Cool News
YouTube Filmmaker Dude Gets Nabbed By Sam Raimi's Company!!
Merrick here...
Fede Alvarez, a filmmaker from Uruguay who made an inexpensive short called ATAQUE de PANICO (i.e. "Panic Attack!"), looks to be going to Hollywood because his film was discovered on YouTube. He'll get there by way of Sam Raimi's Ghost House...
The deal, in the six- against seven-figure range, will see Ghost House hire a writer for the project, which is based on an idea by Alvarez.
...says THR HERE.
This kind of story fascinates me because I feel, quite strongly, that filmmaking has been very much "democratized" by all the wonderful technology everyday folks now have at their disposal. I mean: we're in an age where people like you & me have it within our power to generate product that is good enough to get us noticed by, or even jobs in, Hollywood. That's a mammoth shift from when I was growing up - when merely editing a short film required provisional editing bays, ultra-high end DVD players, etc. All in all, what's happening now is pretty awesome. Even My Woman's Mamma - who's like 5, 000 years old - is sitting at her Mac editing together professional quality family videos, probably at this very moment.
Love this kind of story! Here's Fede's ATAQUE de PANICO, which was made for several hundred dollars...
- Merrick on Twitter!
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first!
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this pie is so GOOD!
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District 9." not that there's anything wrong with that.
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How about a movie deal for me and everyone else who has imagined aliens and big robots attacking a city?
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http://www.vimeo.com/6869175
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I like the film's simplicity...
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The guy deserves it. Good for him.
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executed a crazy, 1 in a million shot plan of saving the world in the last 2 minutes. But give it time, I'm sure the feature will have no shortage of ragtag unlikely heroes saving the world while overcoming their own personal demons.
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http://vimeo.com/6806455
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...but it sure smells good!
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There's a clear difference between "imagining it" and "making it happen" you assclown.
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"Your day mieght not always be what you expected...but a little extra security and comfort never hurts!"
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...is because you didn't make a short film like this guy did. Simply "imagining" aliens and big robots attacking a city isn't going to get you a deal. Any six year old can imagine such things. Try making a film as technically proficient as Panic Attack and then you can bitch about not getting a movie deal.
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It was a short discovered due to YouTube, this could have happened even before the "youtube era". But it fells to me is that nowadays all you have to do is to create a short film with a gimmicky plot and have some good Final Cut Pro skills to be "discovered" by Hollywood, as opposed to the old days, where you had to be excepcionally good.
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So this guy can create effects shots. Where is the story? This is just redundant recycling of everything we see in movies today but with nothing human to it or showing any kind of service to a narrative that has any kind of meaning. I'm so sick of effects over telling a good story. The opening hints of a story concerning the child but like most Michael Bay clones it goes no where. This is more depressing than good news to see that this guy got a job at Raimi's company.
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Looks like we're going to see a million of these on Youtube from looking to be discovered filmmakers, in the next few years.
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He didn't get hired as a writer, he got hired as a director. He directed. Further, I would argue that while it was a lot of VFX which you could find all over the web if you're looking, that what stands out is the smoothness, tempo and sense of geography to the FX shots. That is a rarified talent. Congrats to Mr. Alvarez!
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Made for a few hundred bucks????
I can't believe anyone is making negative comments about this mini-masterpiece of a movie.
It easily looks like 5 million $ up there on screen. I bow to this guy, and then kick him in the head with a Tobigeri out of jealousy. -
Also great choice of music, that 28 DAYS theme never gets old.
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bangin ass score
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it sure wouldn't be Uruguay. bada bing! But seriously, it was pretty, but like someone said above, it didn't have much of a narrative. But who knows, good luck guy!
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BTW ricarleite2, this DID happen before YouTube—search for the movie "405" and "George Lucas in Love" both from 2000."…A gimmicky plot and good Final Cut Pro…" skills won't cut it. This short is pretty damn accomplished, especially considering how much it cost. And, from a technical standpoint this is WAY more advanced than just FCP alone; you can't build 3D models in an editing programme. It's easy to try to tear down somebody else's work but your logic is flawed. "In the old days" filmmakers would have sold their kidneys to do short films with this level of technical polish.
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Nov 30, 2009 1:27:21 PM CST
Youtube is a great medium for future filmamkers to get noticed
by jettl93
i've actually started a site called youscript.com where people can write scripts and have them read and then puirchased by big hollywood types like me
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...I mean it's visually impressive given the budget, but what about this video suggests this person can tell a -story-? There's already a ton of effects houses that can do -this-, why pay somebody six to seven figures to tell a story when they haven't shown anything but "giant robots attack city." No beginning, middle, or end. Very reminiscent of Sky Captain.
