AVP:Redemption
June 11, 2010 5:24 PM Subscribe
Yeah, that was painfully dull/slow. I shut it off just past the halfway mark.
Amount spent on story: $0.
Amount spent on everything else: Everything they saved on developing the story.
I see Hollywood in Alex's future!
posted by dobbs at 5:51 PM on June 11, 2010
Amount spent on story: $0.
Amount spent on everything else: Everything they saved on developing the story.
I see Hollywood in Alex's future!
posted by dobbs at 5:51 PM on June 11, 2010
I thought it was pretty cool, nicely done for only $500. Lack of story? It was AVP. The story is Predators hunt, among things they hunt are Aliens and Humans. What do you want, a moving story about him reconciling with his estranged mother?
posted by MrBobaFett at 5:57 PM on June 11, 2010
posted by MrBobaFett at 5:57 PM on June 11, 2010
Yeah I guess when you pay everybody jack shit and try to do everything else yourself, after two fucking years this is pretty much what you end up with.
posted by phaedon at 6:01 PM on June 11, 2010
posted by phaedon at 6:01 PM on June 11, 2010
It's pretty telling that the guys inspiration was Batman Dead End.
posted by Artw at 6:22 PM on June 11, 2010
posted by Artw at 6:22 PM on June 11, 2010
Batman Dead End, for reference's sake.
(pretty low rez...)
posted by Trochanter at 6:42 PM on June 11, 2010
(pretty low rez...)
posted by Trochanter at 6:42 PM on June 11, 2010
Wait, are you kidding me? That was fucking awesome! Dude kicked an alien!
I loved it.
posted by abc123xyzinfinity at 6:58 PM on June 11, 2010
I loved it.
posted by abc123xyzinfinity at 6:58 PM on June 11, 2010
That chestburster bursted mighty quickly. It must have been casually gnawing away at the sternum that whole time.
posted by Brainy at 7:21 PM on June 11, 2010 [2 favorites]
posted by Brainy at 7:21 PM on June 11, 2010 [2 favorites]
I skipped to the end because I'm running out. yeah, it's cgi'd and the aliens look too smooth, but the animation is decent (check out the alien rearing up at 19:30 or so), the compositing is surprisingly well done. From the comments, I was expecting something awkward but this...this is good. Especially for a one man show.
posted by Brainy at 7:29 PM on June 11, 2010
posted by Brainy at 7:29 PM on June 11, 2010
Better than either of the two films put out by the major studios.
posted by P.o.B. at 7:34 PM on June 11, 2010
posted by P.o.B. at 7:34 PM on June 11, 2010
Alex Popov's middle initial should be V.
Just saying.
posted by oneswellfoop at 7:55 PM on June 11, 2010 [1 favorite]
Just saying.
posted by oneswellfoop at 7:55 PM on June 11, 2010 [1 favorite]
Obligatory link to A.L.P. (with special guest star: the guy who drives the Cash Cab)
posted by oneswellfoop at 7:59 PM on June 11, 2010 [1 favorite]
posted by oneswellfoop at 7:59 PM on June 11, 2010 [1 favorite]
Wait, I watched the whole thing and I'm still not entirely clear on what the Predator was redeeming himself from. Turning up on a derelict space ship uninvited and killing a bunch of aliens? If that's wrong, then I don't want to be right.
(Waiting for the novelization to reveal that he was actually estranged from his Predadad after an argument in his early 20s about going to Explosion Technical College or Shoot/Slice Things State. This one's for you, Dad, thought Yawgmoo'kth as he entered his explosion code. He somehow knew that somewhere out there, his Dad was grimacing in four directions — the traditional smile of the Gar'gox tribe. The Queen alien hissed in fury at the successful restoration of male emotional bonds, which mocked her symbolic feminine authority, but it was too late. "Would you pipe down? You're driving me bomb-kers!" quipped Yawgmoo'kth as he exploded.)
