“Aeronautes”: Herzogian Aerial Shots
Magdalena Kempna-Pieniążek
magdalena.kempna@us.edu.plUniversity of Silesia (Poland)
https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2569-5596
Abstract
The author of the essay takes up the subject of characteristic Herzogian aerial shots. Understanding Werner Herzog’s documentaries as an epistemological project, she draws attention to the role of sky-high perspective in his search for new, “unused” images – that is, in the process which, in Herzog’s opinion, is mankind’s key task. Following researchers such as Teresa Castro, Eric Ames, Brad Prager, and Laurie Ruth Johnson, the author proves that Herzog's aerial shots have a cognitive function, and are used as a means of constructing “alien geographies” in which real landscapes are transformed into “landscapes of the soul”. The White Diamond (2004) is placed at the center of this discussion, being a metafilm in which Herzog comments on his own visual practices, and reveals both his motivations and the realization process, as well as the benefits of adopting the aeronautes’ perspective.
Keywords:
Werner Herzog, documentary, aerial shotReferences
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Authors
Magdalena Kempna-Pieniążekmagdalena.kempna@us.edu.pl
University of Silesia Poland
https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2569-5596
The author works at the Institute of Cultural Studies at the University of Silesia in Katowice. In her research, she studies contemporary variants of film authorship, film landscapes, noir and neo-noir aesthetics, as well as problems of spirituality and religiosity in cinema. Author of several books, including Formuły duchowości w kinie najnowszym [The Formats of Spirituality in the Latest Cinema] (2013), Neo-noir. Ciemne zwierciadło czasów kryzysu [Neo-noir: The Dark Reflection of the Times of Crisis] (2015), Lekcje ciemności. Kino dokumentalne Wernera Herzoga [Lessons of Darkness: Werner Herzog’s Documentaries] (2020), as well as articles published in journals such as Kwartalnik Filmowy and Studia de Cultura; co-editor of the volumes Filmowe pejzaże Europy [Europe’s Filmscapes] (2017) and Filmowe pejzaże Ameryk [The Americas’ Filmscapes] (2020).
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