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our script is coming along fine but we are definetly open to fan ideas, movies for the fanz, that what Cri-Nol always sais
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But 0.072% chance a feature gets made from it.
But it goes to show how awesome giant robots are and how the X-Men franchise royally fucked up by not having Sentinels in it. -
Liked that one better than this one. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IU_reTt7Hj4
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I see no story at all in this. There's tons of this kind of shit on youtube from ppl learning maya and other programs. Hell half of the poorly rendered ufo youtube vids are ppl trying to get noticed by hollywood. I don't really consider this news.
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Script is currently being hammered out as we speak
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It was a SFX show reel. And if Alvarez is looking for work as a CGI artist, then give him a chance, I say. But as far as directing goes, it's impossible to say whether the guy has any idea at all of how how to tell a story, or how to build an action scene, or how to build *any* scene, or how to direct actors, or... I could go on and on with this... A series of random CGI shots with little to no connective issue between them is not filmmaking, and it is not directing. So all in all this is some seriously bizarre news, unless Raimi has seen some other, far more impressive work from Alvarez. I guess it should be also noted that I know many professionally working CGI artists, and all of them can pull of stuff that is far more complex and realistic than the CGI you see in this show reel. And they can do it without money as well, all they need is their standard PC's. They work in movies, in TV, in ads, etc. They are frequently hired as CGI artists, but they are not hired as feature ilm directors. Because they can't direct. Frankly, if this all is true and Raimi gave Alvarez a 6-7 figure feature film development deal mainly because of this show reel, then I would say that this is exactly the kind of news that makes modern Hollywood sometimes so discouraging.
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And there are a ton of great giant robot and alien invasion stories out there, you apparently are only aware of 2 shitty examples.
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Nov 30, 2009 1:41:34 PM CST
Sneezing panda is also being developed into a CGI family film
by jettl93
Tony Danza's production company, Moner-Angerla pictures sangged up the rights for an estimates 8 figures, Danza will produce, the panda is reped by Celeno & Barnes
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Believe me: I’m happy this guy made a five minute short film and it opened the doors to his dreams coming true. Honestly, congratulations to him. How many of us would be completely stoked if that happened? But I wonder what this says about the simplicity of the minds of those hiring directors in Hollywood these days. Is the lesson here “All you have to do is produce decent special effects on your own and you can helm a multi-million dollar film”? Is this what Hollywood is now? If you can do effects really well by yourself and just make something look really cool, you can direct a major motion picture? I agree that he definitely has talent with visual effects but can he get strong, convincing performances out of actors? Can he create a compelling story? Can he make dialogue on the page come to life? Or, sadly, do these things not matter to studio chiefs anymore?
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Most of the short films seen on YouTube that lead to a development deal usually fail to become a feature film. The filmmaker doesn't have a feature-length screenplay and can't follow through. Since the article doesn't give details about the terms of this deal, we can only assume that Raimi and Company have seen or read something that made the lawyers start the paperwork.There are a lot of FX artists who can do more sophisticated and elaborate work but, do they WANT to be film directors? Not many want to direct because to them VFX work alone is a passion or in some cases… it's just a job.
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I've heard a rumour that you might get replaced if you can't, um, 'speed it up.'
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It's become a cliche that a hot new discovery made his demo "for only a few hundred dollars"... Judging by the quality of the video and animation, the filmmaker dropped _at minimum_ $5,000-$8,000 USD for the camera, hardware and software.
Unless he pirated the software and stole the camera and puter and assorted gear.
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They're taking our jobs!
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...in which case talkin g about a budget is meaningless.
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the Worlds and Sky Captain? I mean, I think it's miraculous that he made it for hundreds of dollars, and he's got a great eye and visual style. Well, good on him!
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if you're just going to blow them all the heck up anyway. Excellent scenes, but lost context/plot.
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(Paraguay) and I'm all from supporting the talent down there... but how the fuck did this guy get a deal with that? Yeah it's impressive considering that a dude made it all by himself... but c'mon man... what part of it did Raimi's guys find so compelling to make them offer him a deal?
C'mon... -
that movie was Independence Day.
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You know it's coming. Along with David After Dentist: The Extended Director's Cut
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Don't forget that long in development franchise. Sadly, we're only half joking here.
