Concept
Through creating a fictional world in which humans alongside few other remaining life forms inhabit a desolate planet, the purpose of the film is to explore major critiques for the current implications of industrialization, showcasing not a dystopian future, but rather a world that feels adjacent to that of our own, specifically factors such as our waste, climate deterioration, overproduction and power dynamics.
The film opens in darkness with a distant light flickering down what appears to be a tunnel. Faint sounds of metal grinding begin to echo louder as the brightness increases, which reveals the viewer’s position riding atop a suspended cargo container. These tracks serve as the veins for this civilization, in which the cargo contains necessities, passengers or other resources. Each container is anchored by its 8 corners to the track, allowing for movement on all axes. After exiting the tunnel, several other tracks become visible following the same direction. The track turns right, then begins an upward incline; here, the camera comes almost to a stop, watching the container begin climbing. Due to a slight shake at this point, small pieces of debris fall from an opening in the container.
After a brief display of a mound of accumulated debris at the base of the incline, it is revealed that the cargo is traveling up and inside of a large pyramidal structure, with other pyramids scattering the nearby vicinity. The following shots displaying the surrounding landscape hints of the aftermath of excessive resource extraction, showing terraced mountains stretching past the horizon.
Cargo and transport rails
Within this fictional world, the ability for life to sustain itself is largely artificial, in the sense that no natural life remains outside of humans or their control. While the pyramidal shape is symbolic of a timeless, internationally showcased form, the design is strictly based on its function. The climate conditions are not immediately threatening in temperature, yet due to the disrupted and thinning atmosphere, oxygen deprivation or radiation exposure provide little ability to survive above ground. Within the pyramids, however, the center atrium provides a protective (and oppressive) shield to the outside world, and additional space can be created by digging further into the ground.
Next, the viewer slowly climbs a short distance and reaches the pyramid’s peak, where the containers are sorted and descend down into the atrium. An aerial view then exposes a network of cell-like towers within. These ‘towers’ are comprised of cylindrical metal frames with a protective tarp/film stretched across extruded anchor points. Serving the purpose similar to the civilization’s lungs, the last remaining form of agricultural life exists within these protected towers. A tree-like vine that produces fruit ascends through these metal ribs, spiraling and weaving in every direction.
Interior of pyramid atrium
Plan view and interior
After the viewer is introduced to this enclosed city, the film takes a short reprieve to view the other side of the fence, so-to-speak. Beginning at the outside of what appears to be a dining room setup, a clean circular window contrasts the heavily weathered exterior and the previous environments. A wider shot then shows a small arrangement of ‘homes’, each with circular windows that emit a subtle greenish glow. These homes sit atop a clear and vast plane of water, with landscapes barely imprinting in the background.
Now inside of the structure, the viewer then sees an over-the-shoulder shot of a peculiar dining layout. Dozens of crystal glasses scatter the tabletop, layers of semi-translucent cloth divide the table and room into four parts, and on a dish, slices of lime. The walls and floor are going to have a chiseled-like appearance, as if the room had been carved out of the concrete.
(Want to add extra shot, maybe replace second one below with aerial view from the middle or corner of the ceiling)
Highest class' homes
There is much discussion of an exclusive and specific feeling at a society’s highest point of power or influence, in which isolation is the product of such possession of power. To suggest this, I came to the conclusion that a dining room would feel most intimate and effective. Almost universally, sharing a meal is not only a social ritual or habit, but often a reinforcement of community. By physically separating each seat and section of the table with a semi-translucent drapery, there is an illusion of community through the physical presence and potentially silhouette of others behind the cloth. Yet, with the additional physical barrier being the array of glasses across the table, it may be inferred no such community is possible within such space. As a finishing detail, each object or piece of furniture would be textured in a more luxurious fashion.
Transitioning back into the atrium of the pyramid, the viewer is now introduced to the ground level. Here, primitive cement structures and factories stack randomly throughout, similar to that of a favela or other tiered city. Electric posts ascend these structures with wires extending in every direction. In addition, the ground level houses a modular cargo port, where cargo coming in and out is sorted and transferred outward throughout the atrium. With an exposed metal truss structure, the cargo can be observed on the outside traveling within the grid in multiple directions.
We then come slightly closer into the city, hovering above a bustling intersection. Dozens of wires and minor clouds of dust conceal most of the visibility, but beneath, crowds of people commute within these visible openings. The camera then transitions to the ground level, using a rack focus that begins on passerby’s shoes, but ends on a piece of fruit lying on the ground.
(May adjust first shot composition to include more of cargo port-- or add new shot in between)
Main cargo port
In this sequence, the viewer is briefly introduced to the appearance of life within the pyramid. In addition, though, the recurring symbol of the lime plays a separate role in understanding the dynamics of this civilization. Due to a complete loss of variety in resources, these lime fruits exist as one of the last remaining food sources; hence, why within the wealthier setting, the only dish served consists of this lime.
By depicting the lime in various settings, one more powerful and another in the average, in which one is presented arguably more elegantly, and in the other is potentially plentiful enough to be discarded on the ground, an ironic characteristic of the civilization is revealed. In this world, in which human life’s sole sustaining resource is carefully cultivated and sufficiently meets their needs, this basic necessity no longer exists as a privilege, a privilege that creates exclusivity in those in power. This emphasizes the need for reaching exclusivity by physical space, with such distinct contrast between the overcrowded and heavily industrial zones within the pyramid, and the more powerful homes sitting comfortably on the surface of a vast and empty lake.
In the final sequence of the film, the viewer sits along the top edge of a circular open-pit mine with rough terraces. Small clouds of dust and excavation equipment frame the foreground. The shot holds still for a drawn-out period of time, roughly 8 seconds, before an explosion erupts at the bottom of the basin. After a moment, in which the smoke has risen for a few seconds into the air, the foreground dust begins to fly at the camera.
The film then cuts back to the open lake with the higher class' homes. The plume of smoke continues to rise slowly and far away in the distance, with faint imprints of mountains barely surpassing the horizon. We then hover above one of the homes, as a small ripple of water begins to approach it. Importantly, previous shots depict the water as almost crystal-clear, with almost no movement; thus, the ripple's waves hold more 'weight' in this scene. The final shot displays the camera, close-up hovering right above the water, following the front-most ripple as it races toward the home. Once we reach the corner of the home, the camera pauses, as we watch the ripple crash into the home anticlimactically.
The beginning of this sequence hints at the construction of another possible pyramid, where explosives are used as initial methods of digging and breaking up the ground beneath, along with the added mining equipment in the foreground. However, the ripple in the water with the explosion's smoke in the distance is symbolic of the state of our uppermost powerful class, both in real life and here, in which they stand far removed from the daily life of average people. Importantly, the small crash of the wave suggests that the degree in which problems or violence, whether invisible and systematic or tangible in other ways, in the lives of average individuals, is seemingly benign to those in power.
Animatic
References
