Over the plains of Ethiopia the sun rose as I had not seen it in seven years. A big, cool, empty sky flushed a little above a rim of dark mountains. The landscape 20,000 feet below gathered itself from the dark and showed a pale gleam of grass, a sheen of water. The red deepened and pulsed, radiating streaks of fire. There hung the sun, like a luminous spider’s egg, or a white pearl, just below the rim of the mountains. Suddenly it swelled, turned red, roared over the horizon and drove up the sky like a train engine. I knew how far below in the swelling heat the birds were an orchestra in the trees about the villages of mud huts; how the long grass was straightening while dangling locks of dewdrops dwindled and dried; how the people were moving out into the fields about the business of herding and hoeing.
Darkness is usually portrayed as evil and light as good. What happens when light takes on ominous and threatening overtones?
This delightfully eerie and atmospheric short film, Light, is the work of Sunday Paper, the creative home of Cole Schreiber and David Parker. Their “goal is to create evocative, beautifully crafted images, showcasing stories that are thoughtful and compelling in any and all mediums.” The photography and cinematography of Light are gorgeous and the musical score is haunting. Sheer brilliance!
The unnerving and fascinating thing about this video is that it takes light, something we usually acknowledge as a friendly force in our lives, and gives it attributes that make us squirm. Peter Lauridsen’s evocative musical score illuminates and describes an ominous form of light: slippery and unpredictable. It drips and oozes. Lamps collude with one another, blanketing areas in radiance and pushing cars. If light chose to be evil, wouldn’t it be a more blinding and fearful enemy than darkness?
Humans have feared darkness much more than light because shadow hides so much from our eyes. Despite this, many religions speak of the most malevolent angels and demons as beings of light. Lamps are used to intimidate during interrogation, torture, and crowd control. Light pollution affects our health and robs us of our view of the stars. Poisonous ingredients are used to produce light bulbs. All of this shows us that light is not universally good, especially artificial light.
Are we too quick to let the luminous into our lives?
Light
Directed by David Parker
Carlos Veron: Cinematographer
Kevin Zimmerman: Editor
Ritu Paramesh: Producer
The Mill NY
Colorist: Damien Van Der Cruyssen
Producer: Cat Gulacsy
3d Artist: Navdeep Singh, Thomas Bardwell, Joshua Merck
MassMarket NY
Producer: Marcus Lansdell
3d Artist: Aldrich Torres, Entae Kim, Yuheng Chiang,
Juan Cristobal Hernandez.
Compositing: David Parker, Cole Schreiber.
Sound
Original score: Peter Lauridsen @ Stimmung
Sound design and Mix: Lindsey Alvarez @ Lime studios
It’s time for a look at the gentler, more inspiring side of dragons. Below is a beautiful animated video by Sushan Yue of The University of New South Wales in Australia which won the Wacom Award for best 2D feature at the 2010 College of Fine Arts Awards at UNSW. Breathtaking!! It brought tears to my eyes.
