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watch smartparts - indie sci fi feature film

J

jjbrainstorm

smartparts%20logo.jpg


I am curently working on an independent sci-fi feature film called smartparts, along with project partners Mark Benard (Lost Boys Studios) and writer/director Derek Franson.

The film’s story is about a small-time grifter named Rodney Ubay, who having just successfully pulled off a dangerous con, rents a storage cubical in a giant warehouse as a temporary hideout before catching a flight to his buyer. Unfortunately for Rodney, he is not the only one hiding out in this giant warehouse. Several fugitive robots from a discontinued and long forgotten 1950’s military program, have called this storage facility home for a very long time. And one of them, the really big one, seems to have gone insane.

We are really trying to capture an entertaining mix of action and humor with this film. Odd characters, in outrageous situations, without falling into over-the-top camp. It is a pretty ambitious project, requiring a large amount 3D computer animation and complex visual effects work.

We have a 4 minute promo clip (48 MEGs) which is downloadable from the film’s website http://www.smartpartsthemovie.com/SmartPartsTeaser.mov , as well as some design artwork, synopsis, and filmmaker bios. Posted below is a couple of low-res stills from the promo clip, and a piece of production design art.

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lung_chasing_rodney_copy.jpg


rodney_with_lung_in_background.jpg


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We expect to finalize our financing over Summer/Fall and begin production this Winter. The films' buget is roughly $2.5 million, with the majority of that going towards computer animation. We plan to shoot 24P High Def. The promo was shot on mini-DV with just a standard lense.

Hope you enjoy the clip...

Justin James
Brainstorm Productions Inc.
 
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Wow!

I don't know what else to say... except I can't wait to see the finished product.

Thanks for sharing, Justin - and please keep us posted as the project moves forward!
 
Thanks

Thanks, we are really looking forward to making it. The project has been in development for roughly 2 1/2 years, so a lot of work as been put into it so far. The trailer you saw was put together with very little money, so a lot of compromises had to be made. We figure we were able to achieve about 75% of what we wanted. Feedback so far has been extremely good, and has generated some financing interest already.

We are thinking about setting up a 3-way journal/blog on smartparts website, with the idea of documenting the entire process of making and selling a 2 to 3 million dollar genre film. There is so little information out there on making movies that are bigger than credit card projects, but smaller than even low budget studio films.

Hopefully (should our venture prove successful) we would be providing some basic but useful information to other up-and-coming filmmakers on how a film like this can be financed, cast, produced and distributed.

Or perhaps an oppurtunity to learn from our mistakes.
 
VERY nice!

That's an impressive project! Good luck with it- I'd go see that in the theatre. Looks great!

Keep it up! Get those investors and make that movie!
 
That was awesome.
Loved the Rock, Paper, Scissors jokes..."This not my scissors. This is my paper. This is my scissors!"
Great stuff. And the main 'bot looked so good. Seriously, great stuff.

jjbrainstorm said:
The trailer you saw was put together with very little money, so a lot of compromises had to be made.
Click to expand...

How much is "very little?" This looks like it cost a good deal of change.

Poke
 
promo clip budget

The total budget for the promo clip was roughly $5000 US. Of that we spent about $700 on the shoot, the rest went towards animation production costs (roughly $4000), media stock, and a few DVDs and T-shirts for the crew. Realistically our computer effects should have cost more than 10 times that.

I can not express enough what an excellent investment this was. We have just started to take the promo clip to a couple of smaller distributors and sales companies, and already offers have started to come in. At this point we are taking a bit of a breather to figure out the best route to take. We are also assembling a more complete pitch package with hi-res stills of the robot, and a teaser poster.
 
I tell ya, if I was running a company and had the capital, I'd be jumping on board the band wagon. That promo os just great, from the humor to the character design. I've watched it about ten times already.

I can't wait to see more.

Poke
 
Astonishing

Wow -

That's really awesome. I was expecting some thing way below that production wise. you guys really have got something good going. The CG is seamless, the robots are cool - great job. On your web page you ask for feedback - I guess the only thing I could say that is even slightly negative is that the robots don't really look like they were designed in the '50s, they seem very modern. Were they supposed to be? I'm super impressed. Do you guys do work for hire? Where are you?

Abe Levy
 
Glad you enjoyed it. We are based out of Vancouver, Canada, where we plan to shoot and post the film. The animators and FX artists are all more or less freelance, most are currently working at local digital effects studios. Many work on a contract basis at my producing partner's company, Lost boys Studios www.lostboys-studios.com Lost Boys definitely does FX work for hire, but our deal was pretty much a one time thing. I also consult and produce for hire.

Your comment about the robot's design is interesting, I wonder if their background will help explain their look.

The smartparts robots were not all designed in 50's. Originally the smartparts line was started in the 40's. Part of WWII military research program to create intelligent robotic limbs that could enter a battlefield, find a wounded solider missing an arm or leg, attach itself (injecting a mix of pain killers, and adrenaline), allowing the solider to get up and carry on. But the bomb was dropped, the war ended, and the program was scrapped shortly after.

