Becoming
Film Session(s)
Venue(s)
6 minutes, Netherlands, 2018
BECOMING is a short film about the miraculous genesis of animal life. In great microscopic detail, we see the 'making of' an Alpine Newt in its transparant egg from fertilization to hatching.
The first stages of embryonic development are roughly the same for all animals, including humans. In the film, we can observe a universal process which normally is invisible: the very beginning of an animal's life. A single cell is transformed into a complete, complex living organism with a beating heart and running bloodstream.
The salamander embryo (an Ichthyosaura Alpestris) was followed very closely in a combination of timelapse and film. All stages of embryogenesis can be seen in this film: cleavage, gastrulation, neurulation and organogenesis.
Time was condensed from about 3 weeks to 6 minutes.
Director(s): Jan van IJken
Producer(s):