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.

  • Matt Biggs
    Director
  • Matt Biggs
    Producer
  • Tom Biggs
    Key Cast
    "Isaac"
  • Joanna Ford
    Key Cast
    "Drone Pilot"
  • Kai Engel
    Music
  • Project Type:
    Animation, Short
  • Runtime:
    4 minutes 14 seconds
  • Completion Date:
    June 1, 2018
  • Country of Origin:
    United Kingdom
  • Country of Filming:
    United Kingdom
  • Language:
    English
  • Shooting Format:
    4k
  • Aspect Ratio:
    16:9
  • Film Color:
    Color
  • First-time Filmmaker:
    No
  • Student Project:
    No
  • Portobello Film Festival
    London
    United Kingdom
    September 11, 2018
    UK Premiere
    Finalist
  • ROS Film Festival
    Elche
    Spain
    September 16, 2018
    European Premiere
    Finalist
  • El Paso IMPACTFest Film Festival
    El Paso
    United States
    October 27, 2018
    North American Premiere
    Official Selection
  • Darkroom Film Festival
    London
    United Kingdom
    September 29, 2018
    Official Selection
  • RATMA Film Festival
    Keighley
    United Kingdom
    October 13, 2018
    Winner Best Sci-Fi short
  • WE ARE ALL OTHERS Short Film Festival
    Roma Sur
    Mexico
    November 17, 2018
    Official Selection
  • KRAF International Short Film Festival
    Titov
    Croatia
    December 12, 2018
    Finalist (Animation Category)
  • KingstOOn 2019
    Kingston
    Jamaica
    January 25, 2019
    Semi-Finalist
  • KRAF International Short Film Festival
    Titov
    Croatia
    December 12, 2018
    Best Director
  • Webisode Film Festival
    Houston
    United States
    April 11, 2019
    Official Selection
  • TAAFI - Toronto Animation Arts Festival International
    Toronto
    Canada
    February 17, 2019
    Shortlisted
  • NanoCon Mk. VI Science-Fiction Convention
    Longview
    United States
    March 29, 2019
    Semi-Finalist
  • Indiana Comic Convention
    Indianapolis
    United States
    August 31, 2019
    Nominee: Best VFX
  • MOHA Short Film Night
    Budapest
    Hungary
    March 30, 2019
    Official Selection
  • Art All Night - Trenton: 7th Annual Film Festival
    Trenton
    United States
    June 16, 2019
    Official Selection
  • Cartoon Club – International Festival of Animation Cinema, Comics and Games
    Rimini
    Italy
    July 14, 2019
    Official Selection
  • Logo Alexandre Trauner ART/Film Festival
    Szolnok
    Hungary
    October 21, 2019
    Official Selection
  • NAFCo Film Festival Series
    DuBois
    United States
    October 19, 2019
    Official Selection
  • Chihuahua International Film Festival
    Chihuahua
    Mexico
    November 15, 2019
    Official Selection
  • KINO FEST International FilmFestival
    Bucharest
    Romania
    October 25, 2019
    Official Selection
  • Anilogue International Animation Festival
    Budapest
    Hungary
    November 27, 2019
    Official Selection
  • Athens Digital Arts Festival
    Athens
    Greece
    November 15, 2019
    Official Selection Animation programme
  • The BeBop Channel Content Festival
    New York
    United States
    June 4, 2020
    Official Selection
  • Chennai International Short Film Festival
    Chennai
    India
    February 15, 2020
    Official Selection
  • Squat Betty Avant Garde Film Night
    London
    United Kingdom
    February 23, 2020
    Official Selection
Director Biography - Matt Biggs

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.

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Director Statement

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.