Experimental short documentary on the northern lights

Jan sends us this trailer for Magnetic Reconnection, "An experimental short form documentary contrasting the northern lights with the harsh landscapes and decaying man made remnants littered in the northern Canadian town of Churchill. The film touches upon the power of nature over man and the futility of struggle against the natural processes of decay. Despite our best attempts they are a power far beyond our control or ability to quantify. Featuring a score by Jim O'Rourke (Sonic Youth, Wilco), narration by Will Oldham (Matewan, Old Joy) and likely some of the best footage of the aurora ever captured."

"Until recently aurora footage was captured on 35mm film at an ISO value of 800 with up to 30 second exposure times," said Armstrong. "The resulting images often appeared to have very little definition or semblance of what the phenomenon appears to the naked eye and had the appearance of blobs of plasma with small changes. Over the past 10 years advances in digital sensing technology has led to more accurate representations, what you'll see if you look on YouTube, with 15 second exposures, even 10 second exposure times. While they make for compelling and pretty pictures, these clips are frequently set against with moonlit nights with loads of light pollution suffering from the plasmic blob look because of the long exposure times.


Magnetic Reconnection | NEWS

(Thanks, Jan!)