2024

Healing Release

In a terrifying time of grungy chaos, one can only find release through the healing efforts of time and peaceful recollection.

  • Many live in a world of chaos, grime, beauty, and peace. Healing Release seeks to explore the portrayal of environments and how the balance of all these traits come together to create a single experience. Chaos and beauty are a matter of perspective, and by playing with pacing and subject matter, the film controls what the viewers find pleasing and unsettling.

  • For example, the city could have been filmed in good settings with friendly, social content while the nature portion could have been filmed in decaying, food-chain-like scenarios. Then the city could have been edited in a smooth, easygoing manner with the nature being edited in jarring, crashing segments. This would have portrayed nature as barbaric, unfriendly, and chaotic, with the city being a relaxing, civilized environment.

  • Instead, Healing Release shows the city in a nasty, dirty way with fast editing and shows nature in a peaceful, comforting light with slow and spaced-out editing.

  • In the middle of the film is a bridge between both worlds; a subject who is afflicted by the chaos of the cityscape and wishes to seek the old Earth releases deep emotion through a complete breakdown of spirit and thought. This subject allows the film to transition from a chaotic world to a peaceful space. The space is nature, but what exactly the space is lies in the viewers’ interpretation.

  • The actual filming of the city portion was done through a handheld camera to get a chaotic, shaky effect. The nature portion was filmed meticulously with sticks and in smooth shots. The transition between the two was filmed in fluid, moving shots on sticks. All audio was recorded by smartphone and synched in post-production.

  • Overall, it is meant to be an enjoyable experience for the filmers and a unique encounter for the viewers. The inspiration for this entire idea came to Seth when he was listening to Porter Robinson’s “Nurture” album for the millionth time. Listening to “Wind Tempos”, he thought about the process of complete immersion into nature, what that would be like and where it would come from. Always favoring a crashing, dramatic flair, the chaotic side of the idea was then born.

  • There had to be some transition between both worlds and adding a singular subject to guide the second half of the cinematic journey made sense. Porter Robinson’s work and personality added much to the idea, and it only seemed fitting that the song that started it all be added to the nature section of the short film. Below are some more examples of visual and aesthetic inspirations for the short film.

Wind tempos…

The original song that inspired the film and that is in the film.

Nurture walk with porter...

When interviewed by Spotify, Porter delved deep into the themes and inspirations of his Nurture album, the album that birthed the concepts of Healing Release.

Get your wish...

The literal visual inspiration for The Man of Release to be submerged in and one with the water of nature. It’s this playfulness with the natural elements that led to the character’s healing.

Something comforting...

The final major inspiration for the audio and visual experimentation found in Healing Release.

Thanks to the wonderful crew that made this film possible…

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