Moment of Clarity

The most interesting about a total eclipse is the day-for-night ('Hollywood Darkness') look of the world at the diamond ring phase: You feel like you are on a distant planet or moon, illuminated with dim light from its star.

I've 'seen' this kind of light in dreams--a kind of moonlight that is perceived through blindsight--perhaps influenced by ambient light. I used to have 'moonlit' dreams at a time where I had bright light coming from a streetlight outside my window. The eyes aren't seeing the light but other nerve cells in the body are detecting photons. (See this article).

Lighting in film and photography is different because we expect artifice, and the experience (including sound recordings) are partially conjured by the brain. (Like certain songs evoking certain places where you've heard them in the past.)

Saying "it's like something you'd seen in a movie" doesn't apply to total eclipses, but I'd love to see a better approximation of that beautiful light in film.