The Solar Film (1980) - full transcript

[STRING MUSIC]

[RECORD CRACKLES]

[TONE HUMS]

[RHYTHMIC MUSIC]

[WIND BLOWS]

NARRATOR: The sun rose

upon a young, barren earth.

Slowly, vast and profound

changes occurred.

Water vapor, heated by

the sun, formed clouds,

condensed, and fell to

Earth, creating the oceans.

The heat of the sun produced

the winds and currents,

and life began its evolutionary journey.

[ORCHESTRA MUSIC]

Plant life, using the

sun to create oxygen,

made possible animal

life, and eventually, man.

How was primitive man

to deal with the power

that controlled his life?

Power that could provide or deny.

[ELECTRICAL HUMMING]

Fear turned into worship.

Some created rituals to

ensure the sun's return.

Some sacrificed to the sun.

Others used the sun to plan

their planting and harvests

and used its changing orbit

to warm their dwellings

in the winter and cool them in the summer.

[ORCHESTRAL MUSIC]

And the more he learned,

the less he feared.

And knowledge only increased his awe.

[FOOTSTEPS CRUNCH]

Meanwhile, underground lay a vast store

of the sun's energy, trapped, waiting.

[RHYTHMIC MUSIC]

[BREAKING]

Oh, hmm, hey, this

stuff really burns good.

MAN: Hey Todd, I told ya.

MAN: It burns.

[ENERGETIC MUSIC]

[WHISTLES BLOW]

[ENERGETIC MUSIC]

[HORNS HUNK]

[TRAIN WHISTLE BLOWS]

[TRAIN CLACKS]

[BLUEGRASS MUSIC]

[SPRAYING]

MAN: Hmm, wonder if this

stuffs worth anything?

[BANGS]

MAN: There's money in oil!

- MAN: I'm rich!

- MAN: I'm richer.

MAN: Always topping me, Harry.

MAN: Let's call it black gold!

MAN: That's a good

phrase, it might catch on.

[FIDDLE MUSIC]

- [BUBBLING]

- [WHISTLES]

- [BUBBLING]

- [BIRD SQUAWKS]

- [BUBBLING]

- [TRAIN CHUGS]

BIRD: That's some worm!

[BUBBLING]

[ZIPS]

- [DOG BARKS]

- [CAT MEOWS]

- [BUBBLING]

- [CARS HONKING]

[WHOOSHING]

Boy, everything is great!

Yeah, terrific.

Yeah, good.

MAN: Right, right.

MAN: Nice.

MAN: Hey, remember the good old days

when we could just go drivin'?

WOMAN: Yeah, that was terrific.

- [SIGHS]

- MAN: It's over.

- [CASH REGISTER DINGS]

- [MOPS]

[CYMBALS CLASH]

[CHEERING]

MAN: Oil, more oil!

MAN: It's coming. more oil!

MAN: I told ya. nothing to worry about.

MAN: Importing more oil

only made matters worse!

[DISCO MUSIC]

ANNOUNCER: The value of the

dollar dropped again today

on world money markets with news

of the latest OPEC price increases.

Financial observers predicted.

[DOG BARKS]

[ROCK MUSIC]

- [HORNS HONKING]

- [TIRES SQUEALING]

MAN: And people began to worry!

MAN: I'm worried.

WOMAN: I'm very worried.

MAN: Somebody do somethin'.

MAN: Don't look at me, man.

MAN: Find more oil!

MAN: Tell me where, I'll make a hole!

- WOMAN: It's your fault.

- MAN: It's yours.

MAN: It's the weirdos.

MAN: Who you calling

weirdo, I'm a democrat.

MAN: Yeah, I'm the weirdo.

WOMAN: Then it's the democrats.

MAN: Maybe it's the republicans.

MAN: It's the two party system!

MAN: No man, it's the oil companies.

WOMAN: It's the environmentalists.

MAN: It's them Russkis.

MAN: You mean the Russians.

WOMAN: Why doesn't the

government do anything?

MAN: What government, the

people are the government.

MAN: Then why don't

the people do nothing?

MAN: You're the people.

[CROWD MURMURS]

MAN: Yeah I never thought of that.

WOMAN: What the heck?

MAN: That's a good point.

MAN: Excuse me, have you seen my dog?

He's a little white dog with a black spot.

- [OMINOUS MUSIC]

- [WAVES]

BOY: The sun feels good on your skin.

You know, when you're wet and cold

and it dries you and warms you up.

WOMAN: When mama did the wash,

we'd hang the clothes on the line

and when we took them down,

I remember how warm they

felt and the fresh smell.

It was wonderful.

MAN: And with an early

spring we had plenty

of sun that year and everything grew.

We're still eating the

preserves Alice put up.

MAN: In those days we

built our houses of adobe.

First the adobe, a little

straw, and the sun did the rest.

Of course you have to be careful

of the straw, otherwise...

MAN: We have a solid north

wall and with the south end

of the house open to the sun,

you really won't need a backup system

because the orientation of the house...

MAN: Have your power sources, son,

watering trays colored

black to absorb heat,

glass goes on top, traps heat,

and that's called a solar collector

and then you pump the hot

water to any part of the house.

WOMAN: That more than

a quarter of our energy

is used for heating space and water.

So solving those requirements

gets us a good part

of the way.

MAN: One thing about solar energy I like,

it sure is clean and that's

important when you read about...

MAN: You're doing something about it,

you're not at the mercy of

those foreign oil producers.

Well not as much, anyway.

MAN: I've often thought that one

of the good things about solar energy

is it's pollution free,

which is significant.

MAN: If you stop and think about it,

you realize that the sun doesn't

send you a bill each month.

Over the years, that's...

WOMAN: The fact that

solar is accident free

goes a long way toward reassuring us

that we won't be faced...

MAN: With solar you worry

less about terrorists

and other people who use

violence to achieve their aims.

MAN: And my astronomy

professor says the sun

will always be there, at least

for another several billion years or so.

MAN: Actually, one of the

most important solar energy

developments involves photovoltaic cells.

That's getting direct

electricity from the sun.

In five years, it'll be

competitive to the stuff you buy

when you turn on your lights.

[DINGS]

[MELODIC MUSIC]

[OMINOUS MUSIC]

[RECORD CRACKLES]