posted by No-sword at 8:46 PM on June 11, 2010 [2 favorites]
(Waiting for the novelization to reveal that he was actually estranged from his Predadad after an argument in his early 20s about going to Explosion Technical College or Shoot/Slice Things State. This one's for you, Dad, thought Yawgmoo'kth as he entered his explosion code. He somehow knew that somewhere out there, his Dad was grimacing in four directions — the traditional smile of the Gar'gox tribe. The Queen alien hissed in fury at the successful restoration of male emotional bonds, which mocked her symbolic feminine authority, but it was too late. "Would you pipe down? You're driving me bomb-kers!" quipped Yawgmoo'kth as he exploded.)
posted by No-sword at 8:46 PM on June 11, 2010 [2 favorites]
Probably something to do with using a plasma-caster when a speargun or death frisbee thing would have done - Predators are big on weapons-choice related fuax-pas, so pick the wrong one and you'll be sent off alone in a spaceship to sadly laser skulls by yourself. That, or allowing the whole Predalien situation to occur - Predators HATE those. Matter of fact, I kind of hate those too, so on this myself and Predator (or more properly "Yautja") culture are in agreement.
posted by Artw at 9:10 PM on June 11, 2010 [1 favorite]
posted by Artw at 9:10 PM on June 11, 2010 [1 favorite]
Also: The film has aliens showing up on IR, when everyone knows you have to use the Electrovision setting on your Predator mask to see them.
posted by Artw at 9:14 PM on June 11, 2010
posted by Artw at 9:14 PM on June 11, 2010
a fan made Aliens vs Predator short
Does what it says on wrapper.
posted by humannaire at 9:33 PM on June 11, 2010
Does what it says on wrapper.
posted by humannaire at 9:33 PM on June 11, 2010
I love how the Alien uses a truck clutch pressure plate for a shield at 17:28.
posted by falcon at 11:05 PM on June 11, 2010
posted by falcon at 11:05 PM on June 11, 2010
Beg your pardon: the Predator. I know more about truck clutch pressure plates than I know about aliens and predators. And I know nothing about truck clutch pressure plates.
posted by falcon at 11:09 PM on June 11, 2010
posted by falcon at 11:09 PM on June 11, 2010
Much better than I expected based on the comments. Also, the aliens must floss very diligently.
posted by Dr Dracator at 11:35 PM on June 11, 2010 [1 favorite]
posted by Dr Dracator at 11:35 PM on June 11, 2010 [1 favorite]
Wow, this is one tough audience. One guy did all that? Outstanding talent. Kudos to his skill and insane dedication. You want to stand there and tell us that Uncle George™ had more story development in his Jar-Jar Jedi Jackoff prequel poop? You think George could ever do 1/100 of what Popov has pulled off, all on his own? Not in a trillion years, with a trillion monkeys, and the state of California bending over and handing you prime San Fran waterfront real estate in exchange for a broken promise and a lukewarm lunch at The Ranch™.
MeFi: Where's the story?
posted by dbiedny at 5:42 AM on June 12, 2010 [1 favorite]
MeFi: Where's the story?
posted by dbiedny at 5:42 AM on June 12, 2010 [1 favorite]
Well, George's career has been all about quality declining as resources available increase, so...
/end snark
I know what you are saying, and it is kind of impressive that one guy has been able to put this elaborate together, but my gosh is it derivative, as was Dead End TBH, but at least that had a certain suprise factor on it's side - this has nothing we wouldn't see in a videogame cutscene made at some point in the last 15 years.
I dunno, that's probably OTT critisism, and we really are breaking a butterfly on the wheel here.
...but it has a Matrix slow-down kick shot, gah!
posted by Artw at 6:05 AM on June 12, 2010
/end snark
I know what you are saying, and it is kind of impressive that one guy has been able to put this elaborate together, but my gosh is it derivative, as was Dead End TBH, but at least that had a certain suprise factor on it's side - this has nothing we wouldn't see in a videogame cutscene made at some point in the last 15 years.
