Synopsis

 

 

In the S. Factories, two twin factories of planet Earth, humans and robots work together with commitment towards a common goal. In the every day task singular ingredients of an ancient recipe are processed
to illuminate time itself.
The workers cooperate in each of the factories sectors in perfect harmony while maintaining the immemorial synchronization that allows them to complete the mission.

 

 

 

Story

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Engine of Time is a short film with a vintage flavor that tells a story that is not allocated in a precise moment in time: yesterday, today and always.
In the development of this timeless tale several inventions, born from  Italian genius, are mentioned as a tribute, from the beauty of the aqueducts of ancient Rome to the "ISSpresso coffee" of Argotec & Lavazza, designed to be drunk in space.

At the base of the story we have the rotation of the Earth that generates the alternation between night and day, since the sun's rays light up about half of the globe at any time. Thus if it's night in Hemisphere A, it's day in Hemisphere B and vice versa.The main subjects of the short film are the S. Factories, two impressive twin 
factories that are active each in its own Hemisphere. They are both very special factories, inhabited by workers involved in creating, managing and  finding what it takes to make the nights of the hemispheres lush thanks to   heavenly bodies, elements of the story that are necessary to illuminate Time and perpetuate Infinity. On the front of each of the S. Factories there is a large clock that is connected to a light sensor.
When evening falls, the sensor detects a variation of light and this variation is indicated by the needle of a gauge. Consequently a warning light switches on, that indicates the beginning of the operations
in the factory. The information collected by the sensor is transmitted to the clock gears, which activate the Robot Guardian. The robot, thanks to the pulleys and cables of a small chair lift, moves along the factory tunnel, until it reaches the Cinebox, a machine that plays music and shows pictures.
The robot, pending just before the Cinebox, will then press a button to check on a screen the situation of the other hemisphere, where at that time is currently daytime. The art and notes that are transmitted by the Cinebox are conveyed into a pipe as an energy beam that awakes two miniature tip-tap robots, which  
begin to dance. The vibrations of their dance steps generate the spark that causes the start of the
internal combustion engine and its pistons push the crankshaft to rotate.  
This is connected to a dynamo that generates electricity which, flowing along the conductor wires, reaches the heart of the factory giving it life. It is held up to the ceiling by metal veins and arteries.
The pulsations of the heart activate the underlying production machinery, mainly composed of four parts:
the facility that receives the energy from the  heart; the mixing machine; the camera and the conveyor belt. 
The facility that receives energy from the heart accumulates the energy required to operate
the entire machine. Then the raw materials, that are essential to the production, are poured in the
mixing machine.
The camera turns the ingredients into finished product through the capture process and impression of light. The conveyor belt, finally, loads the finished product into the trolley which the delivery robots pull to the next phase. The finished products of the S. Factories are the seeds that contain the structure of the future plant of heavenly bodies. A celestial body exists in the real world thanks to a balance of elements, therefore, in the same way the ingredients used by the factories to produce the seeds are dosed thanks to a precision scale that verifies its perfect equilibrium, because a great recipe ensures a great product! 
The recipe includes two classic ingredients, Powdered sugar and Colored candy, and four ingredients that represent all seasons: Vanilla beans, Sea Essence, Leaves and Liquor Winter.
The seeds, after being stored in briefcases by robotic arms, are sent into space in the hands of workers assigned to aviation. The flight into space is completed in several stages, each represented by space stations positioned in different layers of the atmosphere.
The stations are placed at various altitude: at 12 Km the Tropopause Station, at  55 km the Stratopause Station and at 90 km the Mesopause Station. 
Once delivered, the seeds are planted into the casing of the outer atmosphere, and thanks to the propagation of the vibrations of a celestial orchestra, they hatch giving birth to flowers that have buds that explode. 
This explosion creates stars. Then, with the rotation of the Planet and the first arrival of the sun rays, at dawn, they complete their task and decrease the light intensity until they switch off gently.
Then they fall to Earth in the form of shooting stars. But this is not the end, just as the humus feeds life, their fall generates the primary elements that are found in Nature.
So the intangible, turned into tangible matter, gives life to the elements that constitute the seasons, enclosing the Planet with vanilla flowers in spring, starfish in summer, colorful leaves in autumn and snowflakes
in winter.
The death of the stars generates the birth of the seasons, and the death of the elements generate the ingredients of the millennary recipe necessary for the existence of the stars: Vanilla beans, Sea Essence, Leaves and Liquor Winter. And so the fundamental cycles end, the cycle of life, the cycle of day and night, 
the cycle of time. In a past far away billion of years the dust released in the galaxies from massive 
explosions was transported to our planet in the form of meteorites, becoming essential ingredients to
the life. 
In Engine of Time the stars cannot exist alone, but they are the sum of pieces  that fit together, complementing each other.  
And we,  inhabitants of Earth, heirs of the Universe since intimately linked to it, are the guardians of this precious legacy, continuing to perpetuate life.
Each element observed and listened contains billions of years of evolution and preserves the breath of the Universe. 
In our story the night Hemisphere has completed it's task once again.
From reality to image, the guardian robot verifies on screen the success of the night hemisphere, preparing for a new cycle.
So our story ends as it began.

