Blackbird | Award Winning Sci-Fi Short Film
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- Опубликовано: 30 дек 2021
- A husband and wife debate the idea of uploading her consciousness to an AI after she's impaired in a severe car accident.
Film Shortage: filmshortage.com/dailyshortpicks/blackbird-by-mike-thompson/
Retrospective of Jupiter: retrospectiveofjupiter.com/films/blackbird/
Written and Directed by Mike Thompson
Produced by Laury Christensen, Mike Thompson, Thomas Johns, & Sarah East
Director of Photography - Thomas Johns
Music Composed by Tim Miller
Cast
Chris Petty - Matthew Scott
Sarah East - Sarah Scott
Chris Taylor - Sebastian Synthetics Employee
Rebekah Lynn Dow (Voice) - Sebastian Synthetics Rep
Derek Sawyer - Chris
Elise McKenna & Jennifer Sparks - Office Workers
Crew
Adam C. Thomas - First Assistant Director
Tommy Baker - First AC
Russ Allen - Second AC
Sound Mixer - Tim Miller
Andrea Ahl - Production Design & Hair/MakeUp
Marshall Shartzer - Art Director
Kristina Kubrick - Costume Designer/Wardrobe
Janelle Stevens - Key Grip
Alex Lemon - Grip
Post Crew
Edited by Mike Thompson, Thomas Johns, and Austin Sheehan
Derek Sepe, MPSE - Sound Editor
VFX by Christopher Shiner and John Wheeler
Thomas Johns - Colorist
Andrea Acs - Trailer Editor
Gear
Camera - Sony A7sii
Lenses - Rokinon Cine Kit
Lighting - Quasar Science and Aputure
Edited in Premiere Pro
Colored in DaVinci Resolve 
Кино
Lost my wife 11 years ago. At the time I would have been content to follow her right then. However I came to understand that other people were depending on me. With the memories I carried of her I was able to continue. Today I still miss her dearly but have learned to live.
@@melmel007 thank you
So sorry, John.
I completely understand. My wife is my everything.
@@Imhotep70 thank you
What a powerful test of the Human Spirit. It's a thing that we all wish to never have to take, but you did and Love lives in and with you. 🙏 You are an example to others of what is possible. 💖
The last 3 months of 2021 gave me a test...my mother died in October, a good friend followed a few weeks later, another good friend's mother passed a couple of weeks later, then a dear friend of nearly 30 years had a massive heart attack due to his artery being 99% blocked, and another dear friend was diagnosed with late stage 3 lung cancer. By New Year's day I felt like the emotional weight of a pyramid landed on my back. All of this is a clear reminder the only true thing in life is that this instant is all that is given. Live it. Love it. Share it. The next instant my not arrive, so do not waste this one. 🤗
@@ColeMayes I am sorry for your losses and glad you have found a way to continue.
Lost my wife 3 years ago. This made me cry. Didn't expect it. You never think about it but with tech screaming into the future I want a cyborg of her. Lost hope and it has not returned.
My sympathies to you sir.
I lost my first wife 28 years ago it took me many years before I could love again .
My current wife understands that I never wanted to ‘forget’ my past and once a year around xmass I lock myself away with a bottle of whiskey and some cigars and just spend the day remembering my first wife , don’t get me wrong my current wife and I have led an amazing life and have two grown kids , but I still need to morn , probably due to guilt, the fact that when my first wife needed me the most , I wasn’t there .
You take care mate and remember this - you may have only memories But wow what great memories they are -
. R .
Two things that I really loved about this movie:
The first is that they managed to tell the whole story in just 16 minutes.
The second is how they did that. They allow the viewer to infer events that were only alluded to. That shows great respect for the viewer's intelligence.
Absolutely brilliant!
This is such an amazing compliment! Thank you so much for checking it out. We also just released another short in November called 'Threshold' if you have time/interest, please check it out! ruclips.net/video/xFz_dloGxdw/видео.html
Thanks so much for checking the film out and for the kind words!
