WANDERERS: The Journey You’ve Been Waiting For
In honour of NASA’s successful Orion launch, it’s only fitting that we should take a look at Wanderers, a short speculative science fiction film by Erik Wernquist.
Pioneers. Explorers. Optimists. These are the foundations of the human race, the attributes which have led to us becoming the dominant species of our planet. We have mastered travel on land, sea, air, harnessed energy from the elements and built entire civilisations. Yet we are not content, and Wernquist’s magnificent short film shows us returning to our pioneering routes and exploring the final frontier – deep space.
A speculative science fiction film, the digital animator and artist has used photographs and textures from NASA and manipulated them to show what the future could hold for humanity and its inevitable migration throughout the galaxy. The basis on real places makes the stunning visuals all the more remarkable, and the three and a half minutes is absolutely captivating.
With images influenced by the artist Chesley Bonestell and accompanied by a pondering voice-over by renowned astronomer Carl Sagan, Wanderers does a magnificent job of conjuring the feeling of wonder and curiosity that space exploration is all about. The open road, the wide world – the theme of stepping out of the comfort zone and off into the wide beyond in search of new worlds is inspiring.
If you have a spare three minutes today, watch this. It’s so much better than checking Facebook.
Has Wanderers got you thinking? What do you think the future has in store for us?
(top image source: Erik Wernquist)
Does content like this matter to you?
Become a Member and support film journalism. Unlock access to all of Film Inquiry`s great articles. Join a community of like-minded readers who are passionate about cinema - get access to our private members Network, give back to independent filmmakers, and more.
