Beyond Us

This is the first of our experimental environmental documentaries for the Living with Fire and Carr Fire video series. 

Beyond Us is a short experimental documentary video created in collaboration with composer Jacques Desjardins. This video documents some of the changing landscapes in the Redding and Whiskeytown Lake, California regions affected by the 2018 Carr Fire. Set to an original score, the video journeys through the transformed landscape and captures the recovery in this drought-stricken region that is experiencing longer and hotter fire seasons. Voices of people who are connected with the area–a park ranger, a botanist, artists, and a snippet from President John F. Kennedy's dedication speech at the lake–set the stage for contemplating how humans are intricately connected to the environment we experience. Through gradual changes of timbre (from white noise to defined pitch) the accompanying composition evokes a sense of process and transformation that is seen post-fire as the environment repairs itself. The magnitude of what is happening in our environment is far-reaching with lasting ripple effects that extend beyond us–beyond our current time and beyond our current space 

Beyond Us premiered live on March 12, 2023, at the San Francisco Conservatory of Music, and a final edit for this video with recorded music was completed in May 2023. Music for this video was studio recorded with help from the San Francisco Conservatory of Music recording services.