Whitechapel - Lo Fi Sci Fi

Lo Fi Sci Fi

oddbill — Tue, 24 Mar 2009 23:26:00 -0700

Lo Fi Sci Fi - a name derived from "Low Fidelity" and "Science Fiction", meant to convey the impression of filmed science fiction created by amateurs or on a very limited budget. I don't know who first coined the term, but I first encountered it in the ad campaign for the Toronto based independent film Infest Wisely, and thought it described a movement I've been seeing quite a bit of lately. Science Fiction as a literary genre has always been composed of enthusiastic amateurs writing primarily for themselves and each other as an audience. Science fiction cinema has always suffered in thematic substance as it has generally been made by commercial interested non-fans targeting a mass audience. In general this has meant employing a heavy coat of science fictional eye-candy to recycled western, war and horror movie plots. Actual thematic as opposed to visual science fiction in film has been rare, but the Lo Fi Sci Fi movement, now that the tools to make convincing amateur science fiction films are widely available, is starting to change all that.

Over on my blog I'm doing a series of reviews of films and filmmakers who I think are working in this movement. I've got a decently long list of examples, some obscure and some more mainstream, that I'm looking forward to writing about. But I was wondering if anyone here knows of any films or filmmakers that sound to you like they are doing something like this. Even really obscure, no budget, youtube broadcasting auteurs. Maybe you yourself? Maybe your friends? Maybe some crazy low budget feature or short you saw at a film festival that nobody else you know has ever heard of?

For example, the first things I wrote about were the short films of Neill Blomkamp:

I think he qualifies, even though his stuff is fairly high budget, because his execution doesn't actually require that high of a budget, and it was clearly made out of an almost fannish sense of compulsion. I think all Lo Fi Sci Fi filmmakers can reasonably aspire to a similar production value, and should.

Other examples of the movement I can think of off the top of my head:

Infest Wisely
Escape from City 17
Horses on Mars

Maybe even films like Primer or Pi would fit the definition.

What do you think? What are some other examples? Any that you really like or stand out? Any examples from filmmakers outside the US?

Lo Fi Sci Fi

looneynerd — Tue, 24 Mar 2009 23:56:53 -0700

Holy shit! I've not really heard much about this, but it's pretty great! I'll be following your blog now, I think...

These videos done for the Halo 3 release are about the closest thing I can think of honestly, but they look pretty hi-budget...

Lo Fi Sci Fi

looneynerd — Wed, 25 Mar 2009 00:16:56 -0700

Turns out Mr. Blomkamp directed the above video!

Also, he's working on this, a feature version of the "Alive in Joberg" posted above. I can't wait to see this!

Lo Fi Sci Fi

oddbill — Wed, 25 Mar 2009 00:22:31 -0700

Yes, I'm really excited about that. Neill Blomkamp was slated to direct a live action Halo film, which is what those Real Life shorts were done as trial runs for, but that project seems to have gotten bogged down along the way. Frankly, I'm happier to see him diverted to doing a feature length version of Alive in Joburg, as it seems like a more original concept.

Lo Fi Sci Fi

Admiral Neck — Wed, 25 Mar 2009 00:38:47 -0700

I'd definitely include Primer under this designation. That film is nothing but as many ideas thrown at the audience as possible. We all know it's ideas that make the genre what it is, and you don't need to spend much to get those on film. Besides, as the Half-Life inspired vids that were recently posted on here gave shown, if you're lucky enough to have access to a copy of Maya then you can tweak whatever ideas you have with a little flash if you have to.

Kosmopolit, you're describing a bolder version of The Twilight Zone / The Outer Limits. That show used to adapt sci film short stories on a low low budget. I've long dreamed of a show like that adapting British sci fi writer Ian Watson. He has some great stuff you could film on a tiny budget.

ETA: How did my post come in above Kosmopolit's? I blame my iPhone.

Lo Fi Sci Fi

Kosmopolit — Wed, 25 Mar 2009 00:59:40 -0700

I've long thought the Sci-Fi channel should do lo-fi versions of classic sf stories rather than their shitty original movies. How big a budget would you need for "The Cold Equations" or "Repent Harlequin"?

Lo Fi Sci Fi

lead_pipe — Wed, 25 Mar 2009 01:49:56 -0700

@oddbill

What makes the "Escape from Joburg" short so interesting to me (not seen it before today) is that there are very clear cultural winks that non-South Africans wouldn't get. The most glaring one (and I think the possible satire in the piece) is that the country was rocked in 2007 and 2008 by waves of xenophobic attacks on illegal immigrants ("aliens"). Over 100 people died and tens of thousands were displaced. The epicentre was Joburg (specifically the townships of Alexandra and Thembisa) but they quickly spread to a national scale.

I wouldn't be surprised if the filmmakers staged *actual* interviews with township residents to ask their opinions on foreigners and then just edited their responses for the film. Other clear giveaways are the "aliens' " references to needing electricity and water (a clear appeal for basic municipal services that poor South Africans and immigrants alike are not getting) and the 'train-surfing' phenomenon (young and poor boys stand on top of municipal trains while they're moving as an adolescent bonding/rite of initiation thingie, and this appears periodically in the mainstream press, especially if some unfortunate person gets electrocuted).

I think the movie short is brilliant. An unsettling reminder for people like me, but I've always maintained that good sci-fi (like good art in general) tells us more about the human condition than about anything else.

Lo Fi Sci Fi

looneynerd — Wed, 25 Mar 2009 01:51:51 -0700

Apart from a couple of scenes, I think you could use this to do an adaptation of Starship Troopers that actually sticks to the book. Except for the very beginning, most of the sequences in the powered armor would be pretty easy to do, based on the things I've seen in these videos. Most of the rest of the book could take place in a couple of easy-to build sets (a training camp, crew quarters on a starship, etc.)

Lo Fi Sci Fi

Draug — Wed, 25 Mar 2009 06:05:13 -0700

If Primer and Pi would fit the definition then you could take a look at The Girl From Monday (2005, Hal Hartley) and The Man from Earth (2007, Richard Schenkman).

Lo Fi Sci Fi

oddbill — Tue, 31 Mar 2009 00:35:59 -0700

@Draug - I haven't seen either That Girl From Monday or The Man from Earth, but they are now definitely on the viewing list. Just from reading the synopses on Amazon they both sound like they are solidly in the Lo Fi aesthetic.

In a similar vein, has anyone seen The American Astronaut? That one seems to fit as well.

A couple others I think will go on the list, but these I've actually seen:

The Call of Cuthulhu - although more weird fiction than science fiction, I'm happy to stretch the definition for this one as this film is the essence of Lo Fi. Has anyone else seen it? It's a quite excellent adaptation of the Call of Cuthulhu as though it were made the year after the story was released, in the silent film era. It's a B&W silent, and though a little rough around the edges, quite fantastic!

Robot Stories - Saw this at a film festival - didn't like it very much, but it is a worthwhile anthology of shorts around the theme of robots and how human beings reflect themselves in the things they make. Clever, uneven, ultra low budget movie.

Any more you can think of?

I posted a second installment of Lo Fi Sci Fi, this time about the very independent production of Infest Wisely:

This one is worth spending some time with, if you are interested in the science fiction of ideas, or very low budget filmmaking, or ways to self motivate for projects, or independent publishing/producing... the history of this film hits a lot of Whitechapel buttons.

