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 Voyagers" is a delightful film, one that never depends on over-the-top slant to make a point about adoration and the universe. Lane narration communicates quite recently enough stand amazed at NASA's achievements and the part of chance in the universe while her feet remain immovably grounded. Most of the film comprises of authentic film. The recording here of the Voyager taking off, once Lane has made her last point by means of narration, gets combined with the ideal tune as the film's closer. At last, the film is substantially more than a narrative about the Voyager tests. At its center, it's a significant tale about affection and the brave capacity of the human soul to remain in wonder of its incomprehensibility, to dream of its secrets, and to get a look at it's endless many-sided quality, and, realizing what triumphs and despair lie ahead, still strongly hop in head first. Moreover, a living demonstration of the inventive limit of remix culture.
Anthony Reed: The Voyagers by Penny Lane I know that Penny Lane is an award winning filmmaker, but it was hard for me to get into this story because it's not my genre or style of film that I would watch if not instructed to. The monotone sound of the narrators voice on top of a film that's made almost entirely of B-roll of images of old tv quality just didn't do it for me. I do understand that there's a audience for this type of conceptual art. From my understanding a lot of the narration is about a love story, but the entire film worth of unrelated b-roll shot were just about as stimulating as the voice of the narrator. I applaud the filmmaker for being a creator. I'm not a hater, it's just great art from a genre different from my taste, and that's still ok.
I don't watch documentaries as much unless I am not forced to watch one. I feel like documentaries are like writing a research paper, specially the kind "The Voyagers" is, or writing a bibliography or something. It was very well written and put together, but it was confusing for me too. I liked the style of narration as well as the music that accompanied the film. It was very good collection of some old stored footages and very well done research.
Braedan Snow The Voyagers by Penny Lane This short experimental documentary was very aesthetically pleasing to the eye, because the film relied solely on actuality footage, Lane had a tough job at hand making a love story. I thought the ocean shots worked beautifully with the correlating love narration, and it seemed very fitting to space because just like space, 99% of the ocean has yet to be explored. The ocean and space have many similarities in that matter, and I thought the symbolism worked very well. The movement and crash of the waves had a romantic and calming feel to it that paired with the love story. The visuals in the film were also very powerful, from the shots of space that blended seemingly into artwork, to the emotion on the children's faces as they reacted to the Challenger blowing up live before their eyes. The softness and kindness of the narrator's voice plays a huge role in making the film have a love story type feel. The pace of the film was really slow, and she would hold onto each shot for a long amount of time, and somehow this did not disrupt the flow of the film, as I thought it all went together really smoothly and never seemed to drag on; I think Lane held onto each shot so long to make a lasting impact on the viewers, and to make the film more powerful.
I can say that this short film was put together very well by Lane, but I cannot say I enjoyed it. The shots were overall done well, and it made sense. But, just having the monotone voice speaking as the background to those shots made me very bored. I think it was very cool and a good idea that she included the recordings of people talking at take off of the spacecraft. When she narrator starts talking about marriage I kind of got a eery vibe from her, like something bad was going to happen. Overall I think it was pretty cool how Lane was able to use space and shots of the earth to delve into a love story about Carl and Annie.
Visually, the short documentary was different in the sense of how the footage was solely based on historical footage. Some documentaries I see would use a few pieces of footage from the past and then jump to the present, the now. But this documentary is just that "past" footage. The calmness and slow pacing of the narration ties the story together. If there was not any narration, I feel as though this documentary would just be plain and that it would be seen as a regular space documentary film. The monotone of the narration keeps its pace for the documentary, if it had any animation to it, the documentary wouldn't have the story that Lane is trying to portray. Each shot throughout the film was pieced together very well and the music was placed at the right moments. Though, for my tastes, the documentary was a little mundane, I like how Lane's use of the space, NASA, and the Voyagers are used as a metaphor for life.
This film was different, but not very interesting to me. The narrated, documentary feel didn't really do it for me. The voice of the narrator made it hard for me to watch it. However, I loved the footage. I thought the original footage of everything was beautiful and couldn't believe the imagery. One part that really stuck out to me was when the voyager exploded and it was eerily quiet. It made the reactions of the people's faces match the emotion. It was very hard footage to watch. Even though I wasn't crazy about the narration, the footage was outstanding and the film did a great job showing and telling the story of the voyager and even life.
