” Omega ” is a 1970 experimental short film directed by Donald Fox that explores the themes of death, rebirth, evolution, and the future of humanity. The hallucinogenic film is almost entirely made up of special effects and features a cast that includes Tim Tobin, Rod Franz, and David Ramsdale. The film’s story is about how humans can make an evolutionary leap by harnessing the sun’s power through an “energy ray”. Some critics have described the film as “sheer poetry in sight”. Prints of Omega were widely circulated in the 1970s, with and without a soundtrack.
The film begins with shifting green colors around a pink hole with a black center (0:04). Title card: ”OMEGA”(0:51). Trumpets blare as the film zooms in from a field of stars to Earth (1:35). Psychedelic-colored waves and a closeup of Earth’s surface, appearing green and mountainous (1:55). Green branches with leaves and flowers moving (2:15). Black silhouette of three people sitting in a field (2:53). Closeups of vegetation in the field, looking on to a pinkish glow in the sky (3:06). Trumpet fanfare as an overshadowed frustrum (truncated pyramid) emits a glow in the foreground under a background of clouds and sky, shown at different angles (3:25). Silhouettes of long rectangular towers against a glowing pink background, viewed from different angles (3:32). An explosion of light from the top of the truncated pyramid (4:24). An energy ray from Earth being sent to the Sun (4:32). Eerie music as the Sun absorbs the energy, glowing (5:35). Solar energy waves above the Sun’s surface (5:59). A red wave from the Sun covers the Earth (6:36). Trees and grasses on Earth, tinged red (6:48). A calm ocean against an orange sky (7:21); waves crash onto the shore and against rocks (7:34). The same silhouette of three people in a field, this time with red, orange, and pink overtones (8:00). Green and pink branches against the sky (8:08); silhouettes of the heads of the three people’s heads in profile (8:50). The camera spins and looks at the three people from below (9:20), making the starry night sky spin faster and faster above their heads until a burst of green light appears and explodes (9:49). Psychedelic colors in the background as details of the people’s faces (hair, noses, eyes) are more visible (10:05); closeup of their hands (10:14). One of the men stares at the sky and flexes his fingers (10:30). Earthly music as one person stands and looks at the burst of light (10:44). The film focuses on two people gazing up at the light (11:20). They become white glowing silhouettes (11:50) and blend together into an expanding white circle of light (11:59). The burst of light above the Earth’s surface (12:14). The silhouette of the last person gazing up as white light overtakes the screen and goes back into the sky (12:22). The film ends as the burst of light recedes back into a starry sky.
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