ROCCA
2020
2020
Rocca is a film which retells the geological evolution of planet Earth from an animistic perspective, where rocks become living beings.
Concept
Rocca is a film which retells the geological evolution of planet Earth from an animistic perspective, where rocks become living beings. In this fable, millions of years become seconds. The rocks that once seemed motionless come to life. This new perception raises new questions: What is the life cycle of rocks? How can we justify the wrath of volcanoes? Why do rocks sing?
"Battered, the oldest rocks have no choice but to seek a resting place. Their wrinkled bodies become weak. Losing the strength to move forward, they surrender to the depths, turning progressively into magma, fusing with their vanished ancestors, merging into one" (Rocca, 11:32)
Installation
As in the film, the installation set up scenes portraying two parallel worlds, that of the mythical, imaginary and grand, contrasted with that of the everyday, mundane and small. The viewer is immersed in a space separated by a wall, one side of which becomes the projection surface for the film, while the other allows the viewer to see a miniature world composed of all the objects that were used in the film.
As in the film, the installation set up scenes portraying two parallel worlds, that of the mythical, imaginary and grand, contrasted with that of the everyday, mundane and small. The viewer is immersed in a space separated by a wall, one side of which becomes the projection surface for the film, while the other allows the viewer to see a miniature world composed of all the objects that were used in the film.
Production
One of the major challenges was how to produce this story visually. How to represent the Big-Bang, the clashes between planets, the funeral songs of dying rocks and the anger of erupting volcanoes?
During the lock-down, Samy shot his film entirely at home, staging everyday materials he had on hand, household chemicals, food, plastic waste, man-made objects and even parts of his own body, all used to evoke large scale phenomena, tectonic movements, titanic collisions, earthquakes, volcanic activity, crystallization, etc..
One of the major challenges was how to produce this story visually. How to represent the Big-Bang, the clashes between planets, the funeral songs of dying rocks and the anger of erupting volcanoes?
During the lock-down, Samy shot his film entirely at home, staging everyday materials he had on hand, household chemicals, food, plastic waste, man-made objects and even parts of his own body, all used to evoke large scale phenomena, tectonic movements, titanic collisions, earthquakes, volcanic activity, crystallization, etc..
By bringing together the ordinary and the grand, the small and the magnificent, the absurd and the serene, Samy offers a new visual language, completely free, suggesting that imagination can bring about and make space for extraordinary things. Samy calls this new production method «Homemade Fx». It consists in collecting all sorts of objects for their formal quality and filming them in order to bring out the fantastical aspects of banal scenes.
