"The 2nd Horseman" Arthur Cross

As an ultra fan of scifi and action movies, the peruvian director Arthur Cross felt a natural need to create something that combined those two genres, despite the fact that neither of them were often explored in his own country.

Science fiction is a genre that allows to explore the relationship between humanity and the universe. And more often than not, the difference in scale between these two elements. Humanity as mere speck of light in the vast impossible void of time and space.

With that in mind, The 2nd Horseman tells the story of the struggle between two factions vying for control over a single girl, who holds the destiny of mankind in her hands after returning from an alternate dimension.

Though the filming is still in progress, the trailer put together with early footage showed favorable reactions in the public. Proving this blend of genres is something people want, even in Peru.

Using independent film making techniques and resources such as the popular Canon 5D Mk2 and Mk3, a wheelchair for a dolly and applying lots and lots of post production wizardry, The 2nd Horseman production team strives to optimize resources to crank out the best production value despite the inherent adversity of working a project of this kind.

Luckily, the internet helps breaks down many of these difficulties, such as providing know-how, tips, strategies, information and even expanding the possibilities for independent movies to secure an audience. New means of exhibition are made available through streaming services, and indie films can easily find their way into international festivals via digital transfers.

It could be said that there is a bright future ahead for indies, and as science fiction becomes science fact, we look forward to the new film-making, post production and network technologies that will even expand our horizons even more.

Watch trailer:

"Rosario necesita heroes" Daniel Del Grande

An astral war.

Now Daniel Del Grande tells us about his webseries "Rosario necesita héroes":

The camera is an old Kodak made mainly for taking pictures of 7 megapixels, I think. I don't have it on me right now, but the video mode for this model is very basic and not as good as the photo mode. It was what I had at hand! The budget is almost non-existent, given that I use whatever I have at hand because for now is not a professional job, the purpose of making it is not money. And which is my motivation? Because I make it is hard to explain with a few words. So I can tell you for now is that, with time, I will be sharing a deep spiritual path of mine and what I have learned in it.

Watch fourth episode:

"Entonces Ruth" Fernando Montenegro

The movie is about an alien invasion.

"Proxima" Carlos Atanes

Now Carlos Atanes tells us about his movie "Proxima": 

I made it because when I was child I was a great fan of Sci-Fi films and I wanted to recover that “sense of wonder” which I felt in my childhood watching movies as Silent Running, 2001 or Planet of the Apes. Proxima is a homage to those movies and to the people who —like me— dream of conquering the universe.

Proxima’s was a wild and crazy filmmaking, full of anecdotes. There is a documentary about it, “Made in PROXIMA”, which you can watch at Proxima’s website. When we were shooting the alien landscapes at the depth of Corta Atalaya (the biggest open-pit mine in Europe) our lives were in danger: while the sulphuric acid red lake in the bottom of the mine was emanating poisonous emissions, an extreme storm was causing landslides on the walls with real risk of flood and collapse. This would be meaning that we were dead buried under hundreds of tons of rocks. Another funny moment was when we shot Oriol Aubets (the leading actor) with real ammunition.

The shooting of Proxima lasted 30 or 40 days, I don’t know exactly.

In this movie I put technical matter on the Director of Photography’s hands. He was Joan Babiloni, a very good professional. He chose the camera, a JVC HDV. I don’t remember more details about the camera. The look of the movie was determined by the budget, Babiloni’s taste and our prior conversation about light, style, lenses and colors. I shown him a lot of 1970’s and 1980’s comics. For example we talked about how artist Enki Bilal obtains cool environments just using warm tonalities. We also saw pictures from 1970’s Sci-Fi illustrators as Chris Foss and Tim White. From those examples and conversations Babiloni made a colour palette for the crew. Props, wardrobe and settings were based on that palette. Babiloni’s light corrections in post-production were minimum.

Future is for very high and very low budget films. Very high ones have multiple ways of financing and amortization. Very low ones can be also profitable because they do not need too much revenue to cover the expenses and –with good luck- to get certain degree of earnings. But medium-size ones are in the middle and, except a handful of very successful movies- condemned. In Europe they can just exist thanks to subsidies, that says it all. Future is the dead of medium-sized budget movies.

Proxima's budget was between $65000 and $70000. Resources were contribution from friends and mainly a bank loan. We are still returning the credit. This is the part less pleasant of making ultraindependent films.

Watch Made in PROXIMA: Underground science fiction:

"Martin Mosca" Mariano Cattaneo

Now Mariano Cattaneo tells us about his webseries "Martin Mosca":

Martin Mosca is a mix between science fiction and comedy. It tells the story of a regular guy who creates a time machine and uses for trivial things. Martin will soon discover that travel in time has its consequences: he could change the universal order, risking his life and the life of his love ones.

