“Stardust” by Anne Berry
Beyond the Short Official Premiere
Stardust is an experimental exploration of birth, death, and rebirth.
Synopsis
When a star begins to die, it does not just disappear abruptly from the universe. It wanes and cools gradually, in a process that takes up to a few billion years.
Every living thing on our world shares traces of the original stars that gave our planet the ingredients of life. Regardless of politics, culture, or identity, we all share an irrevocable bond from the moment we are born to the moment we too, die.
Stardust is an experimental exploration of birth, death, and rebirth. Like stars, each human comes into this world carrying collective elements of our past. Invariably at the end, this too is shared, and those that carry on after us bear the mark of our memories.
DIRECTOR'S STATEMENT
“The idea for Stardust came around when four collaborators (Anne - Director, Karen - our make-up artist extraordinaire, Amanda - our talented photographer, and Reina - a gifted member of the Hong Kong Ballet), all ended up working together on various projects, in some capacity. As four female creatives who ended up on quite a few commercial projects together, we wanted to just do something fun and free for ourselves - a way to experiment and not have to worry about consequences.
We were interested in the idea of an empty void for creation. We had a simple set, and each of us could bring our own ideas to the project - all revolving around the idea of "Stardust". In many ways, it was like residue from a cosmic explosion creating a single planet.
To create a series of "constellation" effects on camera, we used very fast vintage Leica and Minolta glass from the 70's to have a dirtier image that flared like stars, while accompanying it with the modern Laowa 33mm f/0.95 to really bring out the unique make-up on our dancer.” —Anne Berry
credits
Artist - Reina Sawai @reinasawai
Director - Anne Berry @annecberry @capsulefortyeight
Art Direction - Amanda Kho @akhokho and Anne Berry @annecberry
Director of Photography - Ian Wong @sakeq
Camera Operator - Kevin Cheung @novisuals
Editor - Anne Berry @annecberry
Graphics - Ahyoon Kim @ahyooniee
Gaffer - Domingo Lamarre @domingo.lamarre
Production Assistants - Marlise Chu @marlisechu, Zachary Berkenkotter @zach.berk, Ryan Casberg @casberg_ryan
Makeup Artists - Karen Yiu @karenpaint @hongkongmakeupartist @xjcgalaxy, Holly Lo, Carmen Lau
Still Photography - Amanda Kho @akhokho
Photography Assistant - Tory Ho @toryho
Studio Sponsorship - Grey Haus Studio @greyhaus.studio
Equipment Sponsorship - Laowa by Venus Optics
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