A Day in the Finnish Archipelago Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		3.0
Video		4.5
Audio		4.0
Extras		0.0
Overall		3.5

A Day in the Finnish Archipelago Blu-ray Movie Review

Finlandia is more than just a song.

Reviewed by Jeffrey Kauffman October 31, 2011

And here I thought I was being so clever. When I first started reviewing the then-new Blu-ray releases that amounted to virtual screen savers for high definition televisions, I thought these products, things like Fireplace or Aquarium or Trains or Olympic National Forest were like visual analogs to what Brian Eno had termed ambient music, and so I called these releases ambient television. Well evidently great minds think alike (that’s my story and I’m sticking to it), for several different people have used the term “ambient television” through the years, including author Anna McCarthy who wrote a book with that title which explored the ubiquitous screens in public places which people tend to largely ignore (think of televisions in bars for a good example). But with the glut of Blu-ray releases which tend to make the television over as a monitor, ambient television has become an even more widespread term and in fact it’s being utilized by several labels now to describe their products. And in fact Finnish label ScenesHD has partnered with a company known as Ambient Productions Ltd. to release this visually stunning homage to the gorgeous scenery of Finland, A Day in the Finnish Archipelago. Unlike some of the HD Environments titles, for example, A Day in the Finnish Archipelago chooses to plop the camera down in a stunning locale and just leave it stationary for a half hour. There is no slow panning, no segue from scene to scene, just the slow march of water, leaves rustling in the breeze and plentiful nature sounds. (No music tracks are included on this Blu-ray, which some will applaud and others may lament). This may not be an in your face release, but few ambient television outings are. What it does do is exploit the luminosity that’s available with the best high definition presentations, and if your screen is large enough and well positioned enough, visitors to your home theater may in fact feel like a wormhole window to Finland has magically opened up on one of your walls.

ScenesHD was founded by Antti Hemmilä, who kind of stumbled into the ambient television Blu-ray world when he filmed a full minicam tape’s worth of content in the Seychelles, on Barbarons Beach on the main island of Mahe. Hemmilä evidently completely forgot about the tape, but when it was discovered months later and played, it immediately returned Hemmilä to that vacation day, despite some troublesome noise on the tape caused by windy conditions. That sparked an idea which led to the creation of Ambient Productions Ltd., and A Day in the Finnish Archipelago was soon being planned and filmed.

Hemmilä’s website goes into some detail about the difficulty of filming these episodes, and they are indeed in their own way episodes, since they each last around 30 minutes and feature distinct locations. Hemmilä’s production team spent a lot of time researching multi-microphone placement in order to sonically capture these locations, and they also had to find locations where it was peaceful enough that no intrusive sounds would disturb the relaxing experience they were seeking to create. All of the sounds are evidently tied directly to the what the viewer is seeing (believe it or not, that’s not always the case with some ambient television releases, as I’ve discussed at length in several reviews). ScenesHD and Ambient Productions also didn’t “fake” any noises by using signals to attract bird (and therefore birdsong) or any similar techniques.

All six of the segments presented on A Day in the Finnish Archipelago are placed, as one might expect, next to water. Several are calm, almost still, water environments, but a couple feature some nice surf pounding up against the shore. One sequence has a ferry which slowly makes its way back and forth across an inland lake. The six sequences are:

• Sunrise at Taslot, Nauvo (Turku Archipelago) 4:18 a.m.
• Sunrise at Fiskö, Brändö (Aland Islands) 4:32 a.m.
• Morning in Porkkala, Kirkkonummi (Coast of the Gulf of Finland) 7:03 a.m.
• Afternoon in Pleikilä, Kustavi (Turku Archipelago) 4:25 p.m.
• View of Parainen-Nauvo Ferry from Prostvik, Nauvo (Turku Archipelago) 9:10 p.m.
• Sunset in Pleikilä, Kustavi (Turku Archipelago) 9:38 p.m.

It should be noted that while Sweden may be the Land of the Midnight Sun, even the so-called afternoon and evening scenes included on this disc rarely get very dark, and light continues to creep over the horizon even after the sun has ostensibly set.

A Day in the Finnish Archipelago Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

A Day in the Finnish Archipelago is presented on Blu-ray with an AVC encoded 1080p transfer in 1.78:1. The first thing astute readers will notice is that unlike most, if not all, ambient television releases, this is a 1080p presentation, not a 1080i one. Whether that progressive presentation adds to the fluidity and smoothness here is anyone's guess, but the bottom line is this is one staggeringly beautiful looking ambient television releases in recent memory. While these are by nature wide shots with no real close-ups, detail is crisp and appealing, and there is not an artifact in sight throughout any of these segments. That's especially impressive as we have some aspects like mist rising off of water that can be troublesome in a less than excellent transfer, but that's not the case here. Colors are beautifully saturated and very accurate looking, depth of field is impressive to say the least, and overall this outing is simply beautiful to watch.

A Day in the Finnish Archipelago Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

A Day in the Finnish Achipelago offers both a lossless LPCM 4.0 track as well as a standard lossy Dolby Digital 2.0 track. The use of an LPCM 4.0 track might be thought of as a bit unusual, and it is, though Hemmilä's website make a cogent case that for an environmental soundtrack such as the ones presented on the six scenes contained on this disc, four channels certainly suffice to create an engaging surround experience. The bulk of these tracks present copious water sounds, sometimes soothing, sometimes a bit more forceful, with occasional other sounds like bird calls or rustling leaves nicely mixed in. All four channels are equally utilized here, which simply plops the listener squarely down in the middle of the environment. Occasionally discrete channelization will reveal some individual birdsong and the like, increasing the lifelike ambience of the track. Fidelity is excellent, though there really is next to no dynamic range on any of these sequences. This is after all meant to be in the background or alternatively to create a calming atmosphere, and as such there are no sonic surprises in store.

A Day in the Finnish Archipelago Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

The only supplements per se are two trailers, which I never include in an official Supplements score. There is also the option to play only Daytime Scenes, called Morning Set (three scenes at around an hour and a half) or Nighttime Scenes, called Evening Set (likewise).

A Day in the Finnish Archipelago Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

If you're already up to speed with ambient television releases, you'll know what to expect with A Day in the Finnish Archipelago. What you may not be expecting is the absolutely ravishing quality of the imagery, which, while never full of lots of things happening, is still staggeringly crisp and clear and really stunning to see. Finland is obviously one of the most beautiful places on earth and this release makes the most of that fact. If you're a fan of this kind of release, you'll love A Day in the Finnish Archipelago. If you haven't yet tried out an ambient television release, this may be a perfect way to start. One way or the other, this Blu-ray comes Recommended.