Following up on my previous Portal posts, here’s Escape from City 17 part 2, a Half Life which boasts a city in ruins, striders, zombies, headcrabs and more. THe creators of this film claim they spent less than $1,000, which sounds doubtful given what’s on screen.

Jim Munroe is the multimedia genius behind No Media Kings, which started as a way for him to self-publish his work but has since morphed into a DIY mini-empire featuring comics, games, film and books.

A few years ago he and several collaborators made “Infest Wisely“, a lo-fi sci-fi film that they broke into chapters and filmed separately with a overarching story written by Munroe. You could watch it online in segments or as a feature.

Jump to several years later and Munroe and friends have created
“Ghosts with Shit Jobs,” a near-future extrapolation of what happens when North America goes bankrupt and China outsources all the jobs they don’t want to us. It’s being done with the same low-fi ethos as Infest Wisely but with better equipment and a little more money ($4,000 this time as opposed to the $700 they spent on the previous film.)

I’m looking forward to seeing what Munroe hss in store with this latest film…it looks like they’ve upped their game visually while hewing to the same approach of ideas over pointless spectacle. Keep watching here and nomediakings.org for further news on the film.

I’ve worked in television for years, I write professionally, and I make videos for a living…but despite all that I’ve never made a Doctor Who fan film. Well, after attending the fan filmmaking panels at Gallifrey twice and dispensing advice to other cine-nerds, I figured it was time to put my money where my mouth is. I present to you Blue Meanie, the story of one man’s torture by Type 40. I hope you enjoy it, and if you’re going to Gallifrey, stop by the fan video room at 1:40, watch the movie again and say hello!

Because movies tell stories, and 3D is at best a sideshow, according to Cory Doctorow in his latest Guardian column. I’m inclined to agree. 3D is touted as cinema’s saviour, bringing audiences back to the theatre and away from video games and home theatres….but without a story to back it up, which is usually best told in regular 2D, you aren’t going to see people sticking around. James Cameron’s Avatar and other upcoming films may prove me wrong, but I doubt it.

A number of big Hollywood stars have released big Hollywood films this summer which have taken big Hollywood nosedives. This downturn in the drawing power of many A-List stars is starting to worry the movie studios, and as usual they’re blaming technology. Apparently the fact that someone can text, Twitter or email their friends and give a film a scathing review in real time is a bad thing. Of course, as Gawker points out, if the movies themselves were any good this wouldn’t be a problem. I just saw District 9 on the weekend and (like everyone else) who saw it, I’ve raved up and down about the action, effects, and great story. And there’s not a star to be found in that film (which was shot for $35 million, and delivers every cent.)

Then there’s the fact that the old saw about people “escaping through movies during tough times” just doesn’t hold water anymore. That may have been true in the Thirties or even the Seventies, when the alternatives were few and far between, but nowadays people can either play video games, watch Youtube, or find any other number of free alternatives on the internet. Sure, they may not be quite as shiny as Hollywood product, but they also don’t take away $15 from your wallet and steal two hours of your life away.

Hollywood insiders spill the beans to the Guardian.

All in a weird still picture tableau. Dunno what in the hell it’s saying, but whatever it is, it’s mighty cool.

Black Rain from Semiconductor on Vimeo.

Coronal mass ejections and solar wind make for a film reminiscent of something from the deepest depths of the NFB circa 1965.

With all three of the Three Who Rule firmly back in their respective command chairs, it was back to good old fashioned sniping, infighting and jocularity as Pedantor made battle with both his old nemesis Rubbishor and a new, more deadly enemy named Sarcastor. Somehow in the midst of this pantheon of perfidious poltroonery some discussion of Doctor Who came into play, but not by any means on purpose.

Direct download: rfs131.mp3

Not strictly Doctor Who this week, but a cool interview all the same. The local chapter of SIGGRAPH (a group of computer graphics geniuses) brought Industrial Light and Magic special effects legend Dennis Muren to Vancouver, and Warren was able to interview him. Apologies for the dodgy audio during Warren’s questions….the details are too boring to go into, but at any rate Muren’s thoughts on visual effects, art and the motion picture industry are the good stuff.