Alex Hubbard: The Voyagers by Penny Lane This film did a wonderful job encapsulating the feeling of isolation. Many shots and transitions coated the film in lonely and quiet moments. The editor perfected when to, and when not to cut. The editing gave the film a slow, yet intriguing pace. Not rushed, simply solely focused on telling the viewer the story.The voice actress's voice was calm and soothing, the perfect storyteller for this calming and thought-provoaking film. One of my favorite shots was around 9 minutes into the film where the voice actress asks the question, "what if this is it?" The shot lingers over Earth sitting in isolation, alone in the universe. No living creature beyond its atmosphere. The isolation expands beyond Earth in the frame with the insertion of the mesmerizing music. The music has a strong echo, as if the voice is singing into the great nothingness that surrounds it, never ending, resembling the empty universe surrounding Earth. Earth's music is singing out into the void of space, never to be heard.
Dylan Milinkovich: The Voyagers by Penny Lane The voyagers was an interesting documentary film that was ver simplistic in a way. The narrartor though somewhat monotone carried the story of NASA. The B-roll footage was the better part of the film to me. It captured a lot of emotions and moments throughout. The final song combined with the last scenes elicited the sense of progress and achievements very well in my opinion. Like a sort of farewell to the narration of what was being said. Overall, I thought the film was alright carrying very simplistic ideas throughout that seemed to work.
Kat Flandermeyer: The Voyagers Oh, I love this one. We talk about filmmaking in regards to shooting our own footage and all the production that goes with it, but this is a film made entirely out of archival footage that loses nothing in the process. It gives off the perception of an illustrated essay when you combine the imagery and the voice-over. The footage is of consistent quality despite spanning several decades, which helps the film stay tied together. I love the moments of utter silence, especially after the Challenger explosion. It leaves the audience sitting in our own thoughts and gives us breathing room. We feel the silence that must have been in the room, the shock that shattered through all those kids. It's a well-done pause. The pacing is calm and slow. It takes its time to tell its story, and lets us soak it all in. The song choice at the end helps with this. Lane gives us her last line, and then fades us out on a montage set to the tune of everything she described. I enjoy the way the editing pauses, too: the real-time moments leave us sitting there with her. The writing has to be by far the best part. A mark of a good vo in my book is if it can be read alone and still keep its quality, and that's exactly what this does. The last line about "contact with the possibility of disaster" is fantastic. I love the way Lane combines the concepts of the stars and love with ease. She uses Sagan next to her own story, and they're united despite being two very seperate people. Excellent all around.
The Voyagers by Penny Lane The Voyagers captures the audience perfectly in the use of proper B - Roll and the beautiful almost hollow sound of the narrative voice. It captures the audience in a state of emotion and looks to capitalize on that through out the entire film. I thought it was interesting to bring a song that included vocals in the final minutes of the film. The lyrics added into the emotion effect almost as if it was like a final goodbye but a goodbye that wasn't wanting to be said.
Rolf Konrad: The Voyagers by Penny Lane This was a pretty sick watch. Probably my favorite of films that we have watched this semester. The narration is really what stood out and held the piece together. It was slow and unexciting which might seem like a bad thing, but here it worked really well. The narration kept me calm and interested as I listened to the story and ideas that were being presented. The b-roll present in this piece was a vibe. I like the idea of space so seeing b-roll of the stars and combining that with the smooth narration gave me chills. I liked the ending a lot mainly because they used a song by The Magnetic Fields. Overall, I like the style of this film and would be interested to see more.
Virginia Nobles: The Voyager is a video short by Penny Lane about a sort of "time capsule" in the form of a golden record that contained a variety of information about earth that was launched into space during the presidency of Jimmy Carter. Goodness, that was hard to watch. The narrator was very monotone in telling the story which made it extremely hard to concentrate. She had a nice voice to listen to but even she didn't sound too interested in the information she was saying. The footage used was actually pretty cool and it was pieced together well. I didn't quite understand the love story surrounding the golden record... also, who exactly is the narrator talking to? On top of that the narrator rambles a little bit about stuff that doesn't seem to tie into what the documentary is about. Overall this didn't really make sense to me as a whole and I just found it uninteresting.
The Voyagers was a very well made narration. The voice used for the background was perfect as well as the B Roll footage and the story of how life happens to us. I liked how they used the voyager mission as the main source. We followed the people of this film but the final minutes were among the best. It felt like a farewell to not just the film but the attitude that the film made us feel.
