Haute Flash

An experimental infrared (IR) short film about the hormonal transition of Menopause. Eerie thermal imagery transports the viewer to an otherworldly space, framing the human body within art and technology by using an extremely heat-sensitive camera as both means of digital capture and as the surreal aesthetic itself. Shot entirely with an IR military grade rifle scope, the crosshairs are visible throughout the film, referencing the targeted feeling of radically shifting hormones experienced throughout peri/menopause and adds to the stylistic appearance of infrared video.
A glass Head represents “Hormones” and the character “Woman” is a gracefully aging, voluptuous goddess existing on a primordial beach; the heating and cooling effects on her body can be seen. The Head washes ashore, and Woman experiences a menopausal transition upon touching it, she becomes a transformed creature of newfound strength. Contrasting the stark, geological island landscape and ocean imagery of Maui, Hawai’i with primal movement, the lone female character appears as a translucent human in a realm where the body possesses a simultaneous interiority/exteriority, as warm veins and cold or wet extremities are visible.
Thermal imaging details subtle, actual surface temperature changes in corporeal and inanimate objects, heat appears white, and cold becomes black. there are no special effects, the visible changes are in real time. Utilizing Range Phenomenology technology usually associated with military, border, or aerial surveillance, the aim is to inspire contemplation by framing the luminous energy of the human body, so that one may sense the temporal coalescence of ancient stellar energy in the form of living beings.

  • Marne Lucas
    Director
    The Operation (1995), Incident Energy (2013), both b&w infrared videos in collaboration with Jacob Pander.
  • Marne Lucas
    Writer
    The Operation (1995), Incident Energy (2013), both b&w infrared videos in collaboration with Jacob Pander.
  • Greg Gilbert/SODAWERKS
    Producer
  • Bryon Stevens (Technical)
    Producer
  • Pasha Rose
    Key Cast
    "Goddess"
  • Anthony Child (aka Surgeon)
    Music
  • Project Type:
    Experimental, Short, Other
  • Genres:
    New Technology, Infrared video, Art & Technology, Women's issues
  • Runtime:
    6 minutes 17 seconds
  • Completion Date:
    June 1, 2017
  • Production Budget:
    2,500 USD
  • Country of Origin:
    United States
  • Country of Filming:
    United States
  • Language:
    English
  • Shooting Format:
    infrared video to MDVR
  • Film Color:
    Black & White
  • First-time Filmmaker:
    No
  • Student Project:
    No
  • Digital Cinema Package:
    Unavailable
  • Uncensored Festival
    London
    United Kingdom
    May 17, 2019
    Official Selection
  • The Psychedelic Film and Music Festival
    New York
    United States
    May 17, 2019
    Official Selection
  • CoSM Visionary Women's Film Symposium
    Wappinger Falls
    United States
    May 30, 2019
    Official Selection
  • Portland Oregon Women's Film Festival
    Portland
    United States
    March 30, 2019
    Portland, Oregon
    Official Selection
  • Chicago Underground Film Festival
    Chicago, Illinois
    United States
    June 6, 2018
    Official Selection
  • Transitional States: Hormones at the Crossroads of Art and Science
    Lincoln and London U.K., Barcelona, Spain, and Bologna, Italy
    United Kingdom
    February 1, 2018
    U.K. premiere
    Official Selection
  • 'Body Esc', an exhibition of the 2nd International Interdisciplinary Conference "Taboo-Transgression-Transcendence in Art and Science"
    Corfu
    Greece
    May 25, 2017
    European premiere, video in exhibition
  • YoFi Fest
    Yonkers
    United States
    November 3, 2018
    Official Selection
  • New York Short Film Festival
    New York
    United States
    November 8, 2017
    USA Premiere
  • Arizona Women's Film Festival
    Flagstaff
    United States
    October 4, 2019
    Official Selection
Director Biography - Marne Lucas

Marne Lucas (aka CuntemporaryArtist) is as a multidisciplinary artist using photography, video and installation to present unique aesthetic or social philosophies. Central to her practice are investigations into nature, culture, and the body, working in conceptual overlaps: life’s energy, light, the environment, water, reflections, beauty, identity, intimacy, mortality, and mankind’s relationship to these elements.
Drawn to risk-taking projects in personal, creative or philosophical ways, her infrared (IR) videos 'Haute Flash' (2017) and previous collaborations with Jacob Pander, Incident Energy (2013) and the erotic cult classic 'The Operation' (1995) use military imaging technology to reference surveillance culture and the fragility of human existence.
Her social practice 'Bardo ∞ Project' explores creativity as a form of spiritual end-of-life care. Lucas is training to be a certified end-of-life (EOL) doula, a volunteer role acting as liaison to the dying.
A steadily exhibiting artist, Marne is known for stylistic photographic portraits and self-portraiture, providing commentary on changing social attitudes relating to the body and cultural expression.
Lucas has received UMEZ arts engagement grants (2021, 2018) administered by the LMCC, RACC project grants (2022, 2010, 2006), participated in residencies including a 2016 Arts/Industry Kohler factory residency (Foundry, Pottery), the Land Art Mongolia 360 Residency and Biennial, a CentralTrak experimental film residency and the Portland2010 Oregon Biennial.

Add Director Biography
Director Statement

I use infrared Range Phenomenology technology, often associated with military or aerial surveillance for its visualization of the surreal beauty of changing temperatures radiating from corporeal and celestial objects; offering a glimpse of our temporal coalescence of ancient stellar energy, drawing on analogies about the universe -that we are truly beings of light.
Thermal imaging illustrates actual rapid heating & cooling temperature changes in people and objects, unseen by the human eye; heat appears white and cold becomes black, in real time with no special effects. The effect is quite arresting: objects, landscapes and people have seemingly B&W negative film qualities, but possess a transparency and inner glow, while maintaining surface reflections. Subtle questions are posed about how the advancement of surveillance culture continues to change human interaction in practical, creative and philosophical ways; a subtext is about our covert acceptance of the electronic villain into our lives.

I have a long history with infrared (IR) imaging technology. 'The Operation' (1995) my erotic black & white, sci-fi short film made with Jacob Pander, screening worldwide and garnering many awards, it became a cult classic. All of my infrared films have been made under clandestine circumstances as with each project I’ve had limited or surreptitious access to military-grade surveillance gear. ‘Incident Energy’ (2013) is a four-channel infrared video installation that depicted a simple creation story using modern dancers to depict a simple creation story, and filmed a human birth in a hospital and the implied death of the main characters.
I continue working in this medium, my recent films ‘Haute Flash’ and ‘Malama Aina’ (WIP) are shot on Maui, Hawaii. I have a deep connection to the islands, I was born in Honolulu but my family left when I was very young. Passionate about cultural, land and water conservation of Hawaii, I am making ‘Malama Aina’ (Care of the Land) towards this end.
To see more visit vimeo/marnelucas