Fog over a dark, open sea — still from Whale Songs

Whale Songs

For
Ourselves
Project
T26019
Year
2026
Format
40″ film

Abstract

Whale Songs is a 40-second film exploring obsession, pursuit and the fine line between ambition and fixation. Drawing on the imagery and atmosphere of Herman Melville’s Moby-Dick, the project builds an original visual narrative around a whale, a ship, a harpoon and a lighthouse, each carrying its own symbolic meaning.

A humpback whale rising out of darkness, rim-lit from above
The whale seen head-on from above, pectoral fins spread

Symbols

The whale diving into the dark, seen from above

Whale

The whale represents an elusive goal, something almost mythical that remains just out of reach, no matter how relentlessly it is pursued.

A schooner behind a whale-shaped rock in deep red fog

Ship

The ship embodies the journey itself, driven by the desire to reach what may never be attainable.

Close-up of a barbed, engraved harpoon head

Harpoon

The harpoon becomes a trace of everything left along the way, carrying memories of past desires and sacrifices.

A lighthouse in thick fog, its beam sweeping across the dark

Sea & lighthouse

The sea serves as a space for inner conflict, while the lighthouse offers a sense of direction, its slowly moving beam building a feeling of anticipation without revealing what lies ahead.

A broken stone relief showing a ship among waves and figures
An engraved medallion with a lighthouse on rocks, flanked by two angels
A lone iceberg shaped like a whale's head, half-lost in fog over still water

Visual direction

The visual direction combines cinematic compositions and atmospheric lighting with an analogue-inspired post-production treatment. Film grain, gate weave and halation add texture and character to the final image.

Shot by shot

  1. The sea in fog
    0:01
  2. Spray rising in the dark
    0:06
  3. The lighthouse beam
    0:08
  4. The lighthouse medallion
    0:11
  5. The whale passing
    0:14
  6. The iceberg
    0:18
  7. The ship in red fog
    0:21
  8. The whale diving
    0:23
  9. The harpoon
    0:26
  10. The relief
    0:28
  11. Red tide
    0:29
  12. The harpooner
    0:34
  13. The tail
    0:37
  14. The wreck on the shore
    0:41

Behind the scenes

Ice formations lit by a shaft of light — behind the scenes of Whale Songs
Untextured clay render of the cliff, an early lookdev pass
Raw ocean surface simulation, before shading
Ice cliff lit under a starry sky, a lighting test
Broken ice field in cold rim light, a lighting test
The harpoon resting in ice, a discarded shot
The ship’s bow emerging through murky water
Extreme close-up of the whale’s eye
An alternative red grade of the final shore shot

Sound

The sound design was built around the tones of the harmonica, which became a defining element of the film’s atmosphere and musical identity. This led to the creation of a custom-made Hohner harmonica, developed specifically for the project to extend the film’s sonic identity beyond the screen.

0:00 / 0:44

Credits

Client
Ourselves
Concept
Mateusz Barański
Art Director
Mateusz Barański, Witold Markiewicz
Producer
Marta Roszewska
Lighting Artist
Mateusz Barański, Witold Markiewicz, Błażej Dolot, Aleksandra Stasiak, Andrzej Czerwiński
3D Artist
Aleksandra Stasiak, Mateusz Barański, Witold Markiewicz, Błażej Dolot, Andrzej Czerwiński
Houdini Artist
Arkadiusz Korman
Sound Design
Teiwas Studio
Post-production
Microdot
Harpoon & harmonica artwork
Sandra Borowiak