Some recommended additional reading about this film. It's an interview with the filmmaker. http://www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2012/01/on-space-love-and-carl-sagans-cosmic-mix-tape/468642/
Dustin Bennett: At the 3 minute mark of "The Voyagers", I thought it was a scattered set of stories with a loose space theme, but it quickly became much more than that. "Voyagers" is really a look at the improbability of love through three lenses: the sudden and unlikely love between Carl Sagan and Ann Druyan, the hopeful last-ditch love of the planet Earth hoping to find contact with another species somewhere in the endless galaxy, and the love between the narrator and an unknown "you", a lawyer who always seemed too practical for marriage but proposed anyway.
It's a really touching film with excellent narration and a great style. Only using archival footage, usually grainy and light, really makes the film feel nostalgic, even wistful in a way, which compounds with the narrator's constant use of past tense and the even but emotionally-tinged voice she speaks in. When the film ended, I was left inspired and touched, wondering about each of those relationships: what it was like to live Sagan's, how the narrator and her spouse are doing now, and whether or not the Voyager will ever reach a destination and do what it was sent to do.
"The Voyagers" to me was a very confusing film. Throughout the film, I wasn't really able to make the connections of the plot until the very end. I still can't figure out why the space shuttle explosion was in there though. Despite all that, overall, I thought "The Voyagers" was a very well done film. Most of the space footage was relevant (except for the random inclusion of the shuttle explosion) and the human footage made the film much more personal and comforting. I don't know if it's just me being a romanticist, but I cried at the end. The music tracks, in particular the last vocal track was very appropriate and made the film more welcoming. Since the film was entirely made out of stock footage, the lighting and camera work are semi out of the question, since the crew could have only chosen the best shots out of the given ones. They did end up picking well framed and lit shots though. Other than that, I thought it was a fantastic movie about space? Romance? Romance in space? I'm still not sure what this movie is about.
Alex Cherry: “The Voyagers” is a beautiful film about love, space, and Carl Sagan. At first, the film appears to be about little more than the random ramblings of the narrator, but it is much more than that. The film touches on love between people as well as as a semblance of love between the planet earth and the unknown space beyond. The images and sounds throughout help string the film together and give it an effervescent, wistful vibe. The archival footage is utilized expertly throughout the film. In the beginning, the countdown for the takeoff of the rocket provides a suspenseful moment before leading into the true direction of the film. The archival footage throughout gives us only a snapshot of the planet earth, which is why it is so varied and ambiguous. The film acknowledges that there is no possible way to view the earth in such a short amount of time, but the variety of images, sounds, and voices, attempts to give an unbiased glimpse into our world. In the middle of the film, it began to feel a bit static, as if it lacked direction and structure. But upon entering the last five minutes, the narrator really starts to pull together all the loose ends and tie everything together in an understandable, beautiful story.
Phillip Spain: "The Voyagers" does an incredible job of using archival footage to tell a deep, intrinsic story that parallels love with humanity's deep desire to explore space. The film uses various aspects of the space program and important events in its development that correlate with love, including the Voyager probes themselves as a metaphor for the long-lasting, eternal nature of love, while alternatively using the explosion of the Challenger Space Shuttle to signify what can go wrong with love, while simultaneously showing that, both with love and the space program, you have to keep trying, even after disaster strikes. Overall, this was a very touching film that utilized archival footage and narration in extraordinary way to tell a love story of an epic proportion despite using seemingly simple techniques.
Cameron Panhans: "The Voyagers" is a very touching and unique work put together by Penny Lane. The film draws connections between the Voyager spacecrafts and the abstract concept of love. The voice over and narration used over the entire piece is what really sold the message and theme of the film. The archival footage that was used throughout the film was interesting, but what really keeps viewers invested in this work is the haunting beauty of the narration that is at times addressed to a very mysterious "you" figure. The film presents a good amount of straight up informational material about the voyager spacecrafts and the gold records on the bottom, yet at the same time tells a mystifying love story that pulls on the heart strings of the viewer. With the archival footage that was used the only way for Lane's work to be so captivating and emotional was through the narration. Sound can make or break a film and in this one, the narration that guides viewers through the film definitely makes this touching story extraordinary.