Katy Hale: The Voyagers by Penny Lane This was a very nice piece. The narrator of the film had a very clear and soft spoken voice that made it easy for me to understand. The narrator also seemed like she was personally effected by what was going on, which also made it intriguing as a viewer. I learned that this journey was about taking risks and falling in love. It didn't seem like it at first but once the story progressed there were hints here and there. The realism and special effects of outer space were beautiful. I liked how each shot was different but the narrator kept it all together at the same time. The close ups of each subject really made a difference in this film. It made a difference because you could see the true feelings out of each character. Weather it was positive or negative, the reactions and emotional obstacles were very real. The slow motion effects were a little too dramatic but it kind of worked for this particular film. It was nice to see the comparison between Voyage 1 and 2 because you knew what they were dealing with. You could tell there was a lot of hope and love put into this film but more so for what actually occurred. The last scene finalized everything and the music was perfect for what was happening. I also loved the tribute "For Brian" at the end. Nice piece.
I thought this was a cool film. Obviously it's interesting because it's about space, but I also thought the use of archived footage and audio was very well done. The narrator was calming and clear, and almost felt more like another viewer than she did a narrator. I think the audio was also very well selected. The "space" sounds accompanying the early portion of the film stand out, as they perfectly accented what the narrator was saying. Really, the film had all sorts of different video and audio that was seamlessly incorporated into one fluid work. Penny Lane made a documentary consistently almost entirely (there are parts that she might have shot but I am unsure if she did or not) of other people's video and audio and managed to make her own story out of it just with the narration and the way she packaged it all together.
The Voyagers was a great documentary. I like that this is not your typical “Documentary”, where you have someone talking to camera. Having a non visual narrator telling the story to me is better and what makes it more film-like. What i like about the film is the numerous, clips and photos displayed throughout. I have to say the content was very informative and very eye opening. Once again, great film
The narration was unclear. I got that she is talking to a past love of some kind and makes reference to their child though I wasn't sure at what time in their story we were at. The voyager was symbolic of their relationship but even that was muddled in-between the cuts of the voyager and various beach scenes, park scene, etc...The soundtrack was simplistic and had an indie film feel that added to the story arch but largely I found myself prone to zone out do to its lack of direction. To me, there wasn't anything particularity special about the shots other than they were dated and therefore gave the film a time period other than just simply stating it. As a whole I would not recommend nor rush out to watch the film again.
Kyle Heinze: The Voyagers by Penny Lane I am a huge fan of this film and the message it created. At first, it seemed to simply be a documentary on the Voyager space probes. The first mention of relationships initially made the purpose of the film a little hazy to me, as it seemed to be comprised of two unrelated stories. When the narrator then explains the connection between the blind and hopeful adventure of love, and the journey of these two space crafts, the purpose became quite clear. I felt that this dramatic twist made the message all the more powerful, as the audience gained an understanding of the individual story-lines first, before the connection between the two was made. Overall I thought the film was beautifully crafted, and the music and visuals enhanced the powerful and blissful message of the film.
Chris O'Connor: The Voyagers by Penny Lane This is a neat film by Lane but it wasn't my favorite film we've watched. I enjoyed the admiration with space and the message revolving around the voyagers, but the somber narration took me away from the documentary. The message clears up as the film unfolds, revealing the story of life and relationships. The ending with the soft music was my favorite part as it complimented the B-roll footage and acted as an emotional sendoff for the film.
Tyler Mcilwain: The Voyagers by Penny Lane I really enjoyed this film! Great sound work right from the start with the crescendo of ground control recordings to a quiet rumble of the liftoff. Combined with the amazing archive footage throughout, this carries the story and transports you back in time. It seems as though some of the b-roll was shot in modern times but with a layer of light leaks added to give it the vintage look. I love the look of this era because it seemed so warm and hopeful and beautiful. I am impressed how this film transcends you back in time but also finds a way of speaking directly to a newer generation with the help of the narrator. The story was nice but the narrator used different tones throughout that neither added or took away from the story. The voice track was stationary but keeps the story moving, complementing the overall theme of the film. Overall well done, very cool concept.
Nick Stellon: Tyler Mcilwain: The Voyagers by Penny Lane This film is an interesting one because of its use of archival footage. It seemed to me that the footage was perfectly balanced with the narration and the added visuals of waves, stars, and more. It somewhat reminded me of the ESPN documentary, June 17, 1994 which solely used archival footage to tell the story of one of the most important days in sports history. As for subject matter, the film tells an interesting story in a way that is easy for the audience to get invested in, and the length in my opinion is perfect. The pacing of the film can be a bit slow due to the calm narration but I think this actually helps assert the themes of the film. The short does a great job of creating meaning beyond what the viewer might initially think, and that meaning grows throughout. Overall, I thought this was one of the best pieces we've seen.
