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'Monsters of the Id'
Overview
The idea is to make a feature film as easily as possible. I don't want to spend lots of time learning software, instead I wish to get my story made, and that is the point - to use modern technology to help me as a film maker, realise things I could not do any other way. Today technology is making it more possible for many people to realise the dream of making a feature film. But it is still difficult to make something this long.
Many people do something different (nothing wrong with that) such as make a short animation to demonstrate their Computer Graphics (CGI) skills. That is not my purpose. Mine is to make a low budget feature film essentially on my own and CGI happens to be the medium I'm using. I am not worried about setting new standards of imagery or animation, rather putting all of my hard work into making something that can be called a Feature Film.
This is a second feature length (over 70 minutes) computer generated CGI movie of mine. Started late 2003 (first ideas June 1st 2003) and expected to take a while to complete. Made using Poser, Bryce and much of the same software used for 'The War of the Starfighters' my first movie. The plan is to have bespoke and/or copyright free music and some famous names for the voices. This will be for an older age group than 'Starfighters'. Some figures from Daz3D.
The title is based on the line 'monsters from the Id' in the film 'Forbidden Planet'. In that film they were attacked by a creature from someone's subconscious mind. In my film the monsters materialise as nightmares. The monsters in my title also refer to objects as well as creatures.
Expected to take a couple of years to make, this one I plan to get a British Board of Film Classification rating (costing around £1,000) and to replicate a few copies and other stuff (£2,000) and then hope to sell a few. That will be the tricky bit. If I cannot find a distributor or someone to release it then I will distribute it myself through magazines or online.
Laurie Calvert and his PC in 2004
So do you want to make one?
Not a bad idea but start off making short movies first to get a feel for it. Then you can tell how long a 70 minute (length the American Film Institute classify as being feature length) film is going to take you. Make sure you have the commitment, energy and liking for the project. Incidentally my first computer generated (CGI) feature 'The War of the Starfighters' was 76 minutes compared to say 'Toy Story' that was 77 minutes (with longer titles) to give you an idea. 'The War of the Starfighters' was not made to sell and is therefore not classifed as professional in that respect but is professional in all other ways. Instead it was made for my children as a gift from me. A most special reason to make a film. Thankfully they like it. More information at www.calvertfilm.fsnet.co.uk
Now you need to buy a computer. These days in 2004 a normal PC is fast enough for my sort of movie. Just a capture card (different to a video card) and some DVD equipment is needed on top. Plus the software. Expect to take a little time to learn this. For characters I use Poser 4. A very user friendly package. It has a few quirks but is not too expensive and some of the lower versions you can try out for free on mags. In fact that goes for many software items, so try it out first that way. For backgrounds and objects I use Bryce 3D but there are other landscape generators. I also use an old titling package called Asymetrix 3DFX as it has some simple machine models on it. For editing I use Adobe Premiere, PhotoShop for some effects, and Sound Forge for sound manipulation when needed. I can make my own music using E-Jay as on 'The War of the Starfighters' but for 'Id' I opted to ask AKM Music to supply some of that (see 'links'). DVD Workshop provides the DVD authoring tool. Companies such as APR in the UK can replicate professional DVDs. Other places such as Daz3D in the USA sell CGI models (see 'links'). I won't list the products and companies here as things change, so best for you to do some Internet searching for the latest in your country.
For voices I am lucky to bump into actors at conventions, and in my line of work. If you ask them nicely many will try to help you.
Other inspirations
Check out other styles of CGI. For example the first professionally released UK CGI feature came just a few months behind 'The War of the Starfighters' (Mar '03), and it was called 'Dominator' (Oct '03). It was finished after Cannes in about May '03. In fact the CGI is very similar to 'The War of the Starfighters' and Tony Luke the director therefore inspired me to make a CGI film to sell - 'Monsters of the Id' (MOTI). I didn't want to sell 'The War of the Starfighters' and taint the reason for making it for my kids and family. So I had to make another movie, this movie MOTI. Check out 'Dominator' if you can. Distributed through Salvation Films.
I also like many other CGI animation films such as 'Toy Story 1&2', 'Shrek', and on TV series such as the delightful 'Max Steel', ground breaking 'Reboot' and exciting 'Shadow Raiders'. Plus for conventional animation see the mighty film 'The Lion King' and especially the touching movie 'The Iron Giant'.
Also some big DVD stores sell some interesting Japanese CGI such as 'Virtual Stars' and 'Alice'. Sometimes these are for the more adult audience but from a technical point of view they are simplistic or (I prefer to use the word) stylised. This gives us storytellers encouragement to get on and make something rather than trying to impossibly compete with the mighty technical talent of ILM or Pixar. The American CGI is what most of us are used to seeing but it doesn't have to be this style. Remember character and stories, emotion and morals/ideas should be most important, so you can still make a great movie in a stylised way. Storytelling is the business we are in.
Star Wars is my greatest inspiration.
Comparisons
So I am one man, one PC working for about 3 years. Stylised CGI. My first film 'The War of the Starfighters' will be similar in statistics to 'Monsters of the Id'. It cost about £3000, and was 1,350 shots long, 2,500 hours work, on average over 2 hours work a day saw 4 seconds of finished movie per day.
This is how it compares to other more visually complex CGIs. 'Captain Scarlet' TV CGI series cost £23 million, 140 computers, 280 people, 2 years to make. 'Toy Story' cost $30 million and used 110 animators. 'Shrek' used 500 computers, used 300 animators, took 4 years to make 1000 shots. A good CGI animator can make 4 seconds of finished footage a week. Not sure what we can make of all that but it is interesting.
Snobbery
On another note, boy have I encountered some snobbery over recent times. One corporate music company representative told me that AKM music was rubbish and that their music is much better. They are entitled to their opinion but the fact that they knew I used AKM also means they are calling my judgement rubbish. So that didn't go down well with me. Plus I think AKM's is every bit as good as their music but much more inexpensive to boot. I won't name the company here. Other people would say that corporate music is rubbish and only music written for a production is best. I have heard that said too. But I've heard music on two of my mates films that have been decidedly plain and lacking in production values when made that way. At the end of the day what sounds best is best. Often bespoke music does work best but editors can work wonders with music that is already composed too. Another example of snobbery is people rubbishing certain CGI as a simple form of animation. Perhaps they only rate photo-realistic CGI. Or they just prefer live action. Some people think making a CG film like this with ready-made characters is 'easy', so why aren't there loads of one-man CG features? Again they are entitled to their opinion but when said to me, it makes me think they might be jealous of the achievements I have made - my nine year old son made that observation. Anyway, story and others elements are more important than visual style. At the end of the day I prefer it if like minded people talked to me and the others butted out. Life's to short to hear what people don't like. Nevertheless when 'Id' goes public I'll have to suffer all of this in forums and the like. Cricky, it even happens to George Lucas! Who'd be a film maker eh? Ignore the knockers I say.
To sum up
So that gives you a quick taster, so now you can make one! It is easy. Ok so it can't be that easy, or there would be loads of home made CGI features but a few teams of people are making them, so it is possible. Why not fulfill a dream?
May the force be with you.
Laurie Calvert
2004
People told me 'it could not be done', so I went and did it. Laurie Calvert