Project London is a small, independent, live-action film with big ambitions. It’s been in development over the course of about 5 years, on basically no budget at all, but it has some really incredible visual effects. This is the catch: all the special effects were created with open-source software (Blender) and over 250 volunteers worldwide. Blender is completely free to download, and has a large community of users who support it over other “industry standard” programs like Maya (which, by comparison, retails for about $3,500). In the right hands, Blender can be used to create imagery that you’d expect from a multi-million-dollar Hollywood blockbuster. Project London proves this point handily. It’s an awesome collaborative effort, and I think the film is worth watching just to see how much can be done with so little.

I got involved with Project London through my friend, Nathan Vegdahl. He has lived and breathed computer graphics ever since I met him in high school. (He actually taught me how to use Blender, and for several years, I fell deeply in love with trying to create my own sci-fi worlds.) Nathan’s been an avid supporter of Blender too, having worked on two of Blender Foundation’s Open Movie Projects, Big Buck Bunny and Sintel. So it was through him that I got to know the director for Project London, Ian Hubert, here in Seattle a few years ago.

I remember on one warm summer night, we all got together in his backyard with a projector and a big screen, and had a big show-and-tell with all of our various film projects that we made during high school. And I learned that Ian is very wild and free with his ideas. In high school, you probably aren’t allowed to use prop guns for that awesome shootout scene you wanted. So what does Ian do in this situation? He gives his characters special powers: By pantomiming guns with their hands, they discover they are able to shoot real bullets — with muzzle flashes and all of the bloody aftermath. I thought it was awesome. I would say there is always a loose playfulness to Ian’s work. It comes through in Project London as well, and I think it helps keep it from turning into a really long VFX reel.

Aside from all the worldwide volunteers, there are plenty of local actors and actresses from Seattle involved in the project, too. I’ve actually worked with three of them before — Wayne Bastrup, Michael Donovan and John Fantasia — all on the same project! They’re a fun bunch of people, and it’s cool to see them helping out on something this wide-reaching. More and more, people are comparing small films to very big, expensive films, and they want them to be just as good. If Project London is any indicator, I think Blender will grow to become an invaluable tool for young filmmakers. If you’ve got a science-fiction epic that’s been dancing around inside your head forever, you could actually make it happen!

Anyway, I feel very fortunate that I was given the opportunity to edit together a trailer for Project London. I’ve wanted to share it with people for almost an entire year, and it’s been hard to just keep waiting. I can imagine that feeling is magnified for most everyone else, since they’ve had to wait even longer! I hope this trailer excites you, not just about what is possible with open-source software, but also about what is possible when a bunch of people from all around the world collaborate and work together — all in the name of creativity and fun.

And of course, I hope you all like the music! ;-) Check it out!

Project London’s Official Website: http://projectlondonmovie.com/
Fundraising Campaign: http://www.indiegogo.com/Project-London

 

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