Fanimatrix - Tilted Forum Project Discussion Community

ARRH · 10-01-2003, 10:55 PM

Check this out!

"The Fanimatrix - Run Program" is a collaboration between over a dozen professional actors, stuntpeople, special effects artists as well as an amateur filmmaking crew (all based in New Zealand) who set out to accomplish four primary goals:

a. Do something constructive with our spare time (boredom is a killer y'know...)
b. Create a short film that the general audience would actually WANT to see
c. Celebrate our mutual love for one of the finest film sagas put on our screens for over a decade - "The Matrix".
d. Provide an opportunity for everyone involved to practice and hone their filmmaking skills and respective talents.

"The Fanimatrix" is a fan-made, zero-budget short film set within the Matrix universe, specifically shortly before the discovery of "The One" (i.e. the first "Matrix" feature film). It tells the story of two rebels - Dante and Medusa - and of their fateful mission onto the virtual reality prison world that is The Matrix.

The film was shot on the Sony Mini-Digital Video format and edited on a PC editing suite utilizing Adobe Premiere, After FX and AlamDV Special FX. The entire production was completed over nine nights, ranging from six to over fifteen hour shoots, not including rehearsal and blocking-tape-shooting sessions. Most of the props, sets and lighting equipment was borrowed and locations were either hired or shot guerilla style. Although the film was a "zero budget" production, the final cost of the movie (combining personal expenses of cast and crew such as investment into costumes, transport costs, food etc) has reached upto approximately $1000 NZ (or $400-$600 US). The movie was shot entirely within Auckland City, New Zealand (our home).

Homepage: http://www.fanimatrix.net

<a href="http://www.flapdoodle.org/fanimatrix/The-Fanimatrix-(MPEG).mpg">Normal Quality mpeg : 170 meg</a>

<a href="http://www.flapdoodle.org/fanimatrix/The-Fanimatrix-(DivX-5.1-LQ).avi">Low Quality DivX 5.1 : 73 meg</a>

<a href="http://www.flapdoodle.org/fanimatrix/The-Fanimatrix-(DivX-5.1-HQ).avi">High Quality DivX 5. 1 : 135 meg</a>

Ganguro · 10-02-2003, 04:25 AM

interesting, im downloading it now, will be back with reviews.
Some friends and I were considering doing this in college for our senior project, but couldnt get the funding, planning and execution done in a semester. Hope this is good!

Cynthetiq · 10-02-2003, 08:32 AM

interesting.... not too shabby... but not much in the special effects dept...

Lasereth · 10-02-2003, 12:45 PM

The special effects were GREAT considering it had no budget. I've did a small bit of filming myself, and it's damn hard to make anything look good without good equipment. These guys had equipment, and it looks considerably better than average for fan-based movies.

My only complaint is its similarities to Matrix and Matrix Reloaded. Do not use the same soundtrack, producers! It makes the film feel like a rip-off. Hell, 60% or more of the fight moves and sequences were copied directly from the first Matrix. Sadly enough, I've seen it enough times to recognize every damn move. I cringed when Medusa copied the style and very technique of Trinity, and it was painfully obvious that Dante was using Neo's exact moves. I understand that their roles are basically the same, but they should be creative. The directors and producers of this movie obviously know what they're doing; I wish they could have made their own fights scenes.

Besides its direct rip-off of the Matrix series, this is much, much better than I expected. I may actually watch it again! Good job to all that helped in this part of it, I congratulate you. Keep up the good work, but I suggest trying to stray away from the direct Matrix similarities.

-Lasereth

Mr.Deflok · 10-02-2003, 02:29 PM

I'll have to download this later tonight, me being a New Zealander makes me feel obliged to (without any Patrioticness).

Solitude · 10-04-2003, 12:45 PM

The good:
Overall professoinal production. Watching it left me wanting more. I'll certainly watch it a few more times and show friends who like The Matrix.

The bad:
I just wish they had worked a bit more on the story. For all the time that was put into this, there didn't seem to be much of a reason for why they were doing whatever it was they were doing. What info were they looking for?

The ugly:
While some of the fight scenes were right on the money, others were pretty poor. The look and lighting was there, but certain moves looked like slow dancing instead of fighting.

Overall, I recommend watching it. It really shows that all you need to make movies, is desire and time.

agentsmith · 10-04-2003, 03:21 PM

hmm, definitely need to check this out

CSflim · 10-05-2003, 10:38 AM

Brilliant! Top notch production.

I would however, agree with Solitude that it would have benifited hugely from a better back story...obviously a huge amount of work has gone into this...why couldn't they have come up with a better script?

