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On the technical level the film is a formalist experiment involving ultra high-speed photography. A volleyball game shot at a speed of 1/40th of what is perceived as real-time becomes a boon for viewing the details of fast and emotionally charged human processes. Revealing what Walter Benjamin called the "optical unconscious", the film provides a study of facial expressions, hand gestures, and poses reminiscent of classical painterly iconography.

 

A mundane event deconstructed reveals symbolic dimensions inherited from ancient ballgames (e.g. Mesoamerican ballgame) where ritual and social practice intertwined. The impossible perspective of the ultra slow motion camera creates an eerie temporal mutation where time itself becomes dense and palpable taking an almost monumental quality.

 

At the same time, the video is a meditation on the power of technology to augment human senses and create new sensibilities. The slow and relentless pace is intended to draw attention to the medium's very mechanisms of operation and make one aware of the iron hand of technology at work behind the process of viewing. 

The Shining Will Come Crashing Down

2019, 24 min, 2K video, no sound

Conceived, directed, and edited by

Dimitri Venkov

Director of photography

Pavel Filkov

 

High-speed camera operator

Margarita Kariuk

 

Camera Operators

Dmitri Pavlov

Alexei Neretin

Danila Goriunkov

 

First Assistant Director

Rodion Vereshaka

 

Second Assistant Director

Kirill Preobrazhensky

 

Art Director

Svetlana Hollis

 

Line Producer

Timophey Dorogoichenko

 

Hair And Makeup

Vera Baratova

Irina Kuzmenko

Elza Ayupova

 

Set Dressing

Natalia Sukhova

Maria Binatian

Albina Mokhriakova

 

Chief Lighting Technician

Yaroslav Kravets

 

Electricians

Vladimir Baranov

Maxim Timofeev

Ilya Chuvilev

Aleksandr Shiyan

Bogdan Povalotsky

Evgeny Beliayev

 

Camera Assistants

Maxim Gasanov

Bogdan Lukianov

Alexandr Belinsky

Andrei Komarov

Yan Zharskikh

Ekaterina Trubitsina

 

Logistics

Magomet Omarov

Oomat Begaliev

Evgeniy Beliaev

Sergei Yarygin

Evgeni Sherbakov

Shirdavs Oshurmamadov

 

Sound Mixer

Pavel Yaroshenko

 

Boom Operator

Valentin Lukianov

 

Photographer

Maxim Zmeev

 

Colorist

Evgeny Gvozdev

 

Special Effects

Pavel Khaidarov

 

Color Grading

Evgeny Gvozdev

 

Volleyball Players

Anna Makarova

Veronika Stasilevich

Mila Volodina

Ekaterina Kungurova

Ksenia Serova

Inna Kruk

Irina Artukhina

Ekaterina Skiba

Christina Boyko

Tatiana Prosvirina

Anna Palmova

Maria Alubina

 

Coaches

Petr Cobrin

Alexandr Gusev

Production supported by Gazprombank and "Art Finance" LLC, Moscow

2020©Dimitri Venkov

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