The idea came from movies we loved when we were growing up during the 80s such as Back to the future, Terminator, Wild Science, Ghostbusters, Indiana Jones or Superman.

Behind-the-scenes: Martin Mosca's house

We do not have a fixed budget per episode; the budget will depend on each script. Team work is the key for independent films, everyone involve helps between his capabilities. The human value of those making Martin Mosca is countless. But a webseries is not easy to distribute. There is a big exhibition window thanks to social networks like Youtube, Facebook, Google+ or Twitter and this is awesome. Nevertheless, there is a lack of channels or websites that take the risk of distribute webseries in a way that creators get a benefit.

When you produce an independent webseries you always expect the unexpected, then you will be ready to fix problems at any way at any time. Working with no budget and tight schedules means that you need to fix things on the go, no one will do it for you.

During the eighth episode we required to shoot in a cemetery. We didn’t have permit or authorization (in Argentina that could take weeks and we were not in a position to wait) so we did the only possible thing: we get into the cemetery as normal visitors. We had to hide “Martin” and the “future traveler” between tombs and graves as they were wearing showy costumes and helmets. Anyways, this seams normal for a cemetery, as lot of people asked us directions without noticing our crazy outfits!

We used a range of Canon DSLR cameras: 5D, 7D, 60D, T3i or T2i. DSLRs are simple and effective cameras that shoot in 1920 x 1080 FULL HD. There's no mistaking the appeal of filming on a digital SLR. The relatively low cost, size and flexibility offered by your Canon shooters is turning once-consumer cameras into valuable professional tools.
   
Martin Mosca is produced entirely by Mariano Cattaneo (director), Leandro Cóccaro (actor), Hernán Márquez (actor) and Pablo Boyanovsky Bazan.

Watch first episode:

Martin Mosca will have 11 episodes.

"La furia de MacKenzie" Campano, Caña & Reinoso

Mackenzie is a criminal, but soon he will have to groom his mustache before shooting the invading aliens.

"Zohe" David Contreras

Now David Contreras tells us about his movie "Zohe":

I like stories in general, in any genre.

The science fiction is beautiful and exciting. With science fiction, I can play, invent, devising fantastic stories and unusual characters; including, in some cases without giving any justification for their way of being or acting in particular. On the other hand, I feel that the genre of science fiction makes possible to speculate about parallel realities or ways of how it could be our world and universe and thus certainly social behavior.

Zohe, precisely, is the story of an ordinary man fighting for his freedom and love, after the great universal cataclysm.

We used the Canon 7D. Never before I had worked with Full HD, so it was a real pleasure to see that quality and sharpness in each of these scenes.

Zohe was supported by the government of my country, as well as many public and private companies decided to join, in order that Zohe will come alive. But achieving resources was not easy, because it has been a long and complex project.

Undoubtedly, over all these years of trip I learned many things. One of these lessons is in the area of creativity and improvisation. Often when things happen the way you not want, but they do happen, either because of lack of resources, delays in weather or some other unforeseen, one should look for effective responses at high speed to rectify this situation. There were times during the shooting I had to change entire scenes, especially, shorten them. And with actors, all technical equipment in the field and in just a couple of minutes, I had to look at the environment and find a new way to have that scene. In some cases I began to use white sheets, assuming you would have to draw scenes so fast on set. And as for mistakes made in previous shootings I could cite the lack of planning. I think this time, despite the many adversities, we were good and positive step, and every minute we made the most work.

So I would like to conclude by quoting a premise of personal life, which I value greatly: "Life is short, we are passing here on Planet Earth".

Zombie Walk Mexico

"Justice Woman" Vanessa Verduga

Now Vanessa Verduga tell us about her webseries "Justice Woman":

Six years ago, Justice Woman was a domain name that was available and I acquired because I thought it was cool. I grew up a fan of Wonder Woman and Batman, especially Batman, a mere mortal without super powers who cares about the people of Gotham. I had recently graduated law school and couldn't stomach working as a lawyer - my true passion was acting. However, I had bills to pay so I stuck it out with law and opened up my own law practice that I ran for two years. It was during that time that I experienced the genesis of Justice Woman.  Hanging a shingle was an eye opening experience as I got to see firsthand how our legal system and the people in charge of it can work for both good and bad under the guise of the law - it was enough to make me want out of the practice of law and back into acting so, I went to the American Academy of Dramatic Arts. While there, I began writing. After graduating, I needed an actor reel to showcase my work. However, putting one together proved strenuous as I found myself hounding down directors to get copies of films. I figured with all the energy I was expending, I might as well write and film the story for Justice Woman since it had been percolating in the back of my head this whole time.