I dunno, that's probably OTT critisism, and we really are breaking a butterfly on the wheel here.
...but it has a Matrix slow-down kick shot, gah!
posted by Artw at 6:05 AM on June 12, 2010
You guys really have to get past the reflexive snark. This short is not going to change the world, but the special effects were about as good as in this movie, and for somewhat less than a hundredth of a percent of the budget. In high school I was on the periphery of a group of AV/sci-fi geeks; they used to do short films on shoestring budgets and any one of them would have had a spontaneous aneurysm to know that twenty-five years later people could do things like this on a home computer.
In the nineteenth century, there was really no such thing as recorded music: if you wanted music at a party, you gathered round the piano. Nowadays someone on his own with a four-track recorder can produce a quality of music that would have flabbergasted your great-great-grandparents but leaves you bored. Fifty years ago state-of-the-art science-fiction films looked like this and this. Now one guy on his own can produce something far more impressive and people yawn. Heaven help you all when when VR reaches the point that when you can pop in a disc and have an erotic frolic with Brad Pitt or Angelina Jolie or both and you don't have to deal with your actual spouse with the cellulite and the back hair.
In any event, this thing gets +10 points for having an explosion is space in silence.
posted by ricochet biscuit at 7:36 AM on June 12, 2010 [2 favorites]
In the nineteenth century, there was really no such thing as recorded music: if you wanted music at a party, you gathered round the piano. Nowadays someone on his own with a four-track recorder can produce a quality of music that would have flabbergasted your great-great-grandparents but leaves you bored. Fifty years ago state-of-the-art science-fiction films looked like this and this. Now one guy on his own can produce something far more impressive and people yawn. Heaven help you all when when VR reaches the point that when you can pop in a disc and have an erotic frolic with Brad Pitt or Angelina Jolie or both and you don't have to deal with your actual spouse with the cellulite and the back hair.
In any event, this thing gets +10 points for having an explosion is space in silence.
posted by ricochet biscuit at 7:36 AM on June 12, 2010 [2 favorites]
I think we live in a neat little eddy of time. One where the powers that be have not figured out how to lock down their software effectively, meaning that any joe who can find the pirate bay can have access to most of the great tools of movie making.
So what do these tools allow a non-funded, aspiring film maker to demonstrate? Not use of the tools, but the ability to speak movie speak.
I always bore my friends by talking about The Beastie Boys video for "Sabotage" as a demonstration that you can make an energetic, kinetic, super fun film for not much money. And I suppose the most famous example is "el Mariachi."
This guy does all the peripheral stuff acceptably, but it's a pretty static movie.
Probably his biggest limitation was the small green screen facility he had. So I guess I should cut him some slack for that, but he should have seen it himself.
posted by Trochanter at 7:38 AM on June 12, 2010 [1 favorite]
So what do these tools allow a non-funded, aspiring film maker to demonstrate? Not use of the tools, but the ability to speak movie speak.
I always bore my friends by talking about The Beastie Boys video for "Sabotage" as a demonstration that you can make an energetic, kinetic, super fun film for not much money. And I suppose the most famous example is "el Mariachi."
This guy does all the peripheral stuff acceptably, but it's a pretty static movie.
Probably his biggest limitation was the small green screen facility he had. So I guess I should cut him some slack for that, but he should have seen it himself.
posted by Trochanter at 7:38 AM on June 12, 2010 [1 favorite]
The guy made this for $500 because that's what he had. His lack of storytelling skill is not due to his lack of funds. Give him $50 million and he'll make the same thing again, only longer and more professional looking. (And yes, I believe Alex will have an opportunity to prove me right.)
Were I in film school with a young Michael Bay and he made a $500 movie I wouldn't praise him for making a low budget movie, I'd criticize him for making a Michael Bay Movie.
Alex's desire to make this movie and his "talent" for doing so is a microcosm for the state of Hollywood storytelling.
