Born of Fire, Touching the Sky
The Story of
A Full-dome Video Show Script
for the
&
Evans & Sutherland
by
Dr. William Gutsch
Dissolve of quotes about
Slow
fade of house lights.
As last quote fades, we possibly hear
the blowing
of the ceremonial conch shell[msd1] .
Slowly fade up and down,
“The ancient Hawaiians were astronomers
…
Queen Lili‘uokalani”
Slowly fade up and down …
“From the Kumulipo, the Hawaiian Creation
Chant”.
We hear (without musical
accompaniment) …
Male Chanter (in Hawaiian)
O ka lipolipo, o ka lipolipo
O ka lipo o ka la, o ka lipo o ka po
(The intense darkness, the deep darkness
Darkness of the sun, darkness of night
Nothing but night.
The night gave birth.)
Male Voice
In the beginning, there was darkness[msd2] …
Female Voice
In the beginning, there was “po” ...
Male Chanter
He po uhe‘e i ka wawa
Female Voice
And darkness slips into chaos.
Portion of Big Bang animation from
“Universe”, Chapter 14
Dissolve to animation of the first stars
and galaxies[msd4]
beginning to form from “Universe”, Chapter 13.
Dissolve to some of Hubble Deep Field
image from “Universe”, Chapter 15
or similar from
with some 2-D movement.
Male Voice
the
first cities of stars, the galaxies.
Dissolve to zoom in toward our Milky Way
and, in turn,
zoom in on our local spiral arm.
Portion of Milky Way galaxy fly-in from
“Universe”, Chapter 2
dissolve to diffuse nebulae animation
e.g.,
from “Wonders of the Universe”, Chapter
6 & 7.
In one galaxy …
near
the edge of a graceful
[msd6] spiral arm …
around one of its billions of suns …
it is a moment of creation.
Male
Chanter (again from the Kumulipo)
O he‘e au loloa ka po
O piha, o pihapiha
Female Voice
The long night slips along[msd7]
Abundant, very abundant.
We have zoomed into our solar system (no
close planet fly-bys)
to the Earth.
The Earth becomes a chord on the horizon
slowly rotating away from us. We[msd8] sweep downward come up upon
the
Male Voice
In the middle of a vast ocean …
a sacred place is being born from the sea.
Male Chanter
O Papa huli honua
O Papa huli lani
O Papa nui
Then, without overlap.
Female Voice
Papa – mother earth’s womb turning[msd9]
Papa in giving birth stirs the heavens
Great Papa gives birth to the islands.
Male Voice
Over the eons, it is to be a place of birth and re-birth.
Its story is very old …
Female Voice
Its story is very old …
and its story continues.
We fly toward and focus on
as it rises before us under a canopy of
stars..
And where once Papa, the earth mother…
And Wakea, the sky father were one,
in time,
they became separate[msd10] [msd11] .
Between…stood a mountain tall and strong,
a sacred bond …
to connect earth and sky…
a sacred connection …
to the cosmos.
We slowly sail around the mountain.
Behold Mauna a Wakea, “
In time, it would be called
“
Music Swell
Title
Opening credits.
Dissolve to
dramatic animation showing the
geological birth
of the
Male Voice
These sacred islands were born of fire deep beneath
the sea[msd15] .
On the ocean floor, a section of the earth’s crust
moves at a crawling pace …
the pace at which a fingernail grows.
From beneath, over time, fiery lava broke through …
again and again.
The ocean chill froze the lava …
layer upon by layer …
foot by foot …
as a chain of mountains grew --
a chain of mountains that would pierce the sea [msd16]
to become a chain of islands …
measured from the sea floor,
some of the tallest mountains on earth.
Dramatic, beautiful animation illustrating
the story
of Pele, Na Maka o Kaha‘i, and Poliahu.
Female Voice
And, in time, Pele, goddess of fire[msd17] ,
came to the first of these islands
and dug a crater at its top
to make for herself a home.
But her older sister, Na Maka o Kaha‘i, goddess of the
sea,
followed her to this new land …
and drew water from the ocean[msd18]
to flood Pele’s abode with fire quenching water.
And so, drove Pele to seek a new home on the next
island summit.
Pele and Na Maka o Kaha‘i struggled[msd19] …
island by island …
Yet it was on the largest island – Hawai‘i[msd21]
where Pele met her greatest challenge …
one of fire and ice.
For there, at its highest peak,
Pele fought her fierce rival, Poliahu, goddess of
snow.
