Normally, watching official footage of historical real events brings back memories of sitting in a history class at school, but Neil Harvey has taken the concept of found footage and created a sci-fi short film that is both mesmerizing and haunting. The short is called ‘Robbie’ and is entirely made from archival footage recorded by NASA throughout the years.
Harvey is an Australian director and editor from Sydney, Australia who created the short as an anniversary present for his girlfriend earlier in the year. He downloaded 10 hours of footage from the NASA archives and in a 2-3 month period selected shots that touched him on a personl level. He then watched the chosen footage again until narratives began developing in his mind. Thus became the creation of ‘Robbie.’
‘Robbie’ is set 6000 years in the future and chronicles the life and observations of an aging robot drifting alone through space on the last of his battery power. He leaves a message for whoever may find his “body” in the future and talks about his experiences with NASA and what happened after losing contact with Earth.
The monotone delivery and use of a robot to narrate the film only deepens the story of ‘Robbie.’ The explanation of his artificial intelligence granting him the ability to be more human by allowing him to be emotional connects the audience to Robbie far more effectively than if it were just another metal being. Hence the melancholy that is felt near the end of the short.
While not a fan of found footage as it has been
