Volcanic Tides

THE MOVIE

Get lost in the mesmerizing force of one of the most relentless volcanos on the planet. Experience Kilauea over a two year lapse as it burns through the island of Hawaii and maps an entirely new landscape.

Volcanic Tides is a twenty minute film shot over a two year span of eruptions at Hawaii’s unique and hyper-active Kilauea Volcano. Using a dynamic mix of time-lapse and real time cinema, Big Island filmmaker Lance Page shows us a cosmic, cinematic perspective of his home island as it continues to grow. Page’s cinematography is brought to life with a stylish, heavy and haunting synth score by Icelandic/Slovenian artist weneednothingsilence as well as a vivid, molten earth sound mix by Stefan Scott Nelson.

Page Films’ lava footage has been featured in Planet Earth II, Emmanuel Lubezki’s Absolut TV spot One Night, Darren Arronofsky’s National Geographic TV series One Strange Rock, Florence & the Machine – live in Hyde Park London, PBS shows NOVA & Big Pacific and more.

Rent or buy the film in Ultra HD (4K) via Vimeo on Demand!

Also try before you buy! Watch the 3 minute Lava Moon scene from Volcanic Tides FREE:

THE VOLCANO

Lava rivers miles downslope from Puʻu ʻŌʻō vent in July of 2016. (Photo: Lance Page)

Kilauea, Hawaii’s most active volcano is nestled up against the southeast side of Mauna Loa on the Big Island. Known for its dramatic history of eruptions, the Volcano has been very active in recent years. Kilauea’s long lived eruption from Pu‘u ‘Ō‘ō vent began in 1983 and concluded dramatically in 2018, it’s considered the longest volcanic eruption in recorded history. Volcanic Tides captures episode 61G which began it’s course in late 2015 went strong right up until the unexpected and sobering new eruption of May 2018.

Kilauea’s summit caldera and Halema’uma’u crater with its ultra bright lava plume. (Photo: Lance Page)

In addition to Pu‘u ‘Ō‘ō’s active lava flows, Kilauea was also erupting at its summit with the largest lava lake in the world, located within Halema’uma’u crater. A deep orange lava glow from the depths of the crater lit up the clouds above and made for some spectacular, hypnotizing photographic opportunities.

Lava spatter within Halemaumau’s long lived lava lake. (Photo: Lance Page)

Some scientists have studied the correlation between the moon’s tidal force and volcanic eruptions. While so far no significant evidence to connect the moon phase to various volcanic activity has been found, it is certain that Kilauea’s lava eruptions move between varying degrees of speed and ferocity. Some days the lava seems to be resting, only advancing in very small increments or remaining idle. Other days it can push forward at an alarming rate, taking anything in it’s path without regard. The films title refers to the possibility of lava eruptions revealing their own form of tides, a sort of cosmically reactive pattern.

A lunar halo hovers above Halema’uma’u crater, shot from up on Mauna Loa. (Photo: Lance Page)

Kilauea is home to Pele, the Hawaiian goddess of fire, wind, earthquakes and volcanoes. Islanders have a deep appreciation for the power of Pele, often leaving tea leaf wrapped offerings as a sign of respect. Any way you see it, Hawaii’s lava flows are a stark reminder that our planet is alive and moving right along with us.

Lance watching the glowing plume as it lights up the sky during a full moon. (Photo: Lance Page)

THE FILMMAKER

Hi. I’m Lance. I was born and raised on the slopes of Mauna Loa, Kilauea’s neighboring giant (due for it’s own eruption in the near future). After discovering a love of nature landscapes and dynamic time-lapse photography over the years, I decided to bring my gear to the volcano in 2014 to create a short film called Kilauea – The Fire Within. The film did well online and inspired a return to the island for what turned out to be a long term project covering a new volcanic episode of Kilauea’s decades long eruption.

Lance operating the eMotimo spectrum ST4 to capture some cinematic video under a full moon. (Photo: Lance Page)

With the help of inspired friends and colleagues but often solo, I’ve trekked out into the active lava flows on countless missions carrying DSLR and mirrorless cameras, compact motion control gear and camping supplies in order to capture the flows for an extended amount of time. Time-lapsing active lava is extremely challenging to say the least. From hauling heavy packs for miles and miles then staying up all night rigging cameras to dealing with brutal, windy downpours and unpredictable lava flows. Though when it all comes together, it allows for Kilauea’s eruptions to move into a kind of hypnotic rhythm.

Our production base camp downslope of Puʻu ʻŌʻō early in the 61G episode. (Photo: Lance Page)

Shooting Puʻu ʻŌʻō and its lava flows from inside the tent. (Photo: Lance Page)

With huge inspiration from films like Ron Fricke’s Baraka and Samsara, I hope for the film to bring the viewer into a deeper space to connect with the wildly fascinating and dangerous landscapes of an actively erupting hawaiian volcano. It’s a heavy, cinematic offering to Pele that isolates the importance of simply paying attention and respecting the power our home planet.

The Milky Way shines behind the erupting slopes of Kilauea Volcano. (Photo: Lance Page)

THE MUSIC COMPOSER

Danijel Robnik of weneednothingsilence: Working on Volcanic Tides has been a bliss. Since growing up north of Slovenia, I have been in close relation with the organic textures of nature and the composition of stone, undergrowth, trees, roots, water, mountains and air (sky). They have take over all of my interest.

Danijel Robnik in Northern Slovenia (Photo: Danijel Robnik).

I discovered that sound is the best tool to decode my adoration towards nature and actually help me better understand this planet and myself. Lorn sort of brought Lance and I together (Lorn scored Lance’s film ReflectionVOID) as I find his work very connected to what I was trying to do sonically.

The sounds on Volcanic Tides come from many different perspectives. I believe no matter how sophisticated or contemporary we think of the instruments or genres, the music we will produce as humans will always be ancient music. Something that has been a part us since the beginning and we can look for it obsessively or not. As I accept this as water from the same spring, I believe modular synth can compliment a violin. The music in Volcanic Tides ended up being pretty expressive for my taste, it came naturally.