I noticed that Dust (Gunpowder & Sky) was involved in this and I've been quite a fan of their short films. They have a lot of enthusiasm, but does it translate well into a bigger chunk?
I'm unaware of Dust or Gunpowder & Sky, sorry. Will check! For a full-length film this felt relatively short (and I just checked, it's 1hr 40 min long) so there's that. But not a huge amount happens to fill it, a slow pace is definitely intentional here. Spacecraft as malfunctioning duct-taped shitboxes is right up my alley, as is people wandering strange and hazardous wilderness with not a great deal of dialogue and only intermittent action. If those don't appeal so much to you, it'll be less appealing I think.
Also the thing they're prospecting for is pretty weird and never particularly explained, which makes it feel quite McGuffin-like in a way... which is again fine if that's not irritating. I suppose a longer film would have had a scene or two of exposition around it. At least it's not called Unobtanium!
Dust are a lot of fun, as in go on You Tube and search for 'Dust short sci fi' or something like that. Been stuck indoors since mid January and discovering the joy of a smart TV with You Tube so may have more skin in the game than usual.
Oh, I hope you're OK!
Have you heard of/watched the fruit of erm, I think it's called Oats Studio or something? The chap who directed District 9 and Elysium and Chappie has some short film setup going on.
Almost OK now thanks after arthritis flare-up in my right leg. Still limited in what I can do but getting there. I hadn't heard of Oats Studios but I have now and it looks like fun.
I thought it was pretty clear: a super-valuable mineral gem the size of a small hens egg they extracted from some kind of womb-like living plant or animal with a scalpel and acid. It was a kind of barter currency, so it formed the basis of a gold-rush economy with bandits, mercenaries and all.
It was pretty neat that the location was very earth-like (and obviously live-action filmed on earth, with almost no discernible cgi), but the environment felt very alien thanks to some very inventive and subtle touches.
It was a while ago, but I just wondered WHY it was so valuable. Would've been nice to know what it did. But not necessary of course. I suppose it would only have underlined the MacGuffin nature of it anyway.
I just figured it was some kind of futuristic diamonds, rubies or pearls and accepted it as such.