This Film Has No Commercial Value

Film made by John Kneller with a sound design by John Shipman. It focuses on the environment using time-lapse cinematography as a means to capture phenomena that is impossible to see with the naked eye. Automated pan, tilt and zoom mechanics were custom-built by the filmmaker to augment the time-lapse techniques. The resulting imagery is a hyper-reality of landscapes transformed by means of the camera’s mechanical mediation. The sound design was created from naturally recorded sound phenomena and musical performances. The Romantic musical elements are reminiscent of lyrical depictions of nature and environment. The deliberate mediation of the sound and image suggests that our relationship to the environment cannot be viewed outside of the realm of the political. The film is a lament for the plundering of the earth. Paradoxically, the camera also exists to plunder the earth, mining images. The film was completed in 2006.