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...and let's face it. Raimi can't make a good film to save himself nowadays, and he gotta eat, so he may as well throw a promising new director a line.
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.....and he got a movie deal? what the?
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just the VFX alone cost more than that. plus the model work, all of the extras and casting. just no way.I like the "little guy makes good" stories, but this is a legitimate short. just because it's on YouTube doesn't mean this is all that unusual. Alive in Joburg was on YouTube as well. this isn't really any different, is it?
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Doesn't make up for talent and vision. The tools have created a double edged sword in that every pimple nosed teenager can shit something onto Youtube. The problem is that 99% of it is pure garbage and that 1% of talent looking for exposure typically gets lost.
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I think the guy has a lot of potential. I don't see many story elements but still, this CGI looks better than 88 percent of hollywood's garbage.
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Funniest shit ever!
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I'm not interested in seeing this derivative piece as a feature though. When will screenwriters be completely removed from the "film-making" process?
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It can be done, but a lot of people would have to work or add their 2 cents for free. Personally I these sfx productions that are independent. For example, this silly video was made for under $200: http://www.crashthesuperbowl.com/#/video/4955
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That's the message I got from this thing. Deep!
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my talents then.
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He attacked them before they became illegals. That's what we call "The Bush Doctrine."
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ask Neil Blomkamp
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Fuck off. If you honestly think that what the movie industry needs is more robots and aliens blowing shit up without a hint of a human story then you need to take Michael Bay's dick out of your mouth for a second. The guy's obviously has CGI chops but so do about a thousand other guys who oversee large parts of effects-heavy movies. Judging from this clip alone he's got about as much chance of being a great director as a commercial or music video director. That's all I see in a short with no human performances at all. Good luck to him, hope he gets his movie made and I hope it isn't about giant robots blowing shit up. I'm not bitter I don't have a movie deal you fucktards, I'm bitter because every movie out of Hollywood is a CGI shitstorm and they wonder why the movie industry is failing.
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If it didn't just get news from other websites. Seriously when's the last time you guys broke any news that wasn't an email from Keven Smith or Sly???
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It's amazing how powerful home computers are now. It's obviously extremely derivative and has no real plot, but the editing and cinematography are fantastic. I suspect that's what turned Sam's head.
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weird
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And I'm not talking about the web site either, I am talking about all the posters here who routinely told me, "Don't post your ideas, because no one in the executive offices at the studios is interested in such tactics, or individuals who do that, and you are crazy and delusional if you try!" Well, judging by this case, I was right, and you naysayers were completely wrong! Go Sam Raimi!!! PS To Sam: If you want a script with protential for a franchise, have Harry give you my email. Harry and I aren't buddy's or anything, I don't know him, but this site has my email address, so I figure if you see this, and are interested, maybe you'll take a chance on someone else?Happy Holidays--Signed, MM!
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Just wanted to get my point across (correctly) to those posters I was calling-out. You dream killers, are just wrong, and as I said, this story proves it!
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Posting your "ideas" as you put it and posting a completed short film. Ideas are a dime a dozen. They mean literally nothing to anyone but the person coming up with them. Post a short film, post your artwork, post something other than idea that people can actually use (either to sell on it's own or actually gauge your talent based off something other than your "great ideas")
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Sorry if that came across as harsh, but that's the way it is in ANY business. Ideas are just a jumping off point. Posting them will get you no where, unless you like watching someone who actually DOES things use them for their benefit.
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I see what you're getting at, and I'm happy for this guy to get his chance, good luck to him.However your little "PS To Sam" was cringeworthy.Take a shot, but don't suck cock.
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deathraycharles, like I said if the director had any sense of DIRECTING (which means TELLING A STORY) he would have stuck with the kid and made something worthwhile out of that short. But as it is...it IS nothing but an impressive effects reel done on the cheap showing nothing more than music video and commercial type stuff. We've seen this before. Remember that guy landing a plane on street (was that 405?) from several years back that was posted online. Whatever happened to that guy who did some impressive cheap computer effects at the time?
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and having 'Who wants to be a Millionaire' on in the background, the question of...Montevideo is the Capital of what country...and the kid walks past the Montevideo sign.
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I don't know what that is in Uraguay speak.
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Nov 30, 2009 7:23:00 PM CST
Someone tell Mikey Bay that big robots cause the ground to shake
by hey_kobe_tell_me_how_my_ass_tastes
Even when they try to be 'sneaky' and tip-toe around a garden!
