Symphony of Spheres
Symphony of Spheres is a short poetic documentary, shot on iPhone X with FilmicPro, that attempts to show the process and the world of abstract sculptor Brendon Edwards. The doc is less about facts about Brendon's life and more about his work, his philosophy, and what he would like his art to represent. The circular nature of the world and symmetry is a driving factor for Brendon, and so Symphony of Spheres tries to showcase this in its form and structure.
Shot in 2019 and edited during the pandemic, small portions of stock footage from Mitch Martinez and Pexels.com have been used and are all rendered in colour, while footage shot on mobile is mostly in black and white. Various external pieces of hardware such as a monopod, ND filters for mobile, Joby GorillaPod, and a Rode VideoMic. Shot at 4K with 8 bit recording and exported in 1080p.
About the Artist:
Brendon Edwards was born in Johannesburg in 1970, but spent his formative years in Zimbabwe. He later moved to South Africa and was educated at Michaelhouse.
Post school he studied Philosophy and Logic, and The Philosophy of Aesthetics. His work is a continuation along these lines and a conflation of latter influences. An overriding aim of his work is to take complicated subjects (both visible and invisible) and represent them as a simple aesthetic.
As an abstract artist, he is reluctant to reduce, explain or justify his work in absolute terms. He recognises that the world is devoid of meaning, and that any meaning individuals attach to a thing, experience or idea… is subjective. Consequently, any absolutes he may propound, may limit or exaggerate his work, or do an injustice to it, and further to the imagination/meaning of the viewer. There is a corollary in abstraction as within our universe, in that it leaves the unexplained… unexplained.
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SJ van BredaDirectorJane Digby, Grey, Sentience, (Isola)tion
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SJ van BredaWriterJane Digby, Grey, Sentience, (Isola)tion
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SJ van BredaProducerJane Digby, Grey, Sentience, (Isola)tion
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Brendon EdwardsKey Cast"Himself"
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Project Type:Documentary, Short
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Genres:documentary, experimental
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Runtime:5 minutes 14 seconds
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Completion Date:March 1, 2021
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Production Budget:0 USD
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Country of Origin:South Africa
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Country of Filming:South Africa
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Language:English
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Shooting Format:iPhone X
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Aspect Ratio:16:9
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Film Color:Black & White and Color
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First-time Filmmaker:No
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Student Project:No
SJ van Breda was born and raised in Durban, South Africa. She studied engineering before pursuing film at Vancouver Film School.
SJ has screened films at Whistler Film Festival, Oxford International Film Festival, Chilliwack Independent Film Festival, SA Indie Festival, and has filmed two shorts in Italy for the Pigneto and CICI Film Festivals. She was also placed in the top 10 of the Nespresso Talents 2018, was selected for the Adobe Design Achievement awards and won the documentary category of FilmicFest 2019. SJ is currently a Mi Creator with Xiaomi Studios and a freelance director and editor in Cape Town, South Africa and works mainly on editorial content, music videos and short films. She is also serving as an instructor and jury member for the inaugural MMOCA Film Festival in Cape Town in 2020. She is currently in development on two feature length documentaries and is writing her first feature film.
Symphony of Spheres is a short poetic documentary, shot on iPhone X with FilmicPro, that attempts to show the process and the world of abstract sculptor Brendon Edwards. The doc is less about facts about Brendon's life and more about his work, his philosophy, and what he would like his art to represent. The circular nature of the world and symmetry is a driving factor for Brendon, and so Symphony of Spheres tries to showcase this in its form and structure.