Pedl was one of these early smartparts. As was most of Lung (the big crazy one in the promo) who is actually many smartparts pieces.

full_size_-_pedl_side_view.jpg


And Scribe's large arm (Scribe is made up of multiple smartparts) was one of these early models as well.
full_size_-_3d_scribe.jpg


full_size_-_scribe_right_arm.jpg



The scientist behind the smartparts then decided to re-envision the robots for home use, stylish futuristic arm and leg replacements, for everyday people who lost limbs through accidents. They were going to be revealed at the 1951 World Fair in Brussels, but oddly went missing the night before.

Digit is from this product line, because of time/budget constraints we could not fully detail her with chrome striping and logos, as we had planned (we will for the film). The legs and smaller arm of Scribe also share this more streamline design style. We referenced home appliances of the era (vaccums, blenders, etc..) as well as a few iconic cars of the day.
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full_size_-_scribe_left_arm.jpg
 
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JJ -

Yeah, it does make more sense. However, I still feel that if you really wanted to make a strong statement that these are mid-20th century creations, they could be a bit more retro looking. For instance, you use old vacuum tubes for the title card, but I don't see anything on the robots that looks old and funky like that. They are very streamlined. They didn't have transistors even in the forties did they? I think they came out in the late fifties. Tubes are big and clunky. I think the designs are awesome, don't get me wrong, but if the story depends on the viewer believing that these things are from the fifties, I would possibly make some changes. Just my opinion. Again, great work, I'm very jealous.

ABE
 
Well done. So the SFX were hired out you say or they were friends? There was a bit of camera shake in places. I don't know if you were going for that look specifically or not. The CGI was done very well.

I'm assuming you used a DVX for the promo?
 
abelevy said:
... the robots don't really look like they were designed in the '50s, they seem very modern.
Click to expand...

I am surprised by that comment as well, The first thing I thought when we first see all three robots was how much they look like retro designs. I do see your point about vacuum tubes and the like, though. Maybe, they seem more like scifi art designs from the '40s and '50s, and that's why they felt retro to me.

Poke
 
vacuum tubes

Funny you mention vacuum tubes. While Digit's (yellow jetpack robot) and Pedl's (Green military legs robot) mechanisms are more or less contained within, but both Scribe and Lung will have exposed cores (life force/processing centers). These cores look like the large hand-blown vacuum tubes used in that time (thick smoke stained asymmetrical glass). They will be filled with a translucent light blue liquid, which give off a slight glow in the dark.

We didn't incorporate these in the promo trailer because rendering the reflections and refraction of glass, plus simulating the liquid within was not possible given our time and budget. Our premise is that this blue glowing liquid is the unique technology that gives the smartparts there intelligence and power. Pedl's is inside his armored casings, and Digit's is partially visible through her oval face plate. Scribes will be in a glass tube attached in his semi-exposed chest cavity. Lung's is the size of a keg and is suspended near his center. We should be posting some additional production design artwork to our site soon. I will try to include some of the “glass core” sketch studies along with the reference photos we based them on (old labs and equipment).

Of course none of this robot technology is even remotely possible today. Hopefully the strength of the characters and story will allow audiences to suspend belief and buy into the reality we are presenting.
 
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FX friends, camera, and shooting style

Shaw,

The FX were contracted through Lost Boys Studios (owner Mark Benard is co-producing smartparts). I had worked for Lost Boys a few years back and had been friends with Mark for even longer. I was also friends with most of the animators (there were a few new guys), and by the end I was friends with them all. They are all expected back for the final film's effects work.

We wanted to have a very professional but sort of hand held feel to the clip, to make it feel real and intimate. To do this the entire promo was shot using a weighed down steadi-cam rig (our camera was too light). We shot with a Panasonic DX100 (24P) with just the standard lens. We had a minimal light kit (a few Kinos) and that was pretty much it. We had a really good DOP, and steadi-cam operator. We will be adding a credit list to the promo clip page of our website soon.
 
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abelevy said:
I guess the only thing I could say that is even slightly negative is that the robots don't really look like they were designed in the '50s, they seem very modern.
Click to expand...

I was thinking the same thing. I can see the retro look in the sketches better than in the short for some reason. But, eh, whatever...it's science fiction and it looks awesome.
 
smartparts update

As part of the finishing touches on our smartparts pitch package, I whipped up a couple of B+W photos of the robots a few days agos. There are meant to look like they were taken in the 40’s and 50’s. I am going to integrate the photos into fake military file, which contains a report detailing the robots history, and research progress.

We didn't have time to render out custom 3D poses, so I had to search for old B+W lab and military photo backgrounds that suited the pre-rendered robot images I already had, then cut, paste and tweak. They are not perfect, but I think they will work for our purposes.

Posted below are the three military research photos I have created so far.

camera_guy.jpg


tank_attack_blurred.jpg


home_lab.jpg
 
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The last one is the best. The second one seems a bit empty... maybe some people should be in the shot in the background, watching?
The first one just seems to... "fieldish", and not "40-50ish" enough.

Really cool pitch package. I'd be surprised if this doesn't hit it big. Good job, folks.
 
smartparts website updated

We finally got our website updated... www.smartpartsthemovie.com

We redesigned the gallery adding lots of new artwork, and the history/backstory on the robots is up. There are also a few links to news stories and interviews. The promo clip has been reduced from 48 MEGs to 25 MEGs, so it is a little more download friendly.
 
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