Poliahu reached out and spread a mantle of chilling
cold …
banishing Pele to the neighboring
And so,
to this day,
and
call forth Pele’s presence
with glowing cinders and smoke
and rivers of fire that flow down to the steaming
sea. [msd24]
Until now,
the sacredness of this place was untouched.
Until now,
the gods dwelled here …
the gods alone.
Gradual fade to just stars
plus faint ocean waters sound effect.[msd25]
Star field positioned in sync with
script
as various stars and star groupings are
highlighted on cue.
We are under the winter sky at about the
latitude of Hawai‘i
starting at about 4 hours sidereal time.
Then, one day,
there came another moment of birth … and re-birth.
Male Voice
From far away,
eyes would gaze in wonder across the great expanse of
ocean.
Human eyes.
Female Voice
Eyes would gaze upward across the starry sky.
And the stars would point the way … to new lands.
The following lines are alternately
chanted and read.
Specific stars and star groupings are
appropriately highlighted on cue.
(From the Kumulipo we hear…)
Pa‘a na hoku kau i ka lewa
Female Voice
Fixed are the stars suspended in the sky.
Male Chanter
Lewa ‘A‘a … lewa Puanakau
Female Voice
Glides Sirius … glides Rigel[msd28]
Male Chanter
Lewa Makali‘i, lewa Na huihui
Female Voice
Glides the Pleiades, the star clusters of Makali‘i
Male Chanter
Lewa Na Kao
Female Voice
Hurls the fish spears
Male Chanter
Lewa Na Hiku, lewa Hikukahi
Female Voice
Circles the Seven, Na Hiku, circles the first of the
Seven
Music change (perhaps with the sound of drums added)[msd29] .
Fade up scene.
We are on an ancient Hawaiian canoe on a
vast ocean.
Morning twilight still holds the night’s
last stars in the sky.
But dawn is approaching.
Male Voice
From the south and southwest the Polynesians came[msd30]
…in remarkably crafted canoes.
Female Voice
They were sophisticated engineers[msd31] …
explorers …
navigators …
and astronomers …
who could read the secrets of the stars …
the winds …
the clouds …
and the birds
to fathom position and course …
to explore the vast Pacific …
to discover …
Camera angle pitches forward in front to
dramatically reveal
a scene as in Herb Kawainui Kane’s
painting as
in the first orange rays of the rising sun.
Music swell.
Cross fade to
dramatic dissolve of unspoiled scenes[msd33] .
And so they settled amid untouched beaches …
thriving forests … and cascading waterfalls [msd34] …
and made this new land their home.
Up the slopes of
where Pele’s fire and Poliahu’s ice worked to forge
the hardest of stone,
they also ventured
… to seek out the makings of tools …
to carve new canoes --
new vessels of discovery.
Possible scene of stars reflected in the
waters of
with the mountain summits in the
distance.
But the lofty summits[msd35] ,
the highest of realms
remained the most sacred ‘aina --
the most sacred
land.
Here few were to tread …
only a high priest,
a kahuna, or ali‘i chief.
Male Voice
Possible animation depicting the arrival
of Captain Cook?
A millennium or more would pass before the next “wave
of discovery[msd36] ” --
the arrival of others from even more distant lands …
others with a different appearance …
different ways ...
yet sharing a common passion for exploration.
Montage of old photographs of early
roads and buildings
on the mountain
and hikers at or near the summit.
And the new explorers came to the beaches …
and the forests …
and the mountain summits.
Female Voice
And footsteps tread where few had gone before[msd37] .
Music change.
Slow fly in toward
From under a high, thin deck of
turbulent clouds.
It is near sunset.
Male Voice
Today, the age-old connection that
has seen yet another rebirth …
a new connection.
At this moment, we break through the
thin deck of clouds
(as they
turn yellow and orange in the setting sun)
as
For[msd39] today,
of the largest collection
of advanced astronomical observatories in the world.
We slowly and serenely circle the
mountain top.
Female Voice
The observatories on
But[msd40] through
their essence, as quiet vehicles of exploration,
many seek a balance that allows the spiritual,
cultural, and scientific
to coexist in harmony,
for the observatories,
like the mountain on which they stand
form a connection between earth and sky …
between Papa
and Wakea.
as it was in the beginning
the ultimate connection …
the ultimate piko …
IS
Unobtrusively, dissolve in and out flow
lines
depicting the inversion layer and
smoothness of the air flow[msd42] .
Male Voice
Here[msd43] almost
14,000 feet above sea level,
we find an ecologically fragile environment --
and, for humans,
a chilling, harsh, and challenging world …
but one perfectly suited to studying the cosmos.
