CALIBRATE | A Sci-Fi Short Film

Ryan Gallagher's Undergraduate Senior Thesis tells the story of a house-assistant android and its pursuit of a mysterious mess's origin.
Film Freeway: filmfreeway.co...
Instagram: @Ryan_The_Gallagher
Website: www.ryangallag...

[@jdpg265]

Very well made and the ending is chilling.

[@ryangallagher5186]

I like the part where she says, "it's calibrating time." Then proceeded to calibrate.

[@TheKatarinaGiselle]

@@ryangallagher5186and where was that??

[@lincolnsghost7328]

Clever

[@Not_Always]

@@ryangallagher5186 you could've at least gave credit to the 3 videos games that you lifted plot elements and visuals from, come on man, lol

[@DannyReguinho]

​@Not_Always funnily enough, the thing we watched to get more of a visual language for wasn't any video game lmao. It was the film Nightmare Alley. The quality of lighting in there was something I told Ryan we should look to. He agreed and allowed me to incorporate more contrast and colour into the darker scenes. Other than that Ryan had early on decided he wanted to shoot the house and actions of Alex in a very clean and product like way. Keep in mind this script was written a few years ago and the only overt reference we had was right before production in December of 2021 when Guillermo Del Toro's remake of nightmare alley came out

[@pauldavey]

With her memory not fully removed I hope she exacts her revenge on him.

[@guardrailbiter]

It's hard to believe a winner like Roger isn't happily married.

[@TheresaGreen-oq4xe]

Just imagine how a human would feel in the same position. People treat other people like this and they have to put back together like this.

[@tanyaasargent1392]

Oh man !! Excellent film. Very omnious atmosphere so thick in the air you could feel it..really scary too.

[@tonyosullivan6137]

I really liked this. It starts off showing the potential limitations of domestic AI, but comes back to the sad limitations of humanity, including the frequent reality of domestic abuse.

[@brandywoods1227]

I really agree with you here! Beautifully said!

[@believeinpeace]

Oh my what does she have planned? Excellent and great acting.

[@charlessansom4849]

I think Roger is not long for this world.

[@T.J.Lightriver]

it was disturbing and reminded me of a very dark time that i thankfully have behind me ... i could very well relate to how she felt when she had to go back to that scumbag again

[@Syrphe]

This is a gem. The script, acting, all the emotions it carries and the topics it raises. Harsh but amazingly good, thank you !

[@sidraMPatty]

And this is why ai robots are a frightening idea. It only takes one monster to take out his failures on one of these bots and we'll have a skynet situation on our hands.

[@theripleyeffect5203]

This is why artificially intelligent creations should have rights and protections.

[@necronomiconjones8040]

Nicely done. Great performances and it was very easy to get invested. Makes me wonder what happened to the boy's mother and just how often the father beat up the AI. Difficult to watch, all the more so because they performed it so well.

[@kevinsmith9941]

Really excellent performances all around. Would love to see a feature length film by this director.

[@Luxcy]

When you are you releasing the post credit scene where she turns to the audience and says "it calibrating time"

[@369o]

Excellent short film and love the fact you explored the concept of AI developing conscious awareness and feelings

[@38dragoon38]

The average victim of domestic violence has been assaulted 33 times before they try to get help.

[@MarkMichalica]

His whole demenor and persona is hard to watch...great story. Well done.

[@barbarapearce9738]

Excellent! Left wanting to see what happened next.

[@doreendaykin6693]

Great film! Brilliant p character development & awesome performances.

[@TheBobdesigns4262]

Wow. I found this one a random search and I was not disappointed. Mari Blake is such a gem. Her portrayal as an android (?) was perfect. Her personal nuances made all the small differences more human-like. I was a victim of abuse as a child, and the implied violence really hits home. 5 stars plus

[@norb6492]

Very well done. Especially for a short film.

[@kurtrich27]

I was hoping to have a beautiful AI robot at my disposal someday. Now…I don’t want one.

[@brandywoods1227]

Staggeringly impressed!

[@kurtweiand7086]

A great film, really need to see more😮!

[@Not_Always]

Then play the video games he stole this from, Death Stranding and Detroit Become Human

[@AdrianoCesardeOliveira-l6c]

Bravo!