Jack Beuckman: "The Voyager" by Penny Lane is a short film that is about love. Lane talks about her love story and the love story of Carl Sagan and Annie Druyan. The film is made up of archival footage with Lane narrating. All the footage was obtained from tapes from eBay. At the beginning I first thought that the film was going to be about Voyager 1 and 2, but that was only to introduce the topic of how of Carl and Annie. The viewer learn the story of Carl and Annie from Lane. She using their story to feed into hers. All the footage came together really well. Nothing seemed out of place and each part of the film flowed into to the next one smoothly. Background sounds and music was perfect. It helped convey the emotions and real in the viewers attention. I really like how she used the Voyager and Carl and Annie love to connect it to her life and tie it in to her story. You can tell that there was a lot of planning done for the video. It all flows nicely together there is no point where it feels choppy. I really enjoyed the video. It was well made and the theme was very beautiful.
Zach Andry: The Voyager by Penny Lane is a short love story made for her husband. She relates her love story to the ones of the scientist and creators of the gold record made for the voyager space crafts. The premise is that they found love in the infinite expanse of space in the infinite size of time. That there love was a product of incredibly good luck and they should be grateful.
On the production size I felt the choice of video was good with the two possibilities of love one going further than anyone expected( The voyager) and one Exploding on take off (The challenger). I felt the voice over was good a little soft and some what monotone made me sleepy ,but made sense for the topic.
Overall I would say it was well made and interesting enough.
Alex Smith: The Voyager, a film made by Penny Lane, is a love story that parallels another with Carl Sagan and Annie Druyan. The film consists of old, vintage footage from back in the day of the Challenger explosion, images from back in the day, and the explanation of the Golden Record being sent by the two voyagers. The film, in both visuals and audio, is mixed together very well. We are given this feel like the footage we are looking at is a window to back in the days of the Voyagers exploration shuttles. This film's unique style by using old, archival footage makes it stand out among the others that we have seen this semester.
Mario Cirinese: Penny Lane did the impossible by connecting the parallel of love and space. “The Voyagers” is a short film that uses archival footage to portray a time period of exploration. Lane connects the Voyagers mission to finding life in the universe to the love story of Carl Sagan and Ann Druyan. The golden record sent into space for alien contact represents all of the peace on earth showing no violence or disease only embodying exceptional culture. Narration in the film plays an exemplary role guiding the story and audience on a journey similar to the Voyager’s never ending mission. Overall I thought the film was compelling and an enjoyable watch that wrapped up almost flawlessly to give the viewer a more complete feeling.
Maddie Kennedy: I found "The Voyager", by Penny Lane, to be a deeply beautiful and enjoyable film. Although it consisted solely of narration and archival footage, it was very emotionally compelling to me. Perhaps I'm just a romantic. I think the idea of space and the human place in the universe is a always thematically compelling idea, as well as the mystery of love, and to pair them together could easily have been trite or corny. However, I feel that Lane did a subtle yet powerful job when editing. It's clear to me, especially after reading the interview, that the film came from a very real and personal place, and I think that shows in the film. I particularly loved the track at the end, accompanying the space footage.
The "Voyager" by Penny Lane was an interesting video to watch. The use of archived footage created the perfect plot for the film. I personally have always enjoyed watching movies about space and rockets. The video wraps up full circle with a love story being added to it. The audio on some clips was a little choppy but the video and its narration made up for it. I think the film as a whole was superior and think that the voyager as a space mission was one of the best launches in U.S. history.
McKenzie Miller: Penny Lane’s “The Voyagers” does an incredible job showing the story of what it was like for the people of the United States to watch NASA send two space crafts into the unknown and the progression of NASA afterwards by composing an archival documentary. As a viewer, it is so cool to see the footage from 1977 and know that these two crafts are still out in space. The film is a combination of a documentary full of facts about space, yet a narrative about love. Lane incorporates a sweet love story into the documentary that has to do with the gold plated record attached to the space crafts. I think it was very fitting that they kept the film silent when it was showing the footage of the Challenger exploding in 1986. After the Challenger exploded, the narrator was talking about the downsides of love and the possible heartbreak that comes with it. Lane did a wonderful job combining two seemingly unrelated topics into a unique archival documentary.