Just briefly, the background here is that science fiction author Jim Monroe, after having a novel published by HarperCollins and being unhappy with the experience, walked away from his publisher and plunged into self publishing his work. He has quite a substantial body of work now.

Among the things he made was Novel Amusements - an annual DVDzine (A compilation of short videos on CD-ROM and DVD-R - something very much like our Proprietor's notion of a multimedia ROTOR) anthologizing low budget, inventive films. In the course of this project he met six directors who he decided to collaborate with in the making of a very low budget science fiction feature. He wrote the whole film himself, but in seven segments, one targeted to each director's particular talents.

There's a longer review of it on my site, which of course I'd be delighted if you read, but the short of it is, very interesting script, spotty to poor acting, super low budget, some great, weird ideas, a seven segment movie that is in the end very much worth your time. The whole film is free to view and download on the filmmaker's very well designed website.

I'd love to hear what anyone thinks of it, if you get the chance to watch.

Lo Fi Sci Fi

Admiral Neck — Tue, 31 Mar 2009 01:34:00 -0700

The Call of Cuthulhu - although more weird fiction than science fiction, I'm happy to stretch the definition for this one as this film is the essence of Lo Fi. Has anyone else seen it? It's a quite excellent adaptation of the Call of Cuthulhu as though it were made the year after the story was released, in the silent film era. It's a B&W silent, and though a little rough around the edges, quite fantastic!

It's terrific stuff. The H.P. Lovecraft Historical Society, who made it, also do radio plays, and are trying to get another movie made, this time The Whisperer In Darkness:

Now with dialogue!

They're funding it by selling props and such-like, including DVDs of the first film. It's worth getting to see how they put it all together, which is inspiring and a lot of fun.

Thanks for the updates on these projects, Oddbill. It's a tonic for the creative soul to know that people are out there just getting on with it.

Lo Fi Sci Fi

oddbill — Tue, 31 Mar 2009 02:43:04 -0700

Yeah, I've been lusting after their boxed set of the radio plays. I may give it to myself as a birthday present.

My friends and I did a live performance of the radio play of Orson Welles' Mercury Theater adaptation of the War of the Worlds several years ago. It was staged as though we were in an old radio studio actually recording the show, with standing mikes, live commercial messages, a guy at a sound effects table, the whole thing. The audience sat on the oppositeside of the space in a mock-up of a 1930s living room, and dividing them from us was an old fashioned wooden radio cabinet. It was pretty cool.

Those HP Lovecraft Radio Plays remnd me so much of that experience, only they are much better produced and more convincing than ours was.

That whole HP Lovecraft Historical Society is a Lo Fi powerhouse. I'm sort of in awe at what they've managed to accomplish. They're here in LA and I have a mildly fannish hope of meeting them some day.

@lead_pipe - I meant to reply before, but I forgot - thanks so much for the insight into the politics being riffed on in Alive in Joburg. I always thought most of those person on the street interviews sounded to genuine to have been performed, but I couldn't think what real world situation they could be talking about. The subtle complexities of news from other places tends to get steamrolled by the time it's reported in the US - so South Africa becomes "fall of aparthied", "truth and reconciliation" country, and we don't get much more detail.

I'd love to see a lot more non-American/British sci fi, if for nothing more than the insight into others to be gained by seeing what parts of their presents they are interested in setting off against weirdness or the future to make a point or figure out something meaningful.

Lo Fi Sci Fi

lead_pipe — Tue, 31 Mar 2009 03:12:53 -0700

@oddbill

Thanks for the kind words. If'n you do want day-to-day info on us, I would recommend
www.mg.co.za (best investigative journalism, your eyes may glaze over with the 'politics as usual' stories, editorially has a lefty slant)
www.businessday.co.za (great op-ed work, good business stories, editorially has a righty slant, although many op-eds are more lefty).

I do like stories about us, and I love sci-fi. I'll scout around and see if there's anything I can add to the thread - seem to recall that there was a locally produced sci-fi series set in Cape Town, but I don't have a TV and it did look like crap at the time. Also, may be too high-budget to qualify for this thread.

Lo Fi Sci Fi

Admiral Neck — Tue, 31 Mar 2009 04:11:42 -0700

@lead_pipe, are you thinking of Charlie Jade?

Lo Fi Sci Fi

lead_pipe — Tue, 31 Mar 2009 04:20:00 -0700

@Admiral Neck, yup, that's the one. It does sound a lot better on Wiki than the TV ads suggested. Still seems to be some kind of glorified knock-off of, I dunno, Stargate or some other show with parallel universes. Even Quantum Leap.

Nah, the Canadians can keep this show (along with Celine and Alannis).

I really need to buy a TV soon, if only for Cartoon Network and the sports channels.

Lo Fi Sci Fi

helloMuller — Tue, 31 Mar 2009 05:06:17 -0700

The Blomkamp stuff is amazing, even if it is a few years old it still stands up.

You might like this: "Metalosis Maligna", movie made by Floris Kaayk.

Lo Fi Sci Fi

Draug — Tue, 31 Mar 2009 05:23:07 -0700

These might also be of interest
Long:
Possible Worlds (2000)
Youth Without Youth (2007) Yes I know it is Francis Ford Coppola so the budget is probably not that small but it got the right feel to it.
Avalon (2001) Yes I know it is Mamoru Oshii so the budget is probably not that small but it got the right feel to it.
Wristcutters: A Love Story (2006)

Short:
La Jetée (1962)
The Silent City (2006)
Tyger (2006)
They're Made Out of Meat (2005)
Terminus (2007)
Rare Exports Inc. (2003)
Rare Exports: The Official Safety Instructions (2005)

Lo Fi Sci Fi

Admiral Neck — Tue, 31 Mar 2009 05:24:19 -0700

Fantastic stuff, helloMuller. Before it goes all Chris Cunningham at the end (a compliment, by the way), it reminded me of Cronenberg's Stereo and Crimes of the Future, both brilliant examples of Lo Fi Sci Fi.

@Oddbill, your War of the Worlds performance sounds great. Do you plan to do anything like that again?

Lo Fi Sci Fi

oddbill — Tue, 31 Mar 2009 20:33:52 -0700

@helloMuller - holy shit! that was astonishing! That bit where the doctor goes "we want to test the function of the afflicted body parts - can you make a steady tone with your voice?" and the patient does what he does... my skin just about crawled right up off my back! That is easily the creepiest thing I've seen so far this year! Brilliant. I'm absolutely digging deeper for more info on the filmmaker of that one! Thanks!

@Draug - of the long ones you've mentioned, I've only seen Oshi's Avalon, but I'll certainly watch the others too. Those are all a bit full budgeted for the Lo Fi label, but I think you are right that they peopably share in the spirit. What's between lo and hi fi? Mid Fi? Mi Fi? - I'm going to watch my way through all your shorts later tonight. (please god nobody take that last sentence out of context.)

@Admiral Neck - Cronenberg! I forgot! Several of his films I think come in under the wire. I haven't seen the two you mentioned, but I will. This thread is loaded with interesting viewing!

RE: The War of the Worlds thing, it was years ago, and I really have no plans, but that is an interesting idea I hadn't considered. Hmmm...

Lo Fi Sci Fi

Admiral Neck — Fri, 03 Apr 2009 16:36:03 -0700

@oddbill, I thoroughly recommend the Cronenberg films. They're far out there, riding simply on bizarre ideas. It's been years since I saw them, but they left an indelible impression.

