Private Project

Entombed

A Sci-Fi thriller: The Great Crossing is approaching and an ancient and highly advanced civilisation builds a massive and complex system of tunnels and halls, deep underground, to escape the onslaught of an impending period of devastating meteor storms. A terrible and deadly drama unfolds as the System begins to flood. The few who survive must begin again in a new world. Archeologists uncover remnants of this long forgotten epoch and make a shocking discovery.

  • Barry Ferrier
    Director
  • Des Collins
    Writer
    The Who Quadraphenia
  • Barry Ferrier
    Producer
  • Barry Ferrier
    Sound Design
  • Barry Ferrier
    Editor
  • Project Type:
    Animation, Experimental, Short
  • Genres:
    Sci Fi
  • Runtime:
    30 minutes
  • Completion Date:
    August 17, 2023
  • Production Budget:
    2,500 AUD
  • Country of Origin:
    Australia
  • Language:
    English
  • Aspect Ratio:
    16:9
  • Film Color:
    Color
  • First-time Filmmaker:
    No
  • Student Project:
    No
  • Digital Cinema Package:
    Unavailable
  • Winner, New York Arthouse Film Festival
    New York
    United States
    Best Experimental Film
Director Biography - Barry Ferrier

Barry Ferrier is an Australian musician and multimedia artist based near Byron Bay, where he is a local pioneer of live music performance. Barry is a multi-instrumentalist, singer and multi-award winning song-writer / composer who has enjoyed a long and diverse career in the performing arts industry.

Born in Sydney Australia, Barry gained early recognition in music theatre, appearing as a vocalist in the iconic original Australian production of ‘Jesus Christ Superstar’ at the Capitol Theatre, Sydney and Palais, Melbourne, and later in ‘Joseph and the Amazing Technicolour Dreamcoat’ at the Seymour Centre, Sydney.

He was composer for the internationally famous Lindsay Kemp Mime Company, performing in their productions of ‘Flowers‘ in Melbourne, and composing the music in collaboration with Andrew Wilson for Kemp’s production of Oscar Wilde’s ‘Salome’, decribed by the London Times as 'thrilling', and which was a sell out for 18 months at London’s Roundhouse.

He has worked with many of the leading names in Australian music including playing bass with the 80s chart-toppers ‘The Ferrets’, lead guitar for Australian rock legend Jeff St. John, opening for guitar maestro Ry Cooder at Melbourne’s Palais Theatre, and blues legend John Hammond in Byron Bay. Barry toured Australia as band leader and guitarist for the legendary diva and international Superstar Eartha Kitt.

He has written three stage musicals which have been performed and recorded and a jazz opera based on the life of Melbourne gangster Squizzy Taylor.

He was a pioneer of electronic music in Australia and performed his multimedia production "Of Dreams and Machines" at Brisbane QPAC Concert Hall in the mid 80s and composed music for the QANTAS "Light Fantastic" animatronic parades at Brisbane's Expo '88.

In the 90s he toured Europe and the UK, performed at many of Australia's leading music festivals, and won awards for his songwriting and videos.

His PhD focussed on how technology has the power to change art, and Barry became Professor of Multimedia at Bond University on Australia's Gold Coast.

In the past 12 months Barry has won 17 international film awards in Film Festivals across the globe.

In late 2023, his 30-minute sci-fi film "Entombed" won 'Best Experimental Film' at the New York Arthouse Film Festival, was a finalist in the 2023 Vancouver 'Director's Cut' Film Festival, and semi-finalist in 5 international festivals, including the 2024 Melbourne Independent Film Awards, the 2024 Hawaii International Film Awards, the St. Louis Film Awards, and the 2024 the Arthouse Festival of Beverly Hills.

He directed & edited the Music Videos 'Lyra's Dream', which won the "Best Music Video" Award at the Hollywood Discovery Awards, and "Bailar con la Luna," which won the "Best Music Video" Award at the New York Underground Cinema Awards.

His video clip for his original song "Welcome to Tomorrow" won the "Best Music Video" Award at the 2024 'California Indies' Film Festival and the Austin International Art Festival.

"Echoes of the Future", also a Barry Ferrier original song, won "Best Music Video' at the 2024 'New York Shorts' Film Festival.

