Saturday, June 22, 2013

Quick SF Film

     Grounded.  Okay, okay, it's not the most linear of science-fiction films; in fact, it's a bit open-ended and does things with the narrative you wouldn't tolerate in a novella or a long-form movie.

     But if you have seven and a half minutes...?  Well worth it.  The opening sequence is very much the kind of thing I see with my mind's eye, looking at the semi-War between NATO and the Edgers.

     Best of all?  The parts that didn't happen inside a computer were shot with ordinary DSLR cameras.

     There's interesting times ahead for filmmaking; the hardware keeps getting smaller and cheaper and less and less in the way of telling the story.  Distribution...?  I dunno; movies have been trying to figure that out for a good long while now and it's making fortunes for accountants and attorneys.  Me, I don't care how they handle it or who pays whom for what, as long as they do so in a way that keeps films at the movie-house and auteurs and artists hard at work and well-paid enough they don't quit -- if only they'd make more films I'd like to watch!  (Hint: There's a boatload of H. Beam Piper out there that wants filmed.)

10 comments:

Fuzzy Curmudgeon said...

"The Mercenaries" would be easy to make. As would "Time and Time Again".

Chaplain Tim said...

I'm still a fan of the "Fuzzy" series he wrote. Very libertarian for what is considered juvenile fiction.

Roberta X said...

I think "Omnilingual" would make a good film, or the Paratime short story "Police Operation."

Fuzzy Curmudgeon said...

Bobbi, I agree.

Who would you choose to play Martha Dane?

Stranger said...

For that matter, American movie audiences could use some of the boat load of Murray Leinster's writings that never made the silver screen. Kendall Foster Crossen's scant sci-fi (stf when I came from) output would make a triplanetary farce. And of course, a maximum effort on the Weapons Shops would be entertaining - and informative for many.

For that matter, I think film versions of some of the very simple "Golden Age of Science Fiction" stories would make a fine introduction to the genre.

Stranger

Larry said...

So...not gonna shell out the 50 clams for Brangelina's new film, I'm taking it...

Roberta X said...

Given the givens, I think the casting of both Martha Dane and Sachiko would be predictable -- Angelina Jolie and Lucy Liu. John Rhys-Davis as Selim von Ohlmhorst, possibly Jude Law as Tony Lattimer.

Fuzzy Curmudgeon said...

Hmm. Interesting :)

fast richard said...

Just watched the video. The credits list a parachuting consultant. What a hopeless task. The sight of all that junk rock climbing hardware anywhere near supposed emergency parachutes makes me recoil in horror.

On the other hand, it is an interesting exercise in film making.

Roberta X said...

Suzanne Sena ("Brooke Alvarez") as Gloria Standish.