The Narrowcast: "Impending Bloom"
The National Analog Media Archive began a tremendous effort to catalog and preserve all forms of analog media. One such area of media was public access broadcasts. After the meticulous process of collecting and reviewing an incredible amount of hours of footage, the process had been completed and the archives were made available to the public.
However, within the many hours of shows and film projects, there were some oddities that caused concern due to unusual content. These selected airings were vaulted due to content deemed too intense for the public to view.
These are the stories of the strangeness found within the narrowcast.
Show Title: “Impending Bloom”
Air Date: July 22, 1991
A darkness laced with static silence fills the screen. The eerie quiet is broken as the screen illuminates to a purplish hue that glows through the grainy resolution of the incoming signals.
The purple background is filled with smaller squares containing up close footage of a variety of flowers. The squares appear and disappear in a random arrangement as a soft interlude of light jazz begins to play over the show’s intro. A title pops onto the screen, thick golden block letters in a beautiful cursive font appear.
Impending Bloom.
Underneath the title, a small snippet of text sparkles onto the screen.
Exploring local blooms since 1979.
The title screen fades away and the screen shows a lovely field of yellow dahlias, slowly swaying in the wind. The light jazz music has changed tempo, moving to a bit of a mid-tempo beat. The rattling ride cymbal and the soft hum of the horn section punctuate the long panning shot of the field.
As the camera pans, the screen displays the name of the place where the show has found itself on this episode.
Crownwood, California.
The fields of the dahlias are shown to stretch almost to the horizon, with meticulously coordinated patches of similar colored flowers painting the landscape. Bright and vibrant shades of yellow, pink, and red shimmer in the late spring winds.
The fields are far off the beaten path, and create a stunning visual. The screen has slow fading transitions to different angles of the huge area of flowers. Wide shots show off the huge expanse of the entire bloom, and stoic close ups show the flowers and the thriving ecosystem working around them.
As the camera fades into another wide shot, amidst the vivid colors of the bloom, a cloaked figure is seen standing deep within the field of flowers. The shot holds steady, and the figure does not move. The figure is too far away to make out any details, but the dark cloak sticks out within the sea of colorful dahlias. Just before the shot begins to fade once more, the camera shakes slightly. Perhaps the camera operator has spotted the blemish among the blooms.
The show continues, the camera now panning back and forth. The jazz soundtrack has slowed, and is filled with wild drum fills that meander around a smooth bass line and some choppy horn parts.
As the camera pans from left to right, the bloom is once again front and center. The shot covers quite a lot of ground before beginning to pan back to the left. As the camera pans back over where it had just filmed, now three cloaked figures can be seen at varying distances. The black cloaks ripple in the spring breeze, mimicking the soft swaying motion of the sea of dahlias around.
A harsh cut from scene to scene occurs, with a slight distortion sent cascading through the broadcast. The camera is now moving forward through the dahlias, not with a graceful and smooth glide to the motion, but with panicked haste. The camera shakes as the operator takes devastatingly jittery steps through the innocent bloom.
The dahlias can be seen in quick glimpses being trampled upon as the operator continues through the thick foliage. As the pace of the operator quickens, he comes to a sudden stop. The screen shows a tilted view of the crushed flowers and a small portion of the operator’s leg and mud covered shoe.
The jazz soundtrack itself begins to rise as a force of sound. The drums rattle off quick fills and thunderous crashes, the string section begins a blistering technical part. All the while, the camera appears to be dangling from the hand of the unseen operator.
In a flourish of blurred motion, the camera swings back up and scans the blooms once again. A jagged gash cuts through the flowers, showing the path the camera operator had taken. The footage itself now has lost its professional touch, as the camera is clearly twitching within its operator’s hands.
The bloom remains a breathtaking sight, now devoid of any cloaked figures. The camera’s shaking slows, and the panning shots find their stability. The bloom puts everything at ease with its aura of natural serenity.
The serenity, however, is short lived.
The camera comes to a stop as it pans, focusing on a particular section of soft rolling hills within the bloom. The waves of color seem to crash into one another with an ethereal quality. The soundtrack reaches a quiet interlude, similar to the original intro, with whispers of melody dancing along the intoxicating bloom.
Within the wash of colors, a dark figure emerges. Then another. Within a second, six figures in dark cloaks stand up seemingly from within the sea of flowers. They are much closer to the camera than they had been prior. Despite their vicinity, the camera cannot seem to find any defining features or faces within the cloaks.
The operator zooms the camera in, trying to get a closer shot of the figures stalking them within the bloom.
The camera reveals nothing but the black worn fabric of the cloaks softly rustling about the obscured bodies of the unknown entities. The zoom pulls back in, and as it does, it reveals the number of figures has nearly tripled. Upon this horrific truth, the operator turns to run.
The camera is whirled about as the operator begins to sprint through the fields in a flight of pure terror. The camera swings back and forth, the colors of the bloom becoming a kaleidoscope of surreal horror. There is no audio from the camera, only an ambitious drum solo narrating the moment. The snare snaps and snarls as the camera spins even quicker.
The colors complete a final viscous swirl as the camera falls from the hand of the operator and comes to a stop. Mud splatters now decorate the lens, and the shot is from ground level. The bottom half of the screen is occupied by a lovely configuration of pink dahlias, while the upper half is the bright blue of the spring sky.
The camera remains still as the cloak figures come into view and gather around a spot just in front of the camera. Their bodies just cresting above the pink horizon created by the flowers, they form a tight grouping. One figure stretches out a pale arm, and reaches back into its cloak. The figure pulls out a sort of wooden club, and as it is revealed, the other figures all do the same.
The figures begin striking into the bloom in a chaotic manner. Each strike brings up a splash of crimson just above the bloom. The figures do not relent.
The footage cuts off, the screen draws black, and the soundtrack becomes a vile white noise.
