Some recommended additional reading about this film. It's an interview with the filmmaker.
http://www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2012/01/on-space-love-and-carl-sagans-cosmic-mix-tape/468642/
The film The Voyagers uses archival footage of NASA's voyagers, the Challenger, beaches, Coney Island, and more to help the narrator tell her story with the man she is married to now (Brian). When I read the title and watched the opening of the film I was expected a documentary about NASA's Voyagers but, I was happily surprised that it was much more. The story begins 1977 with the Voyagers and uses the story of the Voyagers' Gold Record and key moments in history (The Challenger exploding) to create a timeline for their love story. It was a completely unexpected style but was very enjoyable.
I have to say, this video confused me. I didn't exactly understand all of the b-roll that played while she talked. For example, I understood that Coney Island was special to her and her husband, but I'm not entirely sure why there were so many shots of people riding rides and shots of the tide coming in. I also couldn't exactly make out the reason for the connection between the Voyagers, the Challenger, Carl Sagan and his wife's relationship as well as the director's relationship with her now husband. I did like the fact that she made this film for her own enjoyment and not for anyone else other than her husband. I think many filmmakers forget to just make films for themselves and no one else. Film is an art. Finally, I thought the video itself was aesthetically done well. I like that everything had this kind of 60's or 70's television style to the footage. My only wish was that it wasn't so slow and drawn out.
The Voyagers uses the silence of space to set the tone for the entire film. Using archive footage to tell the story. Showing the tragic accident of the Challenger space shuttle as it exploded was a very powerful image. The silence of the film is only broken a few times throughout the film. The narrator or very quiet music is the playing in the background. The narrators soft spoken voice helps bring out the errie seriousness of the movie. The film opens up with space, and sticks to the silence of space throughout.
I didn't quite get the point that the director was trying to get across in this film. The film just seemed to be all over the place to me even though they tried to connect it all to one central theme. That theme being the Voyager's golden record, but I'm still not sure how all of that connects. The film starts by talking about space and how the Voyager's are still out there carrying the world's golden record. The film then takes a turn and talks about the exploding of the Challenger, then take a u-turn and starts to talk about beaches, love, and, Coney Island. This was just confusing and made me lose focus on the story that I missed the point. I did however liked the archival footage that was selected to bring into the film I felt as if this footage had huge impact on the film itself.
Voyagers does a good job of engrossing the longing feeling of being alone in space. The idea that these 2 sattelites could be the last scrap of humanity 1000 years down the road makes for an entertaining yet somewhat eerie theme. The silence in some points makes this stand out abundantly. I enjoyed the short film as a whole but the plot changes and the love story being throw in, threw me for a loop. The use of archival data added to the fact that this a real thing, and its out in space right now, searching. All in all I enjoyed this film, but I agree with others from class that it was quite hard to understand. Maybe it requires a second viewing.
When watching this, it kind of seemed to me like a podcast. The archival footage helped Penny Lane get her message across and gave the viewers a sense of the awe she felt when surrounded by earth and space, but what really set the tone of the film was the open-letter type of voiceover. This gives the film a sense of intimacy without coming off as overly schmaltzy and lovey-dovey, what we see is all done in honesty.
Dan Bryan: This film...I really don't want to criticize it after reading the interview, which I believe gives very needed context. It's clearly a very personal, emotionally-charged work that the creator is very conscientious about the quality and reception of. I get what the film's trying to get across: Lane clearly cares about the subject of Sagan's journey to push mankind towards exploration, and she's creating a passion project that uses him and the Voyager missions as a framing device to explore the issues that she was personally feeling at the time. The narrator muses on likening the Voyager missions, Carl's affair, and the inherent risks involved in both, to her own situation: that of rolling the dice on happiness through the act of eloping. The narrator even takes this one step further, pondering if making acts to reach out to someone else are all that ultimately mark the fleeting existence of the human animal on a cosmic level. I sympathize with what Lane is going through; I myself have spent *countless* hours in stream-of-consciousness meditations on what actions and concepts truly matter in life. It's heavy, close-to-your-heart stuff, and it's clear that she *is*, in some way, bearing her soul to the audience. ...Which makes it all the more gut-wrenching for me to be honest. The pacing in this film is *atrocious*. What should be a fascinating venture into existential metaphors using one of the most interesting men of the last century along with what is perhaps humanity's single greatest achievement so far, what should bounce effortlessly between the smallest and most human of emotions (a valentine) and the grand expanse of the history of the universe, gets drowned out in a sea of badly-placed spacing. I mean, did we need to see every second that we did from the Challenger clips? I'm not trying to minimize the historical importance or emotional impact of that scene, I'm just saying that the clips did not seem to be cut to an efficient length to me. The atmosphere it's trying to set is meant to be contemplative and humble, and even though I know from the interview that this was not the intent, it instead comes off as droll and self-indulgent. It wants to maximize the impact of every sentiment by placing large swaths of space between each line-read, but the tempo is completely off because we linger on the archival footage for bizarrely-long stretches of time past their initial effectiveness, so the effect is lost, and the audience just gets impatient. The tone set by the narrator is also missing the mark--she's going for a sense of quiet, somber reflection, but at times, she sounds miserable. When she says "the ultimate mix tape," there's no acknowledgment from her voice that this was a joke, or even a humorous metaphor; she sounds resigned, almost like she's about to cry. I want to like this film, I really honestly do, because I appreciate the weight of the sentiment behind it, and I'm not about to disregard the emotion put into it. The last thing, the very last thing I want to do is tell a person who is nervous about having possibly made a bad film out of a subject that they care about, is to validate their fears. ...But at the same time, I believe feedback is just as important as respecting someone's feelings. Mrs. Lane, should you somehow ever read this: I respect what you were trying to say. I just, generally speaking, gotta call things as I see them, or else, generally speaking, nothing improves.
