On Batholiths and Fibre Optics
In the silence of the Canadian Shield, a group of digital creators discovers they aren't alone. A research team in China is asking the same questions, scanning the same rock.
# On Batholiths and Fibre Optics
**Format:** Short Film / Anthology Episode | **Est. Length:** 10-12 minutes
## Logline
In the remote Canadian wilderness, a small team of digital artists documenting a future nuclear waste site makes an instantaneous, impossible connection with their Chinese counterparts, discovering they are mirror images working on the exact same project on the other side of the world.
## Themes
* **Global Connection vs. Local Isolation:** The story contrasts the team's physical and creative isolation in the vast Canadian Shield with the sudden, borderless community they find through an unexpected digital link.
* **The Permanence of Nature vs. the Ephemerality of Technology:** The ancient, immutable granite batholith—a symbol of deep time—is captured and transmitted by fragile, lightning-fast digital technology, highlighting the tension between geological permanence and human innovation.
* **Shared Purpose in a Divided World:** Two groups of young people, separated by geography, culture, and politics, are revealed to be united by a profoundly specific and humanistic goal: using VR to tell the story of a place for a future they will never see.
## Stakes
At stake is the team's sense of purpose and unique contribution, as they risk discovering their passion project is not only unoriginal but has already been perfected by a better-funded team halfway across the world.
## Synopsis
A small, independent digital preservation team—LENNY, SARAH, and BEN—are in the cold, damp wilderness of Northwestern Ontario. They are using photogrammetry and LiDAR scanners to create a hyper-realistic VR model of the Revell batholith, a massive granite formation chosen as a deep geological repository for nuclear waste. Battling failing batteries and fading light, they struggle to capture the perfect data, driven by Lenny’s obsession with authenticity.
Back in their makeshift garage studio, the team begins the slow process of rendering the data. While researching geological specifics for the project, Sarah discovers a recently published academic paper from Lanzhou University in China. She is stunned to find that a Chinese research team is running an identical project at the Beishan site in the Gobi Desert—another granite batholith designated for nuclear waste storage. They are using the same software and have even solved technical problems that have stumped Lenny’s team.
The revelation is jarring; their unique, niche project has a mirror image. Spurred on by their colleague CASSIE, they decide to reach out. Sarah drafts an email to the Chinese researchers, attaching a huge 4GB project file as a gesture of goodwill.
As their painfully slow internet connection struggles to upload the file, their network monitor suddenly shows an impossibly fast incoming data stream. A new folder appears on their desktop, named in Chinese characters for the Beishan site. It rapidly fills with project files—images and videos of a sun-bleached desert landscape that is structurally identical to their own. Before their email has even finished sending, a direct message window pops up from the file-sharing client. It’s the Chinese team. Their first message bridges the 10,000-kilometer gap with a simple, curious question: “Why is your granite so wet?”
## Character Breakdown
* **LENNY (30s):** The lead, a focused and slightly cynical perfectionist. He is the visionary, obsessed with the tactile truth of the project and burdened by the technical limitations of their indie setup. He treats the project with an almost sacred reverence.
* **Psychological Arc:** Lenny begins in a state of isolated proprietorship, believing his team's struggle and vision are unique. His world is confined to the physical rock and the digital representation he is trying to perfect. By the end, this narrow focus is shattered and replaced with a profound sense of shared global purpose, moving from the mindset of a solitary artist to a collaborative node in an unexpected, worldwide network.
* **SARAH (20s):** The detail-oriented technical mind of the group. She is the researcher and data wrangler, methodical and sharp. She is the one who uncovers the digital thread that connects them to their counterparts.
* **BEN (20s):** The pragmatic hardware specialist and drone pilot. Grounded and often sarcastic, he provides a necessary counterpoint to Lenny’s idealism, constantly reminding the team of their physical and financial limitations.
* **CASSIE (30s):** The audio engineer and project strategist. Working remotely from the garage, she has a broader perspective. She is the optimist who sees the discovery not as a threat, but as an opportunity, pushing the team to make contact.
## Scene Beats
1. **THE OUTCROP:** The team works in the cold, desaturated Canadian Shield. The mood is one of quiet frustration as they battle failing batteries and poor light to scan the massive granite rock face.
