Search - Earthscapes (Coll) on DVD

Not that great or relaxing

11/15/1999

(2 out of 5 stars)

"After reading the rave reviews of this DVD, I was excited to pop it in and relax with it. The things you need to be aware of are #1 the soundtrack is of the really ultra schmaltzy meandering new age variety. It is not ambient enough to take your mind off of it, but not good enough musically to make you want to listen intently, so therefore it is in a BAD middle ground. I prefer a popping a cd in along with it. #2 The first couple of scenes are shot in TIME LAPSE. For those of you who are familiar with time lapse filming, while it looks somewhat cool, the pace is accelerated and frenetic, if anything. Billing this disc as a "chill out" DVD sure seems off here as well, given that clouds are literally RUSHING by as though you are in a jet airplane. The camera also pans wildly back and forth, so you do not even have the opportunity to pause and reflect on the imagery for a moment. Far from relaxing. Later in the disk is a water "ballet" which is poorly orchestrated with video edits, and if anything, cheesy and trite. Finally, SOME of the footage is of superb quality, but a good deal of it is also edited footage that appears to have originated on 16mm, video, or WORSE. Simply spliced in with the more quality footage combined with the quality of the DVD image, it really stands out. Overall, I give the disc a 2, because I feel that it has some merits, but do be aware of what you are buying, because, I for one was disappointed."

Pretty Pictures- Pretty Horrible Music

kamus | United States | 04/16/2002

(2 out of 5 stars)

"This project feels like an attempt at a "Baraka" knockoff. Unfortunately it's a rather feeble attempt. Although a lot of the images are undeniably beautiful, they are frequently marred by poor editing: camera bumps, abrupt fade outs, digital noise in places and overuse of filter type effects which lend many scenes an odd artificiality ala "What Dreams May Come". Also as another reviewer points out, the snappy pace of the constantly scudding clouds is more like an MTV music video than a meditation on Nature's serene beauty. What really mars the whole experience is the incredibly insipid music by Suzanne Cianni and Patrick O'Hearn. I'm afraid it's New Age music at its worst (I don't hate all New Age stuf,f BTW) with banal melodies, shopworn chord progressions and unrelentingly cheesy synthesized textures guaranteed to kill off brain cells as you listen.
Not recommended except in cases of recent brain surgery."

Beautiful background video

James Hawk | Chevy Chase, MD USA | 03/06/2001

(5 out of 5 stars)

"This was done by David Fortney, a master of time-lapse photography and is a technical tour de force. The music fits-in very well, but I often will just let it play as a moving artwork. Someone else claimed the video quality was bad, but I suspect a faulty player - it looks great on mine ! If you like video as artwork, check out "Canyon Dreams" and "True North", both on the Miramar label."

Awesomely beautiful

Tenacious | UK | 11/25/2000

(5 out of 5 stars)

"This award winning film is full of beautifully shot time lapse photography of incredible scenery. It has a pleasant instrumental soudtrack with no narration.It is extremly relaxing to watch, and is an absolute bargain at the price. Definately recommended for all nature lovers."