Ain't It Cool News reviewer Quint has seen footage from Blomkamp's District 9, and has a lot to say here. Might be considered spoilery. He's very very enthusiastic about it.

Lo Fi Sci Fi

Draug — Fri, 03 Apr 2009 17:26:02 -0700

High Maintenance (2006) Phillip Van
http://www.atom.com/funny_videos/high_maintenance/

Copy Shop (2001) Virgil Widrich
http://www.spike.com/video/copy-shop/2421320

Lo Fi Sci Fi

bendingoutward — Mon, 13 Apr 2009 20:16:19 -0700

@oddbill Not only have I seen The American Astronaut, but my copy was handed over by a member of the production team. I'd say that it definitely qualifies. If you've need of a copy, do say so.

Lo Fi Sci Fi

oddbill — Mon, 13 Apr 2009 22:20:02 -0700

@bendingoutward - this is a film which I want to see but haven't. I see that it is an out of print DVD... I'm sure I can get a hold of one - though if borrowing or buying one off of you is not terribly inconvenient, I might be interested in that.

More though, if you have a connection to someone from the production team who might be willing to reply to a few questions via email about their experience working on the film for a blog interview, I'd be very interested in sending them some.

If either of these things are possible, please feel free to email me, I'm: bill (at) oddbill (dot) com.

Lo Fi Sci Fi

bendingoutward — Fri, 29 May 2009 21:08:59 -0700

I've been so sick of Big Media lately that I've been doing a ton of searching for web shows of at least some sort of quality. I'm of the mind that at least a couple of them qualify for mention in this thread:

Stranger Things is an anthology series with fairly minimal special effects (basically a bit of shopping here and there, perhaps a hand puppet or two), and it's made of win so far.

The Black Dawn is a seral from the kids at Web Serials, and save for the excessively short episode length, I'm enjoying it muchly. The same group put out Cataclysmo, and while it's a little less lo-fi than most of the things discussed (the bits are more or less on par with the television adaptation of The Middle Man, which was complete win), it's an enjoyable story.

Do the entries listed have to be modern? I ask because I've been digging through the moving images collection on the internet archive quite a bit lately, and they've got a metric ton of good stuff. Examples include just about every episode of SUSPENSE, every episode of The Veil (with Boris Karloff), Captain Midnight, et cetera. Also, there are a few feature-length films in the archive that likely qualify: Night of the Living Dead, Last Man On Earth (Will Smith will never be Vincent Price), so on.

Thoughts? Also, if anybody happens to know of a compelling web series, preferably easily downloadable on the cheap-as-in-free, please do let me know.

Lo Fi Sci Fi

oddbill — Fri, 29 May 2009 21:17:45 -0700

Awesome links!

I'd shy away from including old shows like Suspense or The Veil, I guess on the grounds that they were professional productions of their time... I'd put Romero's original Night of the Living Dead on the borderline... qualifies, I guess, if we consider something like Primer to qualify... it's a strange line, I know...

I wouldn't hesitate in posting something though - it's not like there are any real rules around what qualifies... I'm sure we'll all have different opinions on where to draw the inclusions, but it can't hust to see any of the stuff you think is cool...

Lo Fi Sci Fi

looneynerd — Fri, 29 May 2009 21:51:28 -0700

Hunter-Prey

Link

Lo Fi Sci Fi

Sonny — Fri, 29 May 2009 21:53:14 -0700

Would Primer by any chance be considered "Lo-Fi Sci-Fi"??

Lo Fi Sci Fi

Matt Gamble — Mon, 08 Jun 2009 16:27:06 -0700

There is a bi Indie sci-fi movement happening, which is totally awesome. The upcoming MOON is probably at the high end of the cost spectrum (though dirt cheap by Hollywood film standards) and is excellent. Then you have stuff like the bizarrely amazing Ink which is semi-touring theaters as we speak.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZBGeErufQdY

Lo Fi Sci Fi

oddbill — Tue, 09 Jun 2009 00:51:21 -0700

@Sonny - I would put Primer in that category.

@Matt Gamble - Thanks for the link to Ink! - It looks like it is actually playing near me on Wednesday, and I think I may try to see it. Production value on the trailer looks a bit home-video, but the thing looks compelling nonetheless.

Lo Fi Sci Fi

frequentcontributor — Tue, 09 Jun 2009 02:15:50 -0700

Glad to see so many people giving Primer some love. That is my all time fave time travel movie!

I would put Stephen Norrington's The Last Minute in the category. It's more like a street-level sci fi, than space/robot type stuff, but there are a lot of out there ideas in it, and it's a visual trip.

Mike Allred's Astroesque certainly counts. I think I read that it cost him 9K to make, and he did most of it himself and with friends. The acting is pretty bad, but it's a cool tie-in to his Red Rocket 7 "trilogy" (the Son of Red Rocket 7: The Gear album is, quite frankly, unlistenable... Allred's music taste is not shared by me, but the movie is decent and the comics are great, so...). Not really a lot of sci-fi stuff, there, either, but I think mostly because Allred is so used to being able to draw whatever he wants in comics that he may have felt a bit tied down by mundane reality. Some silly Kevin Smith-esque jokes don't help, but there's a cool action scene.

Someone mentioned Robot Stories, which I haven't seen, but know that it's written/directed by ex-Hulk writer (and current Skaar: Son of Hulk writer) Greg Pak...

Perhaps Lars Von Trier's Element of Crime, as well, which, like The Last Minute, is more like a Warren Ellis detective story than anything, but has a lot of weird shit going on in it (like fully putting your mindset into that of a murderer...). Worth a look if you like Von Trier, but his method can be taxing to sit through...

Or John Sayles' Brother From Another Planet...

Lo Fi Sci Fi

Matt Gamble — Tue, 09 Jun 2009 14:31:21 -0700

@oddbill
I'd be interested to hear what you think of it. I haven't had the chance to see it, and since I'm in the Midwest I probably don't stand much chance too.

Lo Fi Sci Fi

oddbill — Wed, 10 Jun 2009 19:15:06 -0700

@Matt Gamble - I'm at the screening right now - I'll do a write up about it after. Looks like there is a Q&A with the filmmakers, so it should be interesting.

Add this to the list of reasons I love my town.

EDITED: First impressions post viewing:

It was good. Caveats first - it is obviously very, very low budget, and feels, for lack of a better way to describe it, thin, in ways that low budget films built around spectacle always seem to feel. For example by contrast, Primer, which has been often mentioned above, might well have had an even lower budget than Ink, but it didn't feel thin in the same way, largely because it wasn't built around visual spectacle, but rather around naturalistic dialog and sheer ideas. You don't expect crowds or magnificence in Primer (or something like Pi), but Ink really does shoot for a less naturalistic, more spectacular feel (it often feels like it's trying to do Terry Gilliam doing the Matrix), and so the small budget translates to a much thinner onscreen feeling. Real world scenes lack realistic depth. For example, there is a hospital that figures largely in part of the film, and though obviously filmed in an actual medical facility of some kind, it never feels like a real hospital. There aren't enough extras, there isn't the bustle. The acting is really good, but something about the way it is assembled leaves some important scenes a bit flat. It's really reaching for something much bigger than it is capable of being.