As I wrote Justice Woman, a series of tumultuous events were happening throughout the world that fueled my desire to write not just on my behalf, but also on behalf of others who had suffered some form of injustice. I began writing about the many unfair things that exist in our society pertaining in part to homophobia, immigration, discrimination, double standards, sexual hypocrisy, class power, political corruption and so forth. Those became the issues that I wanted to set forth in Justice Woman.  However, I took to heart Oscar Wilde’s saying that "if you want to tell people the truth, make them laugh, otherwise they’ll kill you" and put a humorist twist to my writing.

Justice Woman and Roberta

Being a fan of the Batman movies, and Robert Rodriguez's Sin City, I definitely wanted that Gotham/Sin City comic book feel to Justice Woman. We accomplished that mostly with the lighting setup in production and color correction in post.

I was going to do a pilot at first, but I was too anxious to get started and wasn't going to wait for a cable network to pick it up so I opted for the web series format. I researched web series and was inspired by Felicia Day and her web series "The Guild".

I didn't go to film school and I didn't have much of a budget so I had to take on as many tasks as possible to make Justice Woman happen. It was challenging, but doable thanks to those who kept me going with their encouragement and support. Thanks to the generosity of friends and former business associates, I was able to secure locations and props when needed as needed. It does get hectic for me at times being the writer, director, producer and lead in the series, but the cast and crew keep me going. Everyone gets along so filming is such a pleasure and we have so much fun on set - no drama and tons of laughter. The majority of the cast are personal friends who I have worked previously with on stage, in films and even as attorneys so to them this is not just about showing up to act and then moving on to the next acting gig - this is about our friendship and it shows in the end results - they come on set, give it their all and help out with production matters when needed.

For first season, we used the Canon EOS 7D because it was what our first DP (Director of Photography) had in terms of equipment. I wasn't well versed in camera equipment then, but I did like the crisp and sharp look of the images so I went with what he had. For second season, we had another DP and he had a Canon EOS 1D Mark IV, which has better image quality. However, he left to get a master in London so, for seasons 3, 4 and 5 we reverted to the Canon EOS 7D, which seems to be the popular choice with DPs and also fits into our production budget.

Well, I'm always shooting before aiming, which has gotten me into trouble at times, but it has also made me realize that if I just go for and push through I will end up getting my way.

I started the series with $2000 and soon realized I needed to double my budget. So I decided to film solely on weekends so that I can work during the week and save up. I started bartering services and goods - living quarters in exchange for filming - called in favors, begged for favors, and relied on the generosity of friends and family - the generosity rarely came in the form of money, but every form of assistance was a huge help for me.

The series will go on for 6 seasons with a total of 18 episodes. However, that's not to say that more cannot be made. The series could go on into infinity because "as long as justice and injustice have not terminated their ever renewing fight for ascendancy in the affairs of mankind, human beings must be willing, when need is, to do battle for the one against the other" – John Stuart Mill.  If history serves as a precedent, the battle for justice is ever ongoing and I would love nothing more than to keep "Justice Woman" going. It's something we're definitely exploring.

Advancements in technology have drawn the prices down thereby, making film-making accessible to just about anyone with the will and desire to become a film-maker or a motion storyteller. Therefore, I'm sure we will be seeing more diverse and rich stories in the years to come and with the advent of web series distribution, we'll get to see and hear from voices we would have not had the opportunity to see or hear before. Thanks to the Internet we can choose what we want to see and not be stuck watching bad TV programming.

Watch first episode:

"El Sol" Ayar Blasco

Now Ayar Blasco tell us about his movie "El Sol":

All the backstage was an anecdote. With El Sol, I wanted to watch an apocalyptic movie that wasn't necessarily of action and I chose characters that were similar to my friends, because I had them in mind. I didn’t make it thinking in something commercial, so anything that might happen with the movie will surprise me gratefully. We made it in Adobe Flash and took us 7 years, because we took it very calmed (too much, maybe!). I first developed the script with the help of Hubert Bals Fund. Then we received the help of INCAA (the Institute of Film in Argentina). But basically, it was the support of all the people involved in the making of the movie.

The result of this movie encourages me to make another movie sooner. I learned a lot and that will help me in the future.

