lmost every society on Earth possesses legends about bizarre worlds, eerie creatures and alternate dimensions. When interpreted through religious or cultural dogma, such tales usually serve to either warn individuals away from detrimental situations or encourage them to strive for greater personal achievement. This video investigates some of these age-old myths from a different, decidedly speculative viewpoint, utilizing state-of-the-art computer-generated images and electronic music to explore eight separate otherworldly realms.
Nearly every passage in Ancient Alien combines outer-space scenarios with subtle elements from antediluvian civilizations. In some sections, futuristic entities speed through multicolored wormholes and nebulae, passing by both strange planets and primitive earthly icons. Other sections maintain a slower pace, spotlighting organic objects like trees, insects and elementary marine animals interacting with exotic environments. These simple creatures regularly mutate and develop into complex objects, evoking a variety of thought-provoking evolutionary and animistic concepts.
Each scenario possesses an allusive title such as "Intra-Terrestrial Fusion," "Distant Atmosphere" or "The Artifice of Dimension," with many of the on-screen activities seemingly synchronized with the accompanying tunes. Most of the melodies are provided by ambient-dance artist Stefan Pierlejewski, performing under the pseudonym A Positive Life, though a few numbers are also supplied by other acts.
More fiction than science
Ancient Alien offers an intriguing blend of SF imagery and somewhat specious pseudo-scientific ideology. "The Vortex" launches the collection marvelously with animation depicting fanciful celestial phenomena, while "Ancestral Waters" brings the action closer to home with vivid scenes that quickly carry viewers from the initial development of life on Earth to the far-flung future.
Although the mix of fantastic settings with symbols culled from early civilizations elicits some Chariots of the Gods?-type speculation, the animators for the most part avoid a heavy-handed approach to the concept of extraterrestrial intervention. "Within the Dark Nebula" combines a primitive pictograph and intentionally out-of-focus English text with ultramodern shapes and scenery to subtly yet seriously imply an ongoing alien presence throughout the ages. A more light hearted view is proffered in "Progression Primeval," which features a colorful chorus line of dancing monoliths that ultimately morph into huge rainbows entwining a cloud-enshrouded globe.
The music serves as a marvelous accompaniment to the visual action, using samples and synthesizers to maintain a dreamy quality that is highly appropriate for the conjectural subject matter. While there's little question that Ancient Alien focuses far more on fiction than science, the project ultimately presents a delightful and decidedly delicious excursion into way-out yet wonderfully speculative territory.
