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“Monsters” gets Theatrical Release

November 2, 2010 · Uwe

by uwe

“Monsters”  low budget production method is pretty damn amazing and now this super-indie film has opened theatrically in Europe and North America and has been nominated for best film at the British Independent Film Awards.  I saw this movie at SXSW this year and I definitely walked out of the screening with a lot of questions on how it was achieved.  If you haven’t heard of this film it was written, directed and shot by Gareth Edwards and his crew of 5 throughout Guatemala, Belize, Mexico and Texas.

The story is set years after alien lifeforms have crashed along the Mexican-US border creating a biologically dangerous Infected Zone, essentially a no-man’s land where monster-fearing folk dare not tread.  We follow the adventures of a Journalist who is sent to bring his boss’s daughter back to the US from Mexico which takes us through said Infected Zone.  Here’s the trailer:

Now, this film was shot with the Sony EX3 (plus 35mm adapter) and an equipment budget of $15,000.  All visual effects were produced by Gareth Edwards in his bedroom using Adobe After Effects, Photoshop and Autodesk 3ds Max.  Here’s a behind the scenes:

Whatever you think of the film itself, its production value is through the roof and it was all achieved with off-the-shelf, pro-sumer equipment and a dude who knew what he wanted and needed to do.  Good story.  The making-of, I mean.  Truthfully I wasn’t convinced that the film narrative was pulled off that well and that any statements made regarding the political situation along the US-Mexican border were fairly incidental.  I remember walking down the street after seeing this with my friends and questioning the sense of a good deal of the scenes, as though there was only a very tenuous connection between them all.  This may be a result of their improvising the whole film as they went along.  While watching Monsters I immediately thought of District 9 and how that movie had no qualms about being steadfastly political.

However, I am still behind this movie.  You should see it.

I am very interested in what Gareth Edwards has in the works.  His next project is being produced by Timur Bekmambetov.

The final price tag for “Monsters” is officially set at $500,000.  Prints and posters cost a lot.

Posted In: Commentary
Tagged: 2010, 3ds Max, After Effects, BIFA, EX3, Gareth Edwards, indie, Mexico, Monsters, Photoshop, SXSW, Texas, Timur Bekmambetov

1 Comment

  1. Jon C.

    November 2, 2010 at 4:06 pm · Reply

    Interesting.

    This reminds me of the test footage they made before District 9, to nab the HALO movie contract.

    The camerawork (from what I see in the trailer), along with the tension of never really getting a good look at the monster, brings back memories of Cloverfield.

    I’ll have to check this one out. Thanks.

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