The Mechanical | Sci-Fi Short Film
Вставка
- Опубліковано 7 лют 2025
- In an alternate now, a lifelike android stands at the heart of two stories - her owner's life of luxury and the struggles of the workers who created her.
CAST
Maria - Rosie Johnson
Mason - Sam Pitcher
Edward - Billy Jones
Caitlin - Sophie Cain
Claire - Fionna Gough
Adam - Charles Solly
Programmer - Joe Allan
CREW
Writer & Director - Andrew Gladman
Producer - Amanda Murphy
Director of Photography - Charles Solly
Assistant Directors - Gabriela Buchanan & Craig Thorpe
Composers - Billy Jones & Charles Solly
Editors - Eleanor Adler & Charles Solly
Sound Editor - Chris Miles
Dubbing Mixer - Tim Scott
Sound Recordists - Craig Thorpe, Joe Allan & Stanley Wong
Assistant Camera - George Clarke
Boom Operator - Paris Barnes
Production Assistant - Adam Lawson
Mixed & Mastered By - Code Talker Studios
Equipment & Post-Production Services - Sollywood Production House
Produced by Final Frame Cinema
ACCOLADES
Official Selection - London Independent Film Festival
Award Winner - Florida Shorts
Best Script - Vesuvius International Film Fest
Silver Winner - Latitude Film Awards
Semi-Finalist - London Indie Short Festival
![Lp. Сердце Вселенной #60 РОЖДЕНИЕ ЛОЛОЛОШКИ [Финал] • Майнкрафт](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/YoR0pAV9FVQ/mqdefault.jpg)
"It's easier" ... brilliant last line. Love this short film. Great job!
Wow!!! This was amazing. It is becoming that these short storys are more entertaining than the full length movies at the theater. Someone should put a bunch of these together to show at a movie theater. I would go. I imagine many others would as well.
I'm excited with you.
Why would you watch a bunch of shorts together as movie?
@@fabiolocci1122 Because I enjoying going to a movie theater but a lot of the movies I see there are junk. The trailer looks good but the overall movie not so much. These are quickly becoming more entertaining than the full length movies at the theater so it would be being able to go to a theater but knowing you will be entertained
Dude dďzqzqq
Have you tried the youtube channel 'Dust' ?
Wow! Rosie played the android with excellence!
Thank you. I love how the ending was thought provoking.
Wasn't expecting that ending but god it hit home. So well done!
The woman who played Maria is beautiful
Her name is Anne Droid.
Clever .
Very nicely done and quite an interesting twist!
Great!!! Love it!
Cool ending, and so apropos for today!
Exactly my thoughts, too.
That ending is what spoiled the whole movie, actually. It's terrible, and basic.
A well produced video. Interesting plot which kept me riveted to the story line.
Great, very original, did not see the twist coming!
Brilliant. Interesting vision of the future. Surprise ending. Easy to watch. Thanks.
"It's easier"
😊👍
Very interesting concept.
A solution to human redundancy.
.
indeed. a very interesting twist. yet, in the end, it is a solution that includes other humans being programed... abandoning their former lives to escape into an ...almost... emotionless life. except the emotions cannot be easily escaped "its easier".... so that male droid wrapped up in plastic due to loss of charge? a real person... who possibly intentionally failed to reorder his maintenance... a lot to think about
This was really grand! Excellent! Thank you so much!
I am enamored by this video. And by Rosie Johnson.
This was very good. It will be a social issue and this highlights whats here (because so many workers are treated like machines) and what's to come.
But if they were real machines, built out of metal and electrical wires instead of flesh and blood none of this would have been an issue
Also, how did anyone not find out that the people who had these robots didn't own a machine, but a real human? At some point one of them may have got hurt just like Maria, or even had to pee or poo, or had to sleep. You can't take that out of a human. They're biological beings, they would break character at some point.
Fascinating. A new twist in sci-fi for me. I really enjoyed this one as simple and short as it was. I think it has MUCH potential for further episodes. Good actors too! Thanks and cheers, from Sydney Australia.
