Category: Books & Writing

from Project London:

As the final touches of independent, feature-length effects marvel Project London are now underway, the film is quietly gaining attention among special effects experts and social networking communities all over the world. The virtually no-budget, live action movie features more than 650 vivid, intense visual effects and animations that help drive a compelling story about a boy battling with a moral dilemma in a present day sci-fi epic. Unique to the film’s production is the use of the open-source software, Blender, for the core of all animated visual effects in the film. As Jawbone.tv called it, Project London is likely one of the “most ambitious no-budget effects movie ever.”

“The entire concept of Project London is enough to make anyone excited, from science-fiction fans to software engineers, from movie buffs to post-production artists, and it has,” said Phil McCoy, Project London Executive Producer and founder of Spiral Productions LLC. “An undertaking like this film wouldn’t be possible without a storyteller like Director Ian Hubert, the support of many talented Blender artists, and the more than 250 worldwide volunteer artists and craft people who joined our team.”

Progress and new reveals of Project London are chronicled on the movie’s Web site at projectlondonmovie.com, where, today, the newest teaser clip has been released to the public. The clip introduces fans to the world of Project London and its two significant forces: the London Underground and the Joint Command. The song showcased in the new teaser clip, “Multiply,” is a brand new song by Half Acre Day. It will be featured in the film and available exclusively on the Project London soundtrack.

PROJECT LONDON SYNOPSIS
This is a story about Nebraska Higgins plunging into a world of intrigue and struggle when the Joint Command kills his father, a hero known by his exosuit, Arizona. Seeing a prime opportunity, the London Underground, a rugged band of revolutionaries, recruits Nebraska to join the resistance against the Joint Command. Will Nebraska, who is dealing with the loss of his father, help the government and rat out his father’s associates or join their cause and work to put an end to a secret initiative sponsored by the military wing of the government? Earth’s fate depends on the potential in this young man’s heart.

THE TRIUMVERATE
Project London is led by three entrepreneurs who are feverishly devoted to producing brilliant visual effects around a great story:

Director Ian Hubert
Hubert both wrote and directed Project London, coining the film’s notable tagline, “This movie will eat your planet.” Ian is now leading the post-production charge. While pre-production and production lasted just a few months, post-production with the 650 visual effects has taken nearly two years with help from volunteer artists and the Blender community.

“This massive undertaking would never have been possible without the incredible support of all the artists lending their skills and creativity to the project,” Hubert said. “I’ve been surrounded by so many talented people, and each one brought their own piece of life and creativity to the film. It’s a really organic process. It’s great seeing all of these pieces come together from so many different avenues. We’ve thrown everything we have into making this a really fun movie experience, and I can’t wait to be able to watch the finished product with everyone.”

Hubert first started making films in the fourth grade when he adopted an old Japanese camcorder and started playing with CG effects and movies. By the time he reached high school, he was making a feature-length film each year.

Executive Producers, The McCoy Brothers
The McCoy Brothers, Phil and Nathan, teamed up to produce Project London, as their unique skills and passions created a solid working foundation for the film. Nathan finally has a vehicle to let his inner sci-fi geek take complete control. Outside of his day job, he tapped into his thousands of hours watching sci-fi masterpieces by acting as location manager and volunteer staff recruiter during the production phase of Project London. Before founding Spiral Productions LLC to produce Project London, Phil joined the world of showbiz as an ambitious young entertainer by producing a number of neighborhood magic shows before honing his skills as a broadcast producer writing, producing and directing radio and TV commercials and industrial films, earning several industry accolades along the way.

THE RESISTANCE
While details of anticipated Hollywood films are generally kept quiet then strategically leaked by direction of expensive marketing firms and focus group surveys, producers of Project London are taking a more sensible, yet bold approach to promoting the film.

“We want to share the build up of the movie’s release with the fans of Project London and, in turn, let them share their experiences with their friends and so on,” Phil McCoy said. “In fact, we are working on a program that will reward the fans that help spread the word through articles, blogs, etc. by giving them a film credit. It’s a way to involve the people who want to be involved with the film.”

Upon its release, The McCoy Brothers are planning to release the film on iTunes and Netflix, and sell Blu-ray and DVD disks directly from the official movie Web site, projectlondonmovie.com, along with other merchandise and exclusive packages aimed at filmmakers and film lovers. Spiral Productions LLC has also just given creative license to artist Branson Anderson to create a graphic novel based on Hubert’s script of Project London. This will also be available through the Web site.

“I’m totally pumped to see this thing come together!” Hubert exclaimed about Anderson’s novel. “Everything I’ve seen so far has just been brilliant. Branson’s a master of subtlety, but also knows when to bring out the big guns — this is going to be an incredible piece of art, able to stand on its own as an exemplary piece of work in the medium.”