https://erikwernquist.com/one-revolution-per-minute

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Erik Wernquist | Digital Artist

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Short Film: "One Revolution Per Minute"

ONE REVOLUTION PER MINUTE is a short film I made to explore my
fascination with artificial gravity in space.
 
It takes place aboard the "SSPO Esperanta" - a planetary orbiter that
spins around itself at a rate of one revolution per minute (1 RPM).
With a radius of 450 meters, the spin generates artificial gravity
with an effect of approximately 0.5 g along its main deck.
 
With the "Esperanta" I wanted to create a leisure-like environment,
such as a hotel or cruise ship, and explore what the views could be
like onboard when the orbiter visits some of the worlds in our solar
system. I was also particularly interested in how light and shadows
from the sun play around in the interior as it spins around.
For those reasons, I decided to keep all artificial lights off - with
the exception of some emergency lights to avoid complete darkness -
and to only let natural light illuminate the interiors. As this made
the place appear quite desolate, I found it interesting to imagine
someone being onboard...
 
Realistically - and admittedly somewhat reluctantly - I assume that
while building a structure like this is very much possible, it would
be quite impractical for human passengers.
 
Putting aside the perhaps most obvious problem with those wide
windows being a security hazard, I believe that the perpetually
spinning views would be extremely nauseating for most humans, even
for short visits. Even worse, I suspect - when it comes to the
comfort of the experience - would be the constantly moving light and
shadows from the sun.
A solution to the two latter problems could be to make the radius of
the structure larger, and thus make the spin rate slower. And a
solution to all of the above would of course be to have no windows at
all. The reasons for choosing the dimensions that I did, as well as
the large windows are all of course aesthetic.
Regarding the dimensions, I wanted to make the structure as large as
possible, while still getting a clear visual sense of the curvature
in the interiors. That is how I ended up with the 450-meter radius
and 1 RPM spin rate.
And without windows, this short film would surely not be any visually
interesting at all.
 
So, fingers crossed for some extremely durable transparent materials
being invented in the future - allowing leisure space travellers to
enjoy both artificial gravity as well as nice views of the solar
system.
Credits:
WRITTEN, PRODUCED & DIRECTED BY - Erik Wernquist
MUSIC BY - Cristian Sandquist
LIVE ACTION PHOTOGRAPHY BY - Christine Leuhusen
THE PASSENGER PERFORMED BY - Lars Knubb
P.A. VOICE PERFORMED BY - Hanna Mellin
VISUALS BY - Erik Wernquist
THANK YOU
Caj Muller
Harold "Sonny" White
Nic Stacey
Paul Odgren
Metronome Rental AB
STILLS GALLERY:
Below is a gallery of selected frames from the film. Click for larger
resolution.
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All imagery and video is (c) Erik Wernquist, Erik Wernquist Productions
AB, or their respective copyright holders - All rights reserved