The way she said hey stranger and her face went somewhere between expressionless and a frown. The ending gave me the creeps.
At the end when she said hey stranger, looked like she knew she would need some time to adjust after being confined to a hospital bed for a long time. Or perhaps not all of what made her human was transferred. Interesting story and well acted. Overall very good film.
I can understand you John, muy wife died five years ago. I am agree with your words. Excuse my poor english. Regards from Spain
lo siento muchisimo tio
Four months ago I lost the love of my life. My dream. Everything that I hoped for and wanted and love was in her.
My heart was broken in so many pieces that it was impossible to even see what was left.
At many points I wanted to take my own life because she was gone.
I don’t think it was an accident that this short came into my suggestions because this one film has taught me that it’s OK to move on.
I Love so incredibly hard so this was even more difficult than when my mom passed when I was 23.
At 54, I am unsure if I will ever find love again and I know I won’t find the love that I had with my Kim.
But I now know that I don’t need to replace her. I simply just have to continue.
God bless and thank you. You probably didn’t realize that this film would reach somebody the way that it has but as a writer myself, that’s one of the reasons we do it.
Thank you. ❤️
I'm so very sorry for your loss, but I'm so glad that somehow this little movie found its way to you and gave you a sense of peace. Thank you
Who's to say if the first wife was a real human? This may be v2.0.
I liked it, esp. the iffiness and creepy aspects.
I can't have anything like that in my house! That's worse than the robots they already have monitoring us.
A I will be a convincing facsimile but the real person will be dead.
Wouldn’t it be wonderful if we could keep our loved ones alive like this, I would certainly want to use it on all of my dogs. Letting go is so hard, this would make it much easier
Very good. The problem was never going to be technology; it is always an emotional one. So, don't concern yourself with the originality, or otherwise, of the storyline - you nailed the important stuff.
Thank you so much for the kind words!
If only... 💖 The ending had me 😭 my eyes out. Another example of why I've loved this channel for so many years. 🙏
The ending was predictable, but the story was so well told by the actors. Bravo
black bird sinking into the dread of night - you were only waiting for this moment to arise.
Excellent! Maybe they couldn't get rights to that song.
very well done, thanks to everyone involved in this production for some good viewing.
All that technology, but they can still get into a dangerous car accident.
why am I crying .. this was so freaking good ... just wow
Definitely not the first person to say they've cried! Thanks so much for checking it out!
She should have faked a robot voice, "Beep boop, hel-lo stan-ger" That would have been the very best prank ever.
lol missed opportunity!
lol
I was thinking a deep deadly voice "You're mine now"
@@ralphacosta4726 Writer/Director here. You wouldn't believe how many people asked me after they watched if it she was going to go berzerk and murder him :)
This deserves way more views, on one of the bigger short film channels like Omeleto or Dust. Kudos, very well done!
Hey, stranger .... they got that right.
Wow, great cinematography, and so well written, SCi-Fi is such a challenging genre - kudos,!
This was a fantastic short. I could see a movie or series being made from this. Absolutely fantastic. Thanks for sharing!
Many, many thank yous! We're definitely working on getting into that arena! If you have time, please check out our most recent short 'Threshold' ruclips.net/video/zfCSEIhJ5J8/видео.html. Thank you!
Fingers crossed! Thanks for checking it out!
I kept thinking: He'll say no. If I'd died, I would want (from whereever I may be then) my partner to find another living, feeling, loving partner as soon as he is ready for it instead of clinging to a machine that can't feel or love. Sometimes letting go is proof of love and it also gives you the chance to cherish life again! So, no, no, no to this kind of idea of "uploading consciousness" to wherever. No and nonsense.
It can feel and love. His wife's consciousness was uploaded to the synthetic body. I just wonder does that mean man has cheated death period.
His wife's mind transferred into the machine.
