GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. — It has been 7 years since America last saw a total solar eclipse, the previous taking place in August of 2017 with totality spanning from Oregon to South Carolina.
As the eclipse approached, Michigan-based film director Erin Wilson and a crew of fellow filmmakers chased 2017's totality to Lebanon Tennessee where they sought to tell what they believed to be the true story of a solar eclipse.
"Some of the best photographers and filmmakers in the country will be using some of the best equipment available to capture the Eclipse," Wilson said.
"So for us it was this opportunity [to capture] what happens to people on the ground?"
A question that Wilson finds deeply personal as a storyteller.
"Our job, as filmmakers, is to get as close as we can to bringing the viewer into that experience," he said.
Thus Wilson, along with musicians, dancers and filmmakers from all over Michigan, traveled to Lebanon, Tennessee to position themselves right in the path of totality to capture their story. Wilson recounts the central question as to why they brought other artists to be the subjects of their experimental short film.
"What will [the eclipse] do to us when we're making music and dance [while] filming it? How can we best translate that [effect] in a way that we can come back with something that's of use to other people watching it," said Wilson.
Yet to actually capture what can be a once-in-a-lifetime experience required a deep artistic passion and desire from Wilson and his team, forcing them to create what others can only dream of.
"The thing that attracted artists to go with us to do this was that opportunity to really test themselves and be part of something that was changing on a level beyond anything that you can control," Wilson recounted.
"There's no actual rehearsal for a solar eclipse... there's no second take!" he laughed.
Ahead of the film's debut at MUSE GR this weekend, which precedes the Great American Solar Eclipse of 2024, Wilson reflected on the life-changing experience he and his team not only experienced... but captured.
"It was one of the most transformative projects I think think that any of us have been a big part of," Wilson said.
"There's just something really unique and extraordinary about being part of an eclipse and especially being in the middle of it," Wilson concluded.
MUSE GR's co-owner Stephen Smith is excited to host the film's debut at his gallery.
"Creatives having a place has always been a priority," Smith said.
And Smith believes that the film will mark not only a moment in history, but usher in a new moment with 2024's eclipse.
"We like for people to mark the moment," he said. "This is a rare occasion. So [come watch] something different."
Spiders Will Destroy Their Own Webs debuts Saturday April 6th at MUSE GR's gallery with doors opening at 7:45, followed by opening remarks at 8:15 ahead of the roughly 26 minute-long film.
The event is completely free to attend.
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