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i dont know what you guys are bitching about. just because just because it didnt say " see dick run" with the pictures doesnt mean there is no story. it had all the components of a story exposition rising action climax etc. It was well shot it looked nice, and if sam "mother fuckin" raimi sees potential in this guy why shouldnt he fund him?
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I guess visually it's stunning that it was only made for a few hundred bucks (i.e. friends with a CG artist). However, with those resources at least tell some form of story. It reminded me more of a commercial than a film. I won't disrespect the filmmaker but I don't like how we live in a world where someone who made something like this is getting 7 figures.
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and the effects look equal to, if not better than the multi-million dollar blockbusters. It makes them look like a joke. Especially when their efforts are poor. When you have the resources, there really isn't an excuse for shoddy looking effects and the low budget efforts prove this.
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Cocksucker.
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Thanks for the assist. This and District 9 are the harbingers of outsourced entertainment. Here they come Hollywood. Same way all our factory workers are all out of jobs the "entertainment factory" is next on the block. "THEY TUK ER JOBS!"
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Now why didn't I think of that ?
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Pay attention, this was better than War of the Worlds... and Michael Bay you just better avert your unworthy eyeballs from this.
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AMEN! That was exactly what I was thinking. All those jackasses making movies with Marvel ideas, then holding out for believability or whatever. And then someone else uses the same unused Marvelism (for lack of a better word) in their movie! If you are making an X-flick, GIVE US SENTINELS! If you are making a FF flick with the Silver Surfer origin, GIVE US A BIG ASS GALACTUS! If you are going to have the Hulk fight the Abomination, GIVE US THE ABOMINATION! And dont get me started on Wolverine. jackasses!
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Glad to help.
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... why didn't the robots just conjoin into an ultimate weapon and wipe out everything in the first place rather then march around shooting missiles?
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...a guy who is all about the spectacle of big shit blowing up. But yeah, nothing about that says great director to me. It says Fucking Talented FX Guy. It says good editor. It says God damn the 28 Days Later theme really was kickass, wasn't it? But great director. Nope, sorry. Not seeing it. Competent, sure. Better than Kevin Smith, definitely. But actually good. Can't really judge by that. That said, the guy got a break, so good luck to him. I just hope he has more to say than Total Fucking Destructions Is Teh Awesome! We'll see I guess.
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Fundamentals are solid. Shot composition is *very* strong with only a couple of reaction shots looking amateurish. Pacing is solid. Did a fantastic job with a tiny budget. Attention to detail is great - inclusion of the news reporter, the shaky-cam as the crowds run from the air strikes, the office woman seeing the destruction from inside her building. It's all been inspired from other movies (Emmerichzilla, War of Worlds, Cloverfield, etc), but it's the director understood the composition of the shots he was copying and used them properly. Also, he has crowds that look good. Showing he's got the chops to get talent - and large amounts of talent - to effectively do what's required: I'd keep my eye on him too. He did a fantastic job. The pedestrian/people shots is what sold me. The CGI was inconsequential.
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What is wrong with this site? I don't understand it, but this guy suposedly made this with a few hundred dollars. Did you hear that? Let's repeat that. "A few hundred dollars" Actually, anything under $10k for that short would be impressive. I bet he didn't own any of the equipment and borrowed it, as mot of that equipment can be rented out. Also, stolen software..but the point is that this short looks hundred percent professional, it is extremely well done. Now, I would hire this guy just for the logistics of making a movie that would cost less and would easily make a profit while looking like a million bucks aesthetically and will be written by a good enough screen writer for this guy to make it a masterpiece. I think Mr. Raimi got a damn good deal. Anyone, who disagrees can go try to make something of this caliber for a few hundred dolalrs and if they can't, they all need to STFU!
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If you want good shot composition, you hire a good cameraman. If you want good CGI shots, you hire a good CGI artist.
Despite your praise for the crowd shots, in fact that is exactly a major thing this SFX show reel is missing: A human element. It has no drama, no emotion, no characters, no story. The opening with the child is the only part resembling an actual *scene*, and even that is shot and edited like a music video or a TV-ad. After that the show reel doesn't build into an action scene, because an actual action scene has a *story*. It has a narrative you can follow. It aims to stir your emotion by adding a human element. It has a sense of coreography. It uses visual language to manipulate your emotions. And so forth. A collection of random destruction shots is not an action scene. It's a trailer at best.
Being able to have a bunch of extras run, or adding a TV reporter (which BTW is something that every disaster movie does nowadays), is not something that even remotely would hint at an accomplished storyteller.
