The Drowning of Echo | Experimental Short Film

3 min | 2013

The Drowning of Echo is an interpretation of the Transformation of Echo and The Story of Narcissus from Ovid's Metamorphoses. In Marshall McLuhan's book "Understanding Media", he describes the myth of Narcissus as a metaphor for how technologies – as extensions of ourselves – become mesmerizing reflecting pools. In a modern context, the fable offers insight into the relationship between narcissism and narcosis: the numbing effects of seeing our own images reflected by devices.
 
This is part of our ongoing research into depth-sensing technology as a cinematic medium. Originally designed as video game controllers, the information from the depth cameras we used to shoot the film was recorded using custom software and later combined with video. The hybrid medium enables us to select camera angles after the fact, blurring the line between video and computer graphics.