His retro sci-fi electro-pop video "Living Sci-Fi" won "Best Music Video" at the Toronto Film and Script Awards.

"Titanic Deckchairs” - which focuses on global inaction in the face of existential crises, has been chosen by the judges as "Best Music Video" at the 4th Amsterdam Movie Festival.

The music video "Midnight Till Dawn Shift" which expresses—what we all experience—of struggling with one’s late-night demons, hopes, regrets, and fears on a sleepless night, only to find the light of a new morning washes away that midnight angst., was awarded "Best Music Video" at the 2024 Seattle Filmmaker Awards.

His animated film calling for unity in the face of the disastrous plastic catastrophe 'The Sea Remembers' won the "Best Animation' Award at the 9th Cannes Arts Film Festival and the 2025 Shanghai Indie Film Festival. It also won "Best Environmental Film" at the 2024 New York Shorts Film Festival and “Best Animation Short at the Hong Kong Indie Film Festival

He topped this amazing run of success off with ‘Best Music Video’ at the Edinburgh Independent Film Festival for his gothic music video ‘Count Dracula’s Mistress’ exploring themes of forbidden desire and the allure of darkness, and "Best Erotic Short" at both the Niagara Falls International Film Festival and the Austin International Art Festival for "Je Veux Te Sentir" (I Want To Feel You).

Add Director Biography
Director Statement

The story is everything in film - and Des Collins has written a great story - Entombed. Themes of hope in the struggle against adversity, the renewing cycles of life, and humanity pulling together in the face of existential crisis. I thank Des Collins for providing the inspiration for this film, and I am so proud to have helped Des to finally gain recognition for his writing.
It's been an interesting journey for me. The focus of my PhD was a study of how technology changes and influences art, and I looked specifically at how digital technology and the computer revolution had the potential for transforming and democratising the major art forms.
I was especially interested in the idea posed in Herman Hesse's fascinating novel 'the Glass Bead Game' way back in the 1930s, of a machine within which all the arts could be combined, allowing an artist to truly become an auteur or Meta Artist.
Thus, the recent advent of AI into the world of the arts was an exciting development for me, and I immediately plunged headlong into experimenting with the possibilities it opened up, to create imagery, sound, and human like voices - exciting tools for sci fi and fantasy movie making, previously only accessible to those with massive budgets.
While there are genuine grave concerns about the potential negative and dangerous effects of AI on human society, and it's possibility to create evil and havoc in the hands of those with a criminal mindset - on the positive side we are witnessing a revolution as important as the advent of the internet in it's potential to transform the way we do things - including the visual arts, music, and film making.
My analogy for those who fear AI is: after four hundred years of perfecting realistic painting to an amazing skill level, the invention of the camera made this obsolete overnight - yet within a few years we saw the emergence of surrealism, cubism, abstract art - a host of new visionary ways of populating the empty canvas previously undreamed of. This kind of transformation will happen in art, music and film in the coming years - in fact it's already happening.
I am an example. When I had the idea of making this little film in my spare bedroom/studio a few months back, I had no idea it would lead to a major film award in New York, it was just a fun diversion, but I was able to make the film totally on my own without cameras, sound tech, lighting, actors etc. I did have the advantage of being able to make the music and create the sound design - a crucial factor in the success of a film. I was able to play every role in imagining and synthesising a piece of multimedia art, just as Herman Hesse predicted - and, as I argued in my PhD thesis back in the 90s, the desktop computer would , and now has, become the Glass Bead Game of his prescient vision. I didn’t think back then that this would happen in my own lifetime
AI film making will not replace traditional real world films - it's a new category, in the same way electronic music hasn't replaced the blues.
Many people are making crazy novel imagery with AI, but going beyond that - to sustain a narrative, create dramatic tension, and engage the audience, still comes down to having a good story to tell.
Having the film become a finalist in the Vancouver 'Directors Cut' International Film Festival and now receiving this New York Arthouse Film Fest award has been very encouraging recognition, and Des and I are currently developing a full length screen play for the coming blockbuster version, so we haven't made the film publically available, except to close friends and family, as it's easy to plagiarise a good idea.
Stay tuned!