Celestial, a film by member Esther Johnson

Society founder Gavin Pretor-Pinney features in a new film about the sky by one of our members, Esther Johnson.

Celestial takes the form of an experimental portrait, exploring the poetry of the sky, which is seen as a space of fascination and contemplation.

It features interviews with weather experts, scientists and cloud
lovers, focusing on their perceptions and thoughts about the sky. In the film, Gavin describes looking at clouds as a form of meteorological meditation.

Snippets of dialogue from the interviews are spliced with visuals, including time-lapse footage of the sky, cloud formations, aerial views and people cloudspotting. The film also uses sounds from weather monitoring equipment and noises created from the weather itself.

Celestial premiered a few weeks ago at the Urban Screens Conference in Manchester but there are a few more screenings coming up which members might like to try and attend: Urban Screens Conference Manchester, 02/11/07;
Aurora, Norwich, 10/11/07; 21st Leeds International Film Festival, 17-24/11/07; Site Gallery Sheffield, 03/08.

You can find out more about Celestial on Esther’s website, www.blanchepictures.com, and watch an extract of the film here: www.biggerpictureuk.net