The Brick And The Dead [WIP: In Nature]

NEW FILM PROJECT

It's been about a decade since my last foray into filmmaking. In the past few weeks I've started work on a new project: "In Nature" a short horror film using LEGO stopmotion.

I have ambitious goals for this project: including zero use of generative AI, and creating a theremin-based score. At the same time I've learned from my previous experience with LEGO filmmaking and have written the script more carefully, using a smaller cast and fewer locations.

Sets were designed in Bricklink Studio...

...and arrived looking like this

Colour-sorted and ready to build

All The Fun Of The Despair [AI Art Generation]

Working with an art generation AI, at least one that is freely available on Google Play Store but in crippleware form, is strangely like rubbing a lamp and coming face to face with a genie who informs you in booming, mystical voice "You may have five wishes per day. To unlock unlimited wishes, subscribe to Genie Pro. Also some categories of wish may require in-app payments."

The striking and not-at-all-contrived similarites do not end there. As with making wishes for genies, at least in my experience, when making up prompts for art AIs the wording matters - and it's hard to know what words or phrases will make a difference, let alone what will lead to a result close to your actual wish. As with genies, always assume that the art AI wil interpret your wish in the most unhelpful way possible, so try not to give wiggle room. You could of course experiment with hundreds of alternative phrases but then you would need to pay the subscription fees or risk running out of wishes too quickly.

"Artists staring sadly into the abyss"

Sci-Fi Gene (with minor assistance from Wonder AI), 2022

Digital

On the other hand, if you are willing to perservere, then at least sometimes your wishes really can come true. At least if your wishes are to see medieval cities made out of cheese.

"Busy medieval city made of cheese"

Sci-Fi Gene (with minor assistance from Wonder AI), 2022

Digital

I asked Wonder AI to come up with posters for some of my films, using the titles as prompts and the Cinematic AI. The results are... interesting.

"Last Zombie Standing" - does indeed feature one standing zombie and has created a decently creepy atmosphere, or at least has bunged some gaslamps around the place. Other zombies are present but one is sitting on a ledge and one is leaning on a wall so neither are technically standing. Wonder AI has delivered on the brief and I would have been happy to use this poster.

"We Can Get You Some Really Cheap Gear" is not at first glance a film about camera equipment at all - it's a lighthearted (but adult) LEGO-animated comedy about a top-secret experimental drug that allows a failing writer to access 1% of his brain.

But AI is more powerful and more insightful than you might think. Wonder AI has correctly deduced that my film is in fact a sharp and unapologetic satirical deconstruction of the entire film industry, taking particular aim at the two most over-used cinematic techniques of all - foreshadowing and the focus pull. As an auteur it's nice to be understood once in a while.

Meanwhile my over-long title has nothing at all to do with drugs: it's a reference to the regular and highly delusional claim made by Kino London club organizers that they could, through their extensive industry contacts, score cheap equipment for filmmakers. And indeed, were you to take them up on their offer you could well end up with something like the device featured in the poster.

"Steampunk Girl" while I cannot fault Len Peralta's original artwork for John Anealio's song, which appears in the final reveal at the end of my lyric video, this image comes a close second. I was particularly impressed to see that Wonder AI has perfectly captured the steampunk vibe without hypersexualizing the image, and without resorting to the most obvious genre tropes: no brass goggles, and not a single cogwheel. What happened to Steampunk Girl's left arm is a question to be answered in the prequel.

You can watch all three films on my Short Films page here.

Devil In The Detail [work in progress]

Working on various assets for the road animation:

[produced in Blender 2.76]

The Road Is Long [work in progress]

Continuing to work on the car scene, trying out some different colour schemes. Animation trials to follow - Freestyle rendering is a bit slow so it may take some time to get together enough frames to animate.

This project could go in several different directions from here. I've enjoyed gradually building up the car and adding detail to the road, and I could quite happily keep on doing so forever.  The end result could be an unstructured film or music video, or just something to do on a rainy day.

However I do have an almost-complete script as well and this was part of the reason I started modelling the car. So it might also be good to complete the script, get some voice over talent together and make a more traditional short. The script does call for some more work on modelling and animation.

I also have some serious plans for the soundscape - it needs some old-school weirdness and I know just the thing. Watch this space.

[produced in Blender 2.76] 

Take On Me [Review: Victoria]

This German film tells the story of a few hours in the life of a young Spanish woman, Victoria (Laia Costa) , living in Berlin. While out clubbing she befriends a young man Sonne (Frederick Lau) and his dodgy Berliner friends, and is drawn into a robbery that doesn't go entirely to plan.

