''Ora'' (or ''ORA'') is a 2011 experimental 3D

dance film A dance film (also known as screen dance) is a film in which dance is used to reveal the central themes of the film, whether these themes be connected to narrative or story, states of being, or more experimental and formal concerns. In such films, ...

filmed thermographically, capturing images of the dancers using only their

body heat Thermoregulation is the ability of an organism to keep its body temperature within certain boundaries, even when the surrounding temperature is very different. A thermoconforming organism, by contrast, simply adopts the surrounding temperature ...

. The 15-minute short film was directed by Philippe Baylaucq as part of his two-year residency at the

National Film Board of Canada The National Film Board of Canada (NFB; french: Office national du film du Canada (ONF)) is Canada's public film and digital media producer and distributor. An agency of the Government of Canada, the NFB produces and distributes documentary f ...

(NFB) in Montreal. ''Ora'' was choreographed by José Navas, who had previously worked with Baylaucq on the NFB experimental dance film, '' Lodela''. The film is inspired by

Darwin's theory of evolution Darwinism is a theory of biological evolution developed by the English naturalist Charles Darwin (1809–1882) and others, stating that all species of organisms arise and develop through the natural selection of small, inherited variations tha ...

and the myths of Narcissus and

Prometheus In Greek mythology, Prometheus (; , , possibly meaning " forethought")Smith"Prometheus". is a Titan god of fire. Prometheus is best known for defying the gods by stealing fire from them and giving it to humanity in the form of technology, kn ...

Production

Baylaucq had experimented with

standard-definition Standard-definition television (SDTV, SD, often shortened to standard definition) is a television system which uses a resolution that is not considered to be either high or enhanced definition. "Standard" refers to it being the prevailing sp ...

thermal imaging cameras, but wasn't satisfied with the results. Commercially available thermography produces brightly coloured images, while Baylaucq wanted high-definition cameras that could shoot in black and white, so images could be colourized afterwards. The director learned of an engineer based in California, Arn Adams, who had developed an HD thermographic system for the company Focalplane, owned by Lockheed Martin. This technology is used by the

United States military The United States Armed Forces are the military forces of the United States. The armed forces consists of six service branches: the Army, Marine Corps, Navy, Air Force, Space Force, and Coast Guard. The president of the United States is th ...

for night vision and military operations, as well as for scientific and medical applications, but was never used to film dance until ''Ora''. While Baylaucq had "certain misgivings" about using military technology for his film, he secured permission from Lockheed Martin and the U.S. military as well as Canadian dance, production and directors unions to shoot the film in the United States, as this technology was not allowed to leave the country. Production took place in an unheated warehouse in

Vermont Vermont () is a state in the northeast New England region of the United States. Vermont is bordered by the states of Massachusetts to the south, New Hampshire to the east, and New York to the west, and the Canadian province of Quebec to ...

, close to the Canada–US border, with floor-to-ceiling sets made of heat-reflecting aluminum panels, which were constructed and shipped by truck from Montreal. Cameras had to be cooled by liquid nitrogen so they wouldn’t generate a heat signature themselves. They were also computer-dependent and could only record 2.5 minutes of footage before data needed to be downloaded, which also meant that dancers, wearing little in the cold building, had to stop every two minutes. The six dancers also had to perform without lighting or music. ''Ora'' is also the first NFB film recorded in

7.1 surround sound 7.1 surround sound is the common name for an eight-channel surround audio system commonly used in home theatre configurations. It adds two additional speakers to the more conventional six-channel (5.1) audio configuration. As with 5.1 surround sou ...

. The film was shot in 3D as well as 2D, for wider distribution in areas of the world where 3D cinemas are not as popular. The NFB executive producer of ''Ora'' is René Chénier.

Release

The film premiered at the

2011 Toronto International Film Festival The 36th annual Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF) was held in Toronto, Ontario, Canada between September 8 and September 18, 2011. Buenos Aires, Argentina was selected to be showcased for the 2011 City to City programme. The opening film ...

in the Short Cuts Canada section before being screened at the Festival du nouveau cinema with Wim Wenders’ 3-D dance film ''

Pina Pina may refer to: People * Pina (name), a list of people with the given name, nickname, surname or stage name Places * Pina, Nepal, a village development committee * Pina, Mallorca, Spain, a town * Pina de Ebro, a municipality of the provin ...

''. In December 2011, it was shown with ''Pina'' in Quebec cinemas. In March 2012, ''Ora'' received the international short documentary audience award at the

Thessaloniki Documentary Festival The Thessaloniki Documentary Festival (TDF) is an international documentary festival held every March in Thessaloniki, Greece. TDF, founded in 1999, features competition sections and ranks among the world's leading documentary festivals. Since 20 ...

References

External links

* *{{cite web, title=Ora, url=http://www.nfb.ca/playlist/ora_en/, work=NFB Playlist, publisher=

, access-date=7 April 2012 Canadian 3D films Infrared imaging Quebec films National Film Board of Canada short films 2011 short films Canadian dance films Canadian avant-garde and experimental short films Films shot in Vermont Canadian short documentary films 3D short films 2011 3D films 2010s dance films 2010s avant-garde and experimental films 3D documentary films 2011 films 2010s Canadian films