After studying the core themes and characters from Zero Contact, many aspects revealed themselves to us for creating a partner series of NFTs for the film. The main character Finley Hart, played by Anthony Hopkins, is somewhat of a technological philosopher.

The film encompasses code cracking, hacking, saving the world, and unlocking the mysteries of the universe. We quickly realized that we had to build something that echoed the film yet stood alone and could be utilized in the future in the Zero Contact universe. The art we wanted to build had to tie into the philosophy, cryptography, and puzzle-cracking apparent in the movie, where the characters have to save the world by solving puzzles and inputting a code before time runs out.

Our first idea was to add Finley Hart’s prose into the NFT. We wanted to create a puzzle that Finley could use as dialogue in the film. Working with the writers, we would eventually mix these sentences as clues into the NFT. This was the origin of creating the NFT into a puzzle that interacts and unlocks its sister NFTs, all coming together in a Master NFT.

We don’t want to give away too much of the film by overly explaining the NFT, so we will merely state that everything you see in the NFT refers to the film in one way or another. Nothing in the NFT is random or merely graphic design. This starts with the background. As the film was shot in 17 locations, we used satellite photographs from each location. We collaged them together and created an abstract, multi-satellite map. This was then enhanced in photoshop by hand and then fed into an AI generator which gave me the string-like DNA strands that mirrors the film and points to the relevant locations.

The colors created for each NFT are all represented in the Master NFT, which you can also see throughout the film. From the paintings on Finley’s wall, the color of the piano, the color of the apartment, and so on, you will see these colors echoed in the film.

The timer ring in the centre of the NFT is at the core of the Zero Contact plot. As well as it being a Zero, it counts backward for reasons that are apparent after seeing the film (will not reveal more than that).

The moving colored blocks, each with their own set of words, pull from every other NFT in the series. The movement shows how much time you have remaining to enter the answers.

The puzzle word input field is jumbled and on a timer, mimicking what the characters in ZC have to do in the film: work out puzzles and find a passcode to input into the XCII machine. So each character has to work together and has a limited time to input their found code into XCII and save the world. In the NFTs case, each NFT holder can work together and input the cracked codes within a certain time frame to unlock a much larger key to the ZC Universe.

The diamond in the center of the map is an ode to the Ethereum blockchain, which is also where the final clue will be revealed.

Much like how the characters in the film are guided by clues supplied by Finley, our NFT holders are guided by the clues and words of Finley to unlock the key to the ZC Universe.

The film is the first of star-powered feature film to be released and distributed through NFTs, and these NFTs are the first to speak to and unlock other NFTs. Two firsts!

These NFTs are an extension of the galaxy that is Zero Contact, and we are excited to show them to you.