.

The film contains over 300 scenes, which means that most of them last only seconds. My inventory became tedious very quickly, and it seemed that my end product wouldn’t require nearly so much detail. I scaled back some, recording information about chunks of scenes and entire chapters.

Whiteboard sketching

ANALYSISWith the data collected, it was essential to parse the information and draw conclusions about the film. The assignment suggested considering basic elements of the artifact, including content, structure, and naviga-tion. Plenty of other considerations came to mind, as well. What was the main idea? What were the most essential takeaways? How could I help outsiders make sense of this non-verbal documentary?

The data divided naturally between three overarching categories: image, music, and timing. In 87 minutes, using these devices, the film conveyed a number of themes, motifs, and contrasts, including:

canyonswaterskyscrapersrocketsexplosionscrowdshighwayschannels of motionreal v. artificialnature v. technologyslow v. fastpermanent v. temporary

Large-scale brainstorming

FOCUSI chose to narrow my focus to the core message of the film: life is merely a cycle of building and destroying. For all its organization and innova-tion, technology has thrown things out of balance; society is building in excess and experiencing magnified destruction, as a result.

To represent the three primary categories of data from the film (image, music, and timing), I zeroed in on a representational element for each one. Image would be depicted with color, music depicted with a com-ment about the emotion it produced, and timing depicted by a visualiza-tion of the relative pace of certain scenes.

0:00:05 This is a comment about emotion. It relates to the scene above and indicates the time in the film that the scene begins. 0:00:05 This is a comment about emotion.

0:00:05 This is a comment about emotion. 0:00:05 This is a comment about emotion.

0:00:05 This is a comment about emotion. 0:00:05 This is a comment about emotion.

0:00:05 This is a comment about emotion.

0:00:05 This is a comment about emotion. 0:00:05 This is a comment about emotion.0:00:05 This is a comment about emotion.

0:00:05 This is a comment about emotion.

0:00:05 This is a comment about emotion. 0:00:05 This is a comment about emotion.

00:49 A repetitive chant creates an eerie, foreboding mood. 7:34 The pace picks up in a montage of landscape scenes.03:58 13:08

24:06 The slowly taxiing airplane and blurry heat are haunting. 26:10 31:05 33:11 36:35

1:02:37 1:05:49 The urgency of the film climaxes.47:18 50:29 54:03 54:39

1:10:45 The aftermath of building and technology appears to be sad, vulnerable humans. The music returns to the eerieness of the film’s opening scenes. 1:13:20 1:15:55

1:16:40 A final commentary on where technology and society are headed. Destroyed, burning, and falling to their death. 1:20:29

39:19 Anxiety builds as clouds are reflected onto skypscrapers. 42:31 For the first time, words appear in the film.40:45 43:5637:45

18:18 Humans ominously appear.17:28 21:00 22:28 23:4013:54

First and second drafts

CONCEPT + EXECUTIONThe visualization is grounded by two large titles—“BUILD” at the top and “DESTROY” at the bottom. For a distant observer, these serve to attract attention and immediately express the essence of the film, with-out any significant visual investment.

Upon closer reflection, the poster offers details about the film (title, subtitle, and credits), as well as a secondary focal point in seven lines of movie stills. These channels of imagery mimic the theme channeled mo-tion from the film. The images are a small selection of important scenes, chosen for both their color and content. Different viewers will observe them and ask different questions of them.

Color test and full-size print at group critique

REVISIONSThe colors, comments, and visual representation of the passage of time were not initially resolved. Through various iterations, a high contrast color scheme drawn from one of the iconic scenes seemed to most appropriately convey the main idea of the film. The comments were filled in to express emotion, and every image received a time stamp to demonstrate their chronological nature. A small note was added to clar-ify that this artifact is, indeed, “a film.”