Savannah Stanley: "The Voyagers" by Penny Lane was an interesting mix of narrative and archival footage. It is neither purely a documentary nor fully a storytelling film. The mixture of visuals- almost entirely those relating to Space and its exploration along with sequences of carnivals and Coney Island scenes- created a sense of literal other-worldliness while still imbuing the sense of romance and wonder that the narrator described. The use of sound, from that of the narrator as would be found in historical documentaries, combined with sound form the footage itself as well as music was extremely effective in setting the tone of the film while also giving meaning to the narrative being created. This tone was not merely sweet. It also had very obvious overtones of sadness, the sequence of the Challenger exploding and the reactions of its viewers being one example. As a result, the viewer is left with an ambiguous sense of the relationship between the narrator and her subject. Clearly there was happiness there, as shown through the successes of space travel and the incredible marvels of the universe, but the mention of Carl Sagan's relationships coupled with the narration about the futility of marriage give the mood a strange, doomed, yet unknowable tint. Overall, the lack of multiple characters and acting shots coupled with the real historical footage was incredibly effective in portraying this narrative in the way that Lane was aiming to do, and leaves the viewer thinking long after the film is over.
I had to watch this film more than once to actually understand the whole of it. In the end I thought it used archival footage in such a great way. The narration for the film is really amazing. It links space, love, and Carl Sagan in such an amazing way. At first you think the whole film is going to be about the space program but then it delves into a love story for the ages. I liked that Penny Lane used some audio from the original clips and I definitely think it added to the over all feel of the film. I liked this film a lot more compared to the others we have watched.
John Oldani: "The Voyagers" is a very interesting and informing movie about the NASA space crafts. The story drops the viewer into the setting and story very quickly, when it begins with the lift off of the space craft. It then drops the date of which it happened, which brings the viewer into this reality. I really enjoyed the ending sequence of the space craft taking off. The drawn out slow motion scene is a beautiful piece that shows the space craft having an epic journey as it leaves the Earth. The film begins as though its almost informative, in the way that it tells about the gold record and the voyagers. I feel like this was a strange way to tell the information, but the viewer needed to know one way or another. This film is very beautiful in the way that the old footage is presented to us. Varying shots with interesting content made for a nice romantic story.
"The Voyagers" by Penny Lane was very interesting. The whole video was filled with Archived footage like we watched in class in the film with OJ Simpson. You can tell it is supposed to be a romantic piece with the feminine voice. It makes it more subtle.
Who would've thought that Carl Sagan could play a major role in a love story? The Voyagers was an absolutely splendid piece about a couple's journey into marriage-something that is apparently endless, and seemingly deadly, much like the expanse of space. The use of archival footage from the Voyager missions was fantastic and intriguing, keeping the audience questioning the true purpose of the film for the majority of the duration, until more and more clues are revealed in the monologue to let us know the underlying story. All sixteen minutes of this film were extremely poetic. The narrator's soft tone, delivering an endearing prosaic monologue about love, space, exploration, life, and taking on the unknown, creates a dreamlike sensation in juxtaposition to the raw archival footage of shuttle launches and even explosions. The inclusion of Carl Sagan in the story is actually quite fascinating, because he had such a profound impact on a lot of young people and aspiring scientists years ago (on a show in which Neil Degrasse Tyson has since resumed), exploring the potential and majesty of the universe. That element brings a truly daring perspective on love and marriage, relating it to the beautiful, yet terrifying unknown that is the cosmos. It seems as though the filmmaker found a way to mix in some more modernized found footage into the piece, which give the audience something visual to relate everything else to. It was a interesting decision to keep the audience somewhat in the dark about the message of the film until the end, but it made for a much more impactful conclusion, in my opinion. All in all, excellent love story.
Ryanne Whyte: The Voyagers at its heart is a love story. I think it's one of the only films I've seen that is not a documentary that relies almost entirely on archival footage. I'm not sure what is fact and what is fiction in this this film. It's mixture of history and storytelling come together to make a pretty confusing narrative. It's an enjoyable narrative to watch though. Somehow it all comes full circle and manages to feel complete and content by the end.
The Voyagers started off slow. The archival footage was a great touch though. Initially I was confused about the correlation of the two stories but as the video goes on the story unfolds fairly well. The shift from the spaceship,being in the moment and the memory of the day the shuttle exploded was all done with archival footage and it appealed to the emotions seeing how everyone was reacting to the news of the shuttle. The story then transitions into this love tail that I knew from reading the article in the link before watching the film that it would. Although throughout the beginning of the film I wasn't sure how it would be connected. Overall the the film connected the stories well and continued to developed the story throughout.
