GAMMA, your last opportunity?

"Gamma" is a short film made by Factory Fifteen. It is a UK based film and animation studio, led by directors Jonathan Gales, Paul Nicholls and KibweTavares. With "Gamma" a new work in film, animation and architectural representation, to produced the imagined, the unreal and the surreal, in this case, re-imagining the ruins of the Chernobyl exclusion zone as one of the many places devastated by radiation in a post-nuclear future. Chernobyl images are mixed with floating mega-structures and "Nuke-root" organisms that attach to land and buildings in a massive campaign to cleanse the earth of radioactive material.

Video screenshot. GAMMA, by Factory Fifteen.

Todo para contar una historia de limpieza a través de una empresa privada, cuya irresponsabilidad, hace que los organismos que plantea para la limpieza se descontrolen y el remedio sea peor que la enfermedad. Video and "making of" video, below.

SYNOPSIS. In a post-nuclear future, when the earth is riddled with radiation, a new urban developer proposes to regenerate the cities back into civilisation. GAMMA sets out to stabilise the atomic mistakes of yesteryear for the re-inhabitation of future generations. Using its patented 'Nuke-Root' technology; part fungi, part mollusc, GAMMA intends to soak up the radiation and remove it from the irradiated cities, rebuilding them in the process.

Setting out from Baikonur, Kazakhstan, GAMMA launches its RIG_01 BETA and heads east to the iconic disaster sites of 1980's USSR. The film follows a group of researchers investigating GAMMA's practice from launch to deployment. Moving through a trail of unsuccessful ships across the desert, we follow the researchers from Aralsk's littered sea bed east to the Ukraine.

Video screenshot. GAMMA, by Factory Fifteen.

GAMMA begins its quest of nuclear stability in the Ukraine; Pripyat is used as a test bed for the deployment of GAMMA's patented 'Nuke-root' organisms. Intended to soak up the radiation, the roots infiltrate the ground and built structures to absorb the ‘nuclear nasty's'. As with many urban developers, GAMMA's execution is cheap and ineffective. The city is in turn rendered more radioactive, broken and uninhabitable than before, only now with an outbreak of growing 'Nuke-roots'. The film follows the researchers through the ruins of the 70's utopia, moving across a whole city that consists solely of desolation and total abandon, the researchers witness the aftermath of GAMMA's almighty cock-up.

GAMMA was filmed in the Ukraine and Kazakhstan in association with the Unknown Fields Division.

CREDITS. Directed by FACTORY FIFTEEN

Featuring: Martin Ashley Jones. The Unknown Fields Division 2011. Bryan Allen. Andrea Bagnato. Chris Hatherill. Oliviu Lugojan-Ghenciu. Jack Mama. Clive Vanheerden. Liam Young. Monologue written by Courttia Newland. D.O.P: Jonathan Gales

Concept development: Chris Lees, Paul Nicholls, Jonathan Gales. Advert written by Chris Lees. Advert Voice over: George Macpherson. Sound Design: Tom Hobson. End track: Worriedaboutsatan 'Heart Monitor' - Her.Eyes.Like.Static remix.

3D Artists: Paul Nicholls, Chris Lees, Kibwe Tavares, Jonathan Gales, Matt Townsend. 2D Artists: Paul Nicholls, Chris Lees, Jonathan Gales. SFX Makeup: Sangeet Prabhaker. VFX Paul Nicholls, Jonathan Gales. Thanks: Liam Young, Kate Davies.

A Factory Fifteen production 2012

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More information

Jonathan Gales, Paul Nicholls, Kibwe Tavares. Factory Fifteen

Factory Fifteen is a UK-based film and animation studio, led by directors Jonathan Gales*, Paul Nicholls, and KibweTavares. Their backgrounds range from architecture (all trained to Masters-level), 3d visualization, engineering, animation, and photography. They translate this to a multi-disciplinary and distinctive approach to filmmaking.

Their creative shorts and artwork have been exhibited around the world in various film festivals such as Onedotzero, Ars Electronica, Alphaville, The Creators Project, Frieze Art Fair, The Whitechapel Gallery, The Royal Academy, Africa International Film Festival, London Short Film Festival, and Sundance. Factory Fifteen has also won 2 architectural 3D awards including 'Best Architectural 3d Film' (Golden Age) and 'Best Architectural 3D Image' (Megalomania) as well as the RIBA Silver medal (Robots of Brixton) in 2011. Their artwork has also been seen in many of the world's leading Architecture, design, and 3D books, magazines, and blogs, including Stash Mag, 3D World, 3D Artist, Dezeen, Creative Web, Evolo, and METLOCUS.

Factory Fifteen creates award-winning and evocative films and animations for a range of clients including The British Film Institute, Channel 4, Samsung, European Land, and Film4.

They continue to explore new methods of visual storytelling in their own creative projects, which are often as thought-provoking as they are visually rich. They share both their vision and expertise, lecturing at several Universities including Oxford Brookes, University College London, and The Architecture Association.

* Gales was hit by a suspected drunk driver in downtown Los Angeles in late 2022.

POST: Studio 4A, 246 Stockwell Road, Brixton, London, SW9 9SP, UK. EMAIL: info@factoryfifteen.com TEL: +44 [0] 7725 986 715