"If there is any chance of finding resources or answers here, we must take it."
''Iron Lung: The Machinima''
is a machinima adaptation of the video game, Iron Lung by David Szymanski, created using Garry's Mod by Youtuber Leprechaunproduction.
In the distant future of 2370, mankind is on the brink of extinction: a mysterious event known as the Quiet Rapture has caused every single star and planet to vanish, leaving behind a handful of survivors to try and survive in a dying universe. While searching for supplies, some of those survivors come across a moon with a mysterious ocean of blood that may hold a clue to revealing the mystery behind the rapture. But when two submarines are destroyed trying to uncover this secret, a convict, Stewart Cole, is recruited to retrieve the data, and promised his freedom if he succeeds. But the task won't be easy, and there has to be a reason the previous submarines haven't returned...
"Iron Lung: The Machinima'' provides examples of:
- 13 Is Unlucky: Stewart's rickety, rusted submarine is called SM-13
- Adaptation Expansion: The video introduces new characters and locations that weren't in the game, such as some of the COI's leaders, a COI spaceship, and giving the convict a name and backstory. The radio voice in the game is also revealed to be a radio operator who gets more screentime and lines.
- Adaptational Alternate Ending: Played with: While the overall plot is the same, Stewart survives his journey into the blood ocean, but will still ultimately die due to a lack of food or water.
- Adapted Out: The glowing, star-like anomaly does not appear, nor are the moments where the SM-13 is teleported around the seafloor.
- After the End: The setting takes place after an unexplained event caused all the stars and planets in the universe to vanish.
- Alien Sea: Most of the story is set under an ocean of blood on a remote, alien moon.
- The Alleged Car: SM-13 is a rusty, fragile submarine that has to be welded shut in order to withstand the pressures of the blood ocean, and its user can only see what's around them with a crude, black and white camera. Unlike its video game counterpart, however, this SM-13 is tougher and can withstand being hit without breaking apart.
- Almost Out of Oxygen: The SM-13 has only half an hour of oxygen, and subsequent damage endured during the journey reduces that amount even further. The submarine completely runs out of oxygen at the climax, forcing Stewart to wear an air tank so he can keep breathing.
- Animalistic Abomination: Whatever is swimming in the blood ocean is fast, lethal, and hyper-violent. And judging from the boneyard that Stewart encounters, there were once a lot of them.
- Apocalypse How: Type Universal, the severity level hovering somewhere between Societal Disruption and Societal Collapse, as the COI has less than a month's supply of food, oxygen, and water.
- Artistic License – Biology: An ocean of blood would be too thick for traditional photography to work under. The only way Stewart could take any pictures showing points of interest would be from sonar imagery.
- Bittersweet Ending: Leans heavily into bitter: Stewart survives his journey, where his in-game counterpart did not, and will die a free man... but the COI is on the verge of running out of food and supplies, and unlike the game, there's no indication or hope that they will find any more in time to avert mass starvation and the extinction of humanity.
- Black Screen of Death: Happens when the monster crushes SM-13 at the climax.
- Blind Driving: Due to the SM-13 not having any portholes, Stewart has to use sonar and a camera to see what's ahead of him.
- Bookends: Stewart's first scene reveals that he hasn't seen the stars (or, rather, their ghostlight) in thirty years. His last scene shows him seeing them again.
- Boxed Crook: Stewart is a convict recruited for an incredibly dangerous expedition into an alien ocean to earn his freedom from a life sentence of hard labor.
- But What About the Astronauts?: The only surviving humans in this universe were people who were on space stations and starships. Everyone else vanished when the planets and stars disappeared.
- Canon Foreigner: The pilot of SM-12 and the COI's three leaders.
- Chekhov's Gun: The Radio Operator tells Stewart that if he runs out of air, there's an air tank in the back. Sure enough, Stewart equips it at the climax when SM-13 runs out of air. It also allows him to reach the surface after the submarine is destroyed.