Taylor Hendrix: Penny Lane’s “The Voyager” makes a story line out of all archival footage, that to me, was a bit confusing. She tried to compare love to The Voyager the rocket, and I do not think it turned out so good. I understand the parallelism that she tries to use, but it just did not come across well. The Voyager is a tragedy. Those astronauts have made a huge accomplishment by exploring space; however, they have given their lives to do so. On the film side of things, the archived footage of the rocket ship taking off really made the piece come to life. Being able to hear NASA talking to the Voyager was also cool because you could hear the static which adds to the credibility of this short film. Overall, I think the footage was picked out perfectly for this piece, but I was not a big fan of the plot.
Taylor Hendrix: Penny Lane’s “The Voyager” makes a story line out of all archival footage, that to me, was a bit confusing. She tried to compare love to The Voyager the rocket, and I do not think it turned out so good. I understand the parallelism that she tries to use, but it just did not come across well. The Voyager is a tragedy. Those astronauts have made a huge accomplishment by exploring space; however, they have given their lives to do so. On the film side of things, the archived footage of the rocket ship taking off really made the piece come to life. Being able to hear NASA talking to the Voyager was also cool because you could hear the static which adds to the credibility of this short film. Overall, I think the footage was picked out perfectly for this piece, but I was not a big fan of the plot.
Ben Wallace: The films use of archival footage allows us to adopt a point of view from primary sources. I believe Carl Sagan does a phenomenal job and the narration is quite captivating as well. A love story is also incorporated giving the film a more human feel. One of my favorite touches was the lack of audio during the challenger explosion. This kind of allows the viewer to interpret their own feeling of it rather than rely on audio to guide the way they feel.
Katy Hale: The film, "The Voyagers" is a short 16 minute film that uses archival footage. Instead of filming it themselves, they used other videos that have already been filmed and recorded and made it into a story of their own. It helps us as viewers to adapt the footage and create it into something it has never been before. I enjoyed the narration voice over because it gave me exact contex and explanation of the film. The archival footage was also pretty clear to me. Sometimes archival footage can get confusing because it is reused and edited into something else, but "The Voyagers" gave me an exact explanation of what was going on. The footage was very meaningful and it came back to life, I'm sure just how Penny Lane wanted it to be. I was impressed with the piece and the actual footage,because it completely came to life for me.
Jesse Tollison: The Voyagers by Penny Lane presents a hopeful look at humanity and our place in the cosmos by showcasing the story and events surrounding the Voyager missions; however, the film seems to have utterly missed its mark. The narration, however flamboyantly worded, amounts to little that makes sense. The events are only loosely tied together in a half-causal chain. For example, when she says the gold records were actually the product of a love story, she never actually goes on to tell us the love story that resulted in the golden records, only a love story featuring the same man as had the idea. If media is supposed to entertain, persuade, and inform, the artists behind this one dropped the informative side in favor of the artistic quality of the entertainment.
Victoria Walker: “The Voyagers” by Penny Lane is an interesting archival documentary that connects the two themes love and space. It includes archival footage as well as records from the time surrounding the voyagers. The still images and footage along with the narrative successfully depicts how United States citizens experience the voyagers. For example at the 0:09 mark I thought it was unique how Lane used all these cool and uncommon images to express what was going on during that time period. Moreover, I really enjoyed how he constructed the footage alongside the narration to tell a compelled love about Carl Sagan. Lane also does a good job of use various angles like medium close up shots to tell about Carl Sagan idea and the gold plates. As mentioned before the sound really tied the documentary together in between the narrator talking. It ultimately left the amazed at how little narration was need to tell this story.
Hannah Bynum: "The Voyagers" by Penny Lane is a fascinating documentary made completely of archival footage. It tells the story of the Voyager launch while at the same time incorporating a love story between Carl Sagan and Ann Druyan. The way the filmmaker put this piece together is incredible. The two storylines flow together in a way that just makes sense by comparing "the vastness of space and immensity of time" to the concept of taking a chance and falling in love. Overall, this is a beautifully done creative piece that really puts life in perspective when you realize just how small you are in comparison to the universe, so why play it safe when you can take risks that have the possibility of having a life changing outcome.
