The Solitary Life of Cranes, a trailer

I originally got fascinated by the idea that there is almost another world above London (or any other city); yet most of us never look up to notice cranes or their drivers. The drivers, in turn, can see everything going on below them, yet their only way to connect with the world they are building is by watching it from a distance…

Once I started researching the film, I was blown away by the sheer beauty of being up on a crane and seeing the world from such a different point of view. There is something about being so high up above the ground and removed from the world that puts everyday life into a very different perspective and lets you see the wider patterns of a city. Yet, in many ways it has been the small observations of the drivers that have really stuck with me: the way people walk differently at certain times in the day, the different way couples look before and after a long and stressful Saturday afternoon shopping trip, or the way office buildings in our financial districts change at night–whereas during the day, mirrored glass keeps the outside world out, you can suddenly see clearly inside at night.

From filmmaker Eva Weber, watch the trailer for The Solitary Life of Cranes (2008), a peek into the award-winning short film documenting 24 hours in the construction cranes above London. Read more from her interview at Documentary.org, and more about the film in The Guardian.

Bonus: What Does Earth Look Like From Space? An Astronaut’s Perspective.

via @iamdanw.