But I don't want to give the impression I didn't enjoy it. I liked it quite a lot, and will likely pick it up on DVD when it eventually appears there. I'm comfortable criticizing the execution because it is actually incredibly well done considering its limitations. I mentioned the acting was good, but I should emphasize it was really good, generally on par with a professional film and far higher than the usual level in a film with such a small budget. The fantasy scenes are really well pulled off, and there are some elaborately choreographed sequences and fights that are exciting and top notch. They've squeezed out quality beyond what I suspect their resources were, and you will not be disappointed watching it.

As for the budget, in the Q&A they were coy about it, as they are still seeking distribution and don't want to tip their hand - if potential distributors find out they made it for x dollars, their offers will all come in around some very low related number, and they understandably want to maximize their chances of getting a good deal. But they promised the details on the budget would come out in the fullness of time. I suspect we'll find it was shockingly low, and the film will seem more impressive when cast in that light.

It isn't really science fiction, it's more of a psychologically tinged urban fantasy. The trailer makes it look like a kind of horror film, but it really isn't. But I can't help including the silent version of Call of Cthulhu in my idea of the lo-fi sci-fi concept, so I think I might have to allow this one as well.

It's hard to say anything specific without spoiling, and it's one of those well structured stories that drops you in the middle of it and makes you piece together what is really happening as you go along. Spoiling it really would ruin one of it's main pleasures.

So, without giving anything away, it's kind of like Terry Gilliam & Alex Proyas knocked out the Wachowskis, stole the script for the Matrix and gave it to Neil Gaiman to rewrite, then roughed up Robert Rodriguez for his El Mariachi budget and ran off to make the film with that. In Denver. With a whole bunch of good actors.

I liked it.

Lo Fi Sci Fi

oddbill — Tue, 23 Jun 2009 22:36:52 -0700

Pointed to this awesome short by the tumblr of noblelion.

Behold the petrotentacled terror of Oceansize.

This is a link to the movie on Vimeo because I can't seem to embed it.

Oceansize is a short 3D movie made by 4 students of Supinfocom Arles in 2008, Romain Jouandeau, Adrien Chartie, Gilles Mazières and Fabien Thareau. It's really quite astonishingly well made.

Lo Fi Sci Fi

mekon — Wed, 24 Jun 2009 01:13:34 -0700

I think I'll be spending most of my weekend in this thread. Thanks Oddbill et al

Lo Fi Sci Fi

BryanL — Tue, 30 Jun 2009 17:29:22 -0700

I have nothing to contribute yet, but hopefully I will stumble on something good to show. I approve of this thread whole heartedly. I've enjoyed most of the videos so far, it reminds me of going to blockbuster and renting independent films when I was younger.

Lo Fi Sci Fi

Kradlum — Fri, 10 Jul 2009 04:14:07 -0700

Trailer for District 9 is out.

Lo Fi Sci Fi

Sonny — Fri, 10 Jul 2009 08:02:32 -0700

@ Matt Gamble-

I need to see Moon soon. I wanted to last night at one of the indie cinemas here in Minneapolis, but didn't make it out. It looks like it's right up my alley. It was made for about 5 million, which is a pretty TINY budget for a flick now-a-days, but I'm not sure if it would be considered "Lo-Fi". Primer was made for about $7000 (which is unreal). How do we categorize "Lo-Fi"? If someone has a gigantic budget, but purposefully presents a film in a "Lo-Fi" manner (we see that all the time w/ music production), is that still "Lo-Fi"? Or is the category completely independent of funding/budget?

I think we actually see BETTER Sci-Fi flicks with smaller budgets (weather they're "Lo-Fi" or not). Science Fiction isn't about giant robots, explosions, and good looking young people. It's about the increasingly corporate world, speculation, isolation, man/machine dynamics, ethics, etc. Writers and directors with small amounts of money HAVE to make films with these themes (perhaps they would with lots of money, too?), there's no other option.

*NOTE*: Fuck it. I'm seeing it today, don't have to work until 5. I'll let ya'll know what I think at some point.

Lo Fi Sci Fi

bendingoutward — Sun, 16 Aug 2009 22:10:10 -0700

So, if you're able to find a copy (available for sale on the film site), this adptation of Flatland is actually pretty good. Further, it was created by one guy.

Lo Fi Sci Fi

Admiral Neck — Mon, 17 Aug 2009 03:28:46 -0700

I know that District 9 is not really lo-fi sci-fi, even though it was based on a low budget short, but holy shit, who expected it to make $37m in its opening weekend? That's the original budget (minus promotional budget and the cost of prints) back already. As soon as it hits $90m, it's in huge profit. I doff my cap to Blomkamp, and Peter Jackson for believing in him.

Lo Fi Sci Fi

ian holloway — Mon, 17 Aug 2009 12:41:15 -0700

hello people.
unfortunately i have nothing really to add to this discussion but i wanted to say thanks for pointing me in the direction of so many goodies.
i have achieved nothing constructive today as i've been watching sci fi instead. a day well spent.

Lo Fi Sci Fi

Casey Moore — Mon, 17 Aug 2009 17:23:35 -0700

Thought you all might like to read this list from CHUD's Dein Faraci on 10 Great Non-Blockbuster Films of the 21st Century.

Lo Fi Sci Fi

Jonathan H — Mon, 17 Aug 2009 17:57:15 -0700

Good list. I'm glad to see they put "Save the Green Planet" on there. Definitely wish more people had seen that movie.

Saw "District 9" last night. Really dug it. The film snob in me had a few problems, but the nerd in me that likes over-the-top violence and alien weaponry had quite a thrill. It made me believe that Neil could've pulled off the Halo movie if it hadn't fell through. I would rather see him make a Half-Life movie though, personally.

Lo Fi Sci Fi

oddbill — Tue, 18 Aug 2009 21:11:32 -0700

I'm so happy this thread has hung around in a casual way, and is still getting good links added to it!

I saw both Moon and District 9 this past weekend. Both were brilliant in different ways. Two of the best real science fiction films in a long, long time. Both have great performances at their centers, worth it just to watch those actors alone.But all the stuff around them is also good. Moon is cerebral, but heartfelt. District 9 is action/suspense but humane. Both highly recommended!

I agree you can't really consider District 9 to be lo-fi, but I guess I'm not too hung up on setting hard boundaries on the label. It's lo-fi in spirit, in that it was low budget relative to it's genre and contains great ideas written in an unlikely way. The main character was wonderfully realized. I loved how his amiable racism played out, in that it seemed rooted more in an excessive respect for the law, and the blind presumption that anything illegal is also immoral, with no thought to the possibility of a morality that might exist above legality. Even in the middle of his doing some horrible things in those early scenes ("It sounds like popcorn popping") he is clearly, gleefully fascinated by the aliens. Too bad that the legality surrounding them defines them as lawbreaking sub-persons, funneling his genuine fascination down a destructive course. Until his overconfidence in his authority leads the mistake that rather dramatically forces him to question his previously unquestioned faith in the law. It is a very unpleasant education. You can't really call the end of it uplifting, even though it ends with lessons learned. It's not easy to trade comfort for truth, and this movie doesn't pretend that it is. All this, and alien power suits!

