Set in a landscape that combines London’s brutalist architecture with CG-generated skyscrapers, our short film for The Bug’s Function / Void sees the daily, monotonous routine of its protagonist suddenly and inexplicably start to crumble. The video, was created for two tracks off The Bug’s album, album Angels & Devils (out now on Ninja Tune) and was produced in conjunction with The Creators Project.

Our reliance on capitalism has caused a buildup of tension and pressure on our city and our way of life. We are living knowingly unsustainable lives within a system, which only caters for the 1%. Something has to crack, and it will. The video portrays the collapse of our consumerist society; the bursting of the bubble – the moment we all anticipate but don’t believe will happen. It focuses on the polarity of the tracks by visually juxtaposing an accumulation of tension with a physical and fantastical breakdown of both the environment and our protagonist.

We revised and edited the entire film before embarking on an ambitious 6-location, 3-day shoot across London’s brutalist landmarks, before producing a somewhat magical vfx shortlist utilising various techniques to represent the ‘crumbling’ of the system and our protagonist’s mind.

The narrative unfolds around a man stuck in a totalitarian system; medicated to think, feel and function. The story hinges on what happens when he decides to break free. Set in an alternative present, we follow our protagonist on an existential journey to depart from the conforms of this dystopian society.