Looking to go push past the cliches and tropes of eco-messaging, director/animator Simon Robson and composer/sound designer Gavin Little reimagine the pending emergency of plastic pollution in this ominous short film.

Simon Robson in Sydney, Australia: “Nature is a delicate machine, we are clogging it up. We are so used to seeing images from ecological organizations of decaying fish and sea birds on the beach with plastic in their stomachs. Whilst horrific, these images have become too ubiquitous to be impactful.

“In Ghost in The Machine, I aim to present the audience with the plight of our plastic-filled oceans in a different way from anything they will have seen before.

“The film sees an intricate mechanical fish sculpture come to life, its metal scales undulating like the sea and shining in the light. Peril arrives in the form of a swarm of plastic bags that engulf and ultimately seize up the workings of the intricate machine.

“I hope the film triggers the viewer to see the issue of plastics in our ocean again, through new eyes.”
 

 
Director/animator: Simon Robson

Music: Artem Markaryan
Sound design: Echolab