Little wonder! The Internet helps you make a movie

By Vishnu K. Mahmud

JAKARTA (JP): I have always dreamt of making a movie. However in order to do so, I would need a script (still in progress), an agent (need a script), professional camera equipment (needs money), post production facilities (ditto) and a film studio to distribute and market the film (need an agent). But with the advent of digital technology and the Internet, amateur film makers can now create movies at a fraction of the cost of a Hollywood movie star's hair dresser.

Computer technology today has reached the levels where people can actually produce their own movies at home. Armed with digital video cameras, editing software and a relatively powerful home computer, would-be directors are able to edit scenes, add special effects and mix the soundtrack. For distribution, they no longer need a major studio to back the production. Simple word of mouth and the internet can make their movie into an underground cult hit, as Kevin Rubio found out.

In 1998, Rubio, then an animation archivist for a major film studio, had an idea to cross a reality based TV series with a popular science fiction movie. The end product was a hilarious send up of both COPS and Star Wars. The short film Troops follows the exploits of a pair of Imperial Storm Troopers on the dessert planet of Tatooine.

Once completed, Rubio then posted it on the web where it became one of the most downloaded files on the net. TheForce.net, a popular Star Wars fan site, mirrored the movie file and consequently had it's servers hit in a major way that they eventually had to move to a new Internet hosting service to cope with the traffic. Hollywood producers and agents lined up to meet the new wunderkind with job offers and script considerations.

Bruce Branit and Jeremy Hunt also made a short film for the net. 405 is about a hapless young man in a Jeep Cherokee driving down the 405 California highway. The funny 3 minute short was made with a digital camera, off the shelf software, 2 traffic tickets (for walking along the highway) and 2 dual processor computers. Of course, it did help that both Branit and Hunt were professional video effects artists with credits in The X-Files and Star Trek: Voyager.

405 was e-mailed to their closest friends and spread like wildfire over the Internet. It was then posted on Ifilms.com and immediately became the most requested film in the history of the website (nearly 1 million downloads). Thanks to the publicity of the film, both Branit and Hunt were signed on by the Creative Artists Agency, who also represent the likes of Tom Cruise and Steven Spielberg.

Rubio, Branit and Hunt can be considered as Hollywood professionals since they already work in the film industry but the actual effort behind their films are the same for any amateur film maker. Problems like tight budgets, location, scripts, pre- production, costumes, actors, post production, etc. must be considered and solved. Their story is both compelling and hilarious and the internet helped distribute and market the film.

Studying these short films, one can learn how to make a movie based on their experience. Digital cameras can be purchased and computers can be borrowed. Apple's I-Mac DV line of computers come with built-in firewire technology that allows fast downloads of video from a digital video camera. It also comes with superior editing software called iMovie so easy that any seven year old can make his own "Hollywood" movie. The learning curve of movie software is getting smaller by the day.

Despite the bandwidth issue, online or downloadable feature- length films are just around the corner. All it takes is an idea and the resolution to see it through. An angel investor could help, but it all comes down to guile and resourcefulness. As for me, my constantly changing script (thanks to writers block, procrastination and incessant playing of computer games) is still far from completion. But at least I get to enjoy the many short films on the Internet with fresh ideas and new points of view.

You can check out the movies mentioned above at www.405themovie.com and the www.theforce.net/troops. Also log in to www.ifilm.com and www.atomfilms.com for more information for short films on the web.