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Some documentaries have found a home in the Visions program; one of them is the film Night by Lawrence Johnston (pictured here). This film offers an interesting look at people's views about night; its meaning and effect on the human experience.
After the film, Thom Powers (RTR programmer) asked: How do you construct a film like this? Johnston said he was inspired by his love of photography. He wanted to make a cinematic film, which had photographic vision. Johnston shot the film continuously over a year. What is an amazing aspect of this film is that it was shot all with available light; no computer generated images (CGI) were used. The images are quite beautiful; a sentiment shared by the audience: "an amazing film;" "the transition from mood to mood was also amazing" were some of their comments.
The musical score of the film also added to the cinematic experience. Although Johnston included interviews with several people, he wanted the score to be very present and the sound minimal. "It is emotional... the music gets to you," Johnston said. In terms of technical aspects of the film, the director uses time lapse shots also. There were certain scenes that worked well with time lapse photography; for example, shots of clouds or that at the opera house.
Everyone in the theatre left with a new perspective on the meaning of Night. Someone said, "I'd see it again." There is still a chance to see this film again or experience it for the first time: Thursday, Sept 13 at 8:45pm.
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