The projects listed on this page represent creative intention for the coming year. ALL have been vetted for feasibility but anyone can see, it is a very ambitious production schedule.
The Cinemotion team is extremely small and any one of the projects here would be a daunting task for the most seasoned live-action filmmakers. It is, frankly, laughable to think that ALL of the below could be accomplished by less than 5 people within a year, much less a decade, and that is partly the point of it all.
To truly show we have moved into a new era of filmmaking, we at Cinemotion intend to put the new tools through their paces and produce the pudding. Tests are fine for learning and proving out a technology, but what other artists need to see is FINAL, ready-for-Netflix entertainment brought to life through this technology. They need a champion with the same resources they could obtain, the same crew count they could muster, paving the way for the indies of our future. That is the goal of Cinemotion.
That said, we can really use support, in whatever form that may appear, from collaboration to sponsorship, as these are still vital elements of the filmmaking process.
Please dive in, scroll down and let your imagination take a trip with us…
Hopefully you've had a chance to watch Dark Side EP1.
Chrome Armor was posted to a Youtube account with less than 100 subscribers yet it gained 350,000 views within a month and added 2500 new subs.
The 6 minute film was the result of ONE person’s efforts in production (story, acting, set design/construction (some 3D modeling (the hanger bay and, in EP 2, Brenda) but mostly kit bashing), motion capture, cleaning, application, rigging, camera, sound, editing, color, logo design and compositing, effects, and whatever else that made it onscreen). He was joined by one other actor and a “What button do I push?” first-timer mocap technician. It is Cinemotion’s first beacon of the thesis. Now, not everyone needs to be a lone creator with mastery of every skillset (though MANY ARE nowadays), but a few friends can gather to collaborate. Youtube is today’s college and the tools showing up now are changing what film production means.
EP 2: GOING DOWN
Tom goes on a short-lived date with the chrome-armored Brenda! Jeremy meets one of the few remaining clones and convinces him to take it easy – a defining moment in both of their lives.
EP 3: THE ENDOR THE WORLD AS WE KNOW IT
We learn of a series of events that turns everything we thought we knew about Star Wars on its ear. It’s no teddy bear picnic I’m afraid.
EP 4: LOST IN SPACE
While Princess Leia is being rescued in Star Wars EP IV, we tag along with a group of Troopers that just can’t seem to find the detention center. Would it hurt so much to put up a sign here and there?
And for the other half of the population...
TAS Star Trek: the animated series turned UE5
Ian Simpson’s gorgeous TOS Enterprise gave us a wonderful base to begin work on updating the 1973 Animated Star Trek into a ‘live-action’ fourth and fifth season (finishing the promised 5 year mission). The video above illustrates the first and second attempt to move things closer to that live action look. The backgrounds were solid but the humans still needed a lot of work!
TAS Star Trek: the animated series turned LIVE ACTION
A workflow was developed to take the UE5 project, with its scene layouts and editing decisions already made, and follow it up with an AI-assisted ‘realification’. This was the first attempt where workflow trumped refinement. Over the course of the next month the shots will be filled out top to bottom and those shots will be made as realistic as we are able.
The UE5 foundation...
The soundtrack from the 70’s Filmation-animated series provides the base for a re-envisioning of the show. Featuring the original cast providing voice, our renewed look at those great stories will have striking metahuman likeness and be set on a 1:1 enterprise replica.
The first few scenes of “Yesteryear” will be our test bed and proving ground. Our Enterprise is boldly going and our crew of metahumans (based on Antonio Dato’s great sculpts) is complete.
This is my dear friend Will Espada.
Will has suffered a lengthy hospitalization due to several types of cancer. Will has been an artist all his life and during his decline, he struggled to make anything. As one might imagine, he was having a terrible time physically and of course he is quite taxed mentally. a few months before his untimely death, armed with my phone, laptop and microphone, I visited Will in his room at the hospital and we spent the day turning him into a movie star.
A shave and a headscan, two-bits. His dialog was captured and his metahuman created on the spot. Will has become the Sheriff in this short film where he needs to protect his wild west town from the titular threat from space. I am saddened that he won’t be able to see the final short film but I will happily complete it in his honor.
In Dark Fate, 'Carl' the T-800 started a drapery business and this is now franchise canon!
Let this sink in; After Arnold's cyborg killing machine finished shotgunning a child to death, he 'retired' into a drapery making business where, for a couple of decades, he assumedly 'dealt with customers' in a way that only a robot would.
The humor implied from this idea is an absolute comedy gold mine and we at Cinemotion have begun spelunking! Thank you DARK FATE!
So far, three scripts have been written that place an awkward, almost autistic robot in the homes of Americans who are hoping for a lovely, artist accent to their windows.
We are excited to have already obtained the dialog recordings from one of the best Arnold impressionists around – David Andrew Brent!
It’s one thing to place, say, the ‘Predator’ as a fry cook at Wendy’s, but quite another when the fish-out-of-water story has been delivered as an actual occurrence to the franchise history. These episodes COULD be accepted as a factual account of this T-800’s past.
What an opportunity!
An animated soap opera?
Sorta Barbarba puts a twist on the much loved 80’s soap and reimagines it for both new and veteran fans.
This project started when in 2020 Rosco Born, who portrayed Robert Barr on the show, and who suffered from Bipolar disorder, committed suicide. The Robert Barr storyline is the focus of ‘Sorta Barbara’ and attaches the disorder to the character to shine light on this misunderstood mental illness.
The writer (who suffers from the illness herself) has written 500 pages of this story and the first episode (20 min. in length) is well underway. Once again Mark Strohman has stepped in to voice the lead and the rest of the characters have been cast and recorded for EP1.
A typical 'Indie' feature film
‘Typical’ if most indie films could be executed in computer animation.
This film was written to be a typical outing for a low budget indie that was high in creativity while keeping the locations and setups under control (mostly a single location). It follows the adventures of Jerry who falls backwards into a new way to crime. Trapped in a convenience store all night long, Jerry awaits his morning payday while fielding the most eclectic customers and bizarre mishaps any single night could deliver.
This list goes on...
There are more episodes of Dark Side written, there are music videos being discussed, there are several other feature scripts to follow Shiftless and then all of the above projects are candidates for tutorial treatments outside of the comprehensive series mentioned earlier.
These new tools and this new filmmaking freedom need to be demonstrated and democratized. We are a species of storytellers and have become rabid media consumers because of it.
Opportunity now awaits all of us to tell our stories. We can’t wait to see what happens next!
Hint: Something is up with Billy and Jolene…
our stores
Australia
1901 Thornridge Cir. Shiloh, Hawaii 81063
United States
2464 Royal Ln. Mesa, New Jersey 45463
North America
4140 Parker Rd. Allentown, New Mexico 31134