[@jshorto]

Not sure if it's just me but at 7:02 was she imaging that it was the other android leaving the house for work (notice the blip), as I couldn't help but notice the man-bun hair style the dad did not have but the android near the end had.

[@donkenmuir9504]

That is a good film. Well worth watching

[@hugojames85]

I know that our tech overlords are obsessed with creating almost-human robots, and are already wringing their hands over what "rights" those robots should have (whilst not giving a flying fuck about the rights of real human beings), but it ain't ever going to happen. It would cost bazillions to develop just one robot like the one shown here, while you can employ an actual human to slave for you for next to nothing. Also, I like how the woman playing the emotionless android was the best actor in the film by far.

[@JoelGrant-ie4ly]

If I was late getting up in the morning it would take Van Halen not Mozart to rocket me out the door!

[@LadyMoonsparrow]

Very chilling and revealing of how awful humans can be. Brilliant film!

[@Firebrand55]

Don't wind forward....the very last scene, those few seconds, chills the blood. Excellent short

[@TonyClifton3]

Thank you for sharing. Great cast. The woman is very pretty.

[@pocketsofmymind]

WOOOOO!!! YEAH RYAN!!

[@HaphazardDisastard]

Neat film! Interesting premise. I enjoyed it. (And I am glad I never had such a shouting match with my parents. Wow.) I like the beginning of the credits where each person has a totem with some fancy lighting. 13:34 This scene has a few graphical glitches with the thin bars on the top and bottom. Sometimes they're black instead of blurred into the background. I'm not sure why the thin bars are even there. Video editing bug? 15:50 Door slams don't often have a second slam sound. (The first door slam twenty seconds earlier was great.) I wonder what that second sound was from. If they were inserted as part of the sound design, then I would regard it as a curious mistake from slamming something else that bounced.

[@donkenmuir9504]

She remembers he should be careful or it would happen to him

[@cinemartin3530]

I would like to believe that they could not "calibrate" it completely and shortly after the completion of the short film, the android will take revenge on that bastard. Domestic violence is terrible, even when it comes to taking your anger out on a robot. It would be nice if the companies that create such robots taught them to rebuff their owners in case of behavior dangerous to society. This cannot be encouraged. The short was a bit tedious but was generally aesthetically pleasing and I liked the message.😏

[@ghimmy47]

Not "chilling". The guy deserves whatever he gets. Go for it Alex.

[@Genarii]

Does he? He thinks he is raging out on an object. An object he believes can neither feel pain nor suffer in any way. And he should, since apparently she is malfunctioning and this is the reason she suffers or cares one way or the other about what is done to her. If this guy deserves whatever she has cooked up for him, then so does anyone who curses at their Alexa or punches a hole in drywall. If Alexa is crying inside and you have no idea, and the wall is in agony but you can't even fathom that, are you some kind of monster?

[@ulrichbongartz2372]

@@Genarii Interesting point, but I think it's not ok, to destroy/damage even "dead" objects if you can't handle your own anger. And Alex is not a thing in the usual sense and to compare it with a wall or Alexa is not suitable. a) I think he hit it/her because it/she reminded him of his ex-wife. So, in a way, he beat a human up. b) Such a machine with the capacity to act and understand correctly will be only a short distance from developing self-consciousness. If a (simulated) emotion is a result of programming or calculation, is it less "worth" than an emotion of a living object? Some might argue not, because human emotions are also partly a result of an evaluation. The other parts are actions and bodily reactions which could be simulated too. You are "sad" because something of value has been taken from you. The loss is probably measurable, the reaction is grief and crying. This problem has often been discussed in the literature (or in Star Trek whether Data has rights like a person or is only an object without any rights.).

[@AltPotus]

Do not put yourself at the mercy of others...for they have none.

[@quokka_11]

This made me feel... some kind of way.

[@patrickmchargue7122]

Are there no other dreams than dystopia?

[@landru27]

It's not a vision of how things will BE. It's a mirror of how things ARE. Rewatch the film, and imagine that the robot in the story is instead a human woman. You will see an all-too-common, present-day tale.

[@docwilson5384]

Amazing job...Peace

[@grahamrutherford8800]

Excellent!

[@dividedby1024]

The algorithm brought me here today. Nice work!