I've seen the exact same film concept on Alter or Omeletto that was made prior to this film. In that film, a married couple ordered an AI to help with the wife's loneliness while the husband was busy working after they inherited the husband's families home. In the end, the AI was human just like in this film. The concept was exactly the same. Just different characters and a different scenario. Which is a shame because had I not seen that one, I would have applauded this one for being original and well shot. However, that film won so many awards and had way too many views that I am skeptical that this film idea wasn't taken from that one. It is too much alike. It is almost as if the stories are from the same AI company just showing 2 separate points of view from 2 separate AI systems. I will say the acting was superb, scenes, lighting, editing, soundtrack, etc, were all terrific. I just wish that the story was original.
Both of these stories aren't original by any means. An AI, or a Robot that turns out to be a human, or the other way around, a human that's the main character and then at the end turns out to also be artificial, is an extremely basic, and boring plotline. None of them were original whatsoever.
As if there is such a thing as an original thought. 😆🤦
Some of the acting is just so-so, but the story is completely intriguing! Please give us more!
Wow. I don't often get blindsided anymore, but I really did not see this one coming. Also, it feels like an ORIGINAL idea.
Wow, now that was something! Love different ,better than what always seem to be the normal bad robot.
A very thought provoking story.
Easier to live as a machine. I don't think so! Great concept enjoyed it :-)
CLEVER. I enjoyed it very much.
Gripping. Deep. Compacting the story and struggles of a future society in just 12:34.
Well done. Very well done!
Very good with a nice plot twist.
Wooooo!! This was good!!! Sequel please
thumb up, creative, surprise ending, thought provoking.
Always thought it wouldmake an interesting twist on the android tale to suggest companies in future might reprogram humans (criminals, etc) as biorobots. The series Paradox did part human such with robot brains in a cloned body. Interesting.
Another good one...!
This was REALLY good & Rosie is very cute.
I really enjoyed this short film. I really loved the actress performance in this film. It reminded me of the actress who played an android in my film called Ms. Understanding, which I also loved as well. I feel this this film is well made and well done. I really enjoyed it and found it to be really engaging
Very good short and an interesting ending. In the beginning I thought, "Well, this android looks to human for me". Well, it was supposed to. 🙂
Very basic and nonsensical plot actually. Someone, somewhere would have to found out they were humans at some point. You can't take out human necessities like physical necessities or natural instincts. You can't brainwash someone enough they don't have to sleep, you know.
I can relate to the ending. Sometimes life becomes unbearable.
Hang in there oldvet , tomorrow will be better than today .
Hang in there oldvet , tomorrow will be better !
Loved it!
I actually had no problem with the audio. Great concept.
Excellent, more please.
Cool and so creepy! Kudos.
A fresh take on a subject that has been dealt with a million times already - well done!
Tbh, there's nothing fresh on this piece. The ending, and the revealing she was in fact, a human, is pretty basic and badly unexplained. We don't get too see more details about what is this company and what it does, nor we get to understand if she chose herself to become a robot. We also don't know what happened to her. If it was just a brainwash scheme, or something deeper, like modifying her actual body and brain. It's not an original take, actually, in fact, it's the opposite, it's the basic, repetitive take of "oh, she's in a fact a human/robot".. We've seen this a thousand times over...
@@niceLoganGuy384 Hm, I agree, yes, there are a ton of things unexplained. But to me, after watching hundreds of short films, the idea of human beings choosing to play the role of robots/androids is a new angle. The thing I have seen a thousand times is the AI/android starting to become human-like, e.g. developing emotions or a free will.
@@000aleph Yeah, the concept on itself isn't terrible, what is terrible is the application of this concept to this specific short. They would need a longer and better plot than this to convince anyone they were humans after all.
This is badly done by this short. Plus, you've gotta to explain how any of these people just simply didn't give up on trying to act like a robot (if it was just brainwashing, and not actually modifying their brains or anything), or how in tarnation their basic body functions weren't necessary anymore (they don't need to go to the bathroom, they don't need to sleep properly, to eat properly, they don't have instincts anymore, they don't catch diseases, etc).
I feel like even if you put on a story where this company phisically modified people's brains, so they lose their free will and now become robotic and follow orders, you can't modify someone's brain enough that they don't need to have basic human necessities, since it's an integral part of any organical being. You can't make them not be humans anymore. Machines are the way they are because they aren't made of flesh and blood. That's why this story doesn't even make sense to begin with. It doesn't add up, nothing on it adds up.
The whole "she was a human" plotline was extremely basic, repetitive and completely spoiled the whole story, which mind you, was being good so far.
