EARTH: The Pale Blue Dot on Vimeo

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7. EARTH: The Pale Blue Dot

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10 months ago

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1. VOTE

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1 year ago

This piece contains readings from Carl Sagan's "Pale Blue Dot". I have edited his words to tell this short narrative.

The Time lapse images were taken in Mexico and Utah.

The piano is self-composed.

I hope you enjoy this piece, it has given me hope once again.

UPDATE:
I would just like to thank everyone for all of your kind words. I feel humbled by all of your comments and privileged that I can be part of such a creative community.

Credits

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The Funky Monkey 10 months ago

I thoroughly enjoyed it, Thank you!
trondk 10 months ago

I like this one! Nice production, lovely music that complements the reading and the timelapse it self. Now that I have written this I think I will play it again...
Steve Muskie 10 months ago

Excellent! Now I'm going to download it and enjoy it on my big screen! I look forward to more of your videos.
Michael Marantz 10 months ago

thank you very much, i am always working on new stuff, hopefully something will come out soon
Steve Muskie 10 months ago

I enjoyed the video on my 32 inch screen even more, but I did find that dust spots on your camera's sensor were somewhat distracting. I started shooting timelapses with my Canon 5d a few weeks ago and had the same problem. Now I've decided to do most of my timelapses on my Canon g10. Since it has no removeable lens I shouldn't have to worry about dust spots!
Michael Marantz 10 months ago

i know, the dust spots drive me crazy!! although i have the d90 and apparently there is a auto cleaner, i have to check it out... and i got to have my lenses so the no lens option is not an option haha
Alex² 10 months ago

Wow. This is awsome. Love it. How did you do this? Are this all single shots or is this a movie?
Michael Marantz 10 months ago

Each frame is actually an HDR image. I did this by taking a rapid succession of three frames then combining them in a program to make the HDR image. Then I used after effects to make the image sequences into movies and do color correction...so long story short...both, haha
Willie Escaba 10 months ago

Wow, Great job. just wondering how many shots comprised a clip?
Michael Marantz 10 months ago

thank you! it is actually a total of 30 different shots
Willie Escaba 10 months ago

cool. How long did it take you to shot one of the different 30 shots and how many photos comprised a shot? This is really great. How long did it take you to finish one shot. I'd like to try this. Thanks again.
Michael Marantz 10 months ago

well, all of the shots were timed differently depending on the motion i wanted to capture, my shot lengths ranged from anywhere from 30 minutes shooting at 1 shot every 5 seconds to over 14hrs shooting one frame every minute... also, these are all HDR images, if you do not know what that is wiki it.
Willie Escaba 10 months ago

No, thats actually, what I was wondering. Ive done some HDR stuff but never thought of combining them into a timelapse movie. Very cool. Thanks again.
Mark Espina 10 months ago

Beautiful, meaningful and hopeful.

Thanks.
Juneteenth Works 10 months ago

great video!
doctordurden 10 months ago

Bravo!!!!!. 5*****
docrjay 10 months ago

Poignant! Typical Carl Sagan!
José Luis 10 months ago

Excellent job
Mauvis Ledford 10 months ago

Nice work. May I ask what method did you use for your time-lapse?
Michael Marantz 10 months ago

well i have a nikon D90 and i use nikon camera control pro to take my time lapse images. each image is an HDR image, if you do not know what that is check out the article on wikipedia about it. it is a involved process but the final output is worth it
Mauvis Ledford 10 months ago

Sounds awesome. I may try that. Also I found a d90 grip that will do time lapse: amazon.com/Timer-Vertical-Battery-Grip-Nikon/dp/B00192NV0Y/ref=pd_bbs_sr_3?ie=UTF8&s=electronics&qid=1232209097&sr=8-3
Michael Marantz 10 months ago

the only problem with that grip is that it will only do 100 shots at a time, that was a deal breaker for me
Mauvis Ledford 10 months ago

Well crap, I already ordered it. :P
About how many shots would you say you take per scene (not including bracketing)?
landon shipman 10 months ago

240 frames = 10 seconds of video at 24 fps
Chad Richard 10 months ago

well done - meaningful and evocative
Øyvind Viko Rasmussen 10 months ago

How did you go from three pictures to HDR?

I expect that you have some kind of batch process, and didn't manually create a HDR from three and three pictures. As that would take a lot of time.

What application did you use?