There seems to be a lot of confusion about what a *feature film* director does. Or how his job differs from the job of a CGI artist.
There even seems to be confusion about what is the difference between a show reel or a short movie. Or a music video, TV-ad and a feature film.
I find it pretty depressing, that so many people in this thread find this show reel to be something that proves the talent of an accomplished director capable of making a feature film.
In fact there are some people in Hollywood probably reading through this thread right now, and watching that youtube clip, and thinking: "This is what audiences want nowadays". Maybe they are right. Maybe I'm just old-fashioned.
There's no question that Alvarez has talent as an SFX artist, and knows how to frame a shot. But neither of these skills makes you a film director.
Personally I'm hoping that this SFX show reel was only one of many reasons why Alvarez got the development deal. Raimi is too smart to be fooled by fancy low budget effects. Maybe Alvarez has written a killer spec script. Maybe he has actual short movies that showcase his talent as a storyteller. Maybe he has an extremely bright and charismatic character brimming with cool ideas and vision. Maybe it's the combination of all of these that made Hollywood pay attention. But I really hope it wasn't just this show reel. -
...for some special effects guy
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Mr. Alvarez just found an investor with a studio production deal. Instead of Super-8 he's using HD video. Instead of Kayro syrup he's using Maya and After Effects. You're missing the point if you think this short is supposed to be "La Jetée". Was the staging clear? Did you understand the dilemma? Do you want to know what happens next? Could this be the intro to a larger story?—seems obvious to me.Maybe if he had the budget to hire professional actors then he could show performances worthy of P.T. Anderson's "Cigarettes and Coffee," but, If were me I'd make do with what I had, and if this was what I could afford to do—that's what I'd do. Bad performances DESTROY most short films. If this was a convenient workaround to circumvent that limitation then he deserves all the credit.
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some stay dry while others feel the pain
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By a load of talentless fucktards who are still pissed that Lucas didn't come round to the basement bedroom at their mothers house, ask them to drop the Canon DV camcorder and BEG them to come round to valley and save Episodes 1-3 in the editing room!!! 99.9999% of the bitching on TB's here at AICN is all down to jealousy. Simple as that. I like to think I've got some smarts when it comes to using iMovie and Final Cut Pro for home movies but there is no way in hell I could do that! Alvarez didn't get the gig with Raimi because Sam saw that on YouTube and emailed him a job offer, you dipshits. He'll have got in touch, liking what he saw as potential in that short film, invited him to meet him in L.A. Discuss movies and movie making in general, liked the guy personally and offered him an internship within his production company. Speaking as someone with friends in film and theatre production, I can tell you this sort of thing goes on all the time. Short movies and plays is how nearly all directors get known and get the bigger breaks. It's just easier now to get them seen, thanks to the internet and the likes of YouTube. I would like to think that the majority of TB'ers and geeks here are pleased for Alvarez getting this chance. Those who aren't.... can you just all fuck off back that basement bedroom and jerk off to X-Files publicity shots of Gillian Anderson. It's about all your good for and helps prevent you from spawning as equally talentless and bitter offspring.
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It's nice and slick, and has giant robot action aplenty, which certainly flicks my switch. But, it really just comes across as more of an FX showreel rather than a short film. But, fair play to the guy for getting some work out of it.
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Dare dakin our dubs
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Now Ok that looked pretty cool for a home movie but shouldn't someone be hired to become involved in making movies because of their story-telling skills, that was just a bunch of shit getting blowed up
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Ok so I posted before reading any of the talkback. At least I know I'm not alone in this train of thought
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Dec 01, 2009 10:13:41 AM CST
Good FX on the cheap, no emotional impact whatsoever...
by snake foreskin
should fit right in with Hollywood
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No. No I don't. Everything was destroyed just like in every other movie similar to this one, and the director has not shown me his capability to tell a human story with the drama that would inevitably follow a destructive event such as this. All this made me want to do is watch more special FX destruction, nothing more, nothing less. This guys is proficient with special FX but let's all be clear on this guys: this filmmaker got LUCKY. That's all. His talent with FX carried him to the right place at the right time to get noticed by Hollywood. But there are hundreds of videos online- at YouTube and Vimeo- that demonstrate better proficiency at special FX construction, that show the director's talent for directing the actors, that showcase a director's ability to tell a story, human or otherwise. In other words, there are BETTER short films out there, and those guys don't always get noticed. This guy did, so good for him. But I have to agree with the majority of the TBers out there that nothing here suggests the man is capable of telling a long-form story. I've been shown he knows how to make effects, yes, but drama? Acting? Line readings? Who knows.
