flicker, flicker, flicker, wham! flicker flicker flicker, wham!
in between the frames of the movie i could make out the anomaly, it must have registered on an unconscious level and instinct made me notice it. i grabbed the remote and hit rewind. frame by frame until i froze the first one. then the second, then following the sequence saw the scene hidden through the movie. it was wagnerian in scale, the fallen angels, brought to their knees by sound, a woman singing.
it took a while, my friend mike who is an editor assisted me, we spliced the sequence onto another disc, and then extracted the sound track from each frame over the hidden narrative.
it took five hours. mike was a perfectionist and although i didn't mind a rough edit he wanted to get it right. eventually we sat back in his studio, in front of the big screen and pressed play.
the song was old, some sort of spiritual gospel thing, scratchy and worn, but rich and sung beautifully. we watched in silence as the angels fell to the floor covering their ears and crying, and dying. it was the strangest thing. in the background was a golden archway, a portal that began to glow and throb as light began to pour out from it, and slowly as we neared the last few frames the light turned the whole frame white. we were blinded and turned away and then nothing. mike looked slightly stunned, 'it's very professionally done. they've embedded this subliminally into the main feature and most people would never know.'
'but they would pick up on it, at some level, right?'
'you did but i'm not sure if many would, it's not exactly obvious.'
'what does it mean?'
'it could be anything, maybe a message.'
we played it again and wrote the words down.

flash out the search light, dark is the way,



some weary wand'rer is going astray,


many temptations lurk now at his side,


many the perils that in his path hide.




flash out the search light, brighten the way,


follow the souls that in darkened paths stray,


search in the highways, search in the byways,


tell them that jesus bids them come home.




flash out the search light, bright let it shine,


bearing the message of mercy divine,


christ the Redeemer who seeketh for thee,


offers a pardon so full and so free.




light up the darkness, scatter the night,


there is a brother who longs for the light,


now he is faltering, do not delay,


flash out the search light and brighten the way.