NESTS of Glass + Steel
From silent glass towers in the clouds Kings and Queens survey the world they control below. The near future viewed through the eyes of a micro-surveillance drone as the colony sleepwalks through its daily routine. George Orwell’s 1984 meets Kong.
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Matt BiggsDirector
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Matt BiggsProducer
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Tom BiggsKey Cast"Isaac"
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Joanna FordKey Cast"Drone Pilot"
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Kai EngelMusic
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Project Type:Animation, Short
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Runtime:4 minutes 14 seconds
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Completion Date:June 1, 2018
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Country of Origin:United Kingdom
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Country of Filming:United Kingdom
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Language:English
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Shooting Format:4k
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Aspect Ratio:16:9
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Film Color:Color
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First-time Filmmaker:No
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Student Project:No
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Portobello Film FestivalLondon
United Kingdom
September 11, 2018
UK Premiere
Finalist -
ROS Film FestivalElche
Spain
September 16, 2018
European Premiere
Finalist -
El Paso IMPACTFest Film FestivalEl Paso
United States
October 27, 2018
North American Premiere
Official Selection -
Darkroom Film FestivalLondon
United Kingdom
September 29, 2018
Official Selection -
RATMA Film FestivalKeighley
United Kingdom
October 13, 2018
Winner Best Sci-Fi short -
WE ARE ALL OTHERS Short Film FestivalRoma Sur
Mexico
November 17, 2018
Official Selection -
KRAF International Short Film FestivalTitov
Croatia
December 12, 2018
Finalist (Animation Category) -
KingstOOn 2019Kingston
Jamaica
January 25, 2019
Semi-Finalist -
KRAF International Short Film FestivalTitov
Croatia
December 12, 2018
Best Director -
Webisode Film FestivalHouston
United States
April 11, 2019
Official Selection -
TAAFI - Toronto Animation Arts Festival InternationalToronto
Canada
February 17, 2019
Shortlisted -
NanoCon Mk. VI Science-Fiction ConventionLongview
United States
March 29, 2019
Semi-Finalist -
Indiana Comic ConventionIndianapolis
United States
August 31, 2019
Nominee: Best VFX -
MOHA Short Film NightBudapest
Hungary
March 30, 2019
Official Selection -
Art All Night - Trenton: 7th Annual Film FestivalTrenton
United States
June 16, 2019
Official Selection -
Cartoon Club – International Festival of Animation Cinema, Comics and GamesRimini
Italy
July 14, 2019
Official Selection -
Logo Alexandre Trauner ART/Film FestivalSzolnok
Hungary
October 21, 2019
Official Selection -
NAFCo Film Festival SeriesDuBois
United States
October 19, 2019
Official Selection -
Chihuahua International Film FestivalChihuahua
Mexico
November 15, 2019
Official Selection -
KINO FEST International FilmFestivalBucharest
Romania
October 25, 2019
Official Selection -
Anilogue International Animation FestivalBudapest
Hungary
November 27, 2019
Official Selection -
Athens Digital Arts FestivalAthens
Greece
November 15, 2019
Official Selection Animation programme -
The BeBop Channel Content FestivalNew York
United States
June 4, 2020
Official Selection -
Chennai International Short Film FestivalChennai
India
February 15, 2020
Official Selection -
Squat Betty Avant Garde Film NightLondon
United Kingdom
February 23, 2020
Official Selection
Matt is an independent filmmaker and VFX artist based in North Devon. Most of his commercial film work is educational and documentary. Matt has worked all over the world but is firmly rooted to the rugged North Devon coast where he also runs film and animation workshops in several local schools.
Last summer I spent two days filming interviews on floor 27 of the Shard in London. During breaks I filmed what ever caught my eye out of the windows. The whole experience was quite surreal, cocooned in a totally silent room behind self cleaning glass you started to question if the whole of the vista below was real. Perhaps I’ve just spent too long reading Manga and SiFi?! The idea for the film happened very quickly while on the train heading back to the West Country. The obvious wealth generated by multi national companies that has created the London skyline of glass and steel soon changes as the train glides through the suburbs.
The Process
The look of the film very much reflects my love of the classic monster movies; Kong, Godzilla and Cloverfield. With this film I didn't limit myself to one creature at a set size, all the ants are different. I cut from macro shots at almost actual size to a 500ft high insect towering above the skyline. All of the back plates were shot in 4k. I tried where ever possible, to use original elements from the footage in all of the compositing. I didn't actually film any plates with the sun setting or at night so creating those looks was a mammoth task.
Animation
The challenge with animating the various ants that inhabit the capital was conveying the sense of scale. My early animation tests were based on macro footage of real ants. When the ants were upscaled to the size of buildings, the movement looked almost comical and the whole insect lacked weight. I ended up with a movement based on a slow crab like creature.