about the concept so far.

This is my take on the idea so far. Please post your comments and ideas too, so that we have a clear idea of what we are working towards.

The environment is set in a future where robots, or 'slaves' which Jared pointed out is the actual translation of the czech word 'robots', are used to perform a variety of fuctions, from house-maid to factory worker to soldier. Our environment is a subterraenean, automated facility. Robots which are broken or have reached the end of their operating life are sent here to be recycled. Before their bodies are sent to the crusher, their digital memory is extracted by a large robot, which i refer to as the 'surgeon'.

The idea is that the data from within the minds of the robots cannot simply be downloaded, but has to be extracted by the surgeon. The memories that the robot has accumulated and stored during it's life are saved in a large database. The reason for this is as yet unkown. Possibly there are people within the government who are reserching artificial life, and have managed to incorporated the removal of the data into the recycling process.

The top of the chamber is dome shaped, man made and covered with metal including details such as large vents and pipework. The lower half is a natural stone shaft which descends into the depths of the earth. The central 'carousel' where the robots are processed is mounted on a vertical pillar in the centre of the chamber. Cradles holding the defunct robots enter the chamber at the top and move down the central pillar in a framework attached to one side. They then are loaded on to the carousel, and will be rotated around to an alcove containing the surgeon. They continue to rotate until they line up with a horizontal conveyor that leads to the crusher. The constraints holding the robot are released and it is dropped onto the conveyor, leaving the empty cradle to finish it's journey around the carousel and then leave the chamber via a vertical framework next to the one which contains cradles heading downward. The carousel rotates in steps, triggered when the surgeon has finished extracting the data from one robot and another needs to be moved into position.

I imagine the sound of the machinery moving to be heavy, grinding clunks and clangs, accompanied by the occaisional high-pitched screech of metal which echoes inside the chamber.

The surgeon drills into the skulls of the robots and then inserts cables which extract the data. As the cables lock into place, the memories of the robots are displayed on large screens behind the surgeon. The images flicker and the experiences of the robots fast forward in dis-jointed scenes.

On the opposite side of the chamber is a viewing platform from which people can observe the process, and also there is a network of walkways around the chamber which are used by maintenance droids. I think it would be cool if the last shot was of a maintenance droid intently watching the flickering images of the other robots lives (kind of an Abe's Oddysee look). It's hard to show emotion in a robot, but the fact that it is watching the screens and taking an interest is what makes it cool.

I definately think we should avoid anything in the visuals that looks like the Matrix. The surgeon and the way it moves has to be very different from the machine that removes the cable from Neo's head when he wakes up in the real world. I didn't have the matrix in mind when i visualized it, but this is certainly the association that a lot of people are making. For this reason it can't come down from above as Ajdin suggested. I drew it that way but it just seemed seemed far too matrix-like. It's not a robot that moves around a lot, more like a SCARA or gantry robot in a car factory, but a bit more funky of course!

I think the machinery should look hi-tec but worn out, as if it has been operating for centuries. Similair textures to those in Moloch would look really good. It would also be cool if there was a contrast between the machinery of the plant and the robots in the cradles, which would be newer and contain newer technology.

Concept art to follow soon...