The Leviathan (Teaser/Proof of Concept)

Otacon · 18-03-2015 5:48pm #1

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s-45NTlgp-o

Created by Ruairi Robinson (Fifty Percent Grey, The Last Days on Mars), The Leviathan is a proof of concept teaser that shows off some spectacular special effects for what must have been a tightly budgeted piece (seeing as it was made with the assistance of Bord Scannáin na hÉireann/ the Irish Film Board).

Wonder if anything will come of this.

AnonoBoy · 18-03-2015 6:09pm

Saw this a while back - it's spectacular looking alright isn't it.

Would love to see some money go into it.

helimachoptor · 19-03-2015 1:17pm

Looks fantastic

pixelburp · 19-03-2015 2:59pm

It looked fantastic on what I also presume was a tiny budget; good to see the Irish Film Board funding more imaginative works and not sticking solely to paddywhackery projects. I'd argue that a well-produced genre piece has more chance of oversees success - especially in this digital age of VOD and internet word-of-mouth - than the standard domestic dramas you'd see.

Last Days of Mars was ok, but utterly derivative, to a fault. The script was the biggest culprit by far & felt like something butchered and rewritten mid-production. Can't fault Robinson for that though and his work was solid, bar a few incoherent moments of action. Wouldn't mind reading more detail about Leviathan anyway.

humanji · 19-03-2015 4:16pm

Is there anything on the making of this at all? Would love to hear how he went about it.

Zillah · 19-03-2015 5:03pm

pixelburp wrote: »

Last Days of Mars was ok, but utterly derivative, to a fault. The script was the biggest culprit by far & felt like something butchered and rewritten mid-production.

The Leviathan promo already has me worried: the CGI is utterly amazing, but the tiny little story they just did made no sense whatsoever. They apparently hunt these things as their job - so why are they so ludicrously bad at it? Nothing seems to go wrong exactly, they just charge at the monster and get their asses kicked. It's like a bunch of poachers running at an elephant with knives and then being surprised when they get gored.

If you want to show a disastrous hunt then have something go wrong: their weapon fails or the engine stalls or a second Leviathan appears suddenly - something to justify the disaster. What's different about this hunt that makes it go so wrong?

I know that's a lot of words on a little promo, but God, take a few seconds to plan out a bit of a story that makes some sense. Are these guys newbies or cowboys and that's why they're so awful at what they do?

Fancy CGI and nonsensical events do not a good movie make.

humanji · 19-03-2015 5:06pm

But they're not meant to. It's just a proof of concept. All it's there for is to get people talking about it and to hopefully get someones attention who's in a position to greenlight a film based on the overall idea.

Zillah · 19-03-2015 5:16pm

humanji wrote: »

But they're not meant to. It's just a proof of concept. All it's there for is to get people talking about it and to hopefully get someones attention who's in a position to greenlight a film based on the overall idea.

Making sense doesn't cost anything. The fact that they just didn't bother is not a good indicator in my opinion.

Myrddin · 19-03-2015 5:31pm

Zillah wrote: »

The Leviathan promo already has me worried: the CGI is utterly amazing, but the tiny little story they just did made no sense whatsoever. They apparently hunt these things as their job - so why are they so ludicrously bad at it?

Zillah wrote: »

Making sense doesn't cost anything. The fact that they just didn't bother is not a good indicator in my opinion.

The wording at the start mentions most involved in the hunt are involuntary labourers though...so is it not safe to assume they're not going to be experts at it, & actually make mistakes given they are essentially forced into it? Seems sensible enough for me, certainly enough for a short PoC.

humanji · 19-03-2015 5:40pm

Zillah wrote: »

Making sense doesn't cost anything. The fact that they just didn't bother is not a good indicator in my opinion.

Ah it does make sense. Now I agree that it's incredibly obvious what's going to happen and in the real world you'd hope people wouldn't be that stupid, but the point of it isn't to show this as a viable means of catching aliens. It's to give an idea of scope. Alien worlds, big flying monsters, humans hunt them in spaceships and it's incredibly dangerous. That's the point of the clip. That's how you sell a concept like this. This isn't to impress us. It's to impress studios who will throw money at something they see as a blockbuster. And blockbusters these days don't bother with minor details like plot, character or common sense.

Zillah · 19-03-2015 5:54pm

humanji wrote: »

Ah it does make sense. Now I agree that it's incredibly obvious what's going to happen and in the real world you'd hope people wouldn't be that stupid, but the point of it isn't to show this as a viable means of catching aliens. It's to give an idea of scope. Alien worlds, big flying monsters, humans hunt them in spaceships and it's incredibly dangerous. That's the point of the clip. That's how you sell a concept like this. This isn't to impress us. It's to impress studios who will throw money at something they see as a blockbuster. And blockbusters these days don't bother with minor details like plot, character or common sense.

Well I don't disagree with you there

AnonoBoy · 23-03-2015 11:51am

Also remember there's presumably a full script accompanying this proof of concept. So the people they're trying to get money out of will be able to read the whole thing. This is, as pointed out just to whip up some interest and show that Robinson is capable of executing the concept.

Mizu_Ger · 23-03-2015 12:01pm

He should get rid of the fake lens flare effects. It makes it look like a video game.

AnonoBoy · 23-03-2015 6:11pm

Looks like it's going places. Simon Kinberg and Neil Blomkamp are on board in producing and exec producing roles respectively.

http://www.scannain.com/irish/the-leviathan-producers

Ole Rodrigo · 24-03-2015 3:23pm

So its essentially Godzilla blended with avatar. Cant go wrong !

I'm sure there's plenty of suitable blockbuster Photoshop templates. One that you see regularly, I think it started with ' Skyline ', and is used in this clip, is the electrical charge effect coming from weapons firing and people/ creature being hit. Just one of those annoying CGI-isms that looks pretty but not very realistic.

AnonoBoy · 24-03-2015 6:08pm

Ole Rodrigo wrote: »

Just one of those annoying CGI-isms that looks pretty but not very realistic.

Yeah it's annoying when the space laser/energy beams being shot at giant creatures don't look realistic alright.

Ole Rodrigo · 24-03-2015 9:13pm

AnonoBoy wrote: »

Yeah it's annoying when the space laser/energy beams being shot at giant creatures don't look realistic alright.

Unless you're making a video game.

ohnonotgmail · 25-03-2015 2:12pm

Moby Dick in space. Who gets to play Ahab?

Marje · 27-03-2015 9:13pm

Twentieth Century Fox has picked up sci-fi spec "The Leviathan" with Simon Kinberg on board to produce and Neill Blomkamp exec producing.

http://variety.com/2015/film/news/fox-picks-up-simon-kinberg-and-neill-blomkamp-produced-the-leviathan-exclusive-1201461606/

The Leviathan (Teaser/Proof of Concept)

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