Abstract

Moonwalk

Clea T. Waite

Moonwalk is an experimental film in both genre and form, a Fulldome film designed for projection on a traditional planetarium cupola. Moonwalk is an immersive computer animation composed of found footage, astronomical photographs, sound bites, poems, stories, and drawings; a history of humanity’s scientific and allegorical relationship with the Moon. The Moon represents many things, from the forefront of scientific exploration to the most ancient of archetypal myths. It was the peaceful battleground of the Cold War and will be a junction point to Mars in the near future. It inspires love poems and lunacy, influences werewolves and the tides. It is a benevolent, beautiful goddess and a lifeless, silent lump of rock. It is the recipient of prayers, myths, poems, and dreams since the beginning of human consciousness. In the film, the subjective Moon coexists in space-time with the factual Moon.

Recent technological developments have made it possible to project synchronized highdefinition video streams undistorted onto a hemispherical surface. This new technology is used primarily in science museums showing educational films for children. Moonwalk was
conceived as an experimental, poetic film that addresses astronomical themes, but uses the exceptional Fulldome format for its immersiveness, it’s scope, and the visceral presence of the space to create an art film. The work explores the coallescense of form and content and the impact of the space. The cupola itself echoes the shape of the Moon. The expansiveness of the circular theater gives room for moving perceptions of the film. The dense layers of images, music, and language distributed in space elicit viewers to participate in the perceptual formation of the work.