Special effects were brilliant for a no-budget film. (Better than much of the crap that manages to get on t.v. and these shows are far from "no-budget"!)
I particularly loved the "bullet-time" jump Dante made against the agent...very authentic.
One thing that bothered me though, was the lack of bullet impacts against walls and the like...most notably when the agent was chasing Dante through the car park.
But I guess their budget/expertise didn't stretch to pyrotechnics!
Definately captured the look and feel of The Matrix...but I agree that some of the fighting moves were a little too similar to ones we've previosuly seen.

From the website it seems that there may be a sequel. Will definately check thatout too!

PulpMind · 10-05-2003, 07:58 PM

wow, I'm rather impressed...
having been done on a US$500 budget, you all did a great job (far better than many small films with much larger budgets)
the sound engineer in me found the audio mixing to be done rather well (though I can't realy say from my 1cm laptop speakers)...
the cinemetography was great! very professional feeling, nice sequences, pans, cuts, whatever..
the action was well done, and the special effects very impressive..
yah, the plot needed some more depth to it... but it was a real fun movie, and highly enjoyable for that =)
the girls in the club were the mad hottness. reason #1393424 I want to go to New Zealand.
I think it's unfair of people to say that the characters were ripping of the original.. everyone in the matrix movies all acts the same anyway =P

very good... you guys have a great film making future ahead I think =)

Tell us what the Wachowski (sp?) brothers say if/when they contact you!

Lasereth · 10-05-2003, 09:11 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by PulpMind
I think it's unfair of people to say that the characters were ripping of the original.. everyone in the matrix movies all acts the same anyway =P

There's a difference between acting the same way and actually choreographing the exact same moves. Sure, they all use martial arts and special weapons training to fight, and that's ok. But when the characters in the Fanimatrix are doing the exact same moves down to the ending sequences in a fight scene, it's not good. That may even be slightly against the law. Take a look when Medusa kicks those guy's ass. Over half of that entire scene is the same as when Trinity fights the cops in the first Matrix. When everyone is dead, she does the leg crossed/head toss move exactly like Trinity. Yes, I'm dorky enough to see the exact same move in each film.

When Dante is fighting the Agent at the end of the movie, the Agent is replicating Smith's fighting style, right down to the Hugo Weaving style (head butts, puffing out the chest when about to take a hit).

All I'm saying is that this movie was incredible for the budget and organization that it had to use. If these producers can create their own characters, own agents, and own script, then they sure as hell should be able to create their own unique fight scenes. I'll look forward to them in the next installment, hopefully!

-Lasereth

PulpMind · 10-06-2003, 03:16 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by Lasereth
There's a difference between acting the same way and actually choreographing the exact same moves. ....Take a look when Medusa kicks those guy's ass. Over half of that entire scene is the same as when Trinity fights the cops in the first Matrix. When everyone is dead, she does the leg crossed/head toss move exactly like Trinity. Yes, I'm dorky enough to see the exact same move in each film.

interesting... I didn't notice/realize how similar the choreography (sp?) was... I sure they learned alot in just making this movie for fun and if/when another one is made, more effort is put into those aspects =P

la de da.

CSflim · 10-06-2003, 11:03 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by PulpMind
very good... you guys have a great film making future ahead I think =)

Tell us what the Wachowski (sp?) brothers say if/when they contact you!

I don't think ARRH was actually one of the team...he was just posting a link, and copy and pasted some text from the website...

ARRH · 10-06-2003, 12:24 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by CSflim
I don't think ARRH was actually one of the team...he was just posting a link, and copy and pasted some text from the website...

Exactly. It was on the news here a couple days ago, so I thought I'd share it with some people. ;-) I thought it was ok. I didn't really like the fact that they took the entire soundtrack from the movie, and that most fighting moves were directly copied. But then again, you have to remember that it was not just low-budget, but zero-budget!

Holo · 12-14-2003, 08:03 AM

"The Fanimatrix - Run Program" is a collaboration between over a dozen
professional actors, stuntpeople, special effects artists as well as an
amateur filmmaking crew (all based in New Zealand) who set out to
accomplish four primary goals:

Do something constructive with our spare time (boredom is a killer y'know...)

Create a short film that the general audience would actually WANT to see

Celebrate our mutual love for one of the finest film sagas put on our
screens for over a decade - "The Matrix".

Provide an opportunity for everyone involved to practice and hone
their filmmaking skills and respective talents.

"The Fanimatrix" is a fan-made, zero-budget short film set within the Matrix
universe, specifically shortly before the discovery of "The One" (i.e. the
first "Matrix" feature film). It tells the story of two rebels - Dante and
Medusa - and of their fateful mission onto the virtual reality prison world
that is The Matrix.