- Compressed Adaptation: The game is an open-world experience where the player is tasked with taking photographs of several anomalies in any order they chose. Here, Stewart instead instead has to retrieve research data from a previous submarine expedition; while he does encounter some of those anomalies, he is not required to photograph them.
- Cosmic Horror Story: The vast majority of humanity has vanished with all planets and stars in the universe, leaving behind a handful of people left who can't figure out what happened and who are trying to survive with extremely limited resources.
- Crapsack World: The world of Iron Lung is not a nice place to live; In addition to the Cosmic Horror of all the stars and planets disappearing, resources are running out and what few humans remain are less than a month away from extinction.
- Cruel and Unusual Death: Even though he's survived the horrors of the blood ocean, Stewart has been marooned on said ocean and has no food or water, meaning he's either going to starve, die of dehydration, or be eaten by whatever else may be in the ocean.
- Creator Cameo: Iron Lungs developer, David Szymanski, has a voice cameo as COI's logistics manager.
- Desert Island: Stewart is left stranded on a large rock jutting up from the blood ocean after the COI ship leaves the moon.
- Dies Differently in Adaptation: In the game, the convict is eaten by Frog. Here, Stewart manages to escape the ocean's deapths, but will die from starvation and/or terminal dehydration after being accidentally left behind due to the COI ship leaving the moon.
- Dripping Disturbance: A drip of liquid occasionally falls from the SM-13's ceiling.
- Eldritch Ocean Abyss: Most of the story takes place at the bottom of an uncharted ocean of blood on an alien moon that's filled with monsters and what looks like buildings of some kind.
- Elephant Graveyard: Stewart comes across an enormous field of bones while sailing through the blood ocean.
- Endangered Species: The last human survivors have just a month's supply of food and water. Once that's gone, it's game over.
- Everyone Calls Him "Barkeep": Only Stewart and Davidson have names; everyone else is known by their job title (Administator, Logistics Manager, Radio Operator, etc.)
- The Future: The story takes place in the year 2370.
- Giant Eye of Doom: Stewart takes a photo of a sea monster's eye looking right at him. Said monster then slams into the submarine, destroys the lights, and causes it to start flooding.
- Go Out with a Smile: Though it will be some time before he dies, the last we see of Stewart, he's smiling at seeing the stars for the first time in thirty years.
- Hell Is That Noise: Stewart's journey through the blood ocean is mainly quiet, with the sound of the submarine's propellers and beeping of the radar, but he occasionally hears some noises that clearly belong to a creature of some kind. The sound of the SM-13 being crushed by the monster's jaws at the end certainly qualifies.
- Heroic Mime: Stewart doesn't talk; justified in that, for a majority of the video, he has no one to talk to. When ascending to the surface at the climax, he does give a heavily-muffled, 'Come on!'
- Hope Spot: Stewart reaches the surface of the ocean after downloading SM-8's data... only for the SM-13 to be grabbed and dragged back down into the depths, where it is subsequently destroyed.
- I Die Free: Although Stewart will inevitably die by either starving or terminal dehydration, he is a free man for the first time in 30 years.
- Jump Scare: Much like the game, they're few and far between. The biggest one is when the monster bites into the SM-13 and starts crushing it.
- Just Before the End: The universe's planets and stars are gone, there's only a handful of humans left, and if they don't find any more supplies, everyone will be dead in two months.
- Know When to Fold 'Em: Despite being the one who convinced his peers to have the SM-13 expedition take place, the Administrator admits that, after losing 3 submarines, it's clear that they won't find anything useful on the moon and that it's not worth the effort to keep searching.
- Lighter and Softer: Though the story is as dark as the game, Stewart survives his journey into the blood ocean, where his game counterpart did not.
- Maybe Magic, Maybe Mundane: No information is given on how the Quiet Rapture might have happened. It's possible that the information SM-8 discovered might have offered a clue, judging by the reaction of SM-12's pilot, but that information is lost forever when the COI abandons the moon.
- Minimalism: The story has just four locations and a cast of six characters.
- Minimalist Cast: Not counting a few background extras on the bridge of the COI ship, there are just six characters.