You want to stand there and tell us that Uncle George
The fact that you cite Lucas as the go-to speaks volumes. There's a direct line from Lucas to this short. Unfortunately the line is a circle: Ouroboros.
posted by dobbs at 11:05 AM on June 12, 2010
Were I in film school with a young Michael Bay and he made a $500 movie I wouldn't praise him for making a low budget movie, I'd criticize him for making a Michael Bay Movie.
Alex's desire to make this movie and his "talent" for doing so is a microcosm for the state of Hollywood storytelling.
You want to stand there and tell us that Uncle George
The fact that you cite Lucas as the go-to speaks volumes. There's a direct line from Lucas to this short. Unfortunately the line is a circle: Ouroboros.
posted by dobbs at 11:05 AM on June 12, 2010
Man, I hate to be That Guy, the one who always says this shit, but this one time I feel it's really, really appropriate: Please show me your $500 movie that's as good or better. Now don't get me wrong:
Is this film derivative? Um, yeah. It's Alien Vs. Predator.
Does it have a great story? No. No, it does not. Please see above.
Does it have an adequate story? If you are interested in seeing Aliens fight Predator, yes.
Is it very well-made? I would say that it is. I would say that its Hollywood equivalent would cost a good twenty million dollars, and would have people nailed to their chairs. I would say that despite some scattered weak CGI moments (the first appearance of the Queen is hurt not because of the Queen itself but because of the obvious CGI background she's against; some of the close-ups on the unmasked Predators look extremely cartoonish), this is a great, basically silent action movie that succeeds absolutely in what it is trying to do, which is be exactly that. If that's not a lofty goal, then okay. Fair enough. But he definitely achieved it.
posted by kittens for breakfast at 12:22 PM on June 12, 2010
Is this film derivative? Um, yeah. It's Alien Vs. Predator.
Does it have a great story? No. No, it does not. Please see above.
Does it have an adequate story? If you are interested in seeing Aliens fight Predator, yes.
Is it very well-made? I would say that it is. I would say that its Hollywood equivalent would cost a good twenty million dollars, and would have people nailed to their chairs. I would say that despite some scattered weak CGI moments (the first appearance of the Queen is hurt not because of the Queen itself but because of the obvious CGI background she's against; some of the close-ups on the unmasked Predators look extremely cartoonish), this is a great, basically silent action movie that succeeds absolutely in what it is trying to do, which is be exactly that. If that's not a lofty goal, then okay. Fair enough. But he definitely achieved it.
posted by kittens for breakfast at 12:22 PM on June 12, 2010
I saw an alien fight a bunch of predators. A damn stupid predator, who kept turning off his cloaking device for no reason, cut through walls instead of using the door and wouldn't shut the hell up during his entire hunt.
I don't know why he is there, I kept wondering where the human follow up mission was, supposedly 40 hours away? Or why this predator had an altar of nothing but human skulls, you would think that there would be a few more species represented.-at least aliens.
I think the author has a good grasp of sfx and decent fight choreography but no grasp of narrative or cohesiveness. which is sad because he was halfway to making something good for more than to pad his protfolio for sfx jobs.
posted by psycho-alchemy at 3:52 PM on June 12, 2010
I don't know why he is there, I kept wondering where the human follow up mission was, supposedly 40 hours away? Or why this predator had an altar of nothing but human skulls, you would think that there would be a few more species represented.-at least aliens.
I think the author has a good grasp of sfx and decent fight choreography but no grasp of narrative or cohesiveness. which is sad because he was halfway to making something good for more than to pad his protfolio for sfx jobs.
posted by psycho-alchemy at 3:52 PM on June 12, 2010
If I was hunting aliens on another alien's ship, I would go slow and careful. If I was making a movie about predators hunting aliens, I'd pick up the pace a bit
posted by Redhush at 5:08 PM on June 12, 2010
posted by Redhush at 5:08 PM on June 12, 2010
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posted by Trochanter at 5:43 PM on June 11, 2010