MicroCinema Scene

MK12 is a motion graphics/animation/sound design shop in Kansas City, MO. They produce amazing music videos, film titles, commercials and just about anything else you can think of. For the past four years they’ve been working on a 30 minute animated film entitled History of America. It’s not the most exciting title, but the film isn’t about the “true” history of America. Instead, it’s the History of America the way you wish it might have been - with cowboys fighting Astronauts.

The short is a lot of fun to watch and the design and animation is quite simply - eye popping. Lucky for us, MK12 has made it available to watch online for free via Ventilate.ca. I’m not sure how long it will be up, so do yourself a favor and download the high-res MP4. It’s well worth the download time.

[Via Josh Oakhurst]

The season premiere of Joe Swanberg’s new web series Butterknife is now live! People seem to either love or hate Swanberg’s work, and this series is probably only going to reinforce your feelings. It stays true to Swanberg’s shaky, shoot-on-the-fly aesthetic, but filters it all through the detective story genre. Episode 1 is titled Plastic Hassle and introduces the lead characters - a private investigator (played by Ronald Bronstein) and his wife (played by Mary Bronstein).

This is a pretty killer video that shows how a few guys with digital filmmaking tools recreate the beach scene from Saving Private Ryan. It definitely took a lot of time and hard work, but the results are pretty amazing.

MicroCinema Scene has been getting a little too mumblecore lately. You cats can “mumble” all you want, but I am here to keep it reel. I refuse to lose sight of the things that make low-budget movies great: monsters, tits and kicking ass. Killer Wolf Films - creators of Swamp Zombies - are back in action with a trailer for their new flick Fist of the Vampire. This trailer is chock-full of underground street-fighting, vampires, punching, neck-ripping and hot chicks that probably get naked. Also, everybody in this trailer seems to burst into flames at one point or another. Check it out!

Here’s an interesting video that documents the efforts of Fish Kill Flea directors Aaron, Brian, and Jennifer as they promote their documentary at SXSW2007. This originally appeared on IFC. (via Matt Dentler)

Matthew Doyle has posted the first 7 minutes of his excellent feature film Disquiet on YouTube. [Note: This is probably not-safe-for-work at most places of employment.] Disquiet is an excellent film that truly takes advantage of the strengths of low-budget micro-filmmaking and I highly recommend it. I should have reviewed Disquiet long ago, but something about the movie continues to elude me.  I love the use of still photos and and the soundwave during the opening credits. While it may see like a mere stylistic device, this sequence sets up the structure for the entire film and foreshadows the final sequence.

So check out the first 7 minutes and the entire film when you get a chance. It will be screened on Tuesday, June 5, 2007 at 2 pm at the Hoboken InternationalFilm Festival in the Burchard Theater. For more information on Disquiet, check out the MySpace profile.

Mutant Swinger From Mars is a “long lost” film by infamous horror/sci-fi director, Orton Z. Creswell tells the tale of martians coming to Earth and forcing a scientist to build the perfect weapon, a swooning, crooning ladies man to lure women to the aliens. Part Ed Wood, part Nutty Professor, part Spinal Tap and all fun, this spoof on 1950’s/ALL sci-fi and horror is sure to be a treat for all ages. For more information check out this post at D2DVD.

Today has been too hectic for me to do a full Scene report, so instead I bring you a trailer for Rise of the Ghosts - the upcoming film from b-movie maestro SV Bell. Rise of the Ghosts is currently scheduled to premiere in Montreal sometime this July. For more information, check out the official site.

Chalk enjoyed lots of positive buzz on the festival circuit and is now headed into limited national distribution. With all the glowing reviews and critical attention, it might be hard to think of Chalk as a Micro-production… but it is. Check out the trailer and for more information visit the official site.

With Red Cockroaches, director Miguel Coyula raised the bar for low-budget microcinema productions. Now it looks like he is going to raise it even higher with his follow-up feature Memorias del Desarrollo (Memories of Overdevelopment). Filming is still underway on this project, but Miguel has released a teaser trailer which looks absolutely amazing. This is a project we will be following closely, so stay tuned for further developments.