- Named by the Adaptation: In the game, the convict has no given name or gender. Here, he's a middle-aged man named Stewart Cole.
- No Name Given: The Administrator and Logistics Manager, whose names aren't revealed until the end credits.
- Nothing Is Scarier: While we see bits and pieces of the monster in the blood ocean, it's full form is never seen.
- The Old Convict: Stewart appears to be in his late 50's, and has been working in the COI's ship's engine room for thirty years.
- The Pardon: If Stewart manages to recover SM-8's research data, he will be granted his freedom.
- Parody Assistance: Iron Lungs developer, David Szymanski, has a voice cameo as the COI's logistics manager.
- Plot-Triggering Death: Research submarine SM-8's destruction while researching the blood ocean kicks off the story, which briefly follows SM-12's attempts to recover SM-8's data, and then SM-13's attempts to do the same.
- Pragmatic Adaptation: The button to trigger the camera is located on SM-13's main console instead of the back wall, presumably so Stewart wouldn't have to keep walking back and forth in the submarine to take photographs and stopping the flow of the story.
- Prisoner's Work: Stewart has been serving a life sentence of hard labor in the COI's ship's engine room, where he's been working for thirty years.
- The Radio Dies First: The SM-13's radio dies when Stewart reaches the bottom of the blood ocean, cutting off all contact with the COI ship.
- Recruiting the Criminal: Stewart is recruited to try and recover SM-8's data, as no one else is presumably crazy enough to go into an ocean where two submarines have already been destroyed.
- Ribcage Ridge: Stewart encounters a truly massive field filled with the bones of dead animals while sailing through the blood ocean.
- Riddle for the Ages: The pilot of SM-12 looked at the research data gathered by SM-8 and says that they discovered something incredible about the moon, but is killed before he reveals what that discovery was. We never find out what it is.
- Rising Water, Rising Tension: The climax has Stewart struggling to reach the ocean's surface before the SM-13 fills with blood.
- Rivers of Blood: Or, rather, an ocean of blood.
- Robinsonade: The ending has Stewart - after the COI ship has left the moon - stranded on a rock on the blood ocean. But with no food or water, and no chance of rescue, it's implied that his death is inevitable.
- Sci-Fi Horror: The "Quiet Rapture" has left what little remains of humanity in a desolate universe with less than a month's supply of food and resources, and their only chance of survival is lost research data in the depths of an ocean of blood on an alien moon.
- Sea Monster: There's one in the blood ocean. and judging from the boneyard, there were once a lot more.
- Sensor Suspense: The SM-13's sonar shows just how close Stewart is getting to various obstacles, accompanied by an audio warning that gets more frantic the closer he gets to said obstacles. One of those obstacles moves when Stewart tries to back away from it.
- Spooky Photographs: Much like in the game, Stewart has to take black and white photos to see what's in front of the SM-13. Most of the time, it's empty scenery. But sometimes he captures something else... like the monster's tooth-filled maw in the distance.
- The Stars Are Going Out: Something caused all the stars in the universe to vanish, leaving behind only ghostlight.
- Sub Story: Most of the story takes place inside a small submarine.
- Suicide Mission: Stewart is sent into an alien ocean to try and retrieve research data gathered by another submarine, SM-8, which was destroyed, and the submarine sent to retrieve its data was also destroyed. Stewart's submarine is clearly not up to the task, he has only 30 minutes of oxygen, and there's clearly something in the ocean that keeps destroying everything that goes into it.
- Ticking Clock: SM-13 has only thirty minutes of oxygen. Subsequent damage the SM-13 takes reduces that time even further.
- Title: The Adaptation: 'Iron Lung: The Machinima'
- Underwater Ruins: Near the end of his journey, Stewart comes across what appears to be some buildings of some sort. No explanation is given for what they are, who built them, and what they're doing in an alien ocean of blood.
- Win Your Freedom: If Stewart manages to survive his expedition into the blood ocean and retrieve SM-8's data, he'll be a free man. He does get his freedom, but won't live long to enjoy it.
