One of the things I love computers for is how they have democratised the access to things that once were only attainable by a very few. This World War II short film called The German is a perfect example.
In the film, “a British fighter pilot pursues the german ace that shot down his friend across sky and country… with murder in mind. But he discovers it’s not so easy to kill a man when you have to look them in the eye.” Apparently, the Irish Film board gave about $US92,000 to fund the film, which only paid for the live-action filming. The director, Nick Ryan, ended with zero dollars for the visual effects, which are crucial to set up the story. So he did them himself:
I completed all the visual effects shots, over 120 in total, entirely by myself. Dave Head modelled the aircraft (and truck), but I textured, lit, animated and composited the shots over a six month period in 2008.
Six months of struggling and fun, I’m sure. An awesome job, indeed. [Vimeo via Bomoarts]