Dustin Bennett: At the 3 minute mark of "The Voyagers", I thought it was a scattered set of stories with a loose space theme, but it quickly became much more than that. "Voyagers" is really a look at the improbability of love through three lenses: the sudden and unlikely love between Carl Sagan and Ann Druyan, the hopeful last-ditch love of the planet Earth hoping to find contact with another species somewhere in the endless galaxy, and the love between the narrator and an unknown "you", a lawyer who always seemed too practical for marriage but proposed anyway.
ReplyDeleteIt's a really touching film with excellent narration and a great style. Only using archival footage, usually grainy and light, really makes the film feel nostalgic, even wistful in a way, which compounds with the narrator's constant use of past tense and the even but emotionally-tinged voice she speaks in. When the film ended, I was left inspired and touched, wondering about each of those relationships: what it was like to live Sagan's, how the narrator and her spouse are doing now, and whether or not the Voyager will ever reach a destination and do what it was sent to do.
"The Voyagers" to me was a very confusing film. Throughout the film, I wasn't really able to make the connections of the plot until the very end. I still can't figure out why the space shuttle explosion was in there though.
ReplyDeleteDespite all that, overall, I thought "The Voyagers" was a very well done film. Most of the space footage was relevant (except for the random inclusion of the shuttle explosion) and the human footage made the film much more personal and comforting. I don't know if it's just me being a romanticist, but I cried at the end.
The music tracks, in particular the last vocal track was very appropriate and made the film more welcoming. Since the film was entirely made out of stock footage, the lighting and camera work are semi out of the question, since the crew could have only chosen the best shots out of the given ones. They did end up picking well framed and lit shots though.
Other than that, I thought it was a fantastic movie about space? Romance? Romance in space? I'm still not sure what this movie is about.
Alex Cherry: “The Voyagers” is a beautiful film about love, space, and Carl Sagan. At first, the film appears to be about little more than the random ramblings of the narrator, but it is much more than that. The film touches on love between people as well as as a semblance of love between the planet earth and the unknown space beyond. The images and sounds throughout help string the film together and give it an effervescent, wistful vibe. The archival footage is utilized expertly throughout the film. In the beginning, the countdown for the takeoff of the rocket provides a suspenseful moment before leading into the true direction of the film. The archival footage throughout gives us only a snapshot of the planet earth, which is why it is so varied and ambiguous. The film acknowledges that there is no possible way to view the earth in such a short amount of time, but the variety of images, sounds, and voices, attempts to give an unbiased glimpse into our world. In the middle of the film, it began to feel a bit static, as if it lacked direction and structure. But upon entering the last five minutes, the narrator really starts to pull together all the loose ends and tie everything together in an understandable, beautiful story.
ReplyDeletePhillip Spain: "The Voyagers" does an incredible job of using archival footage to tell a deep, intrinsic story that parallels love with humanity's deep desire to explore space. The film uses various aspects of the space program and important events in its development that correlate with love, including the Voyager probes themselves as a metaphor for the long-lasting, eternal nature of love, while alternatively using the explosion of the Challenger Space Shuttle to signify what can go wrong with love, while simultaneously showing that, both with love and the space program, you have to keep trying, even after disaster strikes. Overall, this was a very touching film that utilized archival footage and narration in extraordinary way to tell a love story of an epic proportion despite using seemingly simple techniques.
ReplyDeleteCameron Panhans: "The Voyagers" is a very touching and unique work put together by Penny Lane. The film draws connections between the Voyager spacecrafts and the abstract concept of love. The voice over and narration used over the entire piece is what really sold the message and theme of the film. The archival footage that was used throughout the film was interesting, but what really keeps viewers invested in this work is the haunting beauty of the narration that is at times addressed to a very mysterious "you" figure. The film presents a good amount of straight up informational material about the voyager spacecrafts and the gold records on the bottom, yet at the same time tells a mystifying love story that pulls on the heart strings of the viewer. With the archival footage that was used the only way for Lane's work to be so captivating and emotional was through the narration. Sound can make or break a film and in this one, the narration that guides viewers through the film definitely makes this touching story extraordinary.