Moon, I think, is firmly lo-fi. It was made for very little money. The screening I went to had a Q&A session with the director, which was really interesting. They figured out how to do some of the effects from watching "making-of" features on a DVD of "Dead Ringers". They wanted to do a science fiction film in the style and tradition of early 70's movies like "Silent Running" and "Outland" - and there are nods to these and several other films of that period throughout the movie. No mainstream science fiction film would aspire to such a forgotten niche of the genre, nor have pulled it off so well.

Lo Fi Sci Fi

Old Moon Face — Wed, 19 Aug 2009 06:34:08 -0700

I love this thread so much. I adored Moon, and am very excited for District 9 (not out in the UK for a couple of weeks). I had no idea D-9 was adapted from a short, nor that Blomkamp had such an interesting body of work already. Great stuff, thanks so much for this!

Lo Fi Sci Fi

Phranky — Wed, 19 Aug 2009 06:34:58 -0700

The young boy in me loved the fact that people exploded into tiny bits of blood and gore when hit by the alien weapons. Also, the alien Christopher was more 'human' than every human in the movie.

Lo Fi Sci Fi

Sonny — Wed, 19 Aug 2009 06:36:48 -0700

I, too, saw District 9. I was a bit miffed the third act had to devolve into a Iron Monger-esque, guys-grabbing-guns-and-yelling fest, but overall it was good. Not nearly as good as Moon -- I consider Moon in that upper echelon of film (think 2001), it's 10x better than District 9 is -- but definitely worth a see in the cinema. Does that make me a "snob"? Maybe. But I'm cool with that.

Lo Fi Sci Fi

Sonny — Wed, 19 Aug 2009 06:41:34 -0700

@ Phranky - Perhaps compassion, warmth, love, etc. are more prawn traits than they are human traits? Would Wikus (main character)

have created flowers out of scrap metal for his wife as a human?

Perhaps not.

Lo Fi Sci Fi

Phranky — Wed, 19 Aug 2009 14:33:45 -0700

It's said that Wikus made things for his wife at the start of the movie so I think the ending is a carry on from that.

There seemed to be a caste system to the insect-like aliens with Christopher being a leader and as such very intelligent. The others barely seemed capable of making any decisions which is perhaps a result of them being workers... those types didn't have any problems with killing and getting high (on cat food).

The fact that the Prawns have weapons tells me that on a whole they aren't as compassionate as Christopher. With that said I hope we don't see any war in the sequel... that wouldn't fit this type of movie. Keep it small.

Lo Fi Sci Fi

Sonny — Wed, 19 Aug 2009 14:49:46 -0700

With that said I hope we don't see any war in the sequel... that wouldn't fit this type of movie. Keep it small.

I couldn't agree more.

Lo Fi Sci Fi

Casey Moore — Wed, 19 Aug 2009 16:17:20 -0700

Not sure if it fits your definition of Lo Fi, but Rian Johnson who directed Brick and The Brothers Bloom is working on a time travel movie next called Looper. Last budget I saw was $14 million, which is a lot; but compared to most films is still low.

I missed Moon sadly when it was playing here in NOLA. Definitely on the list to see when it comes out on DVD.

Lo Fi Sci Fi

lead_pipe — Wed, 26 Aug 2009 06:14:26 -0700

@Oddbill

The slavish respect for the law - despite the inhumanity written into the law on all levels - was a central feature of the apartheid era. Even though Blomkamp left South Africa in his late teens, it seems that he was politically conscious from a young age.

Lo Fi Sci Fi

Matt Gamble — Wed, 02 Sep 2009 17:23:43 -0700

@Sonny Wickus' wife talked about early on that he made paper mache animals for her all the time. Its not that h was incapable of loving acts, its just that he had to lose his identity to gain his humanity. BTW, whereabouts are you in Minneapolis? I'm one of the Asst Managers of the Landmark Edina Theatre, so you just might have watched Moon at my theatre.

If people are still up for checking out lo-fi sci-fi films my friend Jay Cheel recently posted his short film Colore Non Vedenti online. Its 25 minutes long but the site also has three commentary tracks and some behind-the-scenes footage of the filmmaking process for those of you into that stuff. As for the actual film, I don't want to say too much but it essentially involves alien Jell-o that turns you into zombies. He thinks of it more as a dark comedy but to me it reminds me of an episode of The Outer Limits if it was directed by Mario Bava. Probably the most amazing thing is the film was made for $900. Don't let that number scare you, as Jay is a major talent. He's been shooting short films (primarily documentaries) for years and he's just signed a distribution deal for the feature length documentary he has just wrapped shooting on. Check it out and I think you'll come away impressed and entertained.

Lo Fi Sci Fi

Draug — Thu, 03 Sep 2009 16:39:48 -0700

Well this can't be right? Haven't anyone mentioned Luc Besson's Le dernier combat (1983)?

Lo Fi Sci Fi

oddbill — Thu, 03 Sep 2009 21:46:23 -0700

If people are still up for checking out lo-fi sci-fi films my friend Jay Cheel recently posted his short film Colore Non Vedenti online.

That short is great! Thanks Matt Gamble!

I haven't watched the commentaries or any of the behind the scenes stuff, but the film itself is really very good, and looks many orders of magnatute better than it's $900 budget. Nice and creepy in the run up, and then about the point where music from the soundtrack of Fright Night kicks in it became pretty funny too. Acting much better than normal for a film with such a low budget, and the final gag was well played.

Exactly the kind of movie I hoped this tread would attract!

@Draug - I've never seen Le Dernier Combat - I know it's b&w and has almost no words or music in it. What do you think of it?

Lo Fi Sci Fi

Draug — Fri, 04 Sep 2009 03:42:55 -0700

In some aspects it was brilliant, to tell a story with so simple means and still making it captivating and visually it's great. But some passages are a bit slow and mellow even for my tastes, at times it felt a bit like those movies that feels funnier to have seen than they are to actually see (if that makes any sense?). I ended up giving it a 3 (out of 5) so I would watch it again.

Lo Fi Sci Fi

Matt Gamble — Fri, 04 Sep 2009 08:35:47 -0700

Glad you liked it oddbill.

The budget was helped that the main character is an actual actor who was friend's with Jay and was able to recruit a couple other people to donate their time to the production. I believe most of their money was spent on feeding people as most of the equipment Jay either owned or was loaned to them at little charge.

I highly recommend checking out some of his other films at jaycheel.com. Dude is a flat out talent. Two of my favorites are The Goblin Man of Norway, which are a series of viral videos he made for the game Too Human, or then there is his documentary on time travel called Obsessed & Scientific.

Lo Fi Sci Fi

Draug — Fri, 04 Sep 2009 17:36:33 -0700

Found some interesting titles over here io9: Five Short Films That Should Get Big Screen Treatment

Lo Fi Sci Fi

Draug — Sun, 27 Sep 2009 12:49:26 -0700

I imagine this could be quite good if only my computer and flash would get along better...
The Mercury Men, an original episodic web serial

Lo Fi Sci Fi

VanRabbit — Tue, 29 Sep 2009 21:10:34 -0700

Man, I'm not understanding all the Moon love I'm hearing in general. I felt that it was certainly a well acted and visually interesting movie, but ultimately the plot was super shallow and trite once certain aspects of it are revealed. It seemed like the climax raised some interesting questions, but was so hurried the film doesn't get a chance to really explore any of them.

I was super unimpressed with Moon.