Sorry 56kers- The "low quality" version is still 73MB. They have divx and mpg versions for compatibility with all platforms. Running time about 17 min.

My review:

This was shot with a budget total of $600 USD, so don't expect an awesome Matrix-like film. Fight scenes have a little cheese in a couple places, but overall not bad for a fan short. If you have the bw and you aren't too critical it's worth a look.

http://www.fanimatrix.net/main.html

10-01-2003, 10:55 PM	#1 (permalink)
ARRH Insane	Fanimatrix Check this out! "The Fanimatrix - Run Program" is a collaboration between over a dozen professional actors, stuntpeople, special effects artists as well as an amateur filmmaking crew (all based in New Zealand) who set out to accomplish four primary goals: a. Do something constructive with our spare time (boredom is a killer y'know...) b. Create a short film that the general audience would actually WANT to see c. Celebrate our mutual love for one of the finest film sagas put on our screens for over a decade - "The Matrix". d. Provide an opportunity for everyone involved to practice and hone their filmmaking skills and respective talents. "The Fanimatrix" is a fan-made, zero-budget short film set within the Matrix universe, specifically shortly before the discovery of "The One" (i.e. the first "Matrix" feature film). It tells the story of two rebels - Dante and Medusa - and of their fateful mission onto the virtual reality prison world that is The Matrix. The film was shot on the Sony Mini-Digital Video format and edited on a PC editing suite utilizing Adobe Premiere, After FX and AlamDV Special FX. The entire production was completed over nine nights, ranging from six to over fifteen hour shoots, not including rehearsal and blocking-tape-shooting sessions. Most of the props, sets and lighting equipment was borrowed and locations were either hired or shot guerilla style. Although the film was a "zero budget" production, the final cost of the movie (combining personal expenses of cast and crew such as investment into costumes, transport costs, food etc) has reached upto approximately $1000 NZ (or $400-$600 US). The movie was shot entirely within Auckland City, New Zealand (our home). Homepage: http://www.fanimatrix.net <a href="http://www.flapdoodle.org/fanimatrix/The-Fanimatrix-(MPEG).mpg">Normal Quality mpeg : 170 meg</a> <a href="http://www.flapdoodle.org/fanimatrix/The-Fanimatrix-(DivX-5.1-LQ).avi">Low Quality DivX 5.1 : 73 meg</a> <a href="http://www.flapdoodle.org/fanimatrix/The-Fanimatrix-(DivX-5.1-HQ).avi">High Quality DivX 5. 1 : 135 meg</a> Last edited by ARRH; 10-01-2003 at 11:11 PM..

10-02-2003, 08:32 AM	#3 (permalink)
Cynthetiq Tilted Cat Head Administrator Location: Manhattan, NY	interesting.... not too shabby... but not much in the special effects dept... __________________ I don't care if you are black, white, purple, green, Chinese, Japanese, Korean, hippie, cop, bum, admin, user, English, Irish, French, Catholic, Protestant, Jewish, Buddhist, Muslim, indian, cowboy, tall, short, fat, skinny, emo, punk, mod, rocker, straight, gay, lesbian, jock, nerd, geek, Democrat, Republican, Libertarian, Independent, driver, pedestrian, or bicyclist, either you're an asshole or you're not. What's the best nation in the world? DO-NATION!

10-02-2003, 12:45 PM	#4 (permalink)
Lasereth Knight of the Old Republic Location: Winston-Salem, NC	The special effects were GREAT considering it had no budget. I've did a small bit of filming myself, and it's damn hard to make anything look good without good equipment. These guys had equipment, and it looks considerably better than average for fan-based movies. My only complaint is its similarities to Matrix and Matrix Reloaded. Do not use the same soundtrack, producers! It makes the film feel like a rip-off. Hell, 60% or more of the fight moves and sequences were copied directly from the first Matrix. Sadly enough, I've seen it enough times to recognize every damn move. I cringed when Medusa copied the style and very technique of Trinity, and it was painfully obvious that Dante was using Neo's exact moves. I understand that their roles are basically the same, but they should be creative. The directors and producers of this movie obviously know what they're doing; I wish they could have made their own fights scenes. Besides its direct rip-off of the Matrix series, this is much, much better than I expected. I may actually watch it again! Good job to all that helped in this part of it, I congratulate you. Keep up the good work, but I suggest trying to stray away from the direct Matrix similarities. -Lasereth __________________ "A Darwinian attacks his theory, seeking to find flaws. An ID believer defends his theory, seeking to conceal flaws." -Roger Ebert

10-04-2003, 12:45 PM	#6 (permalink)
Solitude Tilted Location: LA and Orange Counties	The good: Overall professoinal production. Watching it left me wanting more. I'll certainly watch it a few more times and show friends who like The Matrix. The bad: I just wish they had worked a bit more on the story. For all the time that was put into this, there didn't seem to be much of a reason for why they were doing whatever it was they were doing. What info were they looking for? The ugly: While some of the fight scenes were right on the money, others were pretty poor. The look and lighting was there, but certain moves looked like slow dancing instead of fighting. Overall, I recommend watching it. It really shows that all you need to make movies, is desire and time. __________________ Champagne for my real friends... and real pain for my sham friends.

