17 February, 2009

Darkness Aftermath - A review


Allen Etter, friend of Stirton Productions and a director in the United of States has sent over his latest (and first) movie for me to look at. Having done some animation for the filum means I get a free copy 'yay' with millions of extra disks of stuff, 'more yay.'

Writer/Director Allen and assistant director/VFX/punchbag Ted Tiefel have crafted a feature length movie from nothing more than string, scotch tape, sticks and wet folk, there are lots of wet folk.

A fantasy, set in a world where everyone is blind because god cursed the rain to teach the populace a damn good lesson, sees Gwen become the caretaker/defender of her village. A role she has to earn in fights against other village champions and the Garum (a scary monster).

The movie has many extras and behind the scenes footage, showing what happens when you blindfold actors and put them in a forest. They fall over a lot and drop things. Also of note are the many attractive actresses that Allen managed to kidnap for the movie, including lead actress Danielle Magner as Gwen, ninja/army girl Debbie Ngo as Danea and the lovely Tarina Sorensen as Lilly (avatar of god, I think). All of whom gave up their spare time along with the rest of the cast to wear stained sheets and get soaked on a daily basis - while running about blindfolded! What troopers.

Allen and Ted have managed to forge a movie with some nice scenes and characters, a major effort with no budget and the equipment they had to work with (satan's own Canon XL1 and a sound system from the 40's). The team look like they have formed a pretty solid bond and learned a lot from the experience. Allen's new movie,
Beneath Shadows is currently in pre-production.

It's been a real pleasure working with you Allen, If you're needing any help with stuff let me know.

10 comments:

allen etter said...

Thanks! We'll need more of your help! This time, TWO spools of string and DUCT tape! Just posted a scary monster guy on the Beneath Shadows blog...

allen etter said...

You know, I was rather nervous about you watching it. I was worried that by the end of the review you'd have a request that I remove your name from the credits!

As Ted has grown fond of saying, "Now that we've made all of our mistakes, we can focus on making a GOOD movie." ...or something like that.

Unknown said...

No, what I said was we have learned what to do and not to do, so now we can turn out a higher caliber target. I think we have a GOOD movie, especially with what we had to work with

Michael Grant Clark said...

It's a rather green movie with wet bits, it was a pleasure to help out. I just wish I'd had more time to help with other things but One Day Removals cancelled any free time I had for the rest of the year.

And still no one's mentioned Ted's head in Allen's hand. I'm surprised.

Unknown said...

I didn't see that till you said something, that is very funny.

allen etter said...

I thought it looked rather natural. I decapitated Ted almost as often as I fired him...then we'd sacrifice a box of Chicken McNuggets and splatter the greese about the forest and he'd reanimate!

allen etter said...

A student of mine just pointed out that with the images of Tarina, Debbie and Danielle there, who would even notice me and Ted...

Nice!

AktoMan said...

I'll step in and thank Mike for bringing your movie around, eating my pizza, drinking my wine and tea, and eating my biscuits. DA left me with a lot of questions, and I wonder if any prequels are planned?

The 'making of' was a good addition, and showed the issues of making the movie. I'm amazed and the dedication of the staff and students. I am sure that you are very proud of them, Sensei.

allen etter said...

My crew was fantastic...I have never worked with such a great bunch of creative people...as far as a prequel goes...I am working on a story that I am going to release on line that will be a prequel...it describes the story of the Old Care taker and Gwen's father as friends and why the old Caretaker feels he should pass the sword to Gwen...

allen etter said...

Glad you enjoyed it...