ReplyDeleteJack Beuckman: "The Voyager" by Penny Lane is a short film that is about love. Lane talks about her love story and the love story of Carl Sagan and Annie Druyan. The film is made up of archival footage with Lane narrating. All the footage was obtained from tapes from eBay. At the beginning I first thought that the film was going to be about Voyager 1 and 2, but that was only to introduce the topic of how of Carl and Annie. The viewer learn the story of Carl and Annie from Lane. She using their story to feed into hers. All the footage came together really well. Nothing seemed out of place and each part of the film flowed into to the next one smoothly. Background sounds and music was perfect. It helped convey the emotions and real in the viewers attention. I really like how she used the Voyager and Carl and Annie love to connect it to her life and tie it in to her story. You can tell that there was a lot of planning done for the video. It all flows nicely together there is no point where it feels choppy. I really enjoyed the video. It was well made and the theme was very beautiful.
ReplyDeleteZach Andry: The Voyager by Penny Lane is a short love story made for her husband. She relates her love story to the ones of the scientist and creators of the gold record made for the voyager space crafts. The premise is that they found love in the infinite expanse of space in the infinite size of time. That there love was a product of incredibly good luck and they should be grateful.
ReplyDeleteOn the production size I felt the choice of video was good with the two possibilities of love one going further than anyone expected( The voyager) and one Exploding on take off (The challenger). I felt the voice over was good a little soft and some what monotone made me sleepy ,but made sense for the topic.
Overall I would say it was well made and interesting enough.
Alex Smith: The Voyager, a film made by Penny Lane, is a love story that parallels another with Carl Sagan and Annie Druyan. The film consists of old, vintage footage from back in the day of the Challenger explosion, images from back in the day, and the explanation of the Golden Record being sent by the two voyagers. The film, in both visuals and audio, is mixed together very well. We are given this feel like the footage we are looking at is a window to back in the days of the Voyagers exploration shuttles. This film's unique style by using old, archival footage makes it stand out among the others that we have seen this semester.
ReplyDeleteMario Cirinese: Penny Lane did the impossible by connecting the parallel of love and space. “The Voyagers” is a short film that uses archival footage to portray a time period of exploration. Lane connects the Voyagers mission to finding life in the universe to the love story of Carl Sagan and Ann Druyan. The golden record sent into space for alien contact represents all of the peace on earth showing no violence or disease only embodying exceptional culture. Narration in the film plays an exemplary role guiding the story and audience on a journey similar to the Voyager’s never ending mission. Overall I thought the film was compelling and an enjoyable watch that wrapped up almost flawlessly to give the viewer a more complete feeling.
ReplyDeleteMaddie Kennedy: I found "The Voyager", by Penny Lane, to be a deeply beautiful and enjoyable film. Although it consisted solely of narration and archival footage, it was very emotionally compelling to me. Perhaps I'm just a romantic. I think the idea of space and the human place in the universe is a always thematically compelling idea, as well as the mystery of love, and to pair them together could easily have been trite or corny. However, I feel that Lane did a subtle yet powerful job when editing. It's clear to me, especially after reading the interview, that the film came from a very real and personal place, and I think that shows in the film. I particularly loved the track at the end, accompanying the space footage.
ReplyDeleteThe "Voyager" by Penny Lane was an interesting video to watch. The use of archived footage created the perfect plot for the film. I personally have always enjoyed watching movies about space and rockets. The video wraps up full circle with a love story being added to it. The audio on some clips was a little choppy but the video and its narration made up for it. I think the film as a whole was superior and think that the voyager as a space mission was one of the best launches in U.S. history.
ReplyDeleteMcKenzie Miller: Penny Lane’s “The Voyagers” does an incredible job showing the story of what it was like for the people of the United States to watch NASA send two space crafts into the unknown and the progression of NASA afterwards by composing an archival documentary. As a viewer, it is so cool to see the footage from 1977 and know that these two crafts are still out in space. The film is a combination of a documentary full of facts about space, yet a narrative about love. Lane incorporates a sweet love story into the documentary that has to do with the gold plated record attached to the space crafts. I think it was very fitting that they kept the film silent when it was showing the footage of the Challenger exploding in 1986. After the Challenger exploded, the narrator was talking about the downsides of love and the possible heartbreak that comes with it. Lane did a wonderful job combining two seemingly unrelated topics into a unique archival documentary.
ReplyDeleteSavannah Stanley: "The Voyagers" by Penny Lane was an interesting mix of narrative and archival footage. It is neither purely a documentary nor fully a storytelling film. The mixture of visuals- almost entirely those relating to Space and its exploration along with sequences of carnivals and Coney Island scenes- created a sense of literal other-worldliness while still imbuing the sense of romance and wonder that the narrator described. The use of sound, from that of the narrator as would be found in historical documentaries, combined with sound form the footage itself as well as music was extremely effective in setting the tone of the film while also giving meaning to the narrative being created.
