Synopsis

A mysterious traveler appears in the modern world and moves through East London in a strange, stop-motion haze. Played by Tilda Swinton, the silent figure observes commuters, traffic, television images, litter floating in a river, and a fragile plant pushing through a brick wall. The traveler seems both fascinated and saddened by human life and its environmental damage. After reaching a point of departure, the figure looks back one last time before vanishing as suddenly as they arrived.

Factoids & Trivia

• Tilda Swinton plays "The Traveler," an ambiguous figure who may be human, extraterrestrial, or displaced from another time.

• The video was released alongside Orbital's 1996 single, which reached number 11 on the UK Singles Chart.

• Its stop-motion style drew inspiration from Norman McLaren's "Neighbours," the Australian animation "Palisade," and the experimental film "Koyaanisqatsi."

• The Traveler's pilot hat and long coat echo David Bowie's alien character in Nicolas Roeg's "The Man Who Fell to Earth."

• Swinton spent about a week learning exactly where to place her feet for each frame. Crew members counted positions aloud during the painstaking shoot.

• Swinton improvised the Traveler's brief "I love you" near the end of the film without telling the rest of the production team in advance.

• Phil and Paul Hartnoll appear for only a split second in a laneway scene.

• The video won a Silver Sphere for Best Short Film at the San Francisco Film Festival and was nominated for Best Video at the 1997 Brit Awards.

• It was also screened in festival programs at the Edinburgh International Film Festival and the London International Film Festival.

• Paul Hartnoll said the song originated with a recurring dream about finding a mysterious wooden box in the Welsh countryside, always waking just before opening it.

• A message seen on one of the televisions, "Monsters Exist," later became the title of an Orbital album.