A short film sharing the
hidden secrets of silence
Silence can work wonders for the human body, slowing our heart rates and even helping us grow new brain cells. Google Arts & Culture asked Lovers to design a meditative short film turning these health benefits into a digital experience. The first Google film of its kind.
Silence is universally familiar and yet commonly overlooked. Google Arts & Culture asked us to surface the under-appreciated side of silence by working with artists to help show it in a new way. Embracing film, we designed a accessible, meditative audiovisual experience.
Ten years in silence
Our research led us to Germany-based artist and filmmaker Thomas Riedelsheimer, who had been quietly documenting silence with his camera for a decade. In his words “there is always silence, we just don’t always hear it”. His observations became the primary material.
After a decade observing it, Thomas believes that silence is something greater than pure absence. Scientists seem to agree. Our research pointed to multiple studies defining silence as a tonic for human minds and bodies, something biology and medicine continue to study.
Filling The Void
WHAT’S THAT SOUND?
We enlisted sound artist Kira Belin to create a 'sonically rich' silence to accompany the film’s visuals. Designed to swell and fall in nine second cycles, the score gently insists on a slowing of the viewer’s breathing pattern and heart rate, slowing them physically.
One-Two, One-Two
creative production
Using binaural microphones, underwater hydrophones and other unusual recording techniques, Kira’s sounds offer a version of silence never-before discovered. The piece explores sound grains, listens to ants, examines air bubbles and follows electrical cables.