Who says machines will never be living, feeling, loving partners? If I understood this video correctly, his wife just had a change of address when she moved into a synthetic body. While the technology to so something like that is beyond the current state of the art, there is no known scientific reason it couldn't be done. I would actually do it now if there were a practical way. I'm getting yet another migraine headache, my back always hurts, my thinking has become less crisp, my heart and lungs aren't working very well, I always feel zombified from insomnia, and I generally feel crappy most of the time. I'm not even old yet. There are many things I would like to do but just can't. So yeah, if I could move into a different body where I could get long breaks from thinking about pain and go have fun, I would do it even if it were metal and not human looking. People who romanticise getting old, pain, and death either haven't experienced pain or come close to death or can't confront their terror of it so they trick themselves into thinking it is good. While moving into a synthetic body might be a way to become almost immortal, I'm not sure I would want that, but 1000 years sounds about right right now. After 10 long lifetimes, I'd re-evaluate and possibly pull the plug, so to speak. If possible, I might be more inclined to have myself saved in digital format with a request to be brought to consciousness in a few thousand years. That should provide a whole new world to explore.
I'm not so sure this is about death so much as quality of life.
John F Kennedy died, but Gabby Giffords lived. mostly. Our science is changing our relationship to death.
If something happens, and your body becomes stable but unable to function, and someone offered you the chance to transfer all your memories, all your emotions and thoughts into a new body and they promised you would think and grow just as you would have...
[An impossible decision for someone else to make for you.. monstrous to do such a thing without your consent. ]
How hard would you have to think about your decision?
Now she can drive to Mama's house.
Well done, good casting, keep at it!
Thank you!
Strange that they have the technology to connect to the mind of a woman in a coma, yet lack the ability to make her face look realistic on the screen.
LOL very good point!
Priorities! We were shooting people out into space before we got around to laptops.
That's what I was thinking!
Whoa...this kept my attention as well as blowing my mind. The emotional aspect gripped me. I like the cinematography, the acting, story, and kudos on the directing. 👍👏👍
Thank you for watching it!
Such a lovely story and has left me with a tear in my eye too. Beautifully acted and how the whole story was told - loved it!
Thank you!
What if he wasn't actually talking to his real wife and it was the AI that convinced him to order this thing and let his wife die
The question is: what is consciousness? Can an AI be awake? And when, what is the diffrence? Ok, the woman died, but her personality is still living in this Android.
When our technology arrive this point, our ethicians will get smoking heads!
What is with beaming? The original will be destroyed, while a perfect copy is build. What is now the original? In the case of this story this question is easy to answered.
Edit:
after I read the post again: If the AI is manipulating us in this way, we have much more other problems... Of course we don't know what subroutines divides this android from the original human being.
omg i was wondering the same thing. like the whole thing is a ploy from the tech company to get people to buy their products.
I think that's the twist, with her facial expression at the end
When you Take a break from the robots taking over the world type stories and focus on the positive things technology can do its really sweat
Yeah. Sweet, too.
Disturbing, but quite good. Thank you for sharing this with us.
Many thanks for checking it out! We also released another short film in November! ruclips.net/video/xFz_dloGxdw/видео.html
Thanks for checking it out!
This reminds me of the movie "Her", with J.Phoenix.
I enjoyed this.....
Thanks for checking it out!
Sure, no problem, right after this short message from Blackbird Corporation.
Nothing I can say that has not already been said. Well done to all involved.
That's creepy & morbid, now her Soul will not be able to die, Rest In Peace, move on to her Soul Journey & possibly be Reincarnated into another lifetime because she's an Immortal Robot, what happens in 50yrs & her husband is dead & she still alive for Eons & Eons for all Eternity, that's fate worst then Hell!
With the advancement of AI technology this may come true.
When a video title states, "Award Winning", just remember that it is PUFFERY and an opinion.
Your face is a bit puffery.
