Richard van der Laan

Short experimental film about a man who awakens disoriented near a Radio Telescope that receives strange alien signals. Shot in the Netherlands at the following locations: - Westerbork at the Synthesis Radio Telescope (WSRT) - Rheden at the Fire Watch Tower - Radio Kootwijk at the Cathedral and Water Tower Screenplay, Camera, Sound: Richard van der Laan Character : Kurt Veld Special Effects-Makeup : Marieke van Brussel Camera : Panasonic GH2 AVC-Intra Sedna ~140mb/s Lens : Nikon AF-S 24-70mm f2.8 G ED Gear : Sachtler FSB-4 75 CF, Gini Rig Follow Focus, Lilliput field monitor Tools : FCPX, Magic Bullet Looks, Motion Radio Kootwijk [Background] The housing accommodations of Radio Kootwijk arose as a result of the building of a shortwave transmitter site with the same name, starting in 1918. The transmitters played an important role in the 20th century as a communication facility between the Netherlands and its then colony of Dutch East Indies. By 1925 the longwave transmitter was changed by a shortwave tube based, electronic transmitter which had a much better performance due to the better propagation of shortwaves. With this new technology, in 1928 a radio-telephonic connection was established. At the end of World War II, the German occupying forces blew up the transmitter. Afterward some of the radio towers were rebuilt. The main building of the former transmitter park, designed by Dutch architect Julius Maria Luthmann and named 'Building A', 'The Cathedral' or sometimes 'The Sphynx', was officially appointed as a monument. It is used as venue and scenery for several cultural events and productions, including the American film Mindhunters in 2004. Westerbork Synthesis Radio Telescope [Background] The Westerbork Synthesis Radio Telescope (WSRT) is an aperture synthesis interferometer near camp Westerbork. It consists of a linear array of 14 antennas with a diameter of 25 metres arranged on a 2.7 km East-West line. It's Equatorial mount is what sets it apart from most other radio telescopes, most of which have an Altazimuth mount. This makes it specifically useful for specific types of science, like polarized emission research as the detectors maintain a constant orientation on the sky during an observation. The WSRT is often combined with other telescopes around the world to perform Very Long Baseline Interferometry (VLBI) observations, being part of the European VLBI Network. The telescope is operated by ASTRON, the Dutch foundation for astronomy research.