What Happens When You Watch "Alone?" Alone?

“For every grain of sand on our entire planet, there are a million stars out there in space…and where there are stars there may be planets, and where there are planets there may be life.” This statement by Sam Neill appears in the kL3z.com video Alone?. The creator of Alone? gives insight into the topic of celestial beings in a unique way. Alone? is a combination of videos, images, sound clips, and orchestral music that puts the viewer in a state of wonder. It begs the question: are we alone?

I chose to watch Alone? because it seemed less intrusive than the other videos on the website. Under each title is a brief explanation of what the video is about. Most of the videos give simple descriptions such as “Relaxation Video” and “Shocking Footage of Reality.” Alone? is one of the only videos described by a question. In this case the question is “Are We?” I feel as if this approach invites me to add my own input, whereas the other videos tell you what to think. For this reason, I paid more attention to Alone? than I did with Vicarious or Between Worlds.

Alone? had a calming effect on me as I watched it. Glistening images of space slowly drifted across the screen. These photos were occasionally interrupted by video clips. The first video grew progressively faster. Footage of animals in action blipped across the screen just long enough for me to grasp what I was watching. In the background was commentary from a peaceful voice that distinctly sounds as if it belongs to Liam Neeson. Then the video cuts to an image of the moon and fades out to reveal the gigantic Earth. There are many abstract photos of space that pan and zoom across the screen similar to a Ken Burns documentary. But while Ken Burns puts me to sleep in less than five minutes (a feat not easily achieved), Alone? puts me into a state of relaxation. There are very few spoken words. Occasionally a question or a related quotation from an American astrophysicist will pop up on screen. All of this was fine, and I get that these side notes add some depth to the piece, but these written words did little for the effect. The aspect that had the biggest influence on me was the music.

Meditation often involves some variation of auditory response. The person needs to focus on the repetition of a phrase or sound to help calm his/her thoughts. Negative stimuli are eliminated and the mind is cleared. Once relaxed, the individual then enters an altered state of mind that is said to have healing capabilities. Alone? was a form of meditation for me to some extent. There were no harsh images or sounds, which was a nice change from some of the other videos on the website. Orchestral music played over most of the piece. It was fanciful and robust at the same time. My favorite portion is when the string instruments add their style to the melody. The song sounds as if it belongs to a movie or something greater than a short online video about space. Without the song to guide the piece, I would have grown bored within the first few minutes. It drew me in and kept me focused on the glorious images that flashed across my computer screen. As I watched the video, my mind forgot about every non-celestial thought, which could be considered meditation. The music, the images, the text, and the videos combine in less than seven minutes to create this desired effect. Hats off to the creator.