Wilson Weirich: The use of archival footage in this film really grabbed my attention as I particularly love the grainy low contrast film look, and The Voyagers certainly used this style to its advantage. One aspect of the film that really interested me was the creative use of silence. The breaks in narration while we see shots of spaceships launching, busy locations, and additional settings that would otherwise be noisy without sound. Although I appreciated the emotional “pauses” between parts of the story, I felt some of it dragged on a bit too long. Nevertheless, I enjoyed seeing the visuals throughout, even if the narration was slow to progress.
In the film The Voyager we saw a great example with the use of archival footage. This was a great example of what were learning in class because you can tell its footage from NASA because of the footage in space. It almost seemed like this was a letter that the wife was reading throughout the film from her husband. Although this footage wasn't intended to be used for a film like this, the director did a great job of making it seem that way. It made me feel like I was in space and in the silence of the galaxy. Overall the use of archival footage in this film was really great because everything was in place and the footages added a lot to the story.
While the archival footage was interesting to watch, I really didn't understand this film. I liked learning about the Voyagers and about the Golden Records they were carrying but the whole love story part was really not that interesting. I felt like the plot was a little jumbled and the narration just kind of went on, and on, and on....well you get the point. I get that the narrator was trying to put forth a lot of emotion in this but it just didn't convey for me. I felt she was trying to put too many different topics into one story and it did not come together cohesively. Overall, the visuals are what saved this film for me because the rest just wasn't that interesting.
The film The Voyagers uses archival footage of NASA's voyagers, the Challenger, beaches, Coney Island, and more to help the narrator tell her story with the man she is married to now (Brian). When I read the title and watched the opening of the film I was expected a documentary about NASA's Voyagers but, I was happily surprised that it was much more. The story begins 1977 with the Voyagers and uses the story of the Voyagers' Gold Record and key moments in history (The Challenger exploding) to create a timeline for their love story. It was a completely unexpected style but was very enjoyable.
ReplyDeleteI have to say, this video confused me. I didn't exactly understand all of the b-roll that played while she talked. For example, I understood that Coney Island was special to her and her husband, but I'm not entirely sure why there were so many shots of people riding rides and shots of the tide coming in. I also couldn't exactly make out the reason for the connection between the Voyagers, the Challenger, Carl Sagan and his wife's relationship as well as the director's relationship with her now husband. I did like the fact that she made this film for her own enjoyment and not for anyone else other than her husband. I think many filmmakers forget to just make films for themselves and no one else. Film is an art. Finally, I thought the video itself was aesthetically done well. I like that everything had this kind of 60's or 70's television style to the footage. My only wish was that it wasn't so slow and drawn out.
ReplyDeleteThe Voyagers uses the silence of space to set the tone for the entire film. Using archive footage to tell the story. Showing the tragic accident of the Challenger space shuttle as it exploded was a very powerful image. The silence of the film is only broken a few times throughout the film. The narrator or very quiet music is the playing in the background. The narrators soft spoken voice helps bring out the errie seriousness of the movie. The film opens up with space, and sticks to the silence of space throughout.
ReplyDeleteI didn't quite get the point that the director was trying to get across in this film. The film just seemed to be all over the place to me even though they tried to connect it all to one central theme. That theme being the Voyager's golden record, but I'm still not sure how all of that connects. The film starts by talking about space and how the Voyager's are still out there carrying the world's golden record. The film then takes a turn and talks about the exploding of the Challenger, then take a u-turn and starts to talk about beaches, love, and, Coney Island. This was just confusing and made me lose focus on the story that I missed the point. I did however liked the archival footage that was selected to bring into the film I felt as if this footage had huge impact on the film itself.
ReplyDeleteVoyagers does a good job of engrossing the longing feeling of being alone in space. The idea that these 2 sattelites could be the last scrap of humanity 1000 years down the road makes for an entertaining yet somewhat eerie theme. The silence in some points makes this stand out abundantly. I enjoyed the short film as a whole but the plot changes and the love story being throw in, threw me for a loop. The use of archival data added to the fact that this a real thing, and its out in space right now, searching. All in all I enjoyed this film, but I agree with others from class that it was quite hard to understand. Maybe it requires a second viewing.
