“3.5 billion years ago, the story of life began. Fast-forward to today and Planet Earth, life's only known home, is facing environmental and ecological catastrophe. Yet it is within micro-organisms; life’s first building-blocks, that scientists may have found hope…”
We need to save the planet. And while it might feel like the world is ending right now, with the only saving grace coming from a gun-wielding convicted felon in Oklahoma who once owned over 100 pet tigers, it’s not over just yet.
It’s probably not the first thing that springs to mind, but an edible fungus called ‘mycoprotein’ might have the answer. The fungus in question isn’t as mysterious as you think, either. More recognisable as the key ingredient of ‘Quorn’, mycoprotein continues its bid to push us towards environmental reform.
Is the catastrophe happening like they promised? Can we stop it? With environmentalists needing to use shock tactics to penetrate our established world, it’s important that we all have a greater understanding of how we can feed ourselves without killing everything around us.
Quorn approached us to help explain how unique and powerful their product really is. This isn’t just your average reconstituted soya - in fact Quorn contains no soya whatsoever - but mycoprotein is a ‘wholefood’ which retains its nutritional value, and Quorn is the only brand in North America or Europe making it readily available to us.The benefits and sustainability of mycoprotein mean that it could be the best source of protein for the future of humanity; we needed to create a piece of content that would communicate this.
Directed by Simon Mulvaney, ‘Food For Our Future’ tells the story of a healthy, scalable superfood that uses 90% less land and water than animal protein. Thought-provoking and original, this 3-minute film reinvents the traditional approach and makes science something that we can access. We hear the facts and we see the familiar Quorn products, allowing us to marry the two concepts together. Mycoprotein is the food for our future.
So how did we make it?
Thanks to Simon’s previsualisation, the entire process was faultless. It was so considered at every stage; the complex production set-up worked in harmony with a VFX-heavy post production workflow.
Roughly 72 retro TV screens were installed and built into a lush backdrop of ferns and foliage, with spoken word artist Sophia Thakur walking through the scenery to deliver a powerful message. Imagery on the screens had to synchronise with the script and also the camera movement - any slip-ups would ruin the timing completely. Planning, planning, planning.
This is the first time the AV company has witnessed the TVs used as jigsaw pieces to compose a video landscape. Rather than one stable film, they flicker between different concepts, sometimes aligning and sometimes becoming independent. The technical implications of spreading an image over multiple screens was hard to pull off. It was thanks to our post team collaborating heavily with the AV company that we managed to swerve any mishaps.
In post, it was a case of making it look like the future-facing dream we’d promised to deliver. After Effects saw us track screens, add shadows and block out unwanted wires and logos. Using a 3D particle generator, we brought in elements of fire and smoke to float between the plants, representing their invisible methods of underground connection and communication. We got deep, because this video needs to really hit home.
The result is a film that will hopefully change people’s perceptions of how we consume food. Mycoprotein is the answer, but it’s how we translated that which was the challenge. This is a potentially life-changing product that’s right here in our supermarkets.
The content will be pushed out across multiple digital channels in a variety of formats, targeting specific audiences including meat reducers and ‘flexitarians’.
Client Quote - Sam Blunt
"It's been a real pleasure working with director Simon Mulvaney and producer James Shannon at The Gate Films on this new film. It's a little different from Quorn’s previous work as it heroes mycoprotein, the super-protein at the heart of all our products, explaining its origins and why it is so well-placed to be a true food for our future"
Crew & Client
Director - Simon Mulvaney
Producer - James Shannon
DOP - Rob Beck
Focus Puller - Sean Beasley
Data Wrangler - Jan Koblanski
Sound - ADRIAN TOMLIN
Gaffer - Chris Sarginson
Makeup / Stylist - Katy Brody
Spoken Word Artist - Sophia Thakur
VFX/Grade - Michael Nixon
VFX - Natalie Meziani & Harley Spence