Keri Drake: The Voyagers by Penny Lane As I begin watching The Voyagers I knew it wouldn't be a film I wouldn't enjoy for the simple fact that I am not too fond of space itself, so I definitely knew it would be harder for it to keep my attention. The narrator's voice was so slow that it was hard for me to keep up and understand what she was talking about. The b-roll used in the beginning threw me off as well because when she was just throwing pictures in to just go off what the narrator was saying, I just felt as if it just didn't flow well. However, the background music chosen fit so well with the narrator's voice and the message of the film. As the film got towards the middle or so to the end, the b-roll and message got really interesting to me and caught my attention the most. This was a very well put together film and I would definitely recommend it to someone who's a fan of space because they would find this interesting to watch!
Miranda Fulmore: The Voyagers by Penny Lane I really enjoyed this film and its story line. However, I feel a little snobby by saying the quality of the images bothered me. The vimeo says it's 7 years old, but I'm not sure if it is actually older. It plays into the story line to a certain extent because it is obviously not based on current events, so that's a way the imaging plays into the story line and works. However, as a person who enjoys movies and shows to have crisp and clear shots the imaging in this film sort of bothered me. However, the overall show was great. The B roll footage was perfect and really provided a lot to the story and the voice for the narrator was cast very well. They were entertaining but matched with ambiance of the story. Finally, the most intriguing part of the story line and story idea. As someone who is extremely interested in spacecraft's and space this was such a cool topic to watch as one of our last videos!
Sam Sheriff: The Voyagers by Penny Lane was great! I thought that the sound design and mixing was perfect! I watched this film with headphones on and felt completely surrounded by the sounds (in a good way.) On the surface this movie seems like it should have no real singular message or connecting thought, since it covers a lot of very different ground, but everything really came together so well. I also liked the use of archival footage, that really added that brilliant nostalgia that I think in a way comes with love. One thing that I noticed was that the footage at Coney Island seemed to be much newer but given a treatment to look more inline with the archival footage. The thing that tipped me off was a shot with a SpongeBob prize on the wall. If that had been replaced with something less inclined towards anachronism, there would have been just a bit more cohesiveness to an already cohesive and well done film. The not-so-subtle nod to 2001 was great as well in the end! Reading the attached article, it is so sweet and makes the film even better that it truly was created for one person! I may have to steal the idea of making a film as a wedding present for whenever I eventually get married!
Art can be defined in many ways, it can be defined by the reaction it garners, by the message the artist made it to send, or even the methods used to create it. This collage of stock footage, historical pieces, and still images help to piece together a beautiful narrative of the complexity behind something as simple as putting a very high tech microwave into space. The idea of remix culture and re-cutting of existing work with small additions to create entirely new works of art is a personal passion of mine, and I enjoy being able to see it done in many different contexts.
I really appreciated the execution of this film, by using may different clips, from many sources- clearly not filmed by the film maker, but made personal by her voice over and story shared with it. Each clip went with the others with the help of audio and the sepia quality that they all possessed. I appreciated the film more too by reading the article first and seeing how personal the love story was to her and how she made the film for her husband. Something she said, I resonated with and I think we could all learn from and that was that after she was done with the film, it could have been garbage and people could have hated it or not understood it, but she loved what she had made and felt that it was meaningful.
Ella Oprandy: The Voyagers by Penny Lane The Voyagers definitely wasn't my favorite film of the semester but also wasn't my least favorite. I appreciated the educational blurb, especially dealing with the gold record, that served as the transition into the love story and Carl Sagan's story. The narration, which I think typically detracts from a film, was well done in The Voyagers, adding a note of calmness and mystery even at time in its cadence and timbre. The subject matter was an intriguing aspect of the film: it's not often that love and outer space are lumped together in this way and even rarer that a love story is told without ever really showing the couple in question. These unique aspects added to the depth of the film. Additionally, I'd be interested to know where Lane acquired the older-looking clips she incorporated into the film.
I thought the documentary itself was very well put together but did not keep me very interested. The monotone narrator did a great job explaining the story but was quite boring and did not keep my attention. The B-roll was very effective but sometimes didnt go along with the story at that moment. The content of the film overall was very interesting. If the narrator told the story with more excitement the energy of the documentary would be more powerful.
"The Voyagers" is a delightful film, one that never depends on over-the-top slant to make a point about adoration and the universe. Lane narration communicates quite recently enough stand amazed at NASA's achievements and the part of chance in the universe while her feet remain immovably grounded. Most of the film comprises of authentic film. The recording here of the Voyager taking off, once Lane has made her last point by means of narration, gets combined with the ideal tune as the film's closer. At last, the film is substantially more than a narrative about the Voyager tests. At its center, it's a significant tale about affection and the brave capacity of the human soul to remain in wonder of its incomprehensibility, to dream of its secrets, and to get a look at it's endless many-sided quality, and, realizing what triumphs and despair lie ahead, still strongly hop in head first. Moreover, a living demonstration of the inventive limit of remix culture.
