Aeon - a non-verbal film by Richard Sidey
Aeon is a non-verbal, non commercial film capturing the New Zealand city of Wellington. Created by Richard Sidey, Aeon primarily uses time lapse cinematography, and is 13 minutes long.
Aeon is a great film, expertly shot and edited. It shows the many different elements that make a city like Wellington what it is. The colours are warm and the images crisp. Whilst watching the film I remember parts of Wellington I had visited years ago, but also felt the sensation of being in a city before dawn when the shops are empty and only the refuse men are around. The eastern music fits nicely with the film. The music is sparse at times, complimenting the scenes well. The music separates the chapters well. Although the chapters run into each other the theme changes subtlety. Although using elements such as travelling within a car, from Koyaanisqatsi, and even travelling in a train, from Chronos, Aeon has its own elements, like those of the surfers enjoying the sea and the city coming to life. The final part of the film incorporates a style comparable to Naqoyqatsi. I'm impressed by the use of so many different styles.
Each part of the film is distinct, with a quick caption introduction and quote. Almost all of the scenes in Aeon are time lapse. Scenes such as those of the sun rising lighting the bay clearly took a long time to shoot. Richard has spent a lot of time creating this film. 50 hours of recorded footage where compressed into the 13 minute film.
I cannot help but compare Aeon to Baraka, Koyaanisqatsi and Chronos. Aeon is nonverbal and its scenes are primarily time lapse. But making such a comparison is a fitting tribute to Aeon. It will appeal to fans of the films featured on this website.
Richard sent to me a well put together DVD, with good menus and some informative extras.
Richard's Synopsis
"Aeon is a landscape documentary of the city of Wellington, the objective being to portray new perspectives of time that can be perceived amongst the environment. Aeon views the city as a living and breathing entity, and depicts it through a zen influenced eastern perspective, documenting Wellington as the city travels through the stages of birth, life, death and rebirth in a single day."
Richard Sidey
Richard is from Wellington, New Zealand and shot and edited Aeon on his own. You can watch a internet version of Aeon by following the Massey University link in the links section below. There are lo and hi bandwidth links on the university page. Richard explains "it was a solo project - I've done a few now, mostly made during a design degree I completed in 2004 in Wellington, New Zealand. Aeon was non commercial and had a budget only for parking tickets. I have just got my first 'real job' where I am part of a production company so who knows what opportunities may pop up". "Aeon was edited in Final Cut Pro and shot on a Sony MiniDV 3 chip cam. Took about 4 months." You can contact Richard@sideyman@hotmail.com
Richard has also been working on a nonverbal Antarctic film, which is in the process of obtaining the rights to use.
Images
Credits
- Created by Richard Sidey
- Percussion by Murray Hickman, performed by Strike
- Run time 13 minutes. Ratio 16:9
- Created in 2004.
Awards
- Winner - New Zealand Documentary Festival 2005
SpiritOfBaraka is brought to you by Darren Lambert. A huge fan of the these films,
Aeon is a great independent film. I enjoyed it greatly. It reminds me of a small scale Baraka or Koyaanisqatsi. The editing and music have been carefully considered. I hope Richard continues to make films, as I think he is a great film maker. This web site will continue to support him. Well done Richard.
Great.Spectacular.Already seend shots and ideas,yet different.Well done!Unfortunately,unaivailable on DVD,otherwise I will by it,you can be shure of that!
Excellent short film!...
I wish I could only understand the japanese writting that appeared from time to time on the left corner of the screen...
Hey all, I finally got a website running at www.richardsidey.com
Aeon is available on DVD.
Cheers,
Richard
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