Hollywood spends big time, money, and resources to create fictional worlds and landscapes with computers and expensive sets, but we have discovered a much cheaper option filmmakers can use to create stunning visuals that transport us to strange, wonderful places: filming paint under water in slow motion. And if they want to create a truly beautiful ballet of color that awes us, they can set it to music, like in this gorgeous video.
We came across this aquatic symphony of pigments at Laughing Squid; it’s the work of artist and musician Kamiel Rongen, who uses a combination of slow-mo footage of paint either being poured into or rising up in water and sets it to his own songs. The result is a zen-like celebration of the senses, as the rainbow of color seems to be dancing in time with the track. This video is set to his song “Barbapapa.”
The graceful way the paint moves creates an image that makes us feel like we’re watching a series of alien planets spring to life, but we can’t underestimate the role the music plays in setting the peaceful mood of the video. Because with an ominous track the strange new worlds coming to life here would feel very different. Depending on the type of story you want to tell though, some paint and the right song is still a lot cheaper than costly CGI.
If you’d like to download the song from the video, “Barbapapa,” Rongen made it available for free. Paint and water not included.
How would you describe the visuals created by the paint under water? Swim into our comments below and let us know.
Image: Kamiel Rongen
Slow down with these stories!
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- Ink injected into water into slo-mo.
