Experiencing Interruptions?

Big Basin Will Never Be The Same

In 2020, the CZU Lightning Complex Fire radically transformed the landscape of California's oldest State Park, Big Basin, located in the Santa Cruz mountains. This footage, unlikely to exist in similar form anywhere, dramatically documents the pre and post-fire landscape in mesmerizing, and at times painfully vivid, detail. The original musical score is a rendering of the complex emotions associated with grieving real loss and allows the audience to reflect on larger themes of climate grief, time, scale, impermanence, and consequence.

  • Eric Benjamin Parson
    Director
  • Eric Benjamin Parson
    Composer
  • Project Type:
    Documentary, Experimental, Music Video, Short, Web / New Media, Other
  • Genres:
    Non-Verbal, Adventure, experimental, music
  • Runtime:
    16 minutes 55 seconds
  • Completion Date:
    March 1, 2021
  • Production Budget:
    500 USD
  • Country of Origin:
    United States
  • Country of Filming:
    United States
  • Language:
    No Dialogue
  • Shooting Format:
    Digital
  • Aspect Ratio:
    16:9
  • Film Color:
    Color
  • First-time Filmmaker:
    Yes
  • Student Project:
    No
  • Oregon Documentary FIlm Festival

    Offical Selection
  • Environmental Feedback Film Festival

    United States
    October 19, 2021
    Best Cinematography
Director Biography - Eric Benjamin Parson

Eric is a musician and composer from Santa Cruz, CA who copes with the absurdity of modern life by connecting with the natural world. His non-verbal, music-driven trail films favor a show versus tell approach to allow viewers reflect on their own relationship to nature.

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Director Statement

Thank you for watching my film about Big Basin. This film was a true labor of love. It was the first time I felt that a work of my creation offered value to other people beyond my own artistic goals. It is simple and real and I think most will see its value simply by taking the time to watch as the footage speaks for itself.