- Inja begins with a shot of farmhands at work accompanied by soft and calming music. The next scene we see is of the boy, Thembile playing with the dog. This shot accompanied with the soft music creates a sort of playful and innocent vibe to the wide shot of Thembile and the dogs playtime, while in the background we can see some of the adults at work around a rather wealthy looking house. I think the director was trying to use this shot to really show what we think a typical child should be doing, having fun and just loving life. I believe that this shot is also meant to show the connection between Thembile and the dog. Compared to Inja, the opening of Indiana Jones is very different. Indiana Jones hops into a very tense situation right off the bat with the introduction of Indiana Jones trying to replace a golden idol with a bag of sand of equal weight. We as the audience are lead to believe that from his actions, Indiana is rather clever and keen, and that he is a rather experienced treasure hunter.
- The setting of Inja seems to be South Africa for sure, due to the flags that are raised, and also the somewhat arid landscape definitely compares to the landscape of South Africa. The majority of the shots in Inja are filled with emotion, so they are primarily focused on the actors, yet these shots are accompanied with some wide landscape shots or wide shots of people at work. Comparatively, Indiana Jones is also focused on the actions or events happening around the protagonist, but we are also given a sense of danger with a slight dose of claustrophobia due to the quick cuts and shots from rather strange places such as the pit that Indy almost falls into. I will admit that the background props of Indiana Jones seem very antique and well made, which gives off a good sense of the setting and seems like the items in the background had been in some random tomb for hundreds of years.
- As I said before in the earlier responses, a lot of the shots in Inja primarily focus of the emotions of the actors, so the majority of the shots in Inja are close up shots or close up directional shots. Indiana Jones opening scene is filled with a lot of quick action shots or close up shots that are focused on both the actor and sometimes a specific item, such as the golden idol. The director also does a good job of keeping rather similar or related scenes to the same side, a good example of this would be the scenes regarding the spike wall trap, where we see a skeleton, then Indy as here nearly becomes the next skeleton, and lastly the other actor who accompanied Indy dead in the trap. This gives the audience the impression that Indy realizes that that could’ve been him.
- There are multiple paces throughout both of the films editing. The scene that sticks with me in the film Inja would be the beating of the puppy. This shots pace is rather fast compared to the slow pace of most of the film, and it does a good job at making the viewer believe that a dog is getting harmed. The best cut comes from when Thembile is basically guiding the dog into the bag, because just as the dog is walking into the bag, it cuts to the bag getting kicked, accompanied by the sounds of dog whimpers. Of course, at least I hope that the dog wasn’t actually beaten, but it creates a good impression of it. The cut that I think works very well in Indiana Jones that is rather unnoticed, would have to be the cut from the close up of the whip unraveling as the accompanying man swings across the pit, to the shot of him falling as he gets over. It’s a very quick cut, but its interesting that the director chose to take the time to make sure this ended up in the final cut. It’s a rather small shot that if taken out, wouldn’t have really changed the film at all, but instead it was left in so that the viewer has an understanding on how the whip ended up where it was when Indy riskily slides back under the descending rock wall to grab it.
- To be honest, I believe that most of, if not all of the sonic elements in Inja create a strong impact. The audio is what instantly stood out to me when I watched the film for the first time, it’s done so well that you basically can visualize whats happening even if you close your eyes. While Indiana Jones also has some very good sonic elements, I believe that the visual cuts and setting design is the strongest element of the film, at least the opening. The set design is very thought out and creates an accurate depiction of what someone would think that a generic secret temple would look like.
Inja Analysis from the 1st Week
In the next shot after the title screen, we are given more details about the setting via the raising of the flag that was used in South Africa during the Apartheid. This scene is very significant and makes the film make a lot of sense, since right after Thembile makes the dog a collar from the flag ropes, we are introduced to Thembile’s “boss”, Johannes. It is safe to assume that Thembile is the main protagonist, since he has received a majority of the camera time, and the story up to this point is focused on the bond between the dog and Thembile.
After a brief scene of the dog and Thembile playing around, we see our first glimpse of Johannes surveying the work from inside the house. I believe that the shot that shows Johannes watching over the women hard at work in the garden on a hot sunny day while he is inside is meant to show the dynamic between the Johannes and the workers on (what is assumed to be) his farm/plantation.
Once Johannes notices the stolen ropes from the flag around the dogs neck in the form of a collar, Johannes subtlety makes Thembile join him with the dog. From there we see the cruel and harsh side of Johannes, who makes Thembile but the dog in a bag, from there, Johannes kicks the bag and makes Thembile open it, making the dog think that Thembile was the one kicking him around. Johannes’s plan was basically to make the dog dislike Thembile so it would stop being obedient towards Thembile and more obedient towards him.
This scene comes back to bite Johannes. Way into the future, while Johannes, the dog, and Thembile are working together on some stakes in the ground, Johannes suffers a heart attack and desperately needs help. Thembile rushes towards Johannes’s aid, only to be repelled by the dog, who will not let Thembile anywhere near Johannes. The only options that are presented to the audience that Thembile can make is to either let his boss die without doing anything, or use Johannes’s rifle and shoot the dog to help Johannes. We are never exactly sure what happens next, though we are given an audio cue via a gunshot, which leads the audience to believe that Thembile grabbed the rifle and most likely shot the dog to save Johannes, though we are never certain on exactly what happens.
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