Simon Aboud explores life in a bubble

Antibiotics - and how our propensity to pop those little striped pills at the hint of a sniffle is paving the way for superbugs - is a topic that's dominated the headlines in recent months.

Nothing we've read in the papers, though, is as disturbing as this new social awareness campaign, created by Havas Germany, which imagines the devastating consequences of drug resistance.

In this not-so-distant future, people exist inside their own personal bubbles - giant plastic eggs which protect them from infection, but seal them off from the rest of the world. Kids can't play football; lovers can't embrace. It's a chillingly dystopian vision which, thanks to accomplished cinematography and clever use of reflections, nonetheless possesses a haunting beauty.

We caught up with Annex Films director, Simon Aboud, to chat about the photographic inspiration behind the film - and the more prosaic problems of shooting inside Perspex eggs.    

What was the brief from the agency?

The brief was ambitious. Havas wanted to create a vision of the future that was disturbing, but real enough to change behaviour. I immediately had an image in my head of a photograph by Holly Andres. It’s an oddly dystopian image of two girls in the back of a car, looking out at something unseen. There’s a real sense of dislocation from the outside world, the real world if you like, that’s exacerbated by the reflections of natural elements in the car’s windows. That was the start of the creative process and spawned a whole load of ideas that came from the idea of ‘dislocation’. 

Above: Holly Andres' Homecoming

Aside from the plastic eggs, the film feels like it's set in the present - was that a conscious decision to make the issue feel real and imminent rather than some vague future prospect?

Science fiction is, by nature, far-fetched. You don’t believe it will affect you. The facts behind this film are really disturbing. You want people to notice; to change their behaviour. To do that, the world needs to be one they recognise but in which something is definitely, noticeably wrong. 

The real difference in this ‘near future’ is that people have lost their freedom to do what we take for granted.

How did you go about creating the dystopian feel of the film?

The real difference in this ‘near future’ is that people have lost their freedom to do what we take for granted - for partners to have a physical relationship, for kids to play football together without fear of an infected cut. That creates these feelings of dislocation and paranoia, so we worked on amplifying that. I got to work with Bartosz Nalazek, a DP whom I’d already shot a TV show in the US with. We put a lot of energy into attempting to create an uneasy feel. Bartosz sourced a set of new ARRI Signature lenses which had a crazy close focus (you could be close enough for the Matte Box to touch the actor) and that helped with really getting inside their world.