Little wonder! The Internet helps you make a movie

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.