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Sam Raimi can get fucked.
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Other than shooting style, there are no similarities. Joberg had better special effects for one, but most importantly, it told a story. It suggested a feature. It hinted at political persecution and racism, an allegory that people of all creeds and color could relate to. This short hints at nothing other than "shit blowing up". Also remember that Blomkamp had a series of shorts and commercials that had gotten him noticed, most famously perhaps his car ad of the break-dancing transforming car that told everyone "Holy shit, a live-action Transformers film is now possible!"
"Joburg" was only one component in getting Blomkamp a feature film, and that short showed more promise as a storyteller than this Panic Attack! does. -
Thank you precinct_13. I'm glad I'm not the only sane person left in the world.
I hate it when so-called professional 'journalists' start spurting bullshit like it only costs $500 to produce work like this.
It's a goddamned lie for people who don't know any better, to suggest any fucking amateur just needs $500 and a dream.
You also need professional camera equipment, expensive software (and some experience using it), and some decent computer hardware to produce a video like this.
Personally, I felt like I was watching assorted clips from the last 15-years of disaster films, but if this guy was able to get a movie deal out of it, I congratulate him, and hope he can tell a good story. -
It's an 'event' picture and to be effective it should have a element to relate to. But, I think that this shows promise. Many filmmakers have been groomed at the Sundance Lab. Who is to say that this dude won't get the same treatment. He DOES have an eye for composition and pacing. Many people complain about his lack of storytelling, I tend to disagree and look at HOW he's telling the story. Yes, it's using spectacle; eye candy to create interest. But, he wasn't signed as a writer (at least not from the article). "Alive in Joburg" is really a great short and it runs at least a minute and a half longer than "Ataque de Panico" which seems like the set-up for the actual story.I don't see why Fede Alvarez shouldn't be able to try his hand at the feature film world, especially if he's being mentored by a Hollywood veteran who has been in the game for over 28 years.
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a 3D programme called "Blender" is absolutely Open Source. If you look hard enough you can still find the motion tracking software called Icarus (also Open Source, for non-commercial use only). So, yes if someone has knowledge of the programme and they learn how to model, texture, light and composite (Blender also has a compositing app), borrow a camera and (most importantly) WORK HARD they CAN do something like this for $500. People are doing this NOW. And, they have been doing it for a long time.Look at something called "Creature Factory" a tutorial DVD by Andy Goralczyk on how to use Blender to create a scene, if you're interested.
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... Is that they've seen better quality "stories" online for years, and despite box office receipts saying otherwise, it seems a lot of the movie geeks around here would rather see a filmmaker who can tell a good story get this kind of break. I think most people here think that based on this singular work, Fede Alvarez doesn't deserve this attention. I agree that despite the missing "human element", there IS a story here. Unfortunately, its just one that isn't all that original or creative. Its very derivative, but its done well, and that's the sticking point. Some people champion the "done well" part whereas others are criticizing the "derivative" aspect. Sure, the guy will learn more as he's being groomed by Raimi, but what about all the other filmmakers out there who already know more and have demonstrated better talent but still aren't catching these breaks? This short is akin to a zombie short film where, despite some awesome makeup effects, we see nothing but some chase scenes and dismemberment. Is that indicative of how well a feature under the same director's hand would be? Or of how well the action sequences would turn out? Composition and pacing are great here, yeah, but those are just individual aspects of what are required to make a good film. He could go either way, being a great or terrible feature film director. Unfortunately, there's only enough here to suggest he'll be great at the effects heavy action sequences. Which, let's be honest here, are all that's required of some directors today it seems.
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Congrats to the guy on geting the dream deal etc. but letting FX guys direct? Have we learned nothing from AVP?
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Pitof, right?
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As ridiculous as it was, it didn't pull any punches.
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The chances are, he didn't use Blender. I'm not knocking Blender, but there's a reason people use Maya and 3D studio, and the stuff that costs thousands of dollars.
It's not like he was borrowing his friend's single CCD 480p mini-dv cam to shoot the thing either. It's true you can rent high-end equipment, but it comes at a cost.
Then we come to rendering and editing the whole thing. I don't think a single $500 PC is gonna be very pleasant to use, if even possible, to render something near photorealistic like this was.