ReplyDeleteAnthony Reed: The Voyagers by Penny Lane
ReplyDeleteI know that Penny Lane is an award winning filmmaker, but it was hard for me to get into this story because it's not my genre or style of film that I would watch if not instructed to. The monotone sound of the narrators voice on top of a film that's made almost entirely of B-roll of images of old tv quality just didn't do it for me. I do understand that there's a audience for this type of conceptual art. From my understanding a lot of the narration is about a love story, but the entire film worth of unrelated b-roll shot were just about as stimulating as the voice of the narrator. I applaud the filmmaker for being a creator. I'm not a hater, it's just great art from a genre different from my taste, and that's still ok.
I don't watch documentaries as much unless I am not forced to watch one. I feel like documentaries are like writing a research paper, specially the kind "The Voyagers" is, or writing a bibliography or something. It was very well written and put together, but it was confusing for me too. I liked the style of narration as well as the music that accompanied the film. It was very good collection of some old stored footages and very well done research.
ReplyDeleteBraedan Snow
ReplyDeleteThe Voyagers by Penny Lane
This short experimental documentary was very aesthetically pleasing to the eye, because the film relied solely on actuality footage, Lane had a tough job at hand making a love story. I thought the ocean shots worked beautifully with the correlating love narration, and it seemed very fitting to space because just like space, 99% of the ocean has yet to be explored. The ocean and space have many similarities in that matter, and I thought the symbolism worked very well. The movement and crash of the waves had a romantic and calming feel to it that paired with the love story. The visuals in the film were also very powerful, from the shots of space that blended seemingly into artwork, to the emotion on the children's faces as they reacted to the Challenger blowing up live before their eyes. The softness and kindness of the narrator's voice plays a huge role in making the film have a love story type feel. The pace of the film was really slow, and she would hold onto each shot for a long amount of time, and somehow this did not disrupt the flow of the film, as I thought it all went together really smoothly and never seemed to drag on; I think Lane held onto each shot so long to make a lasting impact on the viewers, and to make the film more powerful.
Kelsey Peterson: The Voyagers by Penny Lane
ReplyDeleteI can say that this short film was put together very well by Lane, but I cannot say I enjoyed it. The shots were overall done well, and it made sense. But, just having the monotone voice speaking as the background to those shots made me very bored. I think it was very cool and a good idea that she included the recordings of people talking at take off of the spacecraft. When she narrator starts talking about marriage I kind of got a eery vibe from her, like something bad was going to happen. Overall I think it was pretty cool how Lane was able to use space and shots of the earth to delve into a love story about Carl and Annie.
Karenya Garrett: The Voyagers by Penny Lane
ReplyDeleteVisually, the short documentary was different in the sense of how the footage was solely based on historical footage. Some documentaries I see would use a few pieces of footage from the past and then jump to the present, the now. But this documentary is just that "past" footage. The calmness and slow pacing of the narration ties the story together. If there was not any narration, I feel as though this documentary would just be plain and that it would be seen as a regular space documentary film. The monotone of the narration keeps its pace for the documentary, if it had any animation to it, the documentary wouldn't have the story that Lane is trying to portray. Each shot throughout the film was pieced together very well and the music was placed at the right moments. Though, for my tastes, the documentary was a little mundane, I like how Lane's use of the space, NASA, and the Voyagers are used as a metaphor for life.
Cody Quinn: The Voyagers by Penny Lane
ReplyDeleteThis film was different, but not very interesting to me. The narrated, documentary feel didn't really do it for me. The voice of the narrator made it hard for me to watch it. However, I loved the footage. I thought the original footage of everything was beautiful and couldn't believe the imagery.
One part that really stuck out to me was when the voyager exploded and it was eerily quiet. It made the reactions of the people's faces match the emotion. It was very hard footage to watch.
Even though I wasn't crazy about the narration, the footage was outstanding and the film did a great job showing and telling the story of the voyager and even life.
Alex Hubbard: The Voyagers by Penny Lane
ReplyDeleteThis film did a wonderful job encapsulating the feeling of isolation. Many shots and transitions coated the film in lonely and quiet moments. The editor perfected when to, and when not to cut. The editing gave the film a slow, yet intriguing pace. Not rushed, simply solely focused on telling the viewer the story.The voice actress's voice was calm and soothing, the perfect storyteller for this calming and thought-provoaking film.
