Ever since I saw Tron in 1982, I wondered how long it would be before computer power would allow anyone with talent to become a “real” filmmaker.
By that I mean they wouldn’t even need financing because they had everything they needed in the computer on their desktop (plus a nice camcorder; the new digital models work nicely).
The day is here.
I’m sure 405 is not the first well-done independent movie made without a budget, but this is one incredible 3-minute movie, and specifically made for online consumption.
It was “released” (on the movie’s web site, of course — this is the 2000s, yaknow!) on June 5th. It created so much buzz, and displayed so much talent, that it took only three weeks for the two filmmakers, Bruce Branit and Jeremy Hunt, to be signed up by a major Hollywood agent.
It’s offered in MPEG 4 (which may require you to update your movie viewer; a codec for the Windows Media Player is available for download on their site; it’s a bit of a pain to install it, but it’s worth it so you can get incredibly clear video from a mere 7.72 MB file).
Watch the movie, and then read the “Making Of” pages on the web site: you’ll probably be very amazed about what it is that you saw!
And, as someone who used to commute in L.A., yes: the traffic is really just like that! 🙂
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And later, online video took off as Youtube was born. Which makes it easy for me to embed the movie right here:
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The movie really was ahead of its time: if it was released today, it would have millions of views. Yet as I update this entry in early 2015, it only has a third of a million — at least, on this Youtube version. Likely, most of its early views were downloads, not online streaming.
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Related Post: Animusic: a Pipe Dream
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And the website’s link to Amazon is still, 10 years later, for the 11 minute VHS tape.
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I guess the guys have moved on from this project. -rc
Wow, I clicked on the link to 405themovie and my company web filter flagged it as Porno!!! Now that will take some explaining.
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There’s certainly no porn in it. -rc
I guess there’s something ironic about the fact that the hi-res version of “405” is currently “404”. 🙂
Oh, Randy, totally worth the three minutes to watch this. Thanks for the link.