2. **THE GARAGE:** They retreat to their cluttered, makeshift studio. The warm, dusty hum of computer fans replaces the silence of the forest as they begin the laborious data processing.
3. **THE DISCOVERY:** Sarah, researching online, finds the academic paper from Lanzhou University. The team huddles around her screen, stunned to see their exact project—methodology, software, and purpose—mirrored by a team in China.
4. **THE DEBATE:** A brief moment of deflation gives way to curiosity. Cassie argues they should connect, framing it as a unique opportunity. Lenny agrees, realizing their shared goal transcends competition.
5. **THE REACH OUT:** Sarah drafts an email and attaches a massive project file. They initiate the slow upload, a digital message in a bottle sent across the ocean.
6. **THE ECHO:** As they wait, their network monitor spikes with an impossibly fast download. A folder from the Beishan team appears on their desktop, a direct and instantaneous response.
7. **FIRST CONTACT:** The team watches, mesmerized, as the folder fills with images of the Gobi desert site. A direct message window opens from the peer-to-peer client, and a message in English appears. The connection is made.
## Visual Style & Tone
The film will employ a stark visual contrast between three key environments:
1. **The Canadian Shield:** Desaturated, damp, and cold. Shot with a naturalistic, handheld feel to emphasize the physical struggle. The palette is dominated by deep greens, wet greys, and dark browns.
2. **The Garage Studio:** A pocket of warm, cluttered light in the darkness. The glow of monitors illuminates a chaotic but functional space filled with cables, coffee mugs, and high-end computer hardware in a low-tech environment. The feeling is intimate and claustrophobic.
3. **The Gobi Desert (via screen):** Seen only through the files they receive. The images are sharp, sun-bleached, and expansive, with a palette of harsh golds, beiges, and brilliant blues. The footage is smooth and professional, subtly highlighting the other team's superior resources.
The overall tone begins as a grounded, melancholic tech procedural and slowly transforms into one of quiet awe and profound human connection. It aligns with the grounded sci-fi wonder of *Arrival* or *Contact*, capturing the emotional weight of an unexpected discovery, but with the intimate, character-driven focus of a *Black Mirror* episode like "San Junipero."
**Format:** Short Film / Anthology Episode | **Est. Length:** 10-12 minutes
## Logline
In the remote Canadian wilderness, a small team of digital artists documenting a future nuclear waste site makes an instantaneous, impossible connection with their Chinese counterparts, discovering they are mirror images working on the exact same project on the other side of the world.
## Themes
* **Global Connection vs. Local Isolation:** The story contrasts the team's physical and creative isolation in the vast Canadian Shield with the sudden, borderless community they find through an unexpected digital link.
* **The Permanence of Nature vs. the Ephemerality of Technology:** The ancient, immutable granite batholith—a symbol of deep time—is captured and transmitted by fragile, lightning-fast digital technology, highlighting the tension between geological permanence and human innovation.
* **Shared Purpose in a Divided World:** Two groups of young people, separated by geography, culture, and politics, are revealed to be united by a profoundly specific and humanistic goal: using VR to tell the story of a place for a future they will never see.
## Stakes
At stake is the team's sense of purpose and unique contribution, as they risk discovering their passion project is not only unoriginal but has already been perfected by a better-funded team halfway across the world.
## Synopsis
A small, independent digital preservation team—LENNY, SARAH, and BEN—are in the cold, damp wilderness of Northwestern Ontario. They are using photogrammetry and LiDAR scanners to create a hyper-realistic VR model of the Revell batholith, a massive granite formation chosen as a deep geological repository for nuclear waste. Battling failing batteries and fading light, they struggle to capture the perfect data, driven by Lenny’s obsession with authenticity.
Back in their makeshift garage studio, the team begins the slow process of rendering the data. While researching geological specifics for the project, Sarah discovers a recently published academic paper from Lanzhou University in China. She is stunned to find that a Chinese research team is running an identical project at the Beishan site in the Gobi Desert—another granite batholith designated for nuclear waste storage. They are using the same software and have even solved technical problems that have stumped Lenny’s team.