ReplyDeleteWhen watching this, it kind of seemed to me like a podcast. The archival footage helped Penny Lane get her message across and gave the viewers a sense of the awe she felt when surrounded by earth and space, but what really set the tone of the film was the open-letter type of voiceover. This gives the film a sense of intimacy without coming off as overly schmaltzy and lovey-dovey, what we see is all done in honesty.
ReplyDeleteDan Bryan:
ReplyDeleteThis film...I really don't want to criticize it after reading the interview, which I believe gives very needed context. It's clearly a very personal, emotionally-charged work that the creator is very conscientious about the quality and reception of.
I get what the film's trying to get across: Lane clearly cares about the subject of Sagan's journey to push mankind towards exploration, and she's creating a passion project that uses him and the Voyager missions as a framing device to explore the issues that she was personally feeling at the time. The narrator muses on likening the Voyager missions, Carl's affair, and the inherent risks involved in both, to her own situation: that of rolling the dice on happiness through the act of eloping. The narrator even takes this one step further, pondering if making acts to reach out to someone else are all that ultimately mark the fleeting existence of the human animal on a cosmic level. I sympathize with what Lane is going through; I myself have spent *countless* hours in stream-of-consciousness meditations on what actions and concepts truly matter in life. It's heavy, close-to-your-heart stuff, and it's clear that she *is*, in some way, bearing her soul to the audience.
...Which makes it all the more gut-wrenching for me to be honest. The pacing in this film is *atrocious*. What should be a fascinating venture into existential metaphors using one of the most interesting men of the last century along with what is perhaps humanity's single greatest achievement so far, what should bounce effortlessly between the smallest and most human of emotions (a valentine) and the grand expanse of the history of the universe, gets drowned out in a sea of badly-placed spacing. I mean, did we need to see every second that we did from the Challenger clips? I'm not trying to minimize the historical importance or emotional impact of that scene, I'm just saying that the clips did not seem to be cut to an efficient length to me. The atmosphere it's trying to set is meant to be contemplative and humble, and even though I know from the interview that this was not the intent, it instead comes off as droll and self-indulgent. It wants to maximize the impact of every sentiment by placing large swaths of space between each line-read, but the tempo is completely off because we linger on the archival footage for bizarrely-long stretches of time past their initial effectiveness, so the effect is lost, and the audience just gets impatient. The tone set by the narrator is also missing the mark--she's going for a sense of quiet, somber reflection, but at times, she sounds miserable. When she says "the ultimate mix tape," there's no acknowledgment from her voice that this was a joke, or even a humorous metaphor; she sounds resigned, almost like she's about to cry.
I want to like this film, I really honestly do, because I appreciate the weight of the sentiment behind it, and I'm not about to disregard the emotion put into it. The last thing, the very last thing I want to do is tell a person who is nervous about having possibly made a bad film out of a subject that they care about, is to validate their fears. ...But at the same time, I believe feedback is just as important as respecting someone's feelings.
Mrs. Lane, should you somehow ever read this: I respect what you were trying to say. I just, generally speaking, gotta call things as I see them, or else, generally speaking, nothing improves.
Wilson Weirich: The use of archival footage in this film really grabbed my attention as I particularly love the grainy low contrast film look, and The Voyagers certainly used this style to its advantage. One aspect of the film that really interested me was the creative use of silence. The breaks in narration while we see shots of spaceships launching, busy locations, and additional settings that would otherwise be noisy without sound. Although I appreciated the emotional “pauses” between parts of the story, I felt some of it dragged on a bit too long. Nevertheless, I enjoyed seeing the visuals throughout, even if the narration was slow to progress.
ReplyDeleteIn the film The Voyager we saw a great example with the use of archival footage. This was a great example of what were learning in class because you can tell its footage from NASA because of the footage in space. It almost seemed like this was a letter that the wife was reading throughout the film from her husband. Although this footage wasn't intended to be used for a film like this, the director did a great job of making it seem that way. It made me feel like I was in space and in the silence of the galaxy. Overall the use of archival footage in this film was really great because everything was in place and the footages added a lot to the story.
ReplyDeleteThis was a good film. It was a great example of how to use archival footage. I like how the footage followed along with narration.
ReplyDeleteWhile the archival footage was interesting to watch, I really didn't understand this film. I liked learning about the Voyagers and about the Golden Records they were carrying but the whole love story part was really not that interesting. I felt like the plot was a little jumbled and the narration just kind of went on, and on, and on....well you get the point. I get that the narrator was trying to put forth a lot of emotion in this but it just didn't convey for me. I felt she was trying to put too many different topics into one story and it did not come together cohesively. Overall, the visuals are what saved this film for me because the rest just wasn't that interesting.
ReplyDelete