Agreed, It's hardcore Trans propaganda... It started with 'normalising' Transvestites and Transsexuals and ended with the Neo Beings of Planet Terra greatly replacing humanity... Progressive Trans Movement pushers are the worst kind of progressives that deserved to hated and feared for the shit they push.
@@PrivateSi
The conspiracy theorist speaks!
@@dr.jamesolack8504 .. Hardly a secret conspiracy, the Trans-inhumanist agenda is everywhere and overt brain transplant attempts have been covered by the MSM and covert brain transplant research has been uncovered over the years as ultra-progressive regimes fall.. There are those in the overt private sector openly receiving donations to work on the issue..
--
The Trans Agenda is out in the open now.. We have gone from protecting athletes from the horrors of being forced to use testosterone (ie. rampant abuse in the Soviet Union) that saw many athletes change sex involuntary and/or commit suicide, to now trying to allow sex-change men to compete in women's events... All out the open, as most of what were 'conspiracy theories' now are.
the last few minutes have given me goosebumps.
Congratulations to everyone for the excellent work.
Greetings from Italy
Bravo! Well done!
I couldn’t do that. This is heartbreaking.
This is Really good, your actors r fantastic, I can feel d emotions of all d characters!!. Freaking kool
Thanks for checking it out! If you're interested, give our latest short film 'Threshold' a look! ruclips.net/video/xFz_dloGxdw/видео.html
Thank you!
So well done! Amazing how quickly you draw the audience in.
The term 'pairing' suggested the Sebastian Synthetics Companion product was a kind of prosthetic extension.
We definitely wanted to make it seem like it was this 'next step' for the company to be able to provide the physical form. After that, I thought that considering the way that we have to pair our bluetooth devices to activate and such that it would make sense if we did something of this level that it would require something similar. Thanks for checking it out!
A great short film!!!
Wow. That will haunt the depths of my mind.
Thank you for watching!
Very touching and beautifully done.
Thank you!
@@MarqueeLouisville What is the relevance of the blackbird? And is the suboptimal image of her on the screen due to it representing her true consciousness, not just an avatar or computer representation of her? I don’t know about you, but I don’t have a clear photographic type image of me in my mind. I have a feeling of me, but it’s actually not that similar to my external appearance & if I were to manifest externally the way I feel internally, it wouldn’t be a clear image.
@@allisonjames2923 Writer/Director here! The Blackbird itself is an excerpt from a poem I loved. The idea with the pairing sequence was sort of a security measure I put in so that there were no unnecessary mistakes while the upload was happening. You nailed the idea of why there's a 'suboptimal' appearance. The device is translating her thoughts and consciousness to this tablet and the idea was that it wouldn't have a clear cut image because it's not a web/zoom meeting with her, its just the abstract idea of her consciousness coming through. Thanks for checking it out!
@@mikethompsonfilm
Very thought provoking, Mike. Well played!👍
Absolutely wonderful! ❤😊
WOW! That was really good! My mind is blown! 🤯 What a scary concept!
Thank you so much!
@@MarqueeLouisville Anytime! 😘
People that brush their teeth when they wake up are " Confused."
Well I was wondering why he brushed his teeth before breakfast....
*sigh*… how many could I bring back? This is so beautiful…taking even that 50/50 chance & having it work?? 500% priceless!
Thank you so much!
All I can say is great job.
This is dope af!
It’s natural to want it to last.
Naturally, someone will sell you artificial.
100%
Very well thought out and well-done. (Only one caveat---at the beginning, she say "Your breakfast is getting cold"---but he goes to the kitchen to eat cold cereal! LOL!) Very enjoyable short!
Yeah, I think that was supposed to be a joke between them as he giggled and then went to eat his cold cereal.
@@Mardi-Shorts-DevonGirlUK Yes---thought that was too obvious to be an error!!
Nicely done! Great acting and plot.
Thanks so much!
Great flick thanks
Love the shots on this. Great job! Great acting too!