Lo Fi Sci Fi

government spy — Wed, 30 Sep 2009 13:37:57 -0700

The Lost Skeleton of Cadavra I think fits your bill as "lo fi" but it was a modern made sci fi movie designed to look like a 1950s era B-grade flick.

Definitely worth checking out if you need a laugh, the effects are very, very lo fi, and the dialogue fits the film era.

*scientist looking out over the night sky, watching the meteor/spaceship crash* "I wonder what that could be..."

*other scientist on the other side of the forest watching same meteor, unaware of the other scientist* "...I also wonder..."

Campy, cheap effects, a wierd dance number, and it's in black and white, filmed around 1999, out of DVD.

Lo Fi Sci Fi

Sonny — Wed, 30 Sep 2009 15:27:34 -0700

... but ultimately the plot was super shallow and trite once certain aspects of it are revealed.

Once again, I don't think Moon is about the twist or reveal at all, it's about the consequences of that information and how someone would deal with it on every level. Which is why it happens in the first 20 minutes or so, so the rest of the movie can deal with the fallout of such a reveal; this isn't an M. Knight flick we're talking about. Then again, there are no exploding bugs or alien weaponry so maybe it's a pile of shit...

Lo Fi Sci Fi

oddbill — Wed, 30 Sep 2009 18:27:56 -0700

@government spy - The Lost Skeleton of Cadavra definitely qualifies. I haven't seen it yet, but I know of it. It's one of those films that, by reputation, I'm not sure if I want to watch... I'm afraid it is too intentionally bad for me to actually enjoy at this point. Not that I don't enjoy some shoddy work now and then, but these days I tend to prefer unwitting shoddiness in the pursuit of sincerity, as opposed to arch shoddiness as comedy. So I'll like something like INfest Wisely, which is really quite awful in parts, because it is trying to be good and has good ideas under the often poor execution - while I'm afraid I'll hate Cadavra for being a well crafted deliberately shoddy film for laughs. I didn't always look at things this way, it's quite recent that I've lost my taste for ironic humor... but I do seem to have lost it.

I'll back @Sonny up on Moon - it isn't about the story at all, which is deliberately simple. It is entirely about that character, and it manages to use science fiction as a method for examining a single personality at different stages of life simultaneously. To me it was about how circumstances and lived days can alter who a person is, and how self awareness of this process can't prevent changes, but can give a person some agency to guide how they change. I know if I met myself from 3 years ago we wouldn't get along very well. I wonder what I would do if I could objectively see who I was, or who I would become. How would that change the way I live my life? That's what Moon is about, and it was really well written and insightful in this.

Lo Fi Sci Fi

VanRabbit — Thu, 01 Oct 2009 12:07:00 -0700

@Sonny,

Well wait, that's counter to how the movie is set up and unfolds. For a long long time the audience does not know if Sam is crazy or if he's got a clone. This is not resolved until much later in the film. Even the trailer presents the film as such. You think you're going into see a movie about what isolation does to a person, and then BAM OH HE'S A CLONE WOOOOOOO SCI FI. Moon's message is so detached from the momentum and tone of the film that it does not work for me.

Also hey! 2001 is one of my favorite films. My gripes with Moon have nothing to do with it's lack of explosions, I assure you.

@odbill,

I just don't think it works as a cohesive experience for me. I feel like while yes, what you brought up is an interesting aspect of the film, it's buried under a rather boring and uninspired plot. It's all well and good that there's something going on under the surface, but it still exists in the confines of an immensely cliche SCI FI plot.

Like I said, it's not a bad movie. I totally agree with your assessment Odbill, it is a rather redeeming quality. It is however, not the only quality, and it's that fact which keeps it from being an outstanding film for me. I definitely enjoyed aspects of it, the style of the film, and the nods to some older stuff but ultimately it just did not live up to all the hype for me.

Lo Fi Sci Fi

Draug — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 14:37:04 -0800

Greenside

Lo Fi Sci Fi

Kosmopolit — Mon, 09 Nov 2009 04:33:38 -0800

A bit of a departure.

Tales of Tomorrow was a very early (1951) US sf anthology show - so early it was broadcast live and at least some episodes were also performed as radio plays.

I have to confess that while I may heard the name I was never really aware of this show until stomping upon it just now.

Production values and sfx are minimal, the acting is generally pretty poor but the stories are actually pretty strong on the ones I've seen so far.

It's also pretty damn bleak - two of the three episodes I've seen end with the destruction of the Earth.

Well worth a watch - very lo-fi by today's standards but quite ambitious in terms of some of the ideas it tackles.

Lo Fi Sci Fi

Kosmopolit — Mon, 09 Nov 2009 21:24:26 -0800

This episode of Tales of Tomorrow The Lost planet is really quite interesting and ahead of its time as it breaks the fourth wall with the actually production crew of ToT tryign to make sense of a strange broadcast that keeps overriding teir signal.

It also has some self-referential and parody elements which were pretty rare in American popular culture prior to Mad magazine.

Plus it stars Rod Steiger.

Lo Fi Sci Fi

Draug — Fri, 04 Dec 2009 08:19:27 -0800

Ataque de Pánico! (Panic Attack!)

Lo Fi Sci Fi

Casey Moore — Fri, 04 Dec 2009 22:05:24 -0800

Panic Attack is the kind of shit which inspires me and depresses the shit out of me. God, so much VFX and so little actual production and it all comes across so well (and thank god we saw some other city besides the main ones get the shit kicked out of it). I really think with Youtube and Vimeo and other such sites we will see a rise in short films (I have been saying for awhile YouTube is creating a generation of editors rather than directors, here is to hoping I am wrong).

Lo Fi Sci Fi

oddbill — Sun, 06 Dec 2009 02:11:01 -0800

Lagrange

A great 6 minute science fiction horror piece, sort of Kubrik in it's staging. Very nice work.

There is a Vimeo Channel devoted to science fiction shorts - that's where I found this one, it's definitely worth a browse.

BTW - @Draug - thanks for that link. I hadn't heard of Panic Attack, but it's stupendous!

Lo Fi Sci Fi

patrickmm — Sun, 06 Dec 2009 13:01:07 -0800

You may want to check out the webseries I've been working on, The Third Age, which was done on minimal budget, but hopefully matches the production values and thematic ambition of some of the shows here. Three episodes have been released so far, and you can check out the first here.

It's an attempt to do a Kirby/Morrison style cosmic struggle story, but grounded in real world events and characters, hopefully blending the best of both elements. We don't have so many overt VFX, but there's a lot of visual elements and style. With cheap HD cameras and editing equipment, we'll probably see a lot more really interesting and experimental stuff coming out in the next few years.

Lo Fi Sci Fi

Draug — Sun, 06 Dec 2009 15:52:17 -0800

@ patrickmm: Interesting I think I like it.

Lo Fi Sci Fi

patrickmm — Sun, 06 Dec 2009 22:30:02 -0800

@Draug Thanks man, keep checking in, we're putting up new episodes every Tuesday. There's 13 in the first season, then we've got a break, then 13 more to wrap it all up.

Lo Fi Sci Fi

oddbill — Mon, 28 Dec 2009 21:16:18 -0800

Here's a couple of film festivals Bruce Sterling's blog linked to:

European Fantastic Film Festivals Federation - looks like a network of science fiction, fantasy and horror film festivals held throughout Europe.

Fantastic Fest - Austin Texas based festival. This looks truly cool, I'm so going to this in 2010.