One of my favorite shots was around 9 minutes into the film where the voice actress asks the question, "what if this is it?" The shot lingers over Earth sitting in isolation, alone in the universe. No living creature beyond its atmosphere.
The isolation expands beyond Earth in the frame with the insertion of the mesmerizing music. The music has a strong echo, as if the voice is singing into the great nothingness that surrounds it, never ending, resembling the empty universe surrounding Earth. Earth's music is singing out into the void of space, never to be heard.
Dylan Milinkovich: The Voyagers by Penny Lane
ReplyDeleteThe voyagers was an interesting documentary film that was ver simplistic in a way. The narrartor though somewhat monotone carried the story of NASA. The B-roll footage was the better part of the film to me. It captured a lot of emotions and moments throughout. The final song combined with the last scenes elicited the sense of progress and achievements very well in my opinion. Like a sort of farewell to the narration of what was being said. Overall, I thought the film was alright carrying very simplistic ideas throughout that seemed to work.
Kat Flandermeyer: The Voyagers
ReplyDeleteOh, I love this one.
We talk about filmmaking in regards to shooting our own footage and all the production that goes with it, but this is a film made entirely out of archival footage that loses nothing in the process. It gives off the perception of an illustrated essay when you combine the imagery and the voice-over.
The footage is of consistent quality despite spanning several decades, which helps the film stay tied together. I love the moments of utter silence, especially after the Challenger explosion. It leaves the audience sitting in our own thoughts and gives us breathing room. We feel the silence that must have been in the room, the shock that shattered through all those kids. It's a well-done pause.
The pacing is calm and slow. It takes its time to tell its story, and lets us soak it all in. The song choice at the end helps with this. Lane gives us her last line, and then fades us out on a montage set to the tune of everything she described. I enjoy the way the editing pauses, too: the real-time moments leave us sitting there with her.
The writing has to be by far the best part. A mark of a good vo in my book is if it can be read alone and still keep its quality, and that's exactly what this does. The last line about "contact with the possibility of disaster" is fantastic. I love the way Lane combines the concepts of the stars and love with ease. She uses Sagan next to her own story, and they're united despite being two very seperate people. Excellent all around.
The Voyagers by Penny Lane
ReplyDeleteThe Voyagers captures the audience perfectly in the use of proper B - Roll and the beautiful almost hollow sound of the narrative voice. It captures the audience in a state of emotion and looks to capitalize on that through out the entire film. I thought it was interesting to bring a song that included vocals in the final minutes of the film. The lyrics added into the emotion effect almost as if it was like a final goodbye but a goodbye that wasn't wanting to be said.
Rolf Konrad: The Voyagers by Penny Lane
ReplyDeleteThis was a pretty sick watch. Probably my favorite of films that we have watched this semester. The narration is really what stood out and held the piece together. It was slow and unexciting which might seem like a bad thing, but here it worked really well. The narration kept me calm and interested as I listened to the story and ideas that were being presented. The b-roll present in this piece was a vibe. I like the idea of space so seeing b-roll of the stars and combining that with the smooth narration gave me chills. I liked the ending a lot mainly because they used a song by The Magnetic Fields. Overall, I like the style of this film and would be interested to see more.
Virginia Nobles: The Voyager is a video short by Penny Lane about a sort of "time capsule" in the form of a golden record that contained a variety of information about earth that was launched into space during the presidency of Jimmy Carter. Goodness, that was hard to watch. The narrator was very monotone in telling the story which made it extremely hard to concentrate. She had a nice voice to listen to but even she didn't sound too interested in the information she was saying. The footage used was actually pretty cool and it was pieced together well. I didn't quite understand the love story surrounding the golden record... also, who exactly is the narrator talking to? On top of that the narrator rambles a little bit about stuff that doesn't seem to tie into what the documentary is about. Overall this didn't really make sense to me as a whole and I just found it uninteresting.
ReplyDeleteThe Voyagers by Penny Lane
ReplyDeleteThe Voyagers was a very well made narration. The voice used for the background was perfect as well as the B Roll footage and the story of how life happens to us. I liked how they used the voyager mission as the main source. We followed the people of this film but the final minutes were among the best. It felt like a farewell to not just the film but the attitude that the film made us feel.
