credits: Saul Bass

A pipeline runs through it

Oil did bring about a new day--Daniel Day Lewis; then he beat the future to death with a bowling pin.

Saul Bass’ 1980 docu-animation, The Solar Film, charts the regression of man from dawn-of-time sun-worshiper to oil monger, ending with the hope that we will return to the sun for our primary energy source. Robert Redford produced.

Thirty years later his dream is unrealized, but the animation still kicks ass. Here’s a new, extended cut courtesy of DAS Film Fest.

While we didn’t have The Solar Film in mind when we came up with the scenario for ARCH DL IV, they do bear striking similarities: both reach towards a post-oil world and feature a structure you’ll be seeing again on January 29th.

Bass is revered for his title sequences for films like Spartacus, Goodfellas and Cape Fear.