"Apollo 18" Gonzalo López-Gallego

Gallery of Posters 07

Una de zombis
Juan of the dead
Phase 7  
EL Eternauta

"La maquina que escupe monstruos y la chica de mis sueños" Diego Labat & Agustin Ross

Now Diego Labat and Agustin Ross tell us about their movie "La máquina que escupe monstruos y la chica de mis sueños":

We wanted to make a film we wanted to see, different from argentinian aesthetics. We are both animation fans and we admire director who uses animation logic in live action films (such as Terry Gilliam, Sam Raimi, Peter Jackson or Tim Burton). So we decided to make a live action film with cartoon logic. We believe that's the main essence of the film. There constant references to South Park, Tex Avery, Hannah Barbera, The Simpsons or Richard Williams. On the other hand, we are both sci fi fans and B movies fans, so we kind of mixed all up in one movie. 

We used a Canon 7D. The reason we used it was because it was the best quality camera we could afford (and the image does look great). The movie (and us) hate realism. I think the main reason for the movie's look is getting as far away as possible from argentinian realism. We wanted everything to be in this animated logic. 

We shot the movie in 22 days. We made it with a very very low budget. But we decided to write it, shoot it and throw it into the Internet within a year (fortunately, we did it). The budget for the film was around 5000 dollars. But we had a lot of help from people who approched our website and lend us services or their presence in order to help. Some money was gathered from donations, but our main budget was from our pockets.

We believe that Internet changed the way we look at movies. Musicians understood it well. Nowadays, it's possible for a musician to exhibit their work online, but filmmakers tend to think different. Everyone downloads movies from the Internet. We are used to watch movies from our computers. You can't fight that. We believe that instead we should take advantage of it, letting us have a world wide cinema, which we can control and lets us do what we want the most: we want our picture to be seen. As much as possible. Filmmakers should be aware of the possibilities Internet gives you.

Watch full movie:
 

"Autómata" Gabe Ibáñez

"Ciencia Ficción: La creatividad de un artista" Pablo Riquelme

Now Pablo Riquelme tells us about his movie "Ciencia Ficción: La creatividad de un artista":

Most of the short film was filmed over the course of 3 days. It takes place in the living room of a house, where the the main character has his old typewriter. Roberto (the screenwriter) has to write a script of another genre different from sci fi, but the monsters in his wardrobe won't let him. The monsters want to prevent him from losing his creativity. Apart from the action that takes place in the house, Roberto has two dream-like scenes that take place in a beach and a mansion. These scenes took one day to film. So the filming was four days.  

I wanted to make this film because I love B movies. I grew up watching "Critters", "The Fog", "Night of the Creeps"... but in Spain, scifi seems to be neglected. With this short film I wanted to criticize this situation. The main character is a scifi screenwriter whose been forced to write other genres by his producer. The main character has to decide if he's going to write what the industry wants for him, or on the other hand, write about what he really likes.

I believe it's important to mention the creation of the monsters that appear in the film. They were made using the technique of Stop Motion animation. This is the kind of animation used by the famous Ray Harryhausen B movies, responsible for skeletons, giant octopuses and many other creatures. I think this short film is different to the typical short film!

There are many anecdotes about the filming, but in my opinion the most interesting one is the fact that the two main characters were never together on set, due to scheduling problems. So they filmed their parts on separate days, although in the short film looks like they are together. They say something similar happened with the Pacino-De Niro scene in "Heat" (Michael Mann, 1995).

The budget of film was of 9.000€ (11.000 $ aprox.). We made this film thanks to the collaboration of many private companies that decided to help and contribute. In Spain there are two ways of making films: You can wait be subsidized by the government or you can look for private investors, like we did. Sometimes, subsidized films don't finish filming or end up being canceled in post-production...

We filmed with the RED ONE camera. Thanks to the High Definition image of the RED ONE offers a lot of freedom in post-production. We filmed with a very neat photography, with a lot of white. In the post-production stage we were free to lower the level of white and darken the blacks and give the image a greenish tone, the color that better chows the essence of scifi. We didn't use 35 mm for two reasons: In the first place, because we had a low budget. In second place, because the quality of shooting digital is arguably better than that of film.

As for the distribution film, is changing. The distributors have to develop if they want to keep up. The audience doesn't see films, they devour them. They are demanding the films now, but people don't want to wait until films arrive to their countries or don't want to pay 20$ for a film. For some distributors streaming might be the answer... There are many new ways of distribution. I still buy films, many of them, in fact. But I admit I look for cheap DVD's.

Watch trailer:

 

"Los Cuchillos"

Nena Zombie


Lobotomia


El Monstruo de la Laguna


El Hombre Lobo

"Los Vincent Price"

"El circuito de Román" Sebastián Brahm

"Gen Mishima"

Watch first episode:

"Posesion Extraterrestre" Jairo Pinilla

Watch full movie:

See story about the cinematography of Jairo Pinilla (part 1):

See more here: Dr Empiria