[ambelamba]

Uh...no. Not that Barbie or GI Joe commericals. (I don't like Mainframe Entertainment anyway...)

I just wonder if it's a feasible idea to create a feature CG movie with lower budget...somewhere around 5~6 million bucks with staff wearing all the different hats and using off-the-shelf softwares. No, I am not asking for some FF-level quality. Just some marginally realistic (but not that plastic) characters with marginally realistic background and some dedicated rendering accelerator to be used for 5~6 projects straight.

I thought that it can be interesting to create a series of old scerial type direct-to-video CG movies. With a group of production staff who are willing to work with modest and steady income. (with some crazy moneyman who's willing to throw away tens of millions of dollars for a ton of cheap movies.)

I dunno. If I have the financial resource I would try it no matter what.
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Human mind is the battlefield of good and evil.

[TheNeverman]

I think the deciding factors will be what it cost to distribute the film and how talented of a crew you need...

More details about these movies?

n8
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"They're toys. My friends are toys, I made them..."
J.F. Sebastian

[balistic]

Definitely possible, if you hire people with production experience who can nail down your pipeline early in the process.
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brian.prince|light.comp.paint

[Gort]

[ambelamba]

Ummm... No no no. I am not saying that I am actually willing to pull this out. I am just toying with the idea. I was wondering if there can be some 'standardized' process to crank out marginally high-quality CG in an acceptable amount of time.

Quite honestly I didn't even think about any storyline to be used for this kind of project. Not even treatments. I wrote some treatments for feature-length storylines but never did a finallized script at all. Maybe I should wander around Saudi Arabia and stumble upon some oil well, making a ton of money to launch a small CG studio.
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Human mind is the battlefield of good and evil.

[Jimmyjimjim]

As with any creative medium, it's not so much the technical quality as much as the quality of the idea.

I have seen some incredibly well done flash movies that were little more than talking stick figures. If your idea is good enough and you utilize the tools and your knowledge base effectively there is no reason you can't produce good product.

[Gort]

Again one of the the primary reasons why something works, whether it's a stick people or live action, is an adherance to process. Plan it out.

Also remember that it's the story that counts here. The story is paramount. The story should be compelling and draw viewers in. Stick people, cats, dogs, million dollar actors and million dollar effects will fall flat without a story and proper direction.
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- Tom Carter

"You can't stop the waves but you can learn to surf" - Jack Kornfield

[stacy]

This kind of project would be worth working for near nothing.
You're obviously not some hustler or con-man trying dupe
artists into working for nothing.

You clearly would be doing this for the love and passion
of the ART of it. People who worked at this surely would not
be being ripped off by some reptile marketer.

I'd say call for volunteers.

Indie film makers do it on near nothing all the time
with volunteers/partners for cast's and crew's.
http://www.codydeegan.com/demos/movie.mov

Why not animators.

[balistic]

[ambelamba]

Umm...Unless I rob Fort Knox or two I wouldn't even dare launching the project. I wouldn't even venture into it. I am only making a suggestion.

Oh heck, even relatively simpler (I mean relatively) work like Ice Age costed 50million!
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Human mind is the battlefield of good and evil.

[Jimmyjimjim]

Ballistic, that's the most pessimistic view I think I've ever heard. What it sounds like you're saying is "doing anything worth doing is going to cost too much money and take too long to do good, so don't bother."

A good friend of mine who worked at Bluesky and now Pixar did a VERY well done short film (20 min) in about three months BY HERSELF. Multiply that by 4 and you have an 80 minute feature in one year with one person. Mind you, it wasn't some sci-fi epic, but a character driven piece.

If you manage to find a few people with enough passion to do something other than sit around and talk about doing something I think you could make it happen.

So there.

[balistic]

edit: I wasn't saying you shouldn't bother, I was saying that animation is not live action. Just being realistic.

If you could just multiply a short by 4 and get a commercially-viable movie, it would've been done by now. Trust me when I say that it's a whole different beast to make a long-format movie. A couple of characters and a simple background isn't going to keep a mainstream audience entertained, even if it's written really well. You might get some limited art house success, but that's not what the original poster is after.

And I actually think my view is pretty optimistic. The movie I'm working right now has a budget of more than $20,000,000, and there are plenty of people who think that isn't enough. Actually, we could definitely use more lighters . . . *back to the grind*
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brian.prince|light.comp.paint

[Gort]