Here, under crystal clear skies, through thin, dry,
unpolluted air
that glides smooth and stable from far across the
Pacific,
we can behold some of the sharpest, most exquisite
views of the universe possible.
We glide through the Gemini dome[msd44]
and slowly around the telescope.
and we fly outward
into the starry night
and then, out among the stars.
Each
night, from inside their protective domes …
telescopes with giant eyes
gaze
out into space …
and back into time
to weave together a story of origins …
of birth …
and re-birth across the stars.
We sail serenely [msd46] through interstellar space.
Male Voice
The stars …
more stars in the universe
than there are grains of sand
on all the beaches on earth.
If we know just where to look,
we can seek out their birthing places.
Animation of slow flight past the Trifid
Nebula
as in “Wonders of the Universe”,
Chapter6.
Dissolve to naked eye view of the Orion
region of the sky[msd47] .
Below and to the left, near the horizon,
we see, via animation, a stylized depiction
of ancient native Hawaiian navigators
on board a canoe looking up and
pointing.
On cue, the dart, or fish spear, stars
are highlighted.
In mid-winter’s sky,
in an area known to the ancient Hawaiians as Na Kao,
the fish spears,
and to others as the belt of Orion, the hunter,
we find such a place.
As the canoe animation fades[msd48] ,
we also dissolve from the naked eye view of
the Orion region
to a close up animation of a flight into the
Orion Nebula
as in “Wonders of the Universe”, Chapters
7.
Known as the Great Nebula, or “Cloud” in Orion,
it is a vast stellar nursery.
Dissolve to inner regions of M42.
Slow zoom up on protostar and
proto-planetary disk.
new stars, and possibly new families of encircling
planets,
stand ready to emerge from dark, embryonic cocoons of
dust.
Dissolve to naked eye view of the region
of the sky
that includes Serpens and Scorpius.
Below and to the right, fade in and out[msd50] ,
stylized depiction of ancient Hawaiian
navigators
on board a canoe looking up and
pointing.
Highlight the star pattern known as
In summer’s skies,
not far from a region known in
the Eagle Nebula is a similar place of creation.
Dissolve to Eagle Nebula fly over
animation
from “Wonders of the Universe”, Chapter
6.
Here[msd51] , giant
pillars of dust,
each more than 6 trillion miles long,
shroud infant stars that will someday also emerge
to spread their light across the vastness of space.
Add to existing animation, the light
from one or two stars
majestically
bursting forth[msd52]
from the upper tips of M16’s “pillars of
creation”.
Dissolve to zoom-in of edge-on view of
our Milky Way Galaxy
as in “Wonders of the Universe”, Chapter5
showing red diffuse nebulae strung along
the spiral arms of the galaxy.
Such birthing clouds are far from rare.
Indeed, glowing like red torches in the night,
they are strung by the thousands
along the spiral arms of our Milky Way galaxy.
Dissolve to two fields of very early
galaxies that fill the entire dome.
The two fields overlap and slowly cross
through each other.
Billions of other galaxies are scattered across space
…
and back through time.
Fade in and out on the horizon,
semi-transparent depiction
of one or more of the observatories atop
At the limits of
incredibly faint swirls, spots, and streaks of light
reach our eyes after journeys of billions of
years.
And so we see them, not as they are tonight,
but rather as they were billions of years
ago.
Each is a galaxy, teeming with billions or even
trillions of stars.
The earliest stars …
the earliest galaxies to form after the birth of the
universe --
the “Big Bang” …
the moment when …
he po uhe‘e i ka wawa[msd54] …
darkness slips into chaos.
The dome flushes softly with light as
the scene dissolves to
animation of colliding galaxies showing
star burst phenomena
as in “Wonders of the Universe”, Chapter
2 or other.
Over[msd55] time, the
youngest galaxies collided.
The complex interplay of gravity
Distorts them into strange and fanciful shapes…
Whipping and compressing the gases between
the stars…
setting off huge bursts of star birth.
Slow dissolve to 3-D star field.
We slowly zoom in on a red dwarf star.
Just[msd56] as stars
are born, so too, they grow old … and die.
Some stars are tiny, “light weights” as stars go.
Such “red dwarfs” live for many billions of years,
outliving our sun,
and, will eventually …
just fade out.
Dissolve to slow fly around of a
planetary nebula
as in “Universe”, Chapter 16.
Somewhat more massive stars, ease into old age
by blowing off
colorful bubbles, rings, and “hourglasses” of glowing gas known as “planetary
nebulae”.