Neither of them are explicitly lo fi, but seem very lo fi friendly at first glance.

Lo Fi Sci Fi

RadioGuy — Tue, 29 Dec 2009 16:41:38 -0800

I am compelled to add the short-but-beautiful SIMILO to this list!

One of my favourites from recent years, the photography is absolutely stunning and the pacing works wonderfully. Shot on HDV with a 35mm lense adapter.

The link above offers several versions for download, including English and Spanish editions, as well as a full DVD ISO.

Lo Fi Sci Fi

oddbill — Thu, 31 Dec 2009 02:22:59 -0800

Look at this thing!:

Turbo

It's a Street Fighter style video game fighting movie with ridiculously high quality visuals. I had to read into the filmmaker's statements and blog posts a bit before posting it here because at first I thought this was some film studio sponsored spec short. But it isn't. The guy is a graduated film student, and it looks like he made this short as a proof of concept in an attempt to sell a feature length script to a studio.

I didn't find the story that great, it's not a short to watch for innovative storytelling or the philosophical side of science fiction. It's mostly just eye candy. But it's very good eye candy! It looks way expensive, and I don't think it was.

This may become one of my touchstone - "look what you can do for very little when you know what you're doing" examples.

Lo Fi Sci Fi

oddbill — Mon, 25 Jan 2010 18:02:28 -0800

These aren't full stories, they are just short clips by a guy on youtube going by the name The Faking Hoaxer. He seems to be taking still NASA photos, old Apollo and Space Shuttle footage, and manipulating them in photoshop and then mixing them in After Effects. There seems to be very little, if any 3D work in any of these, just incredibly skillfully manipulated and mixed found-photos and found footage. The results he is getting are astonishing:

The Space Shuttle Destroyed! Aftermath in orbit:

And my favorite:

From Earth Orbit to Mars Orbit in the 1970s!:

He's got a bunch on there!

Lo Fi Sci Fi

Pupato — Tue, 26 Jan 2010 00:55:39 -0800

in 1993 spanish director Alex de la Iglesia made his first film called "ACCIÓN MUTANTE", i think it´s a good Lo Fi example. It´s Sci Fi with a lot of comedy & violence. Used to hate it but has aged so well that i love it more each day. Here is an extract from the film:

Actually, this director is producing a "Sci Fi" serial for the Spanish Public Tv with a very low budget called "PLUTON BRB NERO", so linked to his first work...

Lo Fi Sci Fi

oddbill — Sat, 30 Jan 2010 18:22:30 -0800

I interviewed The Faking Hoaxer!

The Lo Fi Sci Fi category on my blog should start filling up more frequently. I'm going to try mining many of the brilliant directions you have all pointed to in this thread, and seeing if I can get more interviews. It's incredibly fun talking to people who are figuring out clever ways to make films, mostly in pockets of individuality. I'm hoping I can get some momentum behind the notion that this can be a more networked sub-genre or scene - kind of a verite/dogme meets scifi movement.

Check out the interview in that link, I think it came off ok!

Lo Fi Sci Fi

Draug — Sat, 30 Jan 2010 19:00:34 -0800

Great will check it out tomorrow.

Star Wars vs. Star Trek

Lo Fi Sci Fi

Draug — Sun, 31 Jan 2010 07:37:35 -0800

Kunskapens pris - balladen om den vilsne vandraren (The price of knowledge - the ballad of the lost wanderer) is a film (short musical adventure sci-fi) based on the world of Mutant - Undergångens Arvtagare, a Swedish RPG. I haven't found any version with subtitles but I hope you will get something out of it nonetheless.
Kunskapens pris balladen om den vilsne vandraren del 1
(It's 3 parts)

"Western science fiction set in the year 4000. Cowboys with laserguns and aliens from Mexico is on a hunt to get to the hidden treasure first. Lots of explosions, gunfights and beards. " + Lots and lots of Swedish accents =)
No Law 4000

Lo Fi Sci Fi

JiveKitty — Mon, 01 Feb 2010 02:31:15 -0800

I don't know if you'd consider it lo-fi sci-fi (I think it fits) but I recommend Delicattesen which is set in post-apocalyptic 1950s France. The City of Lost Children, which seems set in a similar universe, is also very good, but with its budget perhaps does not make the cut.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Delicatessen_%28film%29
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_City_of_Lost_Children

Lo Fi Sci Fi

dr_ether — Mon, 01 Feb 2010 02:43:06 -0800

Drop City: Zero

This is the initial playout edit from a short that myself (I starred in it and wrote the script and did some camera work) and my mate (a programmer at the BBC) did as part of a BBC aspirations project. This meant we had access to BBC cameras but pretty much no other budget. This has meant a lot of our actors (read goths) are playing zombies etc.

Enjoy.

There is a complete version but you may want to ask my mate for that via Youtube.

Lo Fi Sci Fi

oddbill — Tue, 11 May 2010 22:45:27 -0700

This is interesting, ambitious, fairly well put together, if a bit poorly acted:

Venus Rises: An Original Sci-Fi Series

Quality of actors - and that likely implies poor direction as well - seems to be the one thing people can't reliably come by without a budget.

Lo Fi Sci Fi

Magnulus — Wed, 12 May 2010 03:48:07 -0700

Yeah, there's an issue with actors in that they generally don't make all that much money, so most of the ones who really can act don't want to take on unpaid work, especially when it's a full feature film which will take them away from a lot of potential income.
Speaking as someone just starting out trying to get work as a professional actor, I can definitely see where they're coming from. A 10-20 minute student short or something is one thing, but unless the writing is really good, I probably wouldn't go for a full feature at this point.

Lo Fi Sci Fi

Scott B — Fri, 21 May 2010 12:58:32 -0700

humbly submitted for your approval.

Not sure if it qualifies as sci-fi, but it was certainly lo fi; made with free software on a very slow and old laptop.
I'd welcome any comments.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WW9klUOgaeY

Lo Fi Sci Fi

bendingoutward — Tue, 01 Jun 2010 17:35:24 -0700

Ghosts With Shit Jobs will hopefully be coming sooner-than-later from most of the same folks that brought us Infest Wisely.

Lo Fi Sci Fi

oddbill — Tue, 01 Jun 2010 20:31:05 -0700

Yeah, I've been eagerly anticipating that one.

Lo Fi Sci Fi

oddbill — Sun, 27 Jun 2010 22:03:08 -0700

@Scott B - it looks cool, the very lo fi aesthetic you probably had no choice but to accept given the tools you used comes off as a choice, if that makes sense. It doesn't look poorly done, it looks like you were going for an early MTV Liquid Video look. I love the feel, and the audioscape.

I found this today, which I thought was really well made:

Leap from Dan Gaud on Vimeo.

Lo Fi Sci Fi

Errant Ghost — Tue, 24 Aug 2010 10:06:05 -0700

PI, I would argue fits this lo fi sci fi perfectly. The movie cost I heard 60k to make.

Two movies that no one has mentioned yet
INK by Jamin Winans http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1071804/
This movie, while a few flaws, is over all great. It was not pitched or made by any major movie studio or distribution. It was pitched and sold directly to art theatres, DVD mail order services like Netflix and others. It is one of the most pirated movies on torrent sites it says on IMDB, but I dont know how accurate that is.

Moon http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1182345/
I have to imagine the most costly part of this movie beyond the setting was getting Kevin Spacey to do the voice of the robot. But, it is quite a good mind fuck.

