The Australian producer/director team of Rob Innes and Josef Gatti presented their visually absorbing feature project Phenomena during Sunny Side. It is a work that finds beauty in the fusion of art and science. “This project began at a time in my life where I was feeling disconnected and unsure of where I fit in the world. Just like so many of those of my generation who are feeling the pressure of today’s big issues” director Gatti told the Industry audience. “And so I turned to the natural world in search of meaning, and I was completely moved.”
The feature doc (1 x 80’, 1 x 52’) presents a space “where science and art collide to uncover naturally occurring patterns and the forces and elements that create them,” raed the the project notes. “An ambitious, visually stunning and psychedelic journey through the fabric of the universe that explores the connections that bind us and the natural world together, leading to a new perspective on our place in the universe.
Gatti explained the sense of fulfilment that working on the project has so far delivered. “With dad, who’s a physics teacher, we started to build these experiments together, and it was this combination of passion, art and science that [everything] started to make sense for me. I was able to see it for myself and really connect with it. It was a truly transformative experience. And this journey is what is at the heart of this film. What makes this film so different and so cool is that everything you see is real. There’s no CGI, it’s all captured by camera.”
The filmmakers begin with the building blocks of energy and matter “to understand what we’re made of,” firstly discovering them in nature, then seek to determine their effects on humankind, and then bring them into the studio to recreate them and visualize them through experimentation. “This is how we examine each natural phenomenon in the film. For example, as we explore energy we start with the sun. We observe energy bursting from its surface, creating convection cells, and then we recreate [that] in a petri dish. Here we learn about energy and its [capacity] to cause change, which propels us to the next experiment where matter changes under the effects of energy as heat.”
“But as we experiment with energy and matter, we find that there’s something deeper at work, something that’s changing them,” Gatti continued. “These are the forces of nature present all throughout the universe – gravity, electromagnetism and nuclear forces. They are the catalysts for change. And this change is what leads us to complexity and life. The point of this film is to illustrate through art and science our profound connection to nature and the universe [at] a time where so many people like myself are feeling disconnected. We want to create a space for celebration and reflection, and to create an experience that’s full of curiosity and wonder.”
To accompany the stunning visuals, the film also features an original music score that combines electronica and classical sounds from contemporary artists, while also using soundscapes derived from the experiments themselves.
The feature doc extends from a web series that reached over half a million views on social media, producer Rob Innes(Mash Up Pictures) pointed out, with an additional 50,000 people seeing it in immersive exhibitions across Australia. “It really appealed to young people and youth especially, but the film crosses ages to appeal to people who value science and art and exploration, creativity and self-discovery,” he added. “In this feature version… there’ll be much more context around what we are doing and, [with] the connection to humanity and philosophy and science working together.”
The project drew much raise from the professional panel of commissioning editors. One compared it to the great Koyaanisqatsi (Godfrey Reggio, 1982), while Jonah Weston from Channel 4 (UK) was equally appreciative of the project and its ambition. “I get where you’re coming from… you might have to accept what you are striving for is a cult classic, and that won’t be recognized in the moment by boring people with checkbooks. But you might have to build it and let the critical acclaim come once you’ve done it.”
