My Corona

Image courtesy of https://alena-48.deviantart.com/

Attention umbraphiles: it's ten days and counting and there's no stopping the oncoming collision of Sun v Mr. Moon. Or the varying levels of photo worship and awe as we witness the uniquely weird-ass phenomenon of a natural day-for-night across America.

In 1973, filmmaker Francois Truffaut shot "Day for Night,” a film about a film production team and its cast that on one of its shooting days uses the technique of shooting during the day, then processing it to look like it had taken place at night. In the 1940's and 50's this technique was often used for dramatic effect, notably in westerns. Bunch of cowboys riding the range in Big Country and either a) it's time for an ambush or b) the two leads are in need of their big mano-a-mano brawl and it's going to be lots more dramatic in semi-darkness than in regular daylight. It's just too easy to process the film using a technique that cuts the exposure by 80% instead of the technical difficulty and overtime of actually shooting in the actual, like, dark.

Mark Twain used a solar eclipse as proof of his hero Hank's magical powers in A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur’s Court. Somehow transported back to medieval times from modern day, hero Hank finds himself 1300 years shy of present, where he's branded a weirdo heretic and scheduled for burning on what turns out to be the day of a coming total solar eclipse. A brainy engineer by trade, Hank remembers his history and threatens the court with blotting out the sun if they persist in blotting him out, which they commence to do as the moon begins to roll in. That freaks out the court and gets Hank a last-minute reprieve.

Pretty crafty, Mr. Clemens. So y'all ready f'dis? Nothin' quite like blocking out the sun, getting the neighborhood so dark at midday it literally triggers the streetlights to go on. The state of Oregon is dead center for the full effect. Be in awe of the creeping shadow.