I think the Variety article said the guy had his own 'company'. Whether that means he does legit work on the side and already has accumulated this equipment, or if it's just a PR way of gliding around the possibility he uses pirated software and equipment he owns (or whatever) and works out of his bedroom, I don't know.
Frankly, I'm not looking to accuse this guy of anything. I just don't think it's fair or accurate to say all you need is $500 to make something like this, because it's a lie. -
I'm just saying that it is not only possible for filmmakers to do something like this, but that it is happening with low cost and/or free toolsets. $500 dollars is a marketing budget, that's true, but it is ENTIRELY possible to do films like this one on that budget. A short film like this doesn't have to be completed on the same deadlines and could in fact take years to finish. Director Colin Levy was a high school student when he made the live action short "Suburban Plight" with Blender (he composited in After Effects as Blender lacked a compositor at the time). It took him 2 years to complete. But, he finished it.
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I agree that there are ways to make these types of shorts very cheaply, but this is not a guy mowing his lawn with some cartoon animals like Suburban Plight. I mean come on, making something like this, somewhere along the line, you're gonna have to spend some real money. if not just with the FX, and the computing power, the camera, the glidecams, thedollies, etc. etc. etc.you're at LEAST going to have to pay for the extras. all the little things and details, they cost money.I say, even if he had ALL the necessary equipment beforehand, this is still a few thousand dollars, minimum. and hell, it's worth it.
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I just took a look at "Suburban Plight". It's not bad, but it doesn't look anywhere near anywhere nearly as good as "Panic Attack!". I guess I can really only speculate, but I think what really sold the director was how slick and professional "Panic Attack!" looked. And again, this would have to be done with equipment and software totaling more than $500. The CGI wasn't superb, but it was pretty good looking, and something I'd guess most would find acceptable for a feature length indie pic. I'm not saying you can't start animating and compiling CGI and live-action on the relatively cheap, but if you want to look almost studio quality, it's definitely more than $500 from equipment to software and hardware. I just hate seeing that number thrown out there and leaving young, aspiring filmmakers, with meager resources, left feeling highly outclassed, when incorrectly told by outlets who should know better, that it can be done this way and look this good, because it can't.
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This is a very nicely done and entertaining effects reel, so give him an effects job! Why is everyone who can tap away at a computer and do cute short films given directing contracts and
signing production deals? It is a slap in the face to everyone who worked their way throigh the system, paid their dues and learned their craft! Too many wanna be filmmakers do a short film or 2 and want to be directing features! No wonder so many films these days have a slick look but really suck at their core! -
"A few years ago, a director named Kerry Conran spent 4 years on his Mac making a 6-minute trailer about giant robot war machines. A famous producer saw the footage, and that trailer became the movie, ‘Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow’. It lost $80 million.
A few years after that, director Michael Davis made a 17-minute reel of animated footage showing different action scenes that he wanted to turn into a movie. The ideas were stupid, but so is Hollywood so New Line gave him a bunch of money and those drawings became ‘Shoot Em Up’. It lost $52 million. 52 is less than 80, so sensing that this was moving in the right direction, Hollywood will try the same idea once again..." -
It should have made more money.
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It should have made more money.
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that didn't work. I thought "Shoot Em Up" had a great opening, then it just became 'safe' (I thought "Running Scared"(2006) was much more extreme)."Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow" was a disappointment along the lines of "Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within,"—they're films with grand ambition but, no real focus.
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I disagree (though, not entirely). It is clearly evident that a lot of the contibutors here are BIGTIME fanboys and are repeatedly fed-up by being fucked-over by the gutless corporate studio monkeys and the talentless bullshitters that they sponsor who keep churning-out boring crap with 100M+ budgets. High production values don't mean shit to a hard-core fan with the intelligence and common sense to see through the lying bullshot that some of these alleged film makers try to spoon-feed us. I could fucking care less if Spidey 3 was lame or Transformers 2 was an indulgent piece of crap. Neither do I give a shit if Lucas trashes his own properties. I just don't waste my time and money on it. But it is insulting to fans who have invested a lot of their time, money and devotion to a property that gets fast-tracked to suit the wallstreet-obsessed ass-wipes and their marketing-based business models. I applaud that kind of objectivity. Most of the talentles fucktards in the industry have no-business doing what they are doing. They are only their because they knew the right "friend of the family" or sucked the right cock at the right time, or placed a video on youtube that is just a spin on everything that has already been done. Many people can see right through it and it is good that they are making noise about it. BTW- having worked in several design and marketing projects, one of the first places we go for VERY cheap, skilled design labor and rendering is Argentina (as well as other South American markets) because they produce high quality work for dirt cheap (particularly when the dollar is strong). So this piece is less of an anomoly than Ghost Productions are apparently aware of. I am betting the if they give this guy carte blanche with a high-budget, high-profile project, he will produce a stinking turd; albeit a beautiful sinking turd, but still a stinking turd noonetheless.
