Gorgeous Destruction

May 18, 2010 9:10 AM

Sean Stiegemeier decided that he had seen enough terrible pictures of the eruption of the Icelandic volcano, Eyjafjallajökull, that he flew to see it on his own.

He documented the eruption using a Canon 5D MkII and paired the footage with music by Jonsi, frontman for the internationally acclaimed Icelandic band, Sigur Ros. This is what resulted.

posted by Heliochrome85 (26 comments total)

I couldnt find any threads similar to this, and so I hope it isnt a repost. Absolutely gorgeous.
posted by Heliochrome85 at 9:11 AM on May 18, 2010

So he made another slowly dollying time-lapse video that looks just like every other slowly dollying time-lapse video out there. I'll stick with the terrible photographs, thanks.
posted by ReeMonster at 9:15 AM on May 18, 2010

To be fair, a lot of this video of the volcano is composed of pictures of barns and roads and fields. For some reason.
posted by DU at 9:16 AM on May 18, 2010

Well I enjoyed it.
posted by cmonkey at 9:19 AM on May 18, 2010 [2 favorites]

thanks Cmonkey. Sometimes i wonder why i even try when it takes literally seconds for MeFi's snark to emerge. maybe im not snooty enough for this place :/
posted by Heliochrome85 at 9:21 AM on May 18, 2010 [4 favorites]

Heh, I liked it a lot too.
posted by Duug at 9:36 AM on May 18, 2010

I think it's great! Thanks for posting.
posted by brundlefly at 9:40 AM on May 18, 2010

At least he didn't pick a cliched choice of Icelandic music.
posted by smackfu at 9:43 AM on May 18, 2010

I saw this somewhere else--it's gorgeous, though. Thanks, Heliochrome!

I think it's funny that he chose such moving music for something that not a whole lot of people are thrilled about...
posted by a sourceless light at 9:44 AM on May 18, 2010

DU: "To be fair, a lot of this video of the volcano is composed of pictures of barns and roads and fields. For some reason."

Some of those shots were the most interesting to me. Seeing a normal field then moving to one covered in ash was an contrast in tones and colors. Were you expecting him to show the crater directly? Perhaps plunging into the vent directly?

ReeMonster: "So he made another slowly dollying time-lapse video that looks just like every other slowly dollying time-lapse video out there. I'll stick with the terrible photographs, thanks."
Are you a film-maker of some sort? What I mean to ask is: are you speaking critically from a creative or technical perspective, or are you just burned out on the the "dollying time-lapse" meta-genre?
posted by boo_radley at 9:46 AM on May 18, 2010 [1 favorite]

Man, this is one of the most beautiful things I've ever seen - seriously. I grew up in the mountains and I've felt so at home in Iceland every time I went, but I've never seen anything that captured the feeling of actually standing out in that volcanic landscape quite the way this did. Thank you for posting.
posted by jardinier at 9:50 AM on May 18, 2010 [1 favorite]

Absolutely gorgeous!
posted by anoirmarie at 9:51 AM on May 18, 2010

Yeah, nice work, certainly worth a look, but his snootiness is entirely unjustified. A lot of the "terrible pictures" are more interesting than this, Sigur Ros or no.
posted by ignignokt at 9:55 AM on May 18, 2010

Were you expecting him to show the crater directly? Perhaps plunging into the vent directly?

*Naively raises hand*

I originally read “. . . that he flew to see it on his own” as meaning he flew over it. Pretty silly in hindsight.

I’m looking forward to getting home so I can watch this with the music up, it sounds right up my alley.
posted by Think_Long at 9:55 AM on May 18, 2010 [2 favorites]

Turn down the shitty music. Play this in the background. Much better.
posted by basicchannel at 10:01 AM on May 18, 2010

Sorry, another gripe: the video is about 84 minutes too short and the soundtrack doesn't convey the combined epic grandeur of Messiaen's Quartet for the End of Time and the awesome destructive force of doom metal masters Disembowelment. Otherwise, it's gorgeous and captivating.
posted by prinado at 10:09 AM on May 18, 2010 [2 favorites]

That was beautiful. I loved it.
posted by ardgedee at 10:21 AM on May 18, 2010

You know who else flew to see a volcano on his own? Me!
posted by MrMoonPie at 10:31 AM on May 18, 2010 [1 favorite]

To be fair, a lot of this video of the volcano is composed of pictures of barns and roads and fields. For some reason.

What about that airplane fuselage? Where'd that come from? Or did you overlook that in your race to get a snarky comment at the top of the page?
posted by Hoenikker at 10:41 AM on May 18, 2010

basicchannel: Turn down the shitty music. Play this in the background. Much better.

I like the track on the original, but yours is really nice too.. Almost makes the video kind of Tim-Burtonesque because of that Danny Elfman feel, er rather that Saint-Saëns feel. That said, I do think Icelanders make the perfect music for their extra-terran seeming landscapes.
posted by jardinier at 11:03 AM on May 18, 2010

So he made another slowly dollying time-lapse video

Don't you kind of have to with DSLR videos to avoid shutter roll?
posted by madajb at 11:15 AM on May 18, 2010

Someone, or a lot of someones, really shot up that plane.
posted by moonbiter at 12:44 PM on May 18, 2010 [1 favorite]

Whenever I see bleak and barren landscapes like in this video, I get an intense desire to move there. Is that weird?
posted by Think_Long at 1:50 PM on May 18, 2010

masterful
posted by Substrata at 4:03 PM on May 18, 2010

Think_Long: "Whenever I see bleak and barren landscapes like in this video, I get an intense desire to move there. Is that weird?"

Not to me. I visited Death Valley once and didn't want to leave.
posted by brundlefly at 4:20 PM on May 18, 2010

Not at all, i agree with you. Id love nothing more than to explore those areas that were filmed.
posted by Heliochrome85 at 4:26 PM on May 18, 2010