Short films offer a chance to capture the beauty of a moment and the fullness of an idea. Skilled cinematographers distil their subject with maximum economy, keeping extraneous ideas out of the narrative. A great shot is one with nothing to distract you — where your attention is held by what truly matters.
Losko Magazine has brought together 8 compelling projects in which photographers and videographers reveal the grandeur of nature through their lenses. Night landscapes and breathtaking vistas, hills, mountains and oceans — everything here is beautiful.
1. Cottonwood Lakes to Mt. Whitney
The route from Cottonwood Lakes to the summit of Mount Whitney (California) was one of the most demanding of Sheldon Neill's life (Sheldon Neill), the creator of this film about inspiration. He did not make the journey alone — he was accompanied by two friends: Anthony and Bryson. The trip lasted 5 days and 4 nights, from Sequoia National Park to Inyo National Forest.
2. The Color of California
California is a magnificent place — traffic aside. "The Color of California" is a flight over stunning landscapes, all slow motion and abundant light. Its creator is Sean Slobodan (Sean Slobodan), director and founder of Local.Studio.
3. Surf in Siberia Arctic Ocean 5
The film "Arctic Ocean. Tundra" — twenty-five minutes long — is the fifth episode in a project by Russian surfers documenting riding the waves of the Arctic Ocean in the extreme conditions of the far north. Filming took place over the course of a year and covered various locations across the Murmansk region. The film incorporates the impressions of its participants about these places and their personal memories.
4. The Last Flight To Agadir
Where the Atlantic Ocean meets the land. Waves crash against the rocks again and again, relentlessly. "The Last Flight to Agadir" ("The Last Flight to Agadir") is a short film directed and shot by Andrew Gough (Andrew Gough), featuring surfer Harrison Roach (Harrison Roach). It is about the relationship between the elements and a person who is constantly driven to enter into a game with them.
5. An Aerial Perspective of Nordland
Michael Fletcher (Michael Fletcher), the video's creator, had always dreamed of watching the path of the sun during polar day from a bird's-eye view. The footage was shot using a DJI Phantom 4 quadcopter by cinematographer Alan Mathieson (Alan Mathieson). The Lofoten Islands (islands in Norway) are extraordinary! This flight feels like a dream: gentle winds and low clouds, round-the-clock sun and a sky that never darkens.
6. Colors
Colors is an experimental video that resembles a fairy tale, gently rocking its viewers on waves of colour. The visual compositions were created from paint, oil, oat milk, stain remover, bleaching fluid and soapy liquid. The film was directed by Thomas Blanchard (Thomas Blanchard).
7. Mining Gold
The video work Mining Gold contains no people. But that is not what sets it apart from the other entries in our selection. As you watch the boundless water and take in the breathtaking landscapes, you sense that at any moment a person — a surfer or a traveller — is about to enter the frame, and you will witness their relationship with nature. The ocean becomes the main protagonist, the one that directors Chris Gurney (Chris Gurney) and Adam Davidson (David Adamson) want to show their audience.
8. To Scale: The Solar System
On the bed of a dried-up lake in Nevada, a group of friends built a miniature model of the Solar System complete with full planetary orbits. The model offers a vivid illustration of our place in the universe. By positioning the planets at their correct distances from one another, the creators describe the characteristics of each one. Nothing superfluous — only beauty.