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@DVader:
I think 'Sky Captain' is especially staggering crazy. Per IMDB, Kerry Conran has like no other credits listed before or after. Would've made more sense to put a director and experienced screenwriter in a package to make something decent out of it. Michael Davis at least had some prior directing experience. 'Shoot 'em up' probably could've been done for less than $10-15 million and been 'cult hit'. Both flicks clearly lacked any kind of substance, but at least 'Shoot 'em up' had no other pretenses to deliver what it did.
@blakindigo: re: 'Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within' I can't think of too many other films that were such a crushing disappointment and with a complete abandonment of the tenets that made the series great. It was 'going Hollywood' in the worst sense of the term. -
Giving a good comic book artist the reigns to a movie. Just because he can draw pretty pictures or cut a good looking trailer doesn't mean he has the experience and know-how needed to deliver a good feature film. I guess "The Spirit" sorta solidified that notion too.
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Asher Roth is a white rapper who put his rhymes on facebook and some more well known producer found him and he released a legit album. Paranormal activity was bought by dreamworks with the intention remaking it with stars and then Spielberg watched it and accidentally got locked in his bathroom afterwards and thought the coincidence was to great for a scary movie so he just decided to release it as is (true). My point is, is that there is something else going on behind these "out of nowhere homeade movie" stories that isn't as good a media story as the "out of the blue" story line. Bottom line, most of this stuff is hype and PR with more money and experience behind it than we think. So I agree with those above who smell something fishy about the "several hundreds of dollars". Also, I'm not sure the feature they're talking about will be a longer version of the short. That's not applied in the article. Also, movie deals like this come and go, if you read the trades you read about dozens of projects in development that never get made.
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That short didn't look any better than many of the home-made cgi shorts I've seen on YouTube.
"Death Star Over San Fransisco" had a more in-depth story to it.
I get how Alive in Joburg could catch people's attention. It had a neat story, and really believable dialogue.
This short would be a good promo for someone who wants a job at an effects house. I hope there was more to the guy's pitch than just this short to get the Raimi's attention.
The 28 Days Later music was DAMNED distracting. -
Dec 01, 2009 9:34:26 PM CST
blakindigo: That, and Suburban Plight was actually clever.
by royston lodge
As opposed to just being an effects reel.
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Next District 9?
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Since yesterday.
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Hire a writer based on the idea of what...???!!! A couple of robots invade and shoot everything up. Wow, we haven't ssen that in a loooong time. Hollywood is becoming so pathetic.
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http://www. youtube.com/watch?v= JD4CH6QfBhg
I remember when this little film was touted here and even in the mainstream news for its "cutting edge" effects back in 2000. The makers were effects guys but never got any directing thing off the ground. Hey, Raimi has got that low-budget DVD production company. Maybe he'll start Alvarez off there and build him into a director while milking his effects know-how. -
Hola gents from Argentina... This is not the rags to riches story hyped by the media... He is a working commercial director who has been in the biz for a long time... He has done a bunch of ads for pepsi among other high profile clients... and is a partner in a... wait for it... production house. That 500.00 does not even begin to include what was spent. And as I understand it he was hired based on the reel and a story pitch which another writer is being hired to punch out... This deal is totally standard hollywood fare... but kudos to him for pulling it off.
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10 years ago, for 2 or so guys working on Pentium's 2 and 3's, 405 was pretty damn impressive, much more so than "Panic Attack!". It's kinda depressing to see neither director made much of a splash afterwards. But at least according to IMDB, it looks like they've both managed to carve out a somewhat respectable FX career.
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Cameron goes crackhead over CGI. Pretty much sums up this latest story and how Hollywood reacts to getting effects.
http://www. youtube.com/watch?v= Jk7tUKaW59I -
First blown up by Grant Morrison in the DC Universe and now this...
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Thank you. I was sure he had to have more material.
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Not to take away from the achievement of scoring a possible seven figure deal... the truth is, it was much more 'run of the mill' than reported... The 'made for 500.00' rags to riches is a little bit of spin....
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