Thank you!
@@mikethompsonfilm You're welcome. As a filmmaker myself, I appreciate great work. :)
Powerful Valentine's SyFy!
I liked it!
Yeah, that was very good. Thank you
Thank you for checking it out!
So...the 'real human' dies once the AI takes over?? Am not sure that would be satisfying to EITHER partner.... 😵 (Well made film however! Kept me totally involved. Kudos to the fine actors! And to all those who put this production together.)
Thanks for checking it out!
I don't think it's AI, i think it's the wife's actual consciousness being downloaded into a synthetic body while her real body dies
Great stuff! Thanks.
Thank you! If you have any interest in more of our work, check out our latest short 'Threshold' ruclips.net/video/xFz_dloGxdw/видео.html
Thank you!
Black Mirror but with a humanity twist.
I enjoyed this, but to be honest this was done better by Black Mirror like 5 years ago. This almost feels more like a nod to that episode.
I was thinking further back. It seems pretty close to an episode of The Outer Limits from 95 or 96. I miss the voice of Control. I think he died recently. One of my all-time favorite narrators.
The substrate that underpins the electrical patterns of our thoughts is biochemical and always changing in response to hormones (among other things) and other regulatory system. Tech might be able to emulate the generation of electrical signals at some level, and hence our thoughts, but without the underlying substrate, that mind will not change in the same way. What could go wrong?
Some great prepper ideas
"Whar would you do without me?" Get more sleep !
and when both are dead ? should the AI continue ?
That was really good he had a lot of demons he was dealing with but at the end he pulled through
If this was possible? I would not bring back someone who is about to die, but someone who is alive before the addiction ruined their life.
Very well done!😊
Thanks for checking it out!
that was damn good
Thank you!
Trippy, this will probably be possible someday.
Best Valentines Day SyFy!
A not so distant possibility of medical science regarding choices about certain neurological disorders like "locked in" syndrome. Hopeful but also frightening.
Black mirror and Upload 😁
This almost felt like plagiarism to me.
Sweet.
Thanks for checking it out!
Well done. And when he ages and she doesn't?
That's kinda the debate really with the husband and the internal debate I had when writing it for sure.
Да....
Good film. But a great loss for him
How long before we become “immortal” through use of manufactured bodies and memory transfer? Within a few hundred years?
More like 50 years... Brain transplant research is well funded covertly, sometimes even overtly, with publicity.. Gene Therapies and other regenerative biotech are also advancing rapidly. Memory transfer may not even be needed, but backups and clones would be desirable for mental-case elites.
I’m sure it’s being worked on as we speak. The theory that we are all living in a simulation is that this may have already happened thousands of years ago and what you and I experience every day is merely an algorithm that’s running through a complex computer somewhere and our bored descendants are tapped into it and living their lives as though they are observers living though our experiences.
@@Traderjoe .. Simulation Theory is the biggest load of bunk since 'God Did It' was uttered by every lame-brained God Believer... It's the biggest insult to reality and physics out there, as bad as Creation 'Science'.. It's for thickos who want to not believe in God overtly, but deep down they really do, even if they don't realise it.. Or they have a desire to be trans-humans (neo beings addicted to 'enhancements' and 'upgrades') - neo gods.. Those that try to show the odds of us being in a simulation as 'high' are like Creatard PREACHERS, twisting and warping facts and reality to suit their agenda (usually making money through spouting USELESS, demeaning theories).
should be featured on DUST channel
Thank you! We definitely tried without much luck but we're glad to have it out here! If you have time, we made another short this past year called 'Threshold' here ruclips.net/video/zfCSEIhJ5J8/видео.html. Thank you!
I have much admiration for DUST and had high hopes it would be featured, but c'est la vie. Thank you for checking the film out!
@@MarqueeLouisville I think you mean ruclips.net/video/xFz_dloGxdw/видео.html your link goes back to blackbird.
