12. Mist
- Tom Payne
- Jul 10, 2025
- 2 min read
Updated: Dec 16, 2025
I go back to my point—the way in which clouds, as a matter of fact, become visible. I have defined the floating or sky cloud, and defined the falling or earth cloud. But there’s a sort of thing between the two, which needs a third definition: namely, Mist. In the 22nd page of his Glaciers of the Alps, Professor Tyndall says that “the marvellous blueness of the sky in the earlier part of the day indicated that the air was charged, almost to saturation, with transparent aqueous vapour.” Well, in certain weather that is true. You all know the peculiar clearness which precedes rain,[1]—when the distant hills are looking nigh. I take it on trust from the scientific people that there is then a quantity—almost to saturation—of aqueous vapour in the air, but it is aqueous vapour in a state which makes the air more transparent than it would be without it. What state of aqueous molecule is that, absolutely unreflective of light—perfectly transmissive of light, and showing at once the colour of blue water and blue air on the distant hills?
‘Winter to Spring’ – a short DIY film response by Ruby Davison, BA (Hons) Acting and Performance, Sheffield Hallam University, Thursday 11 December 2025.
I responded this way as I was drawn to this passage of Ruskin's text and the idea of exploring transitions in nature. I wanted to illustrate the changes in nature as humans experience it therefore I used shots of common elements of nature so that my audience could really connect with the transitions displayed, such as local flowers and rivers.
The story my work tells is one of transition and change. It demonstrates a regular, expected change in nature (the changing of seasons) and so allows the audience to relate this to their experiences of natural and emotional changes during the changing seasons. With the transition from heavier rainfall sounds to lighter birds and humming I aimed to allow the audience to immerse themselves into each season, so they experience the changes as they come in the film.
This process has changed my way of working as I explored how to incorporate various texts as well as my own writing into my film. I also focused on visual elements more heavily in this film, something which I have not done before, as I experimented with editing each shot and piecing them together. I had to make shots filmed on the same day look like different seasons and so I had to learn how to use filters and camera angles to achieve my desired image. Therefore, this process has changed my way of working as I was able to develop my skills and also consider visual and textual elements I had not before.