The illusion of flight in film not only draws people’s attention, but it inspires the spectator’s imagination to run free, as if flying themselves. As humans, we are attracted to flying, and our dreams, particularly as children, are filled with the sensation of flying, in one form or another.  Perhaps this is why we have tried our best to make these dreams come true in science, technology, engineering, math, and various media in the creative arts. In cinema, the allure of flight is often depicted through a kind of magical flight, precisely like those imprinted in our imaginations as children. These films portray the fantastic travel adventures and magical moments of the imagination by showing a flying car, a balloon bed, or a person in a mecha-suit taking off. Flight in film inspires people to push the bounds of the visual frame and to experience the freedom of imagination.

The allure of fight in cinema provides a truthful experience, whether it is a realistic depiction of actual aviation or a more fanciful, magical flight, such as the case of Dumbo and his magical feather that allows him to believe he can fly, or Mary Poppins’s ability to bend the laws of physics and affect how people feel and enjoy life, or Peter Pan and how he questions  the division between childlike escapism and the mature commitment to reality, challenging us to look inside ourselves and imagine a larger than life context for dreaming. Cinema allows us to dream, to let our imaginations fly and to create worlds in which both flight and magic are possible. Flight lures the spectator in all of us, drawing us beyond the clouds, into the sky, to travel out to space and discover what we as children once sought to imagine.

Created by: Adán Gama Puffelis

About:
Adán Gama Puffelis is a narrative and documentary filmmaker from Southern California. He studied at San Francisco State University and earned his cinema degree with an emphasis in documentary filmmaking (2018) and is currently a candidate in the Master of Fine Arts program in cinema at San Francisco State University. Adán has worked feature narratives, short narratives, documentaries, as well as commercials, music videos and a handful of industrial short films. He is currently working on a short documentary Broken Shells and is finishing the final post work on his 1st year MFA film Wisper. In addition, he produced and served as assistant direct for Driving Through the Dark (2017), one of the main shorts shown at the Czechia Republic: International Road Movie Festival. He previously worked in education at Virtual Design Construction Institute (2015-2017) as the lead video editor and archivist. His past experience includes several art department roles in film production, such as Vindicated Pictures: Forget Me Not (feature -2009), Shoot Productions: The Inner Circle a.k.a. Broken Angels Club (feature, 2006), Spike TV: 1000 Ways to Die (2008), Revolver Film Co: Living Things’ “Let it Rain” (music video 2008), and commercials for Burger King, Nike, Vizio, and Acura. Adán’s post-production skills include Adobe CC in editing, and graphics. When he is not pursuing his passions in film, he shoots urban photography and spends time with friends and family.