Ignite: A Cinematic Journey Depicting The World of Burning Man

Author : Marco Sgalbazzini
September 12, 2017

Ignite: A Cinematic Journey Depicting The World of Burning Man

There’s films and then there’s cinematic journeys. The first you watch and then carry on with your life as you were, but the latter literally remain with you. Cinematic journeys take over your thoughts, they influence your actions and ultimately become catalysts for real life moments, with the ultimate potential of changing everything and anything that they influence.

Ignite is one of those cinematic journeys, a Burning Man experience like no other. If you’ve been to Black Rock City for the annual pilgrimage that sees tens of thousands visit each summer, you already know that words cannot and will never do the experience any justice. And frankly, nor do any of the videos you have likely seen posted on social media depicting what are just mere isolated moments of the much bigger journey that is being at Burning Man.

It is because of this that Director Ryan Moore has decided to pour his heart and soul into Ignite, a no-holds-barred cinematic project that will catapult watchers into the world of Burning Man like no other film has ever done. Out of over 70,000 attendees this year, Ignite were 1 of 25 in total that were granted all-access by the event organizers, enabling the team to gather mind-blowing and unique footage in the process. Shot with professional equipment like the Red Weapon 8K Helium,  the same camera used to film Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 and Transformers: The Last Knight, the film is now in the post-production process. All that is needed to complete it is editing it into a finished film, composing the music for it (see more about our Grammy Award winning composer below), and finishing the film in 4K so you can experience it as those that were there did.

Ryan has spent over $25,000 of his own money to cover pre-production and production costs to make sure he could bring the best team to make my vision a reality. He has now launched a campaign on Kickstarter to raise funding for the last stretch of Ignite‘s project. The initial and tight budget goal of $20,000 has been met, but he hopes to raise $50,000 for the team to have the necessary funding to deliver the best product possible. You can donate the campaign here.

In the words of Director Ryan Moore:

Burning Man is something that cannot be described in words, therefore I feel this is the best way of expressing it in a visual format. After all these years of attending I’ve been able to develop a clear vision for what I feel truly represents what it’s like to be there. Authenticity is really important to me. My intention is to show how people connect with one another, the art, and the community. Again, the art and mutant vehicles are wonderful to showcase, but my focus is ultimately on sharing how Burning Man makes people feel. How the event truly affects its participants and how they in turn interact within the event. Capturing the human element and connectedness within Burning Man in a non-verbal way is what I intend to illustrate in Ignite.

 

The Crew

Producer and Director Ryan Moore is known for directing and producing the feature film documentary Mannynarrated by Academy Award nominee Liam Neeson. The film chronicles the boxer Manny Pacquiao’s meteoric rise from abject poverty to 10-time world champion. Manny was directed and produced by Ryan and had its world premiere at the SXSW film festival.

For the project, Ignite has sought the musical prowess and genius of Lorne Balfe, a Grammy Award-winning, EMMY and BAFTA nominated film composer from Inverness, Scotland. His filmography boasts an incredible breadth and depth of titles, ranging from major studio (The Dark Knight, Inception, Iron Man, Ghost In The Shell, Terminator: Genisys and more) to independent films, tentpole video game franchises (Assassin’s Creed III, Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 and more) and beloved animated feature films such as The Lego Batman Movie, Megamind, Penguins of Madagascar and more.

Cinematographer Jeremy Thierry has over 20 years experience working throughout the world in almost every genre of film and television, creating hundreds of hours of programming for all the major UK networks and production companies including the BBC, ITV, CNN, MTV, Discovery, National Geographic and others.

Jeremy was joined by Neil Fernandez, a cinematographer and filmmaker who first started editing tv shows such as Paranormal State (A&E) to Emmy nominated shows like Animal Planet and Whale Wars. As a cinematographer Neil has worked on films which have premiered at the LA Film Festival while others have been featured on Netflix. Neil also films music videos using his stylish techniques with artists as Chris Brown, Wiz Khalifa, and Busta Rhymes.

On editing duties is Daniel Freedman, a writer, comic book colorist, film editor and director with a large portfolio of work including work for Warner Brothers, Lions Gate, Marvel Comics, Image Comics, Apple, HP, Adobe, Vice, Nylon, the Cobrasnake, Dim Mak records, Roc Nation and more.

 

 

Click HERE for more information and to donate to the Ignite: A Burning Man Film Kickstarter campaign, which ends on Friday, October 6 2017.

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