Joshua Tree is so quiet you can hear the flapping of a bird's wings. The only trees, which are spikey, Dr. Seuss-like and look like multi-armed beings, make the place seem like the surface of another planet.
Which may be why LA filmmakers Gavin Heffernan, Michael Darrow, Ben Dally, and John Brookins chose the state park as the location to film a timelapse of the majestic skies above.
Hefferman described to The Atlantic how they created the breathtaking video:
We use two cameras (one Canon EOD 7D with a EF-S18-135mm Zoom Lens 3.5 and a Canon EOS 5D Mk II with a Canon Prime 24mm f1.4 L-Series) two tripods and two intervalometers. All motion-control effects are done in post-production. We scan the skies for areas with the least amount of light pollution and regions of constellational interest, and then we set up and shoot. Exposures are usually between 20 and 30 seconds, so it often takes as long as two hours to get eight to ten seconds of footage.
The video is part two of what they hope to be a series, after the success of their first timelapse, the original "Joshua Tree Journey". Hefferman shared that the team hopes to make future timelapses at higher altitudes, where there the stars shine even brighter.
CORRECTION: An earlier version of this story stated that Joshua Tree is a state park, but it is a national park.