The revelation is jarring; their unique, niche project has a mirror image. Spurred on by their colleague CASSIE, they decide to reach out. Sarah drafts an email to the Chinese researchers, attaching a huge 4GB project file as a gesture of goodwill.
As their painfully slow internet connection struggles to upload the file, their network monitor suddenly shows an impossibly fast incoming data stream. A new folder appears on their desktop, named in Chinese characters for the Beishan site. It rapidly fills with project files—images and videos of a sun-bleached desert landscape that is structurally identical to their own. Before their email has even finished sending, a direct message window pops up from the file-sharing client. It’s the Chinese team. Their first message bridges the 10,000-kilometer gap with a simple, curious question: “Why is your granite so wet?”
## Character Breakdown
* **LENNY (30s):** The lead, a focused and slightly cynical perfectionist. He is the visionary, obsessed with the tactile truth of the project and burdened by the technical limitations of their indie setup. He treats the project with an almost sacred reverence.
* **Psychological Arc:** Lenny begins in a state of isolated proprietorship, believing his team's struggle and vision are unique. His world is confined to the physical rock and the digital representation he is trying to perfect. By the end, this narrow focus is shattered and replaced with a profound sense of shared global purpose, moving from the mindset of a solitary artist to a collaborative node in an unexpected, worldwide network.
* **SARAH (20s):** The detail-oriented technical mind of the group. She is the researcher and data wrangler, methodical and sharp. She is the one who uncovers the digital thread that connects them to their counterparts.
* **BEN (20s):** The pragmatic hardware specialist and drone pilot. Grounded and often sarcastic, he provides a necessary counterpoint to Lenny’s idealism, constantly reminding the team of their physical and financial limitations.
* **CASSIE (30s):** The audio engineer and project strategist. Working remotely from the garage, she has a broader perspective. She is the optimist who sees the discovery not as a threat, but as an opportunity, pushing the team to make contact.
## Scene Beats
1. **THE OUTCROP:** The team works in the cold, desaturated Canadian Shield. The mood is one of quiet frustration as they battle failing batteries and poor light to scan the massive granite rock face.
2. **THE GARAGE:** They retreat to their cluttered, makeshift studio. The warm, dusty hum of computer fans replaces the silence of the forest as they begin the laborious data processing.
3. **THE DISCOVERY:** Sarah, researching online, finds the academic paper from Lanzhou University. The team huddles around her screen, stunned to see their exact project—methodology, software, and purpose—mirrored by a team in China.
4. **THE DEBATE:** A brief moment of deflation gives way to curiosity. Cassie argues they should connect, framing it as a unique opportunity. Lenny agrees, realizing their shared goal transcends competition.
5. **THE REACH OUT:** Sarah drafts an email and attaches a massive project file. They initiate the slow upload, a digital message in a bottle sent across the ocean.
6. **THE ECHO:** As they wait, their network monitor spikes with an impossibly fast download. A folder from the Beishan team appears on their desktop, a direct and instantaneous response.
7. **FIRST CONTACT:** The team watches, mesmerized, as the folder fills with images of the Gobi desert site. A direct message window opens from the peer-to-peer client, and a message in English appears. The connection is made.
## Visual Style & Tone
The film will employ a stark visual contrast between three key environments:
1. **The Canadian Shield:** Desaturated, damp, and cold. Shot with a naturalistic, handheld feel to emphasize the physical struggle. The palette is dominated by deep greens, wet greys, and dark browns.
2. **The Garage Studio:** A pocket of warm, cluttered light in the darkness. The glow of monitors illuminates a chaotic but functional space filled with cables, coffee mugs, and high-end computer hardware in a low-tech environment. The feeling is intimate and claustrophobic.
3. **The Gobi Desert (via screen):** Seen only through the files they receive. The images are sharp, sun-bleached, and expansive, with a palette of harsh golds, beiges, and brilliant blues. The footage is smooth and professional, subtly highlighting the other team's superior resources.
The overall tone begins as a grounded, melancholic tech procedural and slowly transforms into one of quiet awe and profound human connection. It aligns with the grounded sci-fi wonder of *Arrival* or *Contact*, capturing the emotional weight of an unexpected discovery, but with the intimate, character-driven focus of a *Black Mirror* episode like "San Junipero."