ReplyDeleteThis tone was not merely sweet. It also had very obvious overtones of sadness, the sequence of the Challenger exploding and the reactions of its viewers being one example. As a result, the viewer is left with an ambiguous sense of the relationship between the narrator and her subject. Clearly there was happiness there, as shown through the successes of space travel and the incredible marvels of the universe, but the mention of Carl Sagan's relationships coupled with the narration about the futility of marriage give the mood a strange, doomed, yet unknowable tint.
Overall, the lack of multiple characters and acting shots coupled with the real historical footage was incredibly effective in portraying this narrative in the way that Lane was aiming to do, and leaves the viewer thinking long after the film is over.
I had to watch this film more than once to actually understand the whole of it. In the end I thought it used archival footage in such a great way. The narration for the film is really amazing. It links space, love, and Carl Sagan in such an amazing way. At first you think the whole film is going to be about the space program but then it delves into a love story for the ages. I liked that Penny Lane used some audio from the original clips and I definitely think it added to the over all feel of the film. I liked this film a lot more compared to the others we have watched.
ReplyDeleteJohn Oldani: "The Voyagers" is a very interesting and informing movie about the NASA space crafts. The story drops the viewer into the setting and story very quickly, when it begins with the lift off of the space craft. It then drops the date of which it happened, which brings the viewer into this reality. I really enjoyed the ending sequence of the space craft taking off. The drawn out slow motion scene is a beautiful piece that shows the space craft having an epic journey as it leaves the Earth. The film begins as though its almost informative, in the way that it tells about the gold record and the voyagers. I feel like this was a strange way to tell the information, but the viewer needed to know one way or another. This film is very beautiful in the way that the old footage is presented to us. Varying shots with interesting content made for a nice romantic story.
ReplyDelete"The Voyagers" by Penny Lane was very interesting. The whole video was filled with Archived footage like we watched in class in the film with OJ Simpson. You can tell it is supposed to be a romantic piece with the feminine voice. It makes it more subtle.
ReplyDeleteWho would've thought that Carl Sagan could play a major role in a love story? The Voyagers was an absolutely splendid piece about a couple's journey into marriage-something that is apparently endless, and seemingly deadly, much like the expanse of space. The use of archival footage from the Voyager missions was fantastic and intriguing, keeping the audience questioning the true purpose of the film for the majority of the duration, until more and more clues are revealed in the monologue to let us know the underlying story. All sixteen minutes of this film were extremely poetic. The narrator's soft tone, delivering an endearing prosaic monologue about love, space, exploration, life, and taking on the unknown, creates a dreamlike sensation in juxtaposition to the raw archival footage of shuttle launches and even explosions. The inclusion of Carl Sagan in the story is actually quite fascinating, because he had such a profound impact on a lot of young people and aspiring scientists years ago (on a show in which Neil Degrasse Tyson has since resumed), exploring the potential and majesty of the universe. That element brings a truly daring perspective on love and marriage, relating it to the beautiful, yet terrifying unknown that is the cosmos. It seems as though the filmmaker found a way to mix in some more modernized found footage into the piece, which give the audience something visual to relate everything else to. It was a interesting decision to keep the audience somewhat in the dark about the message of the film until the end, but it made for a much more impactful conclusion, in my opinion. All in all, excellent love story.
ReplyDeleteRyanne Whyte: The Voyagers at its heart is a love story. I think it's one of the only films I've seen that is not a documentary that relies almost entirely on archival footage. I'm not sure what is fact and what is fiction in this this film. It's mixture of history and storytelling come together to make a pretty confusing narrative. It's an enjoyable narrative to watch though. Somehow it all comes full circle and manages to feel complete and content by the end.
ReplyDeleteThe Voyagers started off slow. The archival footage was a great touch though. Initially I was confused about the correlation of the two stories but as the video goes on the story unfolds fairly well. The shift from the spaceship,being in the moment and the memory of the day the shuttle exploded was all done with archival footage and it appealed to the emotions seeing how everyone was reacting to the news of the shuttle. The story then transitions into this love tail that I knew from reading the article in the link before watching the film that it would. Although throughout the beginning of the film I wasn't sure how it would be connected.