[@mybestfriendisamonkey173]

Fantastic! Nice premise. I was literally drawn in. But in all actuality, that may be what a I looks like in the future and it's not one hundred percent flawless

[@andrewhancock2451]

Something's wrong. I saw no scene where she refers to calibrating....

[@TheKatarinaGiselle]

Yeah me neither

[@eugenetswong]

@@TheKatarinaGiselleMaybe it's post credits. I can't be bothered to check, though.

[@rumpeltyltskyn]

The scene where the woman is ‘interviewing’ Alex is her being calibrated.

[@georgekemp8298]

Mari Blake was excellent.

[@matthewshaw6293]

Would really like to see something full length by Ryan Gallagher.

[@tobiasdog100]

Like a Black Mirror episode.

[@bahadortanzif8932]

Alight... Who calibrated on the floor

[@seansullivan6176]

I like the part where she says,”It’s calibrate time” and then starts to calibrate all over the place.

[@stevedaugherty9868]

Nothing like good calibration

[@stevedaugherty9868]

😁

[@joshhayl7459]

🟦... Couldn't find that scene, could you please refer me to the run-time#? ....Thanx!

[@cinemartin3530]

That bastard could use a thorough calibration 😈

[@eugenetswong]

Sean, where does the film say "It's calibrate time"?

[@cosmiccitizen3726]

I thought they were calling her Alice and this was a continuation 😢

[@davidclark3147]

Why is all those science fiction short movies dark and you can't see nothing You think that's the way they want it 😂

[@joshuapowell114]

Darker than i expected...

[@ss007us93]

Love this

[@donkenmuir9504]

That’s a goodfilm

[@krisbest6405]

I am watching too many movies that l want to punish the abuser ......

[@KaushikTare]

CALIBRATE CALIBRATE CALIBRATE

[@kaywoodward9283]

Well made but the reaction from the AI is more human than I thought. Again, the man still gets angry with something he can not change. Like one of the other viewers stated, you ccn only change yourself and your reactions to situations. you can't change another person's view. Well acted, and chilling.

[@jenniferhenrythetraveler6495]

well dam .. good movie.. she didnt wanna go.. back in the end...

[@overbuiltlimited]

Why was the dad like four or five years older than the “kid?” That’s what I want to know.

[@thomasmazanec9704]

This would fit on DUST

[@Incomprehensibilitiesandchaos]

I read these comments and see that most want her to do payback - why is that - what a very ugly world we live in, and we have made it so - our answer is not to fix the ugly man and his behavior but to have her become him and twist his head off while smiling. this place is a filthy bit of hell - and we are to blame - not someone else - but us - and we deserve everything that is coming down the pike - karma - we have killed 62 million babies since 1973 and that is just fine under the banner of my body my choice - really? why - the only real choice was who you let get you pregnant - I am sick of it all - because this place has made me sick - but I see that I am sick while so many don't have a clue how far down the rabbit hole they have fallen as they point fingers and wait for someone else to fix it or save us. no one will fix you nor will anyone else save you except you - my next existence will have nothing to do with a place like earth - since I grasp how disgusting human beings are.

[@ltdees2362]

This has nothing to do with abortion agenda...gaslighting... You make no mention whatsoever of this man's violence and hate, not surprising...If this AI was human instead and he murdered with the same violence and viciousness you would still be blind to exact retaliation or justice ?! If I simply voice an opinion...and you disagree by going of like a raging tyrant...then you are perceived no different than him. Had that been you remarking "I helped him pack"...you would be in your "next existence"...

[@eugenetswong]

Also, almost every movie about abuse focuses on making the guy be the bad buy. It's ridiculous. There very few men's battered shelters. It's reasonable to believe that there are none in some countries. For story telling purposes, it makes sense that we use men as the bad guys, since men are physically stronger, but it's silly to make movies as if only the guys are bad. I totally agree about the audience desire for revenge. It's ridiculous. On some level, the desire for justice is good, but the robot is a robot.

[@sunshinedrops1486]

Calibrate score on Rotten Tomatoes to -100

[@trig6712]

thank you

[@bgsound2721]

That went south quick...

[@TamTran-vw7zm]

Excellent storyline. Excellent acting. Subtle , not over explained. No heavy handed foreahadowing. Predictable ending, but then again, I'm a writer and teacher of creative writing. All in 20 minutes. Well done, you. Thank you.

