The project has entailed months of extensive pre-production research and experimentation.  Filming high definition in near darkness (at possibly -20° C) requires a fair amount of very sophisticated and extremely expensive gear.

SO MANY thanks are due to Jeffery Hall and Millenia Fine Arts without whom this project would not have seen the light (strike that), dark of day.  Every time we came up against what seemed an insurmountable problem, Jeff responded with whatever piece was needed to find the solution.  HD Broadcast camera (sensitive to 0.004 Lux), computers, hard drives, real-time high definition video editor...  every bit of it unquestionably provided.

It wasn't until four days ago (a week before our departure) that the final configuration was fully put to the test and proven to work.  Capturing an hour or two of high-def video is one thing; recording 24 hours non-stop at a rate of 41 Gb per hour is quite another.  Doing it while huddled in a tent in a blizzard in complete darkness (that part we haven't tested yet) is pushing it.

It worked in the studio.  Now we go see if it works in the snow.

Compass points: 

E 18°35'30" N 68°25'12"

Extracts from Summer Solstice : 24 Hour Film, the high definition video I made with the help of Ben Walker, last June at Tornehamn, a spit of land 200 km north of the Arctic Circle on Tornetrask, a large lake leading into Lapland on the Swedish-Norwegian border.  From Midnight 21 June to Midnight on the 22nd, camera, computer and external hard drive made one complete 24 hour capture of the never-ending day.

During the time we spent encamped on the edge of the lake a plan to return in winter was hatched.  What companion piece might I be able to create during a never-ending night?  

Filming in complete darkness is of course an impossibility.  Or at the very least not terribly engaging for the viewer.  On the other hand, a snow covered landscape lit by the full moon seemed rife with promise.  Although rare, 2007 is one of these years when at this latitude the moon is full and will remain above the horizon without setting, circling above our heads at the same time the sun remains below the horizon for the week of the solstice.

In Sweden I was told this is called the 'Philosopher's Moon'.

Friday 21 Dec, Ben and I, accompanied by my son Devin, will fly to Kiruna, Sweden; drive to this same location; set up camp and attempt a 24 Hour capture of the moon-lit, snow-covered landscape.