Great work in any case, I especially like the star-shots..
Kai Xu 10 months ago

love it
Thomas Edward Smith, Jr 10 months ago

Beautiful work.
Michael Tobia 10 months ago

enlightening and humbling!
youdiejoe 10 months ago

Inspired and inspiring. Truly a joy to watch.
Michael Marantz 10 months ago

thank you very much, kind words are appreciated
Alex 10 months ago

Oh My God, that last part at 2:40 was absolutely breathtaking, I've never seen anything like that before
Alli Gallixsee 10 months ago

wow this is stunning. I was just talking to a friend yesterday about doing hdr on moving images and voila! I find your piece and what an incredible application this is. What did you use to assemble the hdr? And if I may ask, how long did it take you to complete this piece? It makes me sweat just thinking about the laborious nature of this technique =)
Michael Marantz 10 months ago

haha, well, i am glad you found it! i actually used a few programs. photomatix pro was my HDR program and I used after effects to put the image sequences together and to create the motion as well as the color correction.

the shooting of this piece went off and on for 3 weeks and the post production took a long time, i cant actually be sure, a lot of it was just processing time for all the HDR images. if i had to guess, somewhere around 40hrs total for post...but don't quote me!

thanks for your kind words,
mike
sean hanley 10 months ago

beautiful imagery, but I felt it was missing something: humans.
Chris Light 10 months ago

i one believes the earth was here before us and it will be here when we're gone, then i think that's when the lack of humans in this video makes sense. ...we're inhabitors, mere visitors, or something. use your time, and admire the beauty surrounding. i don't know.
sean hanley 10 months ago

I agree with you on that one, but the voice over was about humanity.
Jason Prance 10 months ago

Congratulations on a job well done. Your views are rocking today on this video since the addition to the homepage of Vimeo. And well deserved too. I think my favorite part of the video was the night at the end. The sensation of being on this spinning globe can be felt.
Jonathan Villegas 10 months ago

gorgeous. diligent time lapsing.
Chris Light 10 months ago

very very very cool...
Jacob Ritley 10 months ago

Beautiful.
Francis Tapon 10 months ago

Wise words, although I doubt our ancestors will revere or respect their common origin on this Earth. How many humans alter their behavior to each other knowing that we all come from the same place in Africa?
Nikio 10 months ago

Simply beautiful!
J Meyer 10 months ago

I'm jealous of the locations - very beautiful. Nice blend of the various locations mixed with the Sagan's voiceover and piano for the full effect of visual and audio. Kudos - looking forward to your next project.
Job van der Zwan 10 months ago

That's cheating, Carl Sagan makes anything awesome! ;)

But seriously, I love this.
robertanderson 10 months ago

mm just beautiful, image and sound
rickflick 10 months ago

Very impressive. Carl was the man.
You have done justice to his words. I think he would be pleased.
Fine film.
nick schale 10 months ago

bravo!
Pawel B 10 months ago

amazing!
Daniel Hayek 10 months ago

Awesome :)
Andrew Stride 10 months ago

woweee!
malcolm man 10 months ago

Beautiful and inspiring.

Well done.
D. M. Daly 10 months ago

Thank You! Carl again inspires yet another artist(s). This piece is beautiful in so many, many ways! Again, Thank you for sharing and making my day more meaningful!
Andres Fernandez 10 months ago

OMG the last part at 2:40 was the best part for me
Wolfgang Gaebler 10 months ago

This is absolutely wonderful!
Clive Walker 10 months ago

inspiring, this is what I've been looking for!
vimeo.com/groups/future
-GO- 10 months ago

That is profound and thought provoking.
Excellent job on the music. You have a lot of talent.
Do you release music?
If so, post a link.
Cheers
Michael Marantz 10 months ago

thank you for your kind words, i actually do not release music as of yet, but i am working on an ambient album, i will let you know when i have completed it
-GO- 10 months ago

I look forward to it.
Paul 10 months ago

Bravo
Léo Troadec 10 months ago

Magnifique !
Sean Lewis 10 months ago

Wow...amazing, breathtaking. Carl Sagan is an amazing guy and he had done amazing things for the world astronomy's knowledge. Thanks so much for sharing.

btw... How you take those nightshots so clear. I tried my HDR at night, but it too blurry.
about Movies 10 months ago

This was simply beautiful! Loved, loved, loved! Thank you for doing this and put it here for all of us to see! Thank you!!
Jeff Melanson 10 months ago

diggin it, beautiful peice.
MILapse 10 months ago

nice work! Great to see HDR TL progressing! Keep r up!
Fadi Jawish 10 months ago

Amazing!
Heather St. Clare 10 months ago

I love the palm tree time lapse. Very nice video
Jibran Jawaid 10 months ago

wow!!! what an end... dude hands down impressive... great stuff...
Phoric 10 months ago

Excellent!