ReplyDeleteOverall the the film connected the stories well and continued to developed the story throughout.
Taylor Hendrix: Penny Lane’s “The Voyager” makes a story line out of all archival footage, that to me, was a bit confusing. She tried to compare love to The Voyager the rocket, and I do not think it turned out so good. I understand the parallelism that she tries to use, but it just did not come across well. The Voyager is a tragedy. Those astronauts have made a huge accomplishment by exploring space; however, they have given their lives to do so. On the film side of things, the archived footage of the rocket ship taking off really made the piece come to life. Being able to hear NASA talking to the Voyager was also cool because you could hear the static which adds to the credibility of this short film. Overall, I think the footage was picked out perfectly for this piece, but I was not a big fan of the plot.
ReplyDeleteTaylor Hendrix: Penny Lane’s “The Voyager” makes a story line out of all archival footage, that to me, was a bit confusing. She tried to compare love to The Voyager the rocket, and I do not think it turned out so good. I understand the parallelism that she tries to use, but it just did not come across well. The Voyager is a tragedy. Those astronauts have made a huge accomplishment by exploring space; however, they have given their lives to do so. On the film side of things, the archived footage of the rocket ship taking off really made the piece come to life. Being able to hear NASA talking to the Voyager was also cool because you could hear the static which adds to the credibility of this short film. Overall, I think the footage was picked out perfectly for this piece, but I was not a big fan of the plot.
ReplyDeleteBen Wallace: The films use of archival footage allows us to adopt a point of view from primary sources. I believe Carl Sagan does a phenomenal job and the narration is quite captivating as well. A love story is also incorporated giving the film a more human feel. One of my favorite touches was the lack of audio during the challenger explosion. This kind of allows the viewer to interpret their own feeling of it rather than rely on audio to guide the way they feel.
ReplyDeleteKaty Hale: The film, "The Voyagers" is a short 16 minute film that uses archival footage. Instead of filming it themselves, they used other videos that have already been filmed and recorded and made it into a story of their own. It helps us as viewers to adapt the footage and create it into something it has never been before. I enjoyed the narration voice over because it gave me exact contex and explanation of the film. The archival footage was also pretty clear to me. Sometimes archival footage can get confusing because it is reused and edited into something else, but "The Voyagers" gave me an exact explanation of what was going on. The footage was very meaningful and it came back to life, I'm sure just how Penny Lane wanted it to be. I was impressed with the piece and the actual footage,because it completely came to life for me.
ReplyDeleteJesse Tollison: The Voyagers by Penny Lane presents a hopeful look at humanity and our place in the cosmos by showcasing the story and events surrounding the Voyager missions; however, the film seems to have utterly missed its mark. The narration, however flamboyantly worded, amounts to little that makes sense. The events are only loosely tied together in a half-causal chain. For example, when she says the gold records were actually the product of a love story, she never actually goes on to tell us the love story that resulted in the golden records, only a love story featuring the same man as had the idea. If media is supposed to entertain, persuade, and inform, the artists behind this one dropped the informative side in favor of the artistic quality of the entertainment.
ReplyDeleteVictoria Walker: “The Voyagers” by Penny Lane is an interesting archival documentary that connects the two themes love and space. It includes archival footage as well as records from the time surrounding the voyagers. The still images and footage along with the narrative successfully depicts how United States citizens experience the voyagers. For example at the 0:09 mark I thought it was unique how Lane used all these cool and uncommon images to express what was going on during that time period. Moreover, I really enjoyed how he constructed the footage alongside the narration to tell a compelled love about Carl Sagan. Lane also does a good job of use various angles like medium close up shots to tell about Carl Sagan idea and the gold plates. As mentioned before the sound really tied the documentary together in between the narrator talking. It ultimately left the amazed at how little narration was need to tell this story.
ReplyDeleteHannah Bynum: "The Voyagers" by Penny Lane is a fascinating documentary made completely of archival footage. It tells the story of the Voyager launch while at the same time incorporating a love story between Carl Sagan and Ann Druyan. The way the filmmaker put this piece together is incredible. The two storylines flow together in a way that just makes sense by comparing "the vastness of space and immensity of time" to the concept of taking a chance and falling in love. Overall, this is a beautifully done creative piece that really puts life in perspective when you realize just how small you are in comparison to the universe, so why play it safe when you can take risks that have the possibility of having a life changing outcome.
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