Remember the days when describing a film as looking like a video game was a negative thing? Well, Jerry O'Flaherty is about to change that forever. O'Flaherty rose to fame directing the cinematics and handling art direction on the hit video game Gears of War and he's now using that experience on his feature film debut Samurai - a film that is being shot 300 style with the backgrounds generated by the Unreal video game engine. Yes, you read that right. Instead of Hollywood using video games as source material for shoddy remakes they are now using video games to create original films. Here's the full story:
So, salient points here. What you're about to see is not finalized but is a video shot quick and cheap - I'm told for under a thousand dollars - simply to prove it can be done. Can it? Hell yes. This looks far, far better that scores of trailers I've seen created for far, far more money. Check it below.This proof of concept trailer was created by Jerry O'Flaherty, the Gears of War art director. We're developing a samurai vs ninja action movie in a 300 style using the Unreal 3 game engine to render the props and environments. This was a no-budget piece shot in two days with a volunteer cast of five people against a white background. The background plates were created in Unreal with the intent of sharing all of the environment assets (rendered at higher res for the film) between the movie and the game. The project is being produced by Blacklight Transmedia and State Street Pictures.
Go game designers, go! It's about time!
Gamemakers making movies ? Why not. Many games (Final Fantasy, Halo, GoW, Mass Effect...), have some really great dramatic and story moments. Many times they even feel like movies. But this video, this...this looks really bad.
Yeah... no. I have nothing against this concept in theory, but there's just so much wrong with it in practice - the current Unreal tech is capable of some nice results, but it's not even close to high-end CG and the shaders it uses have a very specific look to them. Any gamer knows an Unreal title, for the most part, much as you could spot just about anything using iD's technology when they were still top of the heap. This looks exactly like what it says on the tin, and not in a good way. It's a nifty accomplishment from a logistical point of view, but there's nothing else impressive or distinctive about it at all.
Oh, and no Final Fantasy has any storytelling worth the name, other than the Tactics spinoffs and XII. (Very few videogames have writing or storytelling worth the name, really.) Good direction and good storytelling are not the same thing. Anyway, I'll take my gamer hat off now. :P
At least it's not the Gears of War writer...
Dude should ease on the camera wobbling. It doesn't look hand held, it looks like it was filmed on a boat.
apparently they couldnt be bothered to get real martial artists or stunt players to play the main characters. wtf?
Looks nice. Basically like something from Kiriya Kazuaki though not as over the top.
While I'm happy he is giving the big screen a shot, I found the video underwhelming. Calling this "a film that is being shot 300 style" is an understatement.I didn't see much originality. And sadly, I found the white faces a little jarring, just as I would if an asian face played king Leonidas. Unreal's engine looks nice though, when compared to most CGI these days.
Looks (and is) awful.
I mean, it looks polished and is a great proof of concept for no-budget filmmakers who have a story to tell and access to a green screen. As for the movie itself, I mean, it's just a pitch. There isn't much of a story there but I'd watch it, especially if it was DTV/VOD.
Look, on the one hand I'll concede I was snappy, and that most people probably couldn't tell the same technology is behind Gears of War and Mirror's Edge. On the other hand, I'm sorry, deadmans, I'm not doubting you, I simply don't care what level of expertise went into this, I only care what comes out, and I don't care if this teaser is not what ends up in cinemas or VOD or whatever. I understand that much. But a proof of concept is meant to impress. To convince people to give you money. Nothing in this strikes me as artistically impressive in any way whatsoever, and if I were a moneyman, if anyone approached me with it trying to get me to stump up some backing, the only reason I would possibly say yes is because I thought it'd have the Friday night, get-the-beers-in crowd shelling out to watch it who couldn't care less what it looks like as long as it's got ninja in, whoooooooo, ass gets whupped, etc., etc. Not because it looked good. I don't think it does. In any sense.
I'm not entirely surprised, because I don't think Epic have ever had particularly memorable art direction, let alone for Gears of War. I enjoy the games, and I've been a fan of theirs since Jazz Jackrabbit, but Christ, I'd never particularly want to frame their concept pieces and hang them on my wall or anything. I still think even with higher resolution assets they're going to struggle to get Unreal tech to crank out anything really technologically impressive. Maybe I'm wrong on that point, but on the strength of that teaser I have trouble believing I'll care either way.