Printing a smaller color sample of the poster, as well as a full-size, black and white, preliminary print, helped to manifest some weaknesses in the visual explanation. For example, the titles were too much alike, the pace of the film still wasn’t clear, and the comments were much too large to convey the streamlined channels that were intended. It was useful to see the clarity provided by color, and it was also eye-opening to see just how large the final piece would be.

Peer feedback received at critique

FEEDBACKI received various helpful comments via a group pin-up and critique. Overall, viewers seemed to understand the main idea of the poster, and they appreciated its clarity. There were a few important tweaks sug-gested, though, to help polish the final version of the visual explanation.

For instance, the titles should intentionally receive different treatments; while the top title bleeds beyond the bounds of the poster, it was rec-ommended to make the smaller bottom title jagged and distorted. Sim-ilarly, the images were one of three standard sizes (to represent short, average, and long scenes), but it was suggested to treat them more indi-vidually. By scaling them according to their relative duration in the film, it would become more apparent that longer images represent long, slow scenes, while the middle lines of smaller images demonstrate the film’s increased urgency and speed.

Final printed piece

FINAL PIECEIn the end, the poster seems to accomplish all of the necessary goals of the visual explanation. Its message is immediately profound—”BUILD” opposed with “DESTROY,” whatever might that mean? By virtue of dis-playing the data from a film, a viewer is already somewhat familiar with what he or she might encounter, which allows him or her to make the leap that the poster is likely displaying chronological information.

Once the viewer is drawn in, the colors, imagery, comments, and in-creasing pace all help to solidify the conclusion that this film is a critique of its subject matter. The viewer gets a clear idea of Koyaanisqatsi very quickly, and then is able to make his or her own connections upon fur-ther consideration of the presented data. It is, at once, both informative and provocative.

00:49 A repetitive chant creates an eerie, foreboding mood. 7:34 The pace picks up in a montage of landscape scenes.03:58 13:08

24:06 The slowly taxiing airplane and blurry heat are haunting. 26:10 31:05 33:11 36:35

1:02:37 1:05:49 Climax of film.47:18 50:29 54:03 54:39

1:10:45 The aftermath of building and technology appears to be sad, vulnerable humans. The music returns to the eerieness of the film’s opening scenes. 1:13:20 1:15:55

1:16:40 A final commentary on where technology and society are headed. Destroyed, burning, and falling to their death. 1:20:29

39:19 Anxiety builds as clouds are reflected onto skypscrapers. 42:31 For the first time, words appear in the film.40:45 43:5637:45

18:18 Humans ominously appear.17:28 21:00 22:28 23:4013:54

50:10 1:02:06 56:43

Samples of typefaces and colors

Detail of titles

31:05 33:11 36:35

1:02:37 54:39

42:31 For the first time, words appear in the film.40:45 43:56

1:02:06 56:43

Detail of images and comments

REFLECTIONI was initally intrigued by the idea of extracting data from a non-tra-ditional source of information; non-verbal films don’t seem to lend themselves to traditional visualization of statistics and data. Imagine my surprise, then, when just a few minutes into the film, I was already overwhelmed by the amount of data available to record!

It was useful to focus on the essential bits—the representative pieces of the film—that would give viewers a complete sense of my artifact without actually having seen Koyaanisqatsi themselves. Obviously, one “explanation” of the film would have simply been to play all 87 minutes of it on a screen. There is something to be said, though, for this visual explanation that allows for the rapid observation of both data and a new layer of interpretation and analysis. Viewers learn something addition-al by reflecting on my piece, making it relevant to outsiders, as well as those familiar with the film.

The main lesson of the assignment is a deeper understanding of clarity. Viewers understand the linear passage of time, particularly in the con-text of scenes from a movie, so the depiction of a film was already rea-sonably clear. Learning to accurately convey the nuances of a dramatic, opinionated perspective, however, took careful consideration. In order to provide a rich visual explanation, rather than a predictable collection of data, it was necessary to overlap layers of information, while main-taining readibility and understanding.