Koyaanisqatsi

Koyaanisqatsi is a 1982 experimental film by director Godfrey Reggio. Koyaanisqatsi is a Hopi indian term "life out of balance".

The film is 86 minutes long and focuses on a collection of scenes from places and environments around the world. The scenes are time lapsed; slowed down and sped up to create certain effects such as calmness and busyness. There is no specific plot to the movie, but the way in which the scenes are edited together along with the soundtrack (Phillip Glass), there is a clear middle beggining and end.

There is little to no diegetic sound in Koyaanisqatsi, however the tempo of the non diegetic soundtrack is changed frequently to create a sense of contrast, awkwardness or tranquility. For example, the soundtrack does not always match the images in the frame, e.g. slow, peaceful music when a catastrophic event is happening on screen.

The main occuring concept of the film is change, and how people effect the world. Although the theme of natural flow is apparent throughout the film, we can see how, as time goes on, Koyaanisqatsi occurs. In other words, the flow still goes on, however it becomes more corrupted and chaos burden everytime the cycle happens.