Katy Hale: The Voyagers by Penny Lane
ReplyDeleteThis was a very nice piece. The narrator of the film had a very clear and soft spoken voice that made it easy for me to understand. The narrator also seemed like she was personally effected by what was going on, which also made it intriguing as a viewer. I learned that this journey was about taking risks and falling in love. It didn't seem like it at first but once the story progressed there were hints here and there. The realism and special effects of outer space were beautiful. I liked how each shot was different but the narrator kept it all together at the same time. The close ups of each subject really made a difference in this film. It made a difference because you could see the true feelings out of each character. Weather it was positive or negative, the reactions and emotional obstacles were very real. The slow motion effects were a little too dramatic but it kind of worked for this particular film. It was nice to see the comparison between Voyage 1 and 2 because you knew what they were dealing with. You could tell there was a lot of hope and love put into this film but more so for what actually occurred. The last scene finalized everything and the music was perfect for what was happening. I also loved the tribute "For Brian" at the end. Nice piece.
I thought this was a cool film. Obviously it's interesting because it's about space, but I also thought the use of archived footage and audio was very well done. The narrator was calming and clear, and almost felt more like another viewer than she did a narrator. I think the audio was also very well selected. The "space" sounds accompanying the early portion of the film stand out, as they perfectly accented what the narrator was saying. Really, the film had all sorts of different video and audio that was seamlessly incorporated into one fluid work. Penny Lane made a documentary consistently almost entirely (there are parts that she might have shot but I am unsure if she did or not) of other people's video and audio and managed to make her own story out of it just with the narration and the way she packaged it all together.
ReplyDeleteKristin Whitely: The Voyagers by Penny Lane
ReplyDeleteThe Voyagers was a great documentary. I like that this is not your typical “Documentary”, where you have someone talking to camera. Having a non visual narrator telling the story to me is better and what makes it more film-like. What i like about the film is the numerous, clips and photos displayed throughout. I have to say the content was very informative and very eye opening. Once again, great film
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ReplyDeleteThe narration was unclear. I got that she is talking to a past love of some kind and makes reference to their child though I wasn't sure at what time in their story we were at. The voyager was symbolic of their relationship but even that was muddled in-between the cuts of the voyager and various beach scenes, park scene, etc...The soundtrack was simplistic and had an indie film feel that added to the story arch but largely I found myself prone to zone out do to its lack of direction. To me, there wasn't anything particularity special about the shots other than they were dated and therefore gave the film a time period other than just simply stating it. As a whole I would not recommend nor rush out to watch the film again.
Kyle Heinze: The Voyagers by Penny Lane
ReplyDeleteI am a huge fan of this film and the message it created. At first, it seemed to simply be a documentary on the Voyager space probes. The first mention of relationships initially made the purpose of the film a little hazy to me, as it seemed to be comprised of two unrelated stories. When the narrator then explains the connection between the blind and hopeful adventure of love, and the journey of these two space crafts, the purpose became quite clear. I felt that this dramatic twist made the message all the more powerful, as the audience gained an understanding of the individual story-lines first, before the connection between the two was made. Overall I thought the film was beautifully crafted, and the music and visuals enhanced the powerful and blissful message of the film.
Chris O'Connor: The Voyagers by Penny Lane
ReplyDeleteThis is a neat film by Lane but it wasn't my favorite film we've watched. I enjoyed the admiration with space and the message revolving around the voyagers, but the somber narration took me away from the documentary. The message clears up as the film unfolds, revealing the story of life and relationships. The ending with the soft music was my favorite part as it complimented the B-roll footage and acted as an emotional sendoff for the film.
Tyler Mcilwain: The Voyagers by Penny Lane
ReplyDeleteI really enjoyed this film! Great sound work right from the start with the crescendo of ground control recordings to a quiet rumble of the liftoff. Combined with the amazing archive footage throughout, this carries the story and transports you back in time. It seems as though some of the b-roll was shot in modern times but with a layer of light leaks added to give it the vintage look. I love the look of this era because it seemed so warm and hopeful and beautiful. I am impressed how this film transcends you back in time but also finds a way of speaking directly to a newer generation with the help of the narrator. The story was nice but the narrator used different tones throughout that neither added or took away from the story. The voice track was stationary but keeps the story moving, complementing the overall theme of the film. Overall well done, very cool concept.
Nick Stellon: Tyler Mcilwain: The Voyagers by Penny Lane
ReplyDeleteThis film is an interesting one because of its use of archival footage. It seemed to me that the footage was perfectly balanced with the narration and the added visuals of waves, stars, and more. It somewhat reminded me of the ESPN documentary, June 17, 1994 which solely used archival footage to tell the story of one of the most important days in sports history. As for subject matter, the film tells an interesting story in a way that is easy for the audience to get invested in, and the length in my opinion is perfect. The pacing of the film can be a bit slow due to the calm narration but I think this actually helps assert the themes of the film. The short does a great job of creating meaning beyond what the viewer might initially think, and that meaning grows throughout. Overall, I thought this was one of the best pieces we've seen.
