Out of Time

Humanity's food has been reduced to a single type of sustenance and a giant asteroid is heading towards Earth.

Basically, this nine-minute-long film is separated into three stages: narration explaining the situation accompanied by a montage, two men having a conversation and finally another montage only that one is accompanied by a song.

The plot is this: it is 2044 and things are not going well for planet Earth. Pollution has caused all food has become toxic and the RON corporation has developed a substance named 'Manna-Moolah' and it is safely edible. However, this food was created by harvesting substances from an asteroid and this activity caused the asteroid to change its course and end up in a direction that will cause it to collide with Earth. Professor Markus Pokus (Silcox), who was the corporation's chief chemist, helped create Manna-Moolah along with the help of AI, however AI took over and changed this new food, making it harmful to humans. Now, a few hours before the catastrophe, Pokus meets with Victor Kenstein (Chebaane), a former pupil in order to board a hidden spaceship and survive.

As mentioned above, this short begins with a montage and a voice-over. The voice-over is provided by Macgrath and she explains the tense story with the help of a series of shots that include Pokus and computer animation depicting the asteroid approaching the planet. This section is the shortest one.

The conversation between Pokus and Victor is what follows and it is intriguing and humorous. They are inside a spaceship that is disguised as a restaurant and they talk about what is going on with Manna-Moolah and the asteroid and their goal is to leave the planet, avoiding doom. Including all this, they also chat about the colour black and eggs.

Now the third part. The second half or so is a music video. This section is a montage that is accompanied by the track Out of Time by LX8 (a rather appropriate choice considering that the plot involves an imminent, unavoidable disaster) and it is arguably the best part of the film. The montage is wonderfully edited by Radim Vlcek, making effective use of superimposition and dissolve techniques. The rapid montage includes images such as factories, chickens, digital numbers and Big Ben, their significance probably being to point out the factors of pollution and that time is running out. As for the song, it is quite enjoyable and (as mentioned) appropriate.

This short certainly has an interesting plot, that being a sci-fi story and a race against the clock. Of course, it evidently carries important messages, raising awareness about pollution and the dangers of relying too much on technology. Overall, this is a film that is entertaining and also acts as a warning that people must protect the Earth and keep technology under control.