Lo Fi Sci Fi

oddbill — Tue, 24 Aug 2010 19:25:01 -0700

Hi @Errant Ghost! Welcome to what I think has been the slowest moving thread on Whitechapel that has yet remained alive!

PI works, I think it got a brief mention a couple of times very early in the thread - but we have actually talked about both your films, INK here and then I actually went to see a screening of it, which I posted about here, and Moon comes up a couple of times right around those posts. It didn't get talked about in depth because there was a whole separate Moon thread at the time.

Though both INK and Moon are lofi in their hearts, I'd have to exclude Moon, great though it was, it was just too big a budget.

It's an interesting problem, though - if you are championing a way of telling stories from below, and you find some of the filmmakers from above doing things with real money that still sort of fit your narrative aesthetic, it seems wrong to exclude them because they started out with a real budget. For me, I think, the choice is - I want to keep pushing the stuff from below - I love that people like Darren Arronofsky and Duncan Jones and Neill Blomkamp are making fully budgeted films that are lofi in spirit, and I love their films. But I'm more interested at this point in seeking out really shoestring productions being cooked up by people I've never heard of that would not have been possible to do even 10 years ago.

But to critique my own position here is an article on the Low Budget Halo Effect - that basically makes the point that nobody goes out of their way to praise or especially seek out low budget comedies or horror as both those genres just commonly have tons of low budget entries. It's only science fiction, and I guess action films too, that usually depend on large budgets, and get special notice when they work with small ones.

Speaking of lofi action that is exceptional, y'all have seen Cardboard Warfare, right?:

Lo Fi Sci Fi

bendingoutward — Tue, 14 Dec 2010 20:28:37 -0800

I'm going to say that Princess Scientist and the Four Keys of Christmas easily counts. Also, it's absolutely adorable.

Here's day 1 of the advent calendar.

Princess Scientist is the offspring of the mighty Mur Lafferty, and as of this writing, all of Mur's sites are down. When that problem is rectified, you can catch up at Princess Scientist's Book Club.

Lo Fi Sci Fi

oddbill — Wed, 15 Dec 2010 22:20:24 -0800

@bendingoutward - sorry, I wouldn't include that at all. That's just a home movie of a child in the living room awkwardly reading lines. I don't want to sound harsh as it's clearly a fun thing someone made with their daughter, and there is nothing wrong with that, but it's not lofiscifi.

This is how you do it:

Modern Times on Vimeo (about 3 minutes long, and worth it!) (Courtesy of our Gracious Landlord's Website.)

Or, rather, this is how you do it:

Behind the Scenes (of Modern Times) on Vimeo.

This short is described as "no budget". Some commenters on Vimeo take issue, as they have a nice camera, and something like a soundstage. Here is some of that exchange, excerpted and arranged for better reading (filmmaker's replies are bold):

Christiant D'alberto asks:

How long did it take?

Simon Mountney answers:
A weekend for filming, you'd have to ask Ben about the post time though, as it was completed in his free time.

All in all the idea was king. Everything we did worked toward that, by any means necessary.

Gert Kracht asks:

What a great job you all did there! Please, can you add the credits, website and I'm very curious which software you used for creating the 3D models and the compositing of the video materials.

G-THREE snaps at Gert:

Stop asking what software. It's people that make it. Not software. You don't ask singers what microphone brand they use or painters what brand of brush. It's a illusion marketing created for us make us think it's a brand that makes things. It's not, it's talented people using it in a creative way.

(An excellent point. This happens with all art, as though software, pens, brushes, guitars and mixing suites are the key to quality. They aren't. You can kick ass with what you have. When starting, you shouldn't even think about what other people use. Just pick up what you can get easily and use it to get as close to your vision as you can. Then do it again, and again. Bring new tools into it as your experience leads you to them. If you are falling short of your vision, it is because you lack experience, not tools. You can't buy experience with 3D Studio Max. You can get experience with Bryce or Blender or Poser or Google Sketchup. Just grab whatever cheap tools are easy to get and go.

Sweeping Epic Productions pipes up:

I think there is more to it than that..I would be very interested to know what brush Dali used, what mic Dennis Brown preferred; it helps you glean more insight into the artist's creative world..the overall picture is to enjoy, but the details that go into making it are just as important

(A legitimate point, but to be concerned with only if you already have some experience, and a specific technique related question. When most people ask "What software did you use" they are asking "what do I have to buy to do what you did?" - and of course the answer to that is "a clue, and some ingenuity.")

G-THREE laments:

Just one thing that I see that deeply bothers me is the line saying: Made with no money, lil time and a lot of passion.
I see the passion. But you should understand that it cost money and a lot of time. And that this in fact is a not a bad thing. This was planed, had to be shot, by a team lighting, actors, putting up green scree. Processing footage, keying and rotoing it. Planing 3d design, building models. Tracking camera. Surfacing and shading models, building interface graphics. Lighting and rendering. Compositing and editing. Scoring and sound design.
Now please stop playing this shit load of work down. It don't make you look good, it just makes you sound ridicules and it hurts visual fx artist. You will find out how bad it is when you are looking for a job in visual fx, and people say: Hay you say you did it in lil time and with no money!

(Well - effort and craftsmanship cost time and skill, which in the professional world equals money. The fact that these filmmakers used their own time and skill to make their own thing without paying others for it should not be taken to mean that the result is obtainable cheaply.

But his second point, that this devalues the visual effects profession, well - sort of, I guess. I mean, welcome to the 21st Century, graveyard of formerly lucrative industries. But they aren't saying you can buy this kind of skill for nothing, they are saying if you have this kind of skill you don't need expensive tools to achieve this quality. It's an important distinction. It goes back to G-THREE's first quote, it's not the tools, it's the skills. If you use your skills to make for yourself what it would cost others much to buy, and use what you've made to encourage other skilled people to do the same for themselves, I don't see the downside.)

Ben (BC2010) explains:
All the software used was entry level and non expensive. (I'm not a CG artist by trade, but needs must when you don't have ILM on call). All the cast and crew were friends/colleagues. No actors (They did a great job considering: " Your onboard a space station, watching a Chaplin film being projected onto the surface of the moon....and...Action!)

Dee gripes:

Errr, "no budget"... I guess your set was from the local 7-11? A wonderful film but what a BS opening description.

Austin Erwin (a creature tormented by insecurities) cries:

yeaaaaaah...this no budget thing is starting to piss me off.... someone is going to film school and paying a TON OF MONEY or someone is buying an 8000 dollars sony ex3/computer/software/renting studio space.

ah hell, should we forgive the artist for being a douchebag since his work is so fantastic? fuck that im bitter and jealous.

Ben BC2010 graciously responds:
Thanks for the amazing feedback!
Some answers:
The studio, camera equipment, lighting equipment all belong to an very talented photographer I work with, Richard Mountney. I approached him with the film idea, and we shot it at weekends when the studio was free. That's why it cost nothing.

Software used:
Modeling/Animation/Render: Carrara Pro
Matchmove: Syntheyes
Compositing/Motion graphics: After Effects
Edit: Final Cut Pro HD
Sound elements by Jim Pritchard
and Soundtrack.

Hope this helps.
B

So there, in a nutshell, is what you need. A vision, some knowledge, and friends.

Go forth and lofi.