Keri Drake: The Voyagers by Penny Lane
ReplyDeleteAs I begin watching The Voyagers I knew it wouldn't be a film I wouldn't enjoy for the simple fact that I am not too fond of space itself, so I definitely knew it would be harder for it to keep my attention. The narrator's voice was so slow that it was hard for me to keep up and understand what she was talking about. The b-roll used in the beginning threw me off as well because when she was just throwing pictures in to just go off what the narrator was saying, I just felt as if it just didn't flow well. However, the background music chosen fit so well with the narrator's voice and the message of the film. As the film got towards the middle or so to the end, the b-roll and message got really interesting to me and caught my attention the most. This was a very well put together film and I would definitely recommend it to someone who's a fan of space because they would find this interesting to watch!
Miranda Fulmore: The Voyagers by Penny Lane
ReplyDeleteI really enjoyed this film and its story line. However, I feel a little snobby by saying the quality of the images bothered me. The vimeo says it's 7 years old, but I'm not sure if it is actually older. It plays into the story line to a certain extent because it is obviously not based on current events, so that's a way the imaging plays into the story line and works. However, as a person who enjoys movies and shows to have crisp and clear shots the imaging in this film sort of bothered me. However, the overall show was great. The B roll footage was perfect and really provided a lot to the story and the voice for the narrator was cast very well. They were entertaining but matched with ambiance of the story. Finally, the most intriguing part of the story line and story idea. As someone who is extremely interested in spacecraft's and space this was such a cool topic to watch as one of our last videos!
Sam Sheriff: The Voyagers by Penny Lane was great! I thought that the sound design and mixing was perfect! I watched this film with headphones on and felt completely surrounded by the sounds (in a good way.) On the surface this movie seems like it should have no real singular message or connecting thought, since it covers a lot of very different ground, but everything really came together so well. I also liked the use of archival footage, that really added that brilliant nostalgia that I think in a way comes with love. One thing that I noticed was that the footage at Coney Island seemed to be much newer but given a treatment to look more inline with the archival footage. The thing that tipped me off was a shot with a SpongeBob prize on the wall. If that had been replaced with something less inclined towards anachronism, there would have been just a bit more cohesiveness to an already cohesive and well done film. The not-so-subtle nod to 2001 was great as well in the end! Reading the attached article, it is so sweet and makes the film even better that it truly was created for one person! I may have to steal the idea of making a film as a wedding present for whenever I eventually get married!
ReplyDeleteAlex Harris: The Voyagers by Perry Lane
ReplyDeleteArt can be defined in many ways, it can be defined by the reaction it garners, by the message the artist made it to send, or even the methods used to create it. This collage of stock footage, historical pieces, and still images help to piece together a beautiful narrative of the complexity behind something as simple as putting a very high tech microwave into space. The idea of remix culture and re-cutting of existing work with small additions to create entirely new works of art is a personal passion of mine, and I enjoy being able to see it done in many different contexts.
Gretchen Franz: The Voyagers by Perry Lane
ReplyDeleteI really appreciated the execution of this film, by using may different clips, from many sources- clearly not filmed by the film maker, but made personal by her voice over and story shared with it. Each clip went with the others with the help of audio and the sepia quality that they all possessed. I appreciated the film more too by reading the article first and seeing how personal the love story was to her and how she made the film for her husband. Something she said, I resonated with and I think we could all learn from and that was that after she was done with the film, it could have been garbage and people could have hated it or not understood it, but she loved what she had made and felt that it was meaningful.
Ella Oprandy: The Voyagers by Penny Lane
ReplyDeleteThe Voyagers definitely wasn't my favorite film of the semester but also wasn't my least favorite. I appreciated the educational blurb, especially dealing with the gold record, that served as the transition into the love story and Carl Sagan's story. The narration, which I think typically detracts from a film, was well done in The Voyagers, adding a note of calmness and mystery even at time in its cadence and timbre. The subject matter was an intriguing aspect of the film: it's not often that love and outer space are lumped together in this way and even rarer that a love story is told without ever really showing the couple in question. These unique aspects added to the depth of the film. Additionally, I'd be interested to know where Lane acquired the older-looking clips she incorporated into the film.
Nicole Nelson: The Voyagers by Penny Lane
ReplyDeleteI thought the documentary itself was very well put together but did not keep me very interested. The monotone narrator did a great job explaining the story but was quite boring and did not keep my attention. The B-roll was very effective but sometimes didnt go along with the story at that moment. The content of the film overall was very interesting. If the narrator told the story with more excitement the energy of the documentary would be more powerful.