@@niceLoganGuy384 I see that we're coming at this from different angles, but I do appreciate your emphasis on a solid biological and technological basis for this scenario. A current trend in SciFi shorts is to use the genre (or *misuse* it, depending on your perspective) as a vehicle to explore fashionable topics such as grief, trauma or any kind of emotional struggles, and to disregard considerations of technical plausibility entirely. I don't mind the focus on subjective experience, but if filmmakers give a damn about scientific realism then they should stay away from the SciFi genre.
In any case, to me the value of this short is simply to make viewers think about an interesting scenario (it is, after all, the inversion of the standard scenario of robots becoming human-like), consider preconditions and consequences, essentially ask themselves exactly the questions that you demand to be answered by the film. For example, I, for one, would appreciate some clear ideas on why or under what circumstances human beings would act like robots. This is exactly what the film has made *you* do and I find this a valuable result :-)
@@000aleph It's not about being realistic tbh, it's about making a plot that makes bare minimum sense. It needs to make sense on its own plotline. That's basic movie writing and storytelling. I understand it doesn't need to be "extremely realistic", even though that would be a good thing, but here the story doesn't even add up.
It needs to be explained how none of these people just got tired of mimicking roots, or how their "owners" never found out they were humans, how did they never catch any disease, how they never died of hungry, how did they never felt the need to go to the bathroom.
Like, if a company was blatantly sending people out and calling them "robots" it doesn't make sense that anyone, anywhere, wouldn't already have noticed they're not robots. It's literally impossible. Plus, like I said before, even if their physical brain have been modified, or something, it still doesn't add up how they act nothing like a human and don't need any human necessity. You can't do that. You can't modify someone enough to a point where they don't need basic biological necessities anymore. It's nonsense.
Not even in an ultra Sci-Fi movie. The only way this plot could work is if this "company" was explained more better, and if they gave it more time for us to understand how it works, who's behind that, and how anyone couldn't notice a thing. However, in my opinion, it would have been much better if she was actually a robot, and instead the short focused on their growing relationship, and the issues that followed, and how artificial the whole thing is. That would have been much better than whatever this is.
Glad it wasn't the usual ending of plots that start this way, but what could have convinced the android sellers that they could pull this off? NFT sales?
thank you for this .. good stuff .. we are more like robots than what we first thought ..
You can disable the suggestions on the Maria model, and the small talk she randomly gives on her system settings, by choosing the following:
- Settings
- Accessibility and Interaction
- Disable suggestions/small talk
Or, by simply saying: "Maria, disable small talk", or "Maria, disable conversational suggestions".
Excellent story. My only criticism is the sound levels on dialog, which are barely adequate to be heard at all. Part of the problem appears to be placement of microphones depending on the scene, and part could be corrected by raising the levels in post production. Otherwise, background sounds are all set to appropriate levels, the background music rises and falls in accordance with the mood of the scene, and all other post production sound levels are entirely appropriate. My congratulations on a sensitive job well done! Also, the acting, writing, character development, and story line are all done to a standard that blockbuster movie makers do not seem able to match. Bring up the dialog about 3-4 decibels and continue to win!
Double plus yes on sound in dialog. I missed several exchanges, which left me uncertain about the plot.
I completely agree with you. Unfortunately, this happens to a lot of BIG BUDGET movies too. Jeepers Creepes 3 & Maleficent 1 are 2 examples, & there are enough others to make an obscenely long list. Some people should be banned from editing movies.
Maybe I got it wrong, but the sound seemed to me part of the setup - deliberately getting weaker at times, to emphasize distraction and the surreality of the surroundings.
@@hagen-p Mebbe so, but if the audience can't understand a good part of the dialog, the technique has failed. (One can assume that the dialog is an integrnal part the movie, something one should not lose.)
Can't the viewer raise the volume during playback? There is a problem though at aprox. 4:53 where sound seems interrupted. Over all I don't think it is a matter of a few dB but the right mix and sound color, treble, base equalization etc. A sound engineer from the days of slide shows taught me to change the sound color of music and voice in such a way that their characteristical frequencies become more distinguishable. During dialogue you can reduce the volume of voice frequencies from the music tracks and raise them for the actors' tracks. Others recommend dynamics compression to flatten volume variations. I think that is what's missing here.
Excellant twist!!
Really great short 👏
Rosie Johnson is a BEAUTIFUL woman!
Great and well done. Both main actors are superb. I would tell her that I would love it if she choose to stay with me and live here. We are compatible!
