Exploring the Spectrum (Part 2)

About

Content advisory: Depiction of carceral labor, with incarcerated people gardening. Depiction and description of animal experimentation and cruelty to animals. Although the depictions are presented in still image format and heavily contextualized in the narration their appearance in a film whose title suggests a subject matter of physics and optics has the potential to shock.

Narrated research film that is substantially dependent on still images for its visual content. The narration, while rooted in science, also ranges to realms of inquiry that have been debunked as pseudoscience. Narration explains many related theories and experiments relating to the effects of light, and light deprivation, on plants, animals, and people. With discussion of the impact of psychedelic culture affecting light curation in an aquarium, and with time-lapse photography of young children with behavior problems purportedly responding in a beneficial way to modifications in the types of fluorescent light they are being exposed to. Also with discussions of epidemiological effects of light, and the purported danger of television waves.

See item 205083 for Part 1.

An uncritical description published in the 16mm film guide produced by International Film Bureau Inc., states: "Exploring the Spectrum records John Ott's observations of the correlations between plant and animal health and exposure to both the visible and the non-visible rays of the total electromagnetic spectrum. His observations have contributed to the development of a new science, photobiology. As a time-lapse photographer, Ott noticed that different types of fluorescent light (which distort natural light) had startling effects on plant growth. Fascinated, he began to investigate the responses of both plants and animals to various wavelengths of light and radiation. His discoveries, described in this film, and aroused the interest of scientists from psychologists to cancer researchers."

Human-made No record of this work says a model made it. What this means.

Archive

Internet Archive, in Prelinger Archives

Licence or status

The Internet Archive states none for this item.

Rights statement

Notice on film (Part 1) states: "Environmental Health and Light Research Institute Sarasota, Florida/A non profit organization to study the effects of light on plant, animal and human life. copyright MCMLXXV"

Credit

John Ott Pictures, Henry Ott Films

Language

English

Subtitles

English (automatic)

Who can watch

The archive gives no rating. Invisible Network shows it to Tweens profiles and older, judged from its collection and subjects. How films are placed