I'm trying hard to review this film without focussing too much on its most unusual feature. Victoria is a fascinating character - smart, brave, open-minded and generally bigger inside than out. Laia Costa is amazing to watch, and when you take into account how the film was made, this is an extraordinary performance. She appears happy-go-lucky, and in a way she is, but this persona is her escape from a background that turns out to be extremely sad, and by the end of the film you've seen her make some extraordinary choices, and go through an entire lifetime of emotion and experience. Similarly her new German friends appear to be happy car-stealing rascals but they also have a past, and perhaps this is why Victoria and Sonne don't seem too worried by societal rules - perhaps they've grown up thinking society doesn't owe them all that much.

How this film works is OMG THEY MADE IT IN ONE TAKE! OK. That's true, but perhaps it's more significant that it's in real time, which in turn gives it an authentic feel, and it's written and filmed in the early hours of the morning, relying on natural dawn lighting to create a metaphorical journey from darkness into light - a reversal of Sh
akespearean writing where plays were written to incorporate natural evening light fading to darkness - particularly apparent in A Midsummer Night's Dream and Macbeth. This is fitting - there's a little of Romeo and Juliet in this film.

The international nature of the film is also interesting - Victoria and Sonne are Spanish and German and only have limited knowledge of each others' languages - dialogue is partly German and partly English. Watching these two try to express their feelings to each other in broken English is quite touching.

However the one-take thing isn't trivial either. This isn't a music video, it's a feature length movie of over two hours, with a plot that moves between several external and internal locations all over Berlin, some frantic driving, some action scenes including a gun battle, and intense and draining performances from the main characters - and it's all shot on a handheld camera in one take. Seems legit too, there are very few genuine cut points and the momentum seems to continue even at these times, there's also plenty of online material about the making of the film - much of it directed with the director inside the boot of the car.

Victoria is a film worth watching for more than just the one-take spectacle - it's a beautiful, authentic drama about loyalty and friendship between strangers.

"Broken Bird" Screening: Kino London

My music video for "Broken Bird" will be spreading its wings for a screening on Wednesday 20th January, at Kino London - London's open-mic short film night at Electrowerks club in Angel. Doors are at 7.30. Advance tickets on the website or buy on the door. Facebook event details here.

"Broken Bird" is a song by Ariel Undine - listen to more of Ariel's music here.

"Steampunk Girl" Screening: St. Albans Film Festival

I am absolutely thrilled to report that "Steampunk Girl," my lyric video for the song by John Anealio, is on the official selection at St. Albans Film Festival 2015. I loved being part of this festival in 2013 and am looking forward to this year's event. I'll post details of the screening as soon as they are available.

"Last Zombie Standing" Screening: Croydon International Film Festival

Zombie rights minidoc "Last Zombie Standing," originally shot in Croydon back in 2009, returns to the scene of the crime for the 2014 Croydon International Film Festival on 25th October.

Can't track kicks quicker than a quick Kicktraq kick tracker tracking trick [Reply To All]

Now In Pre-Production

I'm at the start of two exciting film projects. Both are still in pre-production stages so this update is necessarily a bit vague. The first will be a comedy short made in collaboration with a small but professional production team and supported by a crowdfunding campaign, which will combine live action and animation in quite a unique way. Casting and other pre-production work is already underway, and I'm really looking forward to sharing more about this project very soon.

The second project is my own and will be produced along DV Rebel lines, that is with opportunistic shoots, a lot of improvised or self-made gear and a negligible budget. It will be made in stages and could take a few weeks or several months, and at this stage the result might be a short film, a webseries or both. Again I'm not quite ready to reveal the details, although I will post updates along the way. This project will rely on the Blender motion tracker for screen replacement effects: so for now here's an effects test using a toy phone and some green card.

 

Thoughtful Paws

I have been writing The Sci-Fi Gene blog for almost four and a half years. I don't always mark blogiversaries or make serious New Year's resolutions but just occasionally it's worth putting on hold the fame, excessive wealth, groupies and rock'n'roll lifestyle of the modern-day blogger and taking some time to reflect.

2012 was a good year for me as a filmmaker and this has carried on into 2013. Serendipity (possibly my favourite out of all the groupies) played her usual role and many projects I've taken on have grown from some kind of chance encounter. I've had my first festival screening with "2007" at London Independent 2012, and now my second with "We Can Get You Some Really Cheap Gear" at St. Albans 2013. Serendipity was at work again - "Cheap Gear" came about after I accidentally broke the house rules at Kino London, which is worse than Crossing the Streams, almost as bad as talking about Fight Club, but in this case has turned out OK.