 

 

 

Monologue 

Each machine contains and conceals precious mechanisms full of value and genius. Have you ever wondered what huge secret is kept by the Time? This story repeats itself and gets lost between gears, analogies and timeless facts marked by the hands of ticking clocks. An invisible wire links all people of all ages from all around the world. Cultural practices and ancestral traditions are handed down like the purest of stories,
to keep alive the Engine of Time. A single wire, a single purpose, a single language as that of music.
Musical notes that bind and dance, whose vibrations light the spark that allows to start the engines. The heart starts beating generating rhythmic movement and the energy needed to sustain the cradle of life.
The universal need to create is imprinted with letters that echo in the silence of an ancient recipe.
Vanilla beans, Sea Essence, Leaves, Liquor Winter, candies and powdered sugar are the ingredients that ensure an excellent product. The gifts of the world are shaped and molded to generate new materials. 
Thin bonds and a precise balance are just some of the tiles of the mosaic that preserves the survival of the Universe. Rivers of atoms carry the material and arrive in a single source with sinuous shapes, preserving important structures that keep the secrets of tomorrow. Like a vortex that spins and spins without stopping, behind the normal phenomena of nature, there is a meticulous work carried out with great dedication and precision all over the World. 
In the whirlwind that follows the Time there are the S. Factories, two huge  twin factories of the Earth, one in each hemisphere. There, nothing is left to chance or is taken for granted: the bouds with the  matter
are unbreakable. 
The Universe itself is a delicate mechanism and the rules of life are neededto cooperate in perfect harmony, to keep the immemorial synchronization that allows to complete the mission. The inhabitants and the guardians of the Earth are bounded with a wire that cannot be broken: as the principle needed to generate life, the world law assert that each of us has only one piece necessary to complete the mosaic. 
The actions of the Guardians of the time determine the survival of the world. Human being and matter are linked and head towards space completing their flight in phases, defining facts and moments as in slides from the Genesis. The invisible border that surrounds the Earth is crossed, seeding space like pollen in the wind. The links between the boundaries are reflected in space like a parallel world, where again Human being and matter are blended. It touches the border to deposit the result of an ingenious work. 
Heavenly music and its vibration,  that propagates through space and soil, are the necessary
condition to support life. The seeds open, generating flowers whose buds explode, giving life to the
stars. After the explosions, there appears to be a wide flowered expanse that shines like moons in the night.
As hypnotic as the hot flame of a candle, they warm the hearts, fertilize the imagination and inspire dreams. With the rotation of the planet and the arrival of the first rays of sun, at dawn, the stars finish their job, wear down very gently until they turn off. Then, they drop out of the sky and fall to Earth in the form 
of shooting stars. 
But it is not death, just like humus feeds life, their fall  generates the atoms and cells that are present in nature. As an expert weaver who weaves its threads, the dust of the stars once again weaves its structure by drawing the starry plots that are the seasons: vanilla flowers in Spring, starfish in Summer, colorful leaves in Autumn and snow flakes in Winter. 
Again as pollen in the wind, the fruits of the stars fertilize the world, inhabitating the oceans waters and covering the ground of the continents.  But the vortex mixes and remixes, and everything in this cicle is destined to die.
The elements of the world will return to it in order to become the essential ingredients of the life of the stars: Vanilla beans, Sea Essence, Leaves and Liquor Winter. The age-old recipe is the secret engine of Time.
We inhabitants, heirs of the Universe as intimately linked to it, we act as guardians of this precious legacy, continuing to perpetuate life.
Each element observed encloses billions of years of evolution and shows similarities with what surrounds it.
Each element holds the breath of the Universe.
Schemes and moments are repeated by drawing the life line of this wonderfully  complicated engine.

 

 

Texts by Ilenia Locci

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English version

Translation by Matteo Floris and Massimiliano Cicuttin