Im calling Sebastian
So it appears that it worked. But why the creepy music implying something isn't right? 🤔
Excellent question. I have same impression now.
Look at her face after she said "Hey stranger."
Wow! What a mindblowing story! Last time I had this feeling was when I saw "Matrix".
Thank you for watching!
Except that the Matrix was so bad I couldn't sit through the whole film.
@@mandolinic Not every movie is for everybody!
@@snoopy0155 You're right! In fairness, that thought needs a well-deserved upvote (sorry I've only one to give you).
Never know.
Creepy and sad!!
😭🌹🕊️
OK, that is just creepy. Sad that this could probably be true one day. LIFE goes on-move on.
Apakah ini bagian dari episode BLACK MIRROR ?
A story of life and death.
What is life and what is death?
If I noticed correctly, only a part of the memory and logical operations were transferred.
Nothing more than that is and could not be done.
But The New "She" is not a person, because "She" has no emotions.
Emotions are not logical operations and cannot be transferred.
And The Real She is no longer alive, She stopped living when the transfer was made.
Both He and She knew it would be that way.
She did it voluntarily, because her life no longer had meaning or hope for betterment.
And again, everything ends as without technology - who is dead, he is no more and no robot can replace them.
our stomach is part of our brain system.
I see the concept however i find it disturbing good thing it's fiction or is it?
Great job cast and crew.
Thanks for watching!
Is there a mute button on the new body?
The new body came with a roll of duct tape.
this is a sad world. males should have been designed more like praying mantids. after a single mating, we get rid of them. no more crappy jerks. that would be a very good world.
Everyone i have lost wakes with me.\the last Wahpetonwan
My heart broke 😭😭😭😭
Well that was completely creepy
A man and a woman are one. A man, a woman and a blackbird are one.
All this incredible technology this story centers around and they can't even render a decent avatar for her on the screen? Even crappy chat bots available today have better avatars. I would expect a near perfect representation on his screen.
Good story otherwise. :-) Although, like many of these shorts, it leaves one hanging. It's like a long intro to a story that never gets told.
I guess because it was representing her true consciousness, not just an avatar or computer representation of her. I don’t know about you, but I don’t have a clear photographic type image of me in my mind. I have a feeling of me, but it’s actually not that similar to my external appearance & if I were to manifest externally the way I feel internally, it wouldn’t be a clear image.
@@allisonjames2923 That doesn't really make sense. If it's a commercial product, they are going to focus on quality and product presentation. In the real world.
Once marketing saw the grainy rasterized image, they'd have talked to a manager, who would have given engineering a job to do.
It's details like this that spoil a story a little.
@@loughkb
Read enough into anything and you can rip it to shreds. You’re over-thinking.
yeah he should return the product for a refund
I'm not crying... You are crying...
cant upload consciousness....it is just a replicated series of reactions.
These are toasters that can react to stimuli.
can't upload consciousness.... yet.
@@TheWanderingFinnegan Nope, wont ever be able to.
To paraphrase another adage: "The impossible we do right now. The improbable will just take a little longer."
Your fatalist attitude is understandable. The majority of people feel that way since we don't really know what consciousness is, let alone make a copy of it.
However, just several hundred years ago many of our current scientific achievements from the locomotives, airplanes, electricity, and lightbulbs were considered impossible.
When one generation claims that something is impossible, the next generation says, "Hold my beer!"
@@metaspherz Yea....I wasnt before I was and will not be afterward.
Only Extraterrestrial Áliens like the Grays/Greys or the 15ft tall Extraterrestrial Alien Praying Mantis Insectoids/Insectaloids, can separate our Souls from our Mortal-Coil Human-Being Earthling bodies & put it in a gynormous test-tube in suspended animation, preventing our Spirits to move on to our Soul-Journeys in Resting in Peace in Heaven, judged & in prison in Limbo, Purgatory &/or Hell, preventing us from being possibly be reincarnated yet into another Life-Time!