Rosie Johnson is drop-dead gorgeous😍🥰
Good Film thanks
Luv the short film….
Excellent !
BEAUTIFULL!!
Excellant!
Hey great short movie! Unless the "Android" owners are totally clueless, it's not clear how the "machines" were able to fake/mask their bio-metabolic functions...but the real innovation here was the "realtime search engine" (baked into their ocular implants)... So Maria could auto-get answers to any question almost instantaneously (e.g. weather & traffic updates)...made her look smart... Pretty cool 👍, we're almost there w/cloud-based AI services (Alexa, OK Google, Cortana, etc)... Not gonna spoil the rest 😆
So glad you enjoyed it! Writer/director Andy here and as you mentioned the androids' "bio-metabolic functions," I thought this would be a good place to drop a little behind-the-scenes tidbit on that point! Originally the flashback scene towards the end, in which the Programmer can be heard speaking to Maria, included a line explaining the "charge pods" provide all the nutrition the AutoMates need while producing no waste. Unfortunately the line ended up being cut, mostly because the scene was going on a bit too long, but also to keep the focus on the character's emotional journey rather than getting bogged down in bits of technical explanation.
@@FinalFrameCinema Hi Andy, thanks for the very thoughtful response. The "Charge Pods" makes sense! Yes you can only pack so much into a short movie, but it's good to know your creative team thought of these small yet important details, they add up to a very enjoyable and thought provoking movie 🍿 We appreciate all your hard work, great job all around👍 Looking forward to your next great production 🙂
reference to nueralink I presume?
I'll criticize whoever made the STUPID claim that the video would have been too long. THAT IDIOT did NOT watch this thing, because it's only 12:34 long as is! That idiot won't be satisfied until all videos are only 1 FRAME long! Next time Andy, either get a backbone & stand up to this single digit IQ type, or make a video WITHOUT him!
Realtime search engine should on another device like smartphone.thats functions on android is going to dangerous,she learn ,hate , confused too much,like u give your tiger pets smell human fresh meat and blood then live with her on 1 house.
The transparency of consciousness is kept hidden in some form of a mine's worth; less, easier, justifying deed of a mind's ransom, one owner rights of an other.
"Should I always expect an audience"? No, you should always expect me to join you.
That actually would be a good line they could to demonstrate the "capabilities" of these robots, if you know what I'm saying. It's so unfortunate they didn't show any of that. The guy was too pre-occupied thinking about his work and stuff, and not enjoying his own product, I guess lol
That's definitely something a real person would do in the first 3 hours of owning one of these. Specially if it was THAT realistic.
The person who is reading this comment , i wish you great success , health, love and happiness!!! ♥
Excellent film!
This gave me the chills. Time to Awaken, sleeping Ones… We are not meant to live as robots. The Organic Highest Human Timeline is aligned with Creating, Love, and Abundance. Happy Lunar Year of the Water Rabbit. Themes include spiritual awakening and Abundance 💜
Cheers from the Pacific West Coast of Canada.
*¡enjoyed at 5:09 pm Pacific DayLight Savings Time on Thursday, 6 October 2022!*
Genius concept! Next level creativity
Nice. Where can I buy one? For the articles of course.....
A thought-provoking foray into what is today's environment. Are we not robots in some ways? Are we not controlled by others? Interesting
"Why live as a machine?"
"It's easier."
11:22 ''why live as a machine'' ..... Maria, ''it's easier'' So sad
A very interesting take on the new wave of fervour regarding robots. Quite implausible, but the point is quite poignant, though sad, that life can be such a crushing burden on some, that they would rather submit to someone else running their life for them. Very well produced and acted.
@@jamesconway1093 Thanks for the funny backhand compliment. I don't know if you mean "will have to become robots" literally or figuratively. It seems that the controls on our lives are tightening at an alarming pace. I couldn't make out the speech near the end of the video well, only "because it's easier", which sounded like the woman had given up on directing her own life. I'm getting up there in age, so I'm thankful that I hopefully won't have to endure the coming nightmare very long. May God or aliens or those from the future come to the aid of we hapless human beings.
