Jennifer Baichwal's Manufactured Landscapes

In Jennifer Baichwal’s Manufactured Landscapes, a series of photographs is integrated into a documentary to show the expansive, industrial mark humans have left on Earth. Throughout the film, we see Baichwal switch between black and white and color. The clip that most clearly shows this contrast starts from when a bird flies away right before a massive structure falls. The scene is in black and white, but as the camera starts panning from right to left, it smoothly transitions into color (42:35 to 42:53). This scene exemplifies Baichwal’s unique approach to documenting because it is not limited to only voiceovers and facts as typical documentaries are. Rather, it uses principles and elements of design to portray these realities. With a film like Manufactured Landscapes, how does
Artistic cinematography is shown with the unusual transition from black and white to color, all in one pan. Black and white often evokes frames of sadness and nostalgia, while color represents cheerfulness and the present. Panning from right to left signifies regression, but simultaneously switching from black and white to color represents moving to present day or the future. This dissonance demonstrates how aesthetics and documentary work together rather than oppose one another because the aesthetics show how regressive the destruction caused by humans is, even though it is happening in present day. This scene has documentary characteristics because by including the bird flying away, it shows the filmmakers did not manipulate the subjects. They cannot direct an animal’s behavior. However, what I found confusing is why the man in the bottom left corner chose to stay so close to the falling structure while being barely protected. I wonder if the filmmakers placed