"From this vantage point, our obsessions with nationalism is nowhere in evidence. We are too small. On the scale of worlds, humans are inconsequential: a thin film of life on an obscure and solitary lump of rock and metal."
"The spacecraft was a long way from home."
Pale Blue Dot is the name of the photography taken from the spacecraft Voyager 1 in 1994 thanks to Carl Sagan's idea. In this image we see our little world at a distance of 6 billion kilometers measuring less than a pixel. It is a shocking point of view and no one as translated it better than Carl Sagan. In his book Pale Blue Dot: A Vision of the Human Future in Space he confronts our conflicts to our insignificance in the immensity of space.
You Are Here: Pale Blue Dot is a fulldome 2D animation video made to rouse the interest in self-thinking and astronomy by exploring Carl Sagan's text about the Pale Blue Dot. It all started as a degree project for a Master in Image Design at the Faculty of Fine Arts of the University Porto and with the support of the Planetarium of Porto it actually took off as a real session that can be seen at the planetarium!
If Porto is too far away, note that we are working to make it soon available WORLDIDE!
But hey, what about the author of the animation?
My name is Tania, I have a graduation in Graphic Design at the Faculty of Fine Art of the University of Porto and I'm currently ending my Master in Image Design at the same faculty. I was always interested in astronomy and science, but my love for fiction and art took me to another direction... Still, being able to combine both and, who knows, contribute to generate a positive change in this tiny world of ours, is a thrilling experience.
"...it underscores our responsibility to deal more kindly with one another, and to preserve and cherish the pale blue dot, the only home we've ever known."
PT
animation project
TANIA CUNHA
in After Effects with the Navegar Fulldome Plugin
lective year of 2016/2017 Master of Image Design
with the support of
VITOR ALMEIDA and PAULO PEREIRA
(advisor and co-advisor)
website
TANIA CUNHA
text excerpts from
PALE BLUE DOT: A VISION OF THE HUMAN FUTURE IN SPACE written by CARL SAGAN
portuguese adaptation
TANIA CUNHA and RUI DUARTE
narration
CARL SAGAN (eng)
ODETE MOSSO (pt)
theme song
OXYGEN GARDEN by CHRIS ZABRISKIE
sound effects
TANIA CUNHA with FREESOUND.ORG LIBRARY