Period

Un court métrage de Philippe Billion, (ExMachina), 1996

D'abord court-métrage d'auteur, ensuite vendu à Toshiba.

Synopsis / description

On a dark stormy night, on the high sea, an old dirigible, adrift, floats aimlessly and slowly sinks into the water. Even before the dirigible encounters the raging sea, we can tell that something is happening between these two "characters" - the sea gradually becomes irridescent while the dirigible agonizes over its slow death and seems to finally accept its fate.

Sheets of fog move around in between the waves and on their crests. A supernatural light illuminates the event. The dirigible seems to have been uninhabited for a long period of time. Its canvas bears clearly visible signs of wear and tear caused by the sun and the bad weather. The nacelle is extremely rusty, yet still supports two slowly turning, outdated propeller engines. 500 different models of the sea have been produced by this program. The speed and height of the waves are adapted to each shot using interpolation and scaling.

Four different types of fog are used on the surface of the sea and „in the air". The title of the film is based on the paradoxal correlation between the end of something (as the end of a sentence ...) and the idea of continuity (as the smooth continuity of a wave).

Galerie

Period de Philippe Billion, ExMachina, 1995

Period de Philippe Billion, ExMachina, 1995

Distinctions

• sélectionné SIGGRAPH#1996 Nouvelle Orleans
• Honorary mention, Computer Animation, Ars Electronica, 1996