With the power put into everyone’s hands by the growth of computer capabilities on an almost daily basis, people who want to create their own movies are starting to have a lot of the same tools as the major studios. What this means for folks who have a vision of the film they want to create is they have to approach the studios in a whole new way. Where it used to be good enough to go in with a verbal pitch for your film (This is like The Birds meets Jaws, and everyone is running for their lives), that doesn’t cut it any more. Now you have to prove you have the story telling chops and a tale worth financing by creating your own little preview, more than a trailer but less than a feature film. One of the best examples I have seen of this recently is Controller, about a girl who wants to escape from the corporation who controls her. To do so, she remotely takes control of her boy friend and forces him to wipe out anyone who would stand in the way of her freedom.
It was good enough that Fox is putting up the money to actually make the piece, so we can hope to see the extended story soon. I don’t know how long ago this trend started, but I first became aware of it when the first 6 minutes of Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow was created in just under a decade, and the results shown to a movie company that decided to finance its completion. This is definitely a great way for people to spend minimum money to create something that might get them to realize their dream; thanks to The Dissolve for the heads up on this project!
CONTROLLER (控制者) from Saman Kesh on Vimeo.
