Fireflies have always been favourite creatures for writers, poets, artists and even little children. This year, they have come to the screen as well - spreading their little light all over the signature film at the International Documentary and Short Film Festival of Kerala (IDSFFK-2013) that opened in the city on Friday.
The concept of using the fireflies for the signature film came from the city-based production house ‘Art Faktory’. ‘’We had a brainstorming session with our friends before finalising on this concept. Once we decided on this, it took us about 25 days to make the film,’’ said Krishnan Balakrishnan, founder of Art Faktory.
The signature film starts off in a darkly-lit room that could be perceived either as an archives or even a production house. Suddenly, there comes a faint glow from one firefly. This is followed by a second firefly and then a third and a fourth and in the collective glow, they illuminate a number of objects.
In that momentary glow you see an old camera that might have shot many a film, posters of world-renowned documentaries, magazines and newspapers that talk of the grave environmental degradation and other contemporary happenings across the world. If you are attentive, you would notice posters of Vertov’s ‘Man with a Movie Camera’ and Sarah Polley’s ‘Stories We Tell.’ The glowing fireflies fly out to a theatre carrying these images with them and when they hit the screen, the logo of the IDSSFK appears, borrowing the light from the biotic world.
The signature film has been tightly edited by Pradeep Shanker. While the concept and execution has been done by Art Faktory, the music was scored by ‘Twins’, an upcoming band. The animation of the film has been done by Graphixisland. The creator director of the film is Byju Gopinathan.