I don’t normally post full film trailers but this 4 minute teaser has got me on the edge of my seat. I really enjoyed Justin Timberlake’s performance in Social Network and since then have wondered why he hasn’t featured in more films. It’s plausible that he was waiting for a killer sci-fi script and it appears he has got one.
The film is structured around the concept that in the future nobody ages beyond 25. The human race has abandoned cash as the basis of our economic structure and replaced it with time. Want to buy a coffee? That will cost you a couple of minutes. Want to go on holiday? That might cost you a couple of days. The aim of life is to stop an inbuilt timer within your arm from reaching zero. Once that happens your dead.
It’s a fantastic concept. Overwhelmingly good. The only downside I can see from this teaser is that the storyline looks pretty run of the mill. Guy takes enemies daughter hostage to save himself, guy falls in love with said daughter, daughter sees the error of her Father’s ways and falls in love with main guy.
I just wish they would take this strong sci-fi concept and give it something more than the standard fare storyline.
If ever an example was need of how important a great soundtrack and musical score can be to a film then this was it. Perspective is set in a dystopian future where people are able to buy ‘experiences’. They load these into their brain directly from what looks like an old Amiga or Commodore (quite a cool yet odd choice).
The styling is great. It’s a dark, dank, deserted apartment building where seedy activity occurs. I completely bought it. The soundtrack too is awesome. It felt heavily influenced by Half Life which is great because it shows that the inspiration that drives video games and films is now a two way street. Films can definitely borrow things from the world of video games.
Where the film falls down slightly is in the plot. This is a cliched sci-fi story that has been told and retold a million times. There’s nothing new here (apart from some gratuitous sex scenes). If anything the story has been borne out of so much cliche that it gets itself wrapped up in knots and ends up with a conclusion that makes no sense whatsoever.
Despite that it’s still an enjoyable 5 or so minutes and has some great visuals and audio there to be proud of.
A day made of glass is an incredibly impressive demonstration of some of the technologies currently being researched by Corning. The focus here is on how glass will be used to integrate the latest technological advances (primarily in communications) into our lives.
It is all fantastically futuristic but done so spectacularly well that it seems achievable. It’s one of those films that makes you happy to be alive in the 21st Century, amidst the fastest evolution of technological change in the history of humanity.
Some elements of the video seem to be purely aesthetic. Whilst I like the idea of video conferencing in the way the kids talk to their Gran the problem here is where is the camera that is filming the kids. As with all devices of this nature, and almost certainly why video conferencing hasn’t taken off at the speed the previous generation might have thought, is the requirement for you to be stood directly in front of a recording device with a lens. I suppose that it isn’t implausible to imagine the camera sitting within the glass moving around depending on who or what it is filming?
Check out Corning for more information on why they commissioned the film