10-05-2003, 10:38 AM	#8 (permalink)
CSflim Sky Piercer Location: Ireland	Brilliant! Top notch production. I would however, agree with Solitude that it would have benifited hugely from a better back story...obviously a huge amount of work has gone into this...why couldn't they have come up with a better script? Special effects were brilliant for a no-budget film. (Better than much of the crap that manages to get on t.v. and these shows are far from "no-budget"!) I particularly loved the "bullet-time" jump Dante made against the agent...very authentic. One thing that bothered me though, was the lack of bullet impacts against walls and the like...most notably when the agent was chasing Dante through the car park. But I guess their budget/expertise didn't stretch to pyrotechnics! Definately captured the look and feel of The Matrix...but I agree that some of the fighting moves were a little too similar to ones we've previosuly seen. From the website it seems that there may be a sequel. Will definately check thatout too! __________________

10-02-2003, 04:25 AM	#2 (permalink)
Ganguro Army of Me	interesting, im downloading it now, will be back with reviews. Some friends and I were considering doing this in college for our senior project, but couldnt get the funding, planning and execution done in a semester. Hope this is good!

10-02-2003, 02:29 PM	#5 (permalink)
Mr.Deflok Blood + Fire Location: New Zealand	I'll have to download this later tonight, me being a New Zealander makes me feel obliged to (without any Patrioticness).

10-04-2003, 03:21 PM	#7 (permalink)
agentsmith Crazy	hmm, definitely need to check this out

10-05-2003, 07:58 PM	#9 (permalink)
PulpMind Addict Location: Portland	wow, I'm rather impressed... having been done on a US$500 budget, you all did a great job (far better than many small films with much larger budgets) the sound engineer in me found the audio mixing to be done rather well (though I can't realy say from my 1cm laptop speakers)... the cinemetography was great! very professional feeling, nice sequences, pans, cuts, whatever.. the action was well done, and the special effects very impressive.. yah, the plot needed some more depth to it... but it was a real fun movie, and highly enjoyable for that =) the girls in the club were the mad hottness. reason #1393424 I want to go to New Zealand. I think it's unfair of people to say that the characters were ripping of the original.. everyone in the matrix movies all acts the same anyway =P very good... you guys have a great film making future ahead I think =) Tell us what the Wachowski (sp?) brothers say if/when they contact you! Last edited by PulpMind; 10-05-2003 at 08:04 PM..

12-14-2003, 08:03 AM	#14 (permalink)
Holo A Real American	Fanimatrix released "The Fanimatrix - Run Program" is a collaboration between over a dozen professional actors, stuntpeople, special effects artists as well as an amateur filmmaking crew (all based in New Zealand) who set out to accomplish four primary goals: Do something constructive with our spare time (boredom is a killer y'know...) Create a short film that the general audience would actually WANT to see Celebrate our mutual love for one of the finest film sagas put on our screens for over a decade - "The Matrix". Provide an opportunity for everyone involved to practice and hone their filmmaking skills and respective talents. "The Fanimatrix" is a fan-made, zero-budget short film set within the Matrix universe, specifically shortly before the discovery of "The One" (i.e. the first "Matrix" feature film). It tells the story of two rebels - Dante and Medusa - and of their fateful mission onto the virtual reality prison world that is The Matrix. Sorry 56kers- The "low quality" version is still 73MB. They have divx and mpg versions for compatibility with all platforms. Running time about 17 min. My review: This was shot with a budget total of $600 USD, so don't expect an awesome Matrix-like film. Fight scenes have a little cheese in a couple places, but overall not bad for a fan short. If you have the bw and you aren't too critical it's worth a look. http://www.fanimatrix.net/main.html __________________ I happen to like the words "fuck", "cock", "pussy", "tits", "cunt", "twat", "shit" and even "bitch". As long as I am not using them to describe you, don't go telling me whether or not I can/should use them...that is, if you want me to continue refraining from using them to describe you. ~Prince