1 Jan 2013

Ex Nihilo ★★★★☆


Review of 'Ex Nihilo' which can be found here at Future Shorts.

Length: 03:20
Directed by Sophie Rautenbach
Genre: Experimental
Date: 2012
Rating: ★★★★☆

Logline: A montage of fascinating sciencey imagery put to extracts from a Lawrence Krauss lecture on the universe.

A moody and atmospheric ‘Air’ track immediately sets the tone for this visually and audibly stimulating piece. Three elements are combined extremely well here; high quality images, simple geometric wipes, and an intellectually appealing voice over. To be fair, the dialogue may require some level of concentration from the viewers as although the astro-physics stuff has been pretty dumbed down for an everyman audience, it can still be a bit too much at points. The on screen visuals however, can quite easily be absorbed and enjoyed without strain. Saying that, you’ll quite often wonder what it is your looking at as a melee of wondrous solids, surfaces, liquids and wavelengths are displayed.

The high picture quality, excellent colour depth and the various intriguing shapes and forms made by the subject matter juxtapose well against the back background and sharp, clean edges created by the wipes in the edit. It looks smart and crisp and the smooth transitions keep the easy pace. Overall, while this may just look a bit like a fancy powerpoint presentation, the well merged elements combine to create a fascinatingly stylish film which is both educational and surreal.

Best Bit: Simple stylistic editing.

Worst Bit: The technical jargon risks audience tune out.

Final thought: Doesn’t go down too well with a hangover. I kind of feel none the wiser.

Read a condensed review of this film on Twitter here.

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