Listen up!

I'd like to examine two pieces from the program, Break in the Chain of Light, and they are "Brilliant Noise" and "Observando el Cielo" Both share the same quality, that Aaron Ximm describes as atmosphere, in that they both have a celestial/sci-fi vibe that examines outer space and all its mysterious treasures. They both incorporate the use of radio recordings, white noise and instruments like the guitar/piano to convey an atmosphere of chaotic frenzy and majestic splendor at the same time. Both also translate the physical/non-physical manifestations of their subjects into audio representations. Ximm called this "the way things sound like objects, people, animals, plants, places, spaces and events of the world ". In "Brilliant Noise" the intensity of the sun's brightness, energetic particles and solar wind are directly translated into audio representation and manipulation; we are essentially hearing what the sun looks like. And in "Observando el Cielo" natural VLF radio recordings of the magnetosphere allow the universe above to have its own voice and essence. However, even though these two pieces share these qualities, I felt that they had one major difference between them and that is the use of silence.

Kubrick took a lot of guff for "2001: A Space Odyssey," and his use of silence in the majority of the exterior space scenes (The Simpson's parody is a funny example). But it was an effective technique and not only because of its realistic portrayal of space. It gave it that isolated feeling that one must surely experience in space and shares that quality of majestic awe that works when there is sound. The absence of sound is a direct manifestation of the unknown abyss that is outer space. In "Brilliant Noise," I wonder what the film would have been like if we were given moments of silence while watching the sun and its chaotic physicality but the white noise and instrumentation never let up. "Observando el Cielo" does incorporate silence with its images but is poetically used with shots taken from the perspective of Earth looking up into the heavens while shots closer to celestial happenings are filled with the psychedelic ambiance discussed earlier. So does the use of silence have an important effect on the film? I think both pieces do function as entertaining studies of outer space so I guess it depends on your perspective of the subject as art. But the difference is there nonetheless.