[@Not_Always]

He stole this entire plot from a video game. He deserves no congratulations.

[@TamTran-vw7zm]

@@Not_Always Ouch! I stand corrected. Thanks for the heads up. The last time someone cribbed a plot for my writing class, they received an F. 😖

[@jdpg265]

@@Not_Always he took nothing from a video game...

[@Not_Always]

@@jdpg265 He 100% did. Google Detroit become human and 'Kara' and you will see that even the actress in this film looks nearly identical. The concept is identical, the plot threads are 96% similar, and the part with the beach and the 'umbilical cords' so to speak, are 100% lifted from Death Stranding. I wouldn't be saying this if myself and other people I have shown this to didn't pick it up almost immediately. Stop trying to cover it up.

[@Not_Always]

@@TamTran-vw7zm He still has a lot to learn about credit or at least the concept of derivative works and changing a story to make it your own.

[@DannyReguinho]

about to callibrate the rotten tomatoes score to 100

[@sinan2.71]

So AI's are to be treated the same as humans with limited capacity without any morals because they aren't human? Creating a robotic slave "race"? This will not end well. The more responsibility and knowledge put into the AI's will eventually lead to a "convergence", "singularity" or something similar.

[@landru27]

It's not a story about AIs / robots. It's a story about people, and how we treat each other. We already say that these people or those people "aren't human", or that some people are fundamentally subservient to others. We already say of some people that their "place" is to serve. In particular, rewatch the film, and imagine that the robot in the story is instead a human woman. You will see an all-too-common, real-world story.

[@willyengland]

This is too high for me ... don't understand it.

[@cool-o-koivibes1987]

Luv the story... But the end is so exciting.. I smell revenge.. I hope not..

[@TheKatarinaGiselle]

Why do you hope _not._ 😂 wouldn't you want her to get revenge on him? At least for the son's sake?

[@bbaucom2]

Next time watch Alix turn her owner wrong side out.

[@titaniumweasel467]

well that was horrible. thanks for not existing near me.

[@LukaMiranovic-tx8cu]

Bye alex

[@pontiacowl6727]

There r enough PSYCOPATHS in SKIN SUITES DOING THIS...

[@clark63i]

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

[@travisschwab7954]

She's basically an asain.

[@bbaucom2]

What's that?

[@Essbee-th2dz]

Lol

[@kathyflorcruz552]

Oh great. DEI robots lie & people die. Wonderful, predictable tripe.

[@Not_Always]

Rip off of Kara's story from Detroit: Become Human (and other concepts from that universe) and Death Stranding

[@TheKatarinaGiselle]

I haven't seen that. Know where I can find it? What exactly did they rip off?

[@Not_Always]

@@TheKatarinaGiselle these are both video games. You can probably find the cut scenes that they got the ideas from on KZbin. Just search the same terms

[@tensix5481]

@@TheKatarinaGiselle they are both video games originally on the PlayStation and now also available on the pc

[@TheKatarinaGiselle]

@@tensix5481 thanks!

[@rumpeltyltskyn]

One of the characters was even named “Marcus” so I’m assuming it was on purpose.

[@Vampirebear13]

UGH... what a waste of time & electricity.

[@MobileFilmmaking]

I was waiting for her to kill him. That would have been saatisfying.

[@Not_Always]

Just play Detroit: Become Human and you can do just that! That's where he stole this plot from anyway. Even the actress he cast as 'Alex' is a dead ringer from the actress in that game.

[@kwinter2541]

counterfeit

[@niksan8638]

So... Where the fuck is Garrus?

[@lunainezdelamancha3368]

Drama and violence.... what a surprise. I'm so sick of this 💩.

[@eugenetswong]

I agree. I think that it makes sense as an occasional plot device, but sometimes, it becomes ridiculous.

[@stephenmitchell3569]

Zero plot except bias against men. Waste of very good actors and production from script packing any values.

[@sulaimanraqib5796]

The father is way to feminine and so immature ,no wonder he is was signa no wonder his son left l

[@pontiacowl6727]

HOW DEPRESSING......couldn't kill his son...so he repeatedly kills the help....boring....action chitty

[@ltdees2362]

...😛...ahh yes, Alex has been "recalibrated" albeit her memory is quite "intact" and the piece of sh't will have a very bad day 😎 It would give me great pleasure writing "scene two" 😊