It's also been good to return to "Soupremacy" and bring it to some screenings - I think it's OK to say I'm really happy with this animation, and even more happy to see the composer's music out there. More news on this film shortly.

2012 has also been a bad year in some ways. One reason I started the blog was to keep my creative projects on track and place myself under pressure to complete them. That's only been half successful - for all the films that have gone right, there are still two short films from the past few years that I've shot but never completed the edit, and a third project that is still only half done. I've entered my fourth 48 hour competition but despite drawing together a team of incredible people I still failed at the final hurdle and the mess I eventually submitted was a long way from being a film.

So I have to learn that there are things I can do well and things I can't - and use this self-knowledge when planning future teams and projects. It sounds obvious but when you start out as a filmmaker there's a misleading feeling that you can just pitch in and do anything yourself if needed - but actually my best films have come about from collaborations where everyone plays to their strengths.

Meanwhile those unfinished projects are a dilemma - return to them in the distant future, delete them and move on, or focus on completing them now? It's not just about me. Everyone involved in shooting these projects has contributed in so many ways - time, hard work, creativity and skill at the very least. If I don't complete them there's a feeling that I'll be letting down the other participants.

So on into 2013 and there are some plans afoot. I recently completed an animation project for a film crew - but until I know the fate of that film I can't tell you any more. I'm also hoping to make two conceptual music videos this year and I have some other music-related plans as well. As far as the unfinished projects go, I don't think I'll be able to sort them all out so I'll have to choose which ones I'd like to return to - but on a more positive note, I've learnt a lot in the intervening time, and the software I'm using has also grown in strength, so goals which might have seemed impossible in the past are now starting to feel merely stupendously difficult. I will of course be ready for Serendipity if she chooses to help out again.

The best thing about the past year has been getting to so many enjoyable short film events and festivals, and seeing so many different kinds of film. It feels good that my own successes and failures haven't in the slightest dented my love for film.

A Cat In St Albans

Film festivals are not the same - each has its own character. St. Albans Film Festival is a new event on the film calendar and it will be interesting seeing what makes it stand out. My short film (trailer here) will be playing in the category for over 18s, however it is clear from the programme that St. Albans will be an especially child-friendly festival.
 

Events on the programme include childrens’ stop-motion and live filmmaking workshops, feature screenings of A Cat In Paris and The Prince’s Quest, a short family film category, a talk by Barry Purves on the use of puppets in cinema, and the Mini Student Film Award for the best film made by a 5-15 year old.

It’s good to see a programme reflecting the fact that some of the greatest films of modern times are children’s films, and, hopefully, one that will inspire some future talented filmmakers. The full programme is on the festival website here.

"We Can Get You Some Really Cheap Gear" Screening: St. Albans Film Festival

Exciting festival news: "We Can Get You Some Really Cheap Gear" is on the Official Selection for the first ever St. Albans Film Festival and will be screened on Saturday 9th March as part of the Over 18s short film night. See the full programme and find out more about this ambitious new film festival here.

"We Can Get You Some Really Cheap Gear" Screening: Tight Shorts Club

I'm looking forward to a screening of "We Can Get You Some Really Cheap Gear" at the Tight Shorts Film Club, at the Wenlock and Essex in Islington, on 26th February. You can find out more about this regular film event and annual competition here.

Showreel 2012

Models, scenes, effects, clips taken from the past 4 years, with modelling and animation in Cinema 4D and Blender. There are exciting plans for 2013...

"Soupremacy" screening: Braine Hownd

I am pleased to announce a screening of "Soupremacy" at Braine Hownd, at the Hideaway Bar in Tufnell Park on 6th November.

Olympics Brick By Brick

A friend visiting the Olympic Stadium earlier this week was extremely impressed. Why? "The audio-video equipment is something terrific - I saw cameras which I've never seen before." Admittedly he is a photographer but he has a point. The quality of the BBC coverage is one of the real success stories of this Olympics.

Over at The Guardian's website, meanwhile, Olympic highlights are being broadcast in a different way - through the medium of Lego. Usain bolts:

and Aly and friends fly to success:

Warning: may contain adverts. Go to the website for the full Brick-By-Brick series, including a cool timelapse of the set construction. Amazingly, apart from the sets, they are being produced within a day of each event. There's also plenty of humour: look out for Phelps' high protein diet, and who has sneakily managed to get tickets for the gymnastics?