Carl Sagan helped to change my life forever with "The Demon Haunted World".
Jon Rawlinson 10 months ago

That was incredible.

Loved the HDR shots.

Lovely piano as well!
mtb-idle 10 months ago

whoa! this is an awesome film with great photography and editing
Ilya Berezin 10 months ago

Realy God composition and Colors
byte4byte 10 months ago

I loved all the parts and the combination thereof. Sagan's thoughts are great; the time-lapsed photography is wonderful, as is your piano composition; and your voice has that professional voice-over quality. The complete package is encouraging, inspirational and is a welcome respite, if momentary, from the troubled reality that surrounds us... globally. Thanks for sharing.
Thomas Malkowicz 10 months ago

What a great video. Carl Sagan is my hero.

Beautiful camera work and piano.
gianni tumino 10 months ago

Superlative work! Bravo!
Per Erik Sviland 10 months ago

Amazing work. I`ve done something similar, but you made a whole package with the narrative and self composed music. Well done.
Erik Wilting 10 months ago

He had always wanted to write music, and he could give no other identity to the thing he sought. If you want to know what it is, he told himself, listen to the first phrases of Tchaikovsky's first Concerto-or the last movement of Rachmaninoff's Second. Men have not found the words nor the thought, but they have found the music. Let me see that in one single act of man on earth. Let me see it made real. Let me see the answer to the promise of that music. Not servants nor the served; not altars and immolations; but the final, the fulfilled, innocent of pain. Don't help me or serve me, but let me see it once, because I need it. Don't work for my happiness, my brothers-show me yours-show me that it is possible- show me your achievement- and the knowledge will give me courage for mine.
-Howard Roark

Thanks...you inspire me
John Mickus 10 months ago

Spectacular... HD makes all the difference in this one :) THANK YOU
J. Kuhn 10 months ago

This footage is absolutely amazing. The time lapse works great and you have captured some truly beautiful images.
ADW 10 months ago

Fantastic!
Jeff Olive 10 months ago

Absolutely beautiful.
Peter Woodbridge 10 months ago

amazing, it makes me feel insignificant, but good

well done
Lifelong Memories Films 10 months ago

This was a marvelous work. It makes you think of the endless possibilities and the potential of man to expand and explore the universe. It address how mankind will progress and move from hatred and wars to understanding the important things in life.
Trail Nerd 10 months ago

Thank you for this. The photography was beautiful and it made me remember how much I miss Carl Sagan's voice and his message.
Michael Wright 10 months ago

Wow, that was amazing. I love Carl's thoughts here. So inspiring. Maybe, just maybe we'll be the first generation to conquer aging and transcend our biology in unimaginable ways.
Mathias Huber 9 months ago

Very good video, great book too!
Paul Davis 9 months ago

Beautiful! The self-composed music was perfect.
Isaac Viel 9 months ago

Great, great movie.
Jesús Olmo 9 months ago

beautiful video (would be terrific if you include the text, my english is not very good...)
Riz 9 months ago

Tremendous work! Very beautiful use of the time-lapse and the music.

I'll have to now get the "Pale Blue Dot" audiobook!
Michael Zhao 9 months ago

Truly amazingly beautiful. I wish I could've made all the time lapse shots.

Also want to share my work, which presents a less optimistic angle. Wish all friends here can check it out asiasociety.org/chinagreen/

Enjoy, Michael
CODYK 9 months ago

WOW. Best time-lapse ever.

This worked way better than just music + pictures. Well done.
Jue 9 months ago

Touching, nice, amazing, must make more
Mark Ragunton 9 months ago

this could be very well one of my most loved videos on vimeo, ha. the narration is amazing, and you definitely hit the spot as for your music composition. it blended into the short narration very much. as for the time-lapse, i think any thing else but the time-lapse, would have done this video bad. amazing.
Michael Marantz 9 months ago

thank you very much for all of your kind words
Mark Ragunton 9 months ago

anytime, this video for the most part deserves it. i'm anxious to see what's coming next, haha.
Michael Marantz 9 months ago

i am actually working on a spec advertisement right now, I hope to have it done in the next week or so, I will let you know as soon as i post it!
Mark Ragunton 9 months ago

man, i'm looking forward to it, seriously. take your time on it, haha. i don't want it to be a let-down.
Matthew Winters 9 months ago

A very nice video. Loved it!
Tim Tucker 9 months ago

I love the way clouds form and vanish. Not the piece I expected so such a pleasant surprise. Cold chills again from Dr. Sagan. Thank you for putting this together.