Umbra
a film by Florian Fischer & Johannes Krell
A shimmering light, the rustle of the leaves, round spots of light in the shade of a tree. The sun reflects on the water. It is an element and counterpart. Can nature observe itself? A cinematic reflection on the presence and absence of things.
Synopsis
The film UMBRA is dedicated to the usual as well as the rare optical phenomena that occur in nature. These phenomena produce familiar images such as shadows or reflections on the surface of the water. However, it even makes unusual phenomena like the so-called “Brocken spectre” or the pinhole effect during a solar eclipse. These ancient and natural projections can be regarded as images independent of culture and apparatus that were already present before human evolution. They are all united by their elusive, fleeting presence. In their immateriality and fragility, they are precursors of the cinematic image. A visual dialogue arises between phenomenon and apparatus, archetype and image, self and self-perception.
FACTS
Genre: Experimental documentary film
Running time: 20 Min.
Format: 1:1,85, DCP, Color
Sound: 5.1 Surround, Stereo
Produced in: Germany
Completion: 2019
Background
Visual phenomena appear in nature in the form of shadows, refractions of light or reflections on a water surface, but also reveal the principle of the pinhole camera. This was discovered by Aristotle around 2,200 years ago during a solar eclipse. Crescent-shaped images become recognizable in the shadow of a tree, astonishingly resembling the special constellation of moon and sun in the sky. The sun is repeatedly projected onto the ground through small apertures between the leaves of the tree, acting as pinholes – comparable to a camera obscura, a mirror image becomes visible. Another unusual phenomenon is the so-called “Brocken spectre”, which is visible with particular frequency on the central German mountain Brocken due to the site-specific weather conditions. The phenomenon occurs when the shadow of a person or an object hits a wall of fog when the sun is low – a ghostly counterpart appears.
The natural projections, which the filmmakers have recorded with a pinhole instead of a lens, can be understood as images independent of the apparatus, reaching far back into the past. The fact that the protagonists of the film themselves are ephemeral phenomena, i.e. pure light images that are later fleetingly projected onto a screen, results in a cycle that fundamentally questions the nature of the image. The result is a visual dialogue between phenomenon and apparatus, archetype and image, self and self-perception.
Supported by
A production of the ROSENPICTURES Filmproduktion GbR in co-production with the Academy of Media Arts Cologne and Johannes Krell, supported with funding from the Mitteldeutschen Medienförderung, the Film- und Medienstiftung NRW and by the Federal Goverment Commissioner for Culture and Media.