Christopher Webster [Celluloid 01.07.11] post apocalyptic movie news cyberpunk short video



What if someone invented a virtual world that was preferable to the real world? Would we all choose to exist on "the inside" and let the outside world decay and become a barren apocalyptic wasteland? Filmmaker Thoman Wightman thinks it could happen and he explores it in his short film Outside.

The film is obvioulsy well shot (the impressive image of the massive, delapitated housing block will stay with you I predict), but I do think more could have been done with such a cool concept and I hope that Wightam expands on the idea at some point.

Synopsis:
Three lives are connected in a world whose inhabitants predominantly prefer the secure realities of an implicit inside world to that of the physical world.

Check out the short film Outside after the break.

Outside from Thomas Wightman on Vimeo.

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Anonymous (11 years ago) Reply

This is happening each day, progressively, for years, to lead us to a machine sustained life for and in the Matrix.
Outside world sucks for centuries already anyway.

More about the short:
http://www.britfilms.com/britishfilms/catalogue/browse/?id=6D9AB8011e0e629C72uTo1B3B932
http://argotandochre.com/2010/08/18/james-roper-x-thomas-wightman-outside/

Anonymous (11 years ago) Reply

Okay...

If I didn't read the Synopsis: I would have had no idea what this was about. I still don't get what was going on. I assume that cloth in a chopstick was how they get into the VRworld?

what were they doing with it? Making curtains?

are most of the people in the VR world 24/7, because if that cloth chopstick thing is the way people use it. They would need food/water and the other things people need.

Thanks for sharing the movie.

Hot Fuzz (11 years ago) Reply

I agree the idea is better than the movie. It looks really nice, but way more interesting stuff could have explored.

Sean B (11 years ago) Reply

Read the "Circuit of Heaven" by Dennis Danvers, it's about precisely this topic!

agentorange (11 years ago) Reply

Cool, thanks Sean. I'll try to track it down.

THOMAS WIGHTMAN (11 years ago) Reply

Thank you for the comments good and bad.

Like both as I take both positively.

Any questions I'd be happy to answer and yes I'm planning to extend this into a longer project.

Shocbomb (11 years ago) Reply

A LIttle different them this but some scientist actually think as we search/find life in the universe we will come across huge membrane world's. Where all the intelligent beings of that planet joined there minds together to form one huge membrane that acts and thinks as one.

Anonymous (11 years ago) Reply

Brilliant cinematography and sound. I think the disconnect for myself and some others stems from the cloth/VR concept. While everything else (clothing, buildings, props, etc) appears to give a sense of the time being a few years into the future, unless I missed an article in Wired magazine, cloth computer interfaces seem like a concept for hundreds of years into the future. It's so alien a concept that is makes it difficult for viewers to grasp what's happening. That coupled with the fact the only VR playback shown was in the reflections of their eyes creates a confusion as to what is happening or what is at stake. It would be interesting to see the same film with full screen VR playback scenes intercut in those places. So that we understand the concept and some greater character depth is achieved.

donc48 (11 years ago) Reply

I have to roll with Hot Fuzz on this one the idea was better than execution. Its an intriguing concept that unlike some hasn’t been done to death good luck with the longer work.

Thomas Wightman (11 years ago) Reply

The difficulty with the film being put on different sites is it doesn't put it in context. This film is very much an experimental non linear narrative short film so it will alienate some audiences.
Saying that it's good to have it on this site as the content is ideal.
This film cost around £2000 to make. I agree with some of the statements above about the story etc...but it's there to be developed. The overall narrative is a lot more detailed and this film is purposefully ambigous.
In the script It was written that we saw a part of the 'Inside' world, which would have made some scenes a lot clearer, but sadly we weren't able and couldn't afford an animator to realise my detailed and very specific vision for it.
In relation to the cloth material we wanted something that was tangible and more organic. Most people would expect technology to have developed beyond a material, but that's the point really as the technology is embedded in the environment and each piece of material is a new transmittor if you like. Most sci fi films are very hi tech, but I wanted the opposite as I wanted to show a regression. Also one persons
use is another persons artistic material.
Thank you for checking out the film and please send any relevant links to further reading as 'Outside' is being developed but I'm just in the middle of another film at the minute.
Cheers Thomas 

Bunk (11 years ago) Reply

I think what the director says above is really smart. Technology is getting so small that we should assume it will exist in every little thing we touch -- plastic, facbic, plant, mineral. Makes sense to me.

Good luck Thomas. We need more thinkers making films these days.

Anglebender (11 years ago) Reply

I just love the fact that independent film is almost exclusively shot on HD nowadays :D

Hal (11 years ago) Reply

"Tbe Machine Stops, E.M. Forster, 1912...

wolfeyes (11 years ago) Reply

I'm sort of glad it didn't depict the 'inside' world, as the mystery of it lent more weight to the excellent sound design.

IceEateer (11 years ago) Reply

Good filming. Good sound. Good looking actors. Good Style.

Bad short film. If you want to shop this preview around as a potential film, you're going to need much more story driven elements.

The story drives everything. If you have a good story, you don't need good style. The style would just be the icing. You almost have it reversed. Work on the story before you get the style.

I'm not going to write the story for you, but you could have easily explore elements like VR addiction, VR vs Real world contrasts, and people relationships.

Thomas Wightman (11 years ago) Reply

Disagree man sorry

The story is there, but not fed to you. Not shipping this around as a preview.

Cheers for the comments though

Thomas Wightman (11 years ago) Reply

Good angles for story too. All have been discussed, but its a fine line. Will continue to work on it, but got a few other bits to finish first.
The story isn't the key thing in Outside It's the idea. It's an experimental short. There is a story there, but it isn't in your face.

Thomas Wightman (11 years ago) Reply

Sorry IceEateer that sounded like I was being really negative towards your comments. Not my intention at all. I actually shouldn't come on this site and left comments, but I thought it would be a good opportunity to hear peoples opinions good and bad.
Outside was entered in the experimental section for the Vimeo festival, which was always it's intended market. I do believe there is a story there, but I suppose we all have differing opinions on narrative, but I do intend to focus more on the story as I feel there is a lot left there to be said and looked into.

IceEateer (11 years ago) Reply

Hey. I didn't take anything personally. :) I was just offering a point of view from a more business perspective, I guess. I'm not much of a film director and there's no way I can make a video 1/10th as good as yours. It's stylistically very nice.

Also, the fact that you listen to people's opinions show that you can grow and that will make you a great film director one day.

Again, my perspective is just the mainstream/business. That, that is something I believe I'm more qualified in.

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