@@jamesconway1093 I did not miss out on any of this, my cantankerous fellow human. However, did you miss out on, "You chose this"? So I was focused on why some one would choose to be a "chattel slave". The "woman" said, "It's easier". Therefore, I deduced, that living, as a free individual was too stressful for her and therefore she subjugated herself to a life of servitude to fulfill her physical needs, instead of trying to meet them herself among the hoi-polloi. Humans have always had "servants" and some people have adapted quite well to this sort of life. It could provide a source of belonging and meaning/function, essential human needs, which can be very difficult for many unfortunates to acquire "on the streets". Is not being in the military a similar form of life ?
@@jamesconway1093 Carlos is correct
@@jamesconway1093 His original interpretation of the allegory presented in this short was plausible.
@@The1stDukeDroklar Strictly speaking, there's some validity to both interpretations, but Jerkle is closer to the intended message. I wouldn't want to say there's one "correct" reading, as that's really in the eye of the beholder, but it's very much a story of how capitalism robs workers of their humanity and reduces them to slaves in purely mechanical roles, not through explicit force, but by controlling and restricting the options open to them.
Perhaps the message is that women were built to serve.
Just like the Bible says
So…she’s not an artificial human, but a human whose brain is programmable? How does that work? And when will gorgeous redheads be available? I’d like two, please. 😊
So now, repeat after me... "I am not a pleasure unit."
Too bad the music drowned out the dialogue. I couldn't hear it. Sounded like voices under water.
I hope we have helpers like this very soon.. a robot to cook and clean and work on house and cars and teach your kids at home up to doctor level education. Along with making your medicine and chemistry at home.
Unfortunately having these in the real world would require a massive technological leap that we definitely won't be able to achieve. AI isn't even that great yet, and robotics goes way beyond just AI advancements.
Princess Beatrice was always cold and distant towards me...
Fantastic storyline. Love the ending.
This sure makes one think about genders in a robotic ascendancy. 👏👏🎬
Good Movie
Nice video.
Maria is a heck of a lot better looking than the Ex Machina girl!
I kinda like it.
A thought-provoking metaphor. Well done, you.
Correction, it was not a metaphor. It was a parable, a story intended to teach a moral lesson. A metaphor is a figure of speech such as, 'The falling snow blanketed the ground.' Or, 'The sheep's fleece was as black as coal.' 'Her movements were as mechanical as a machine,' is also a metaphor. However, that can't be said about the story itself.
I hope that you accept that the correction was made in good faith and not to diminish your comment. Besides, you can correct it...or not, most people wouldn't recognize the difference anyway. Peace and cheers!
@@metaspherz actually, it was an allegory, which is a sub-category of metaphor. I taught college writing/english/literature
@@TamTran-vw7zm Can you explain how it's an allegory?
"It's easier." Ouch.
2 minutes in, she's perfect, I want one 😍
It's easier. that's what they want us to think. we're the ones being programed.
I've heard predictions Automation will free people from boring repetitive jobs, and give them unlimited free time. I've yet to hear how they will have funds to enjoy this unlimited free time?
Well, it would be with robots like these. You'd have way too much fun with stuff like this.
Technology is infinite...In less then 20 years I will have my first relationship with a robot..The future is full of sunshine..
Now it's only your robotic arm? 😁
I could not hear what was said
Can someone provide the script for the contractual agreement portion of the video?
👍
Around the ten minute mark the vocals became so bad I couldn't make them out. Its hard to keep the story line going if you can't hear what they are saying.
It reminds me a bit if the "Hubots" from "Real Humans".
Scarlett Ingrid Johansson double!
Yeah I knew right at 7:13 that she wasn't an android. Such a disappointed look can't be programmed 😅
ROSIE JOHNSON GREAT ACTRESS
The audio needs work, I can’t hear much of it! Excellent otherwise, very thought provoking and interesting
This was a good attempt at telling a story, but it ultimately doesn't quite work, and falls flat. It's essentially a home movie with a narrative thread. Kudos for adding the news broadcasts as a component. With tweaks to the script and cinematography this could be much better. One such change could be showing her life before being turned into an automaton. Not too much so that we easily figure it out, but just enough to (build suspense and) question what's really going on here before the reveal.
Great idea - very well executed.
So she is human? I dont understand
Love hot Androids 😂
So much better then the 304s you get these day thanks to feminists...
So no one could tell they were with a person. They were just sending people out.
He should've known something after going to bed with her 😏 Great film good job 👍👍
He didn't go to bed with her, unfortunately. That's actually a good point from you, they've missed out on showing that. If this stuff existed, the first thing a man do is try it out in bed lol.