In 1930's New York, its leading newspaper, The Chronicle, prints an article written by ace reporter Polly Perkins reporting the disappearance of a scientist. As Polly clicks away on her typewriter, air raid sirens go up - the city is being attacked. Desperate to get another good story, she goes to the center of the panic when the attackers, which are revealed to be giant robots, hit. As they march down Fifth Avenue and all hope seems lost, there's only one to call for help...Sky Captain and his Flying Legion!
"The World of Tomorrow" is Kerry Conran's brainchild, and the original version of his first feature film, "Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow" (2004). Presented in black and white, the short is entirely CGI with the exception of its actors and falls nothing short of impressive. Of course, to fully enjoy it, one must watch it knowing some of its back-story: around 1994, Conran decided he wanted to independently make a film in the style of 1930s sci-fi serials (a la "Buck Rogers" (1939) or "Flash Gordon" (1936)). Only with the help of a few friends and family, he set up a blue screen in his own apartment and shot friends as the actors of the film. He then animated and rendered all of the visual effects (in other words, everything else that is seen in the short) alone, on his personal Macintosh computer. Painstakingly working through morning, noon and night for 4 years, Conran had only completed 6 minutes of footage by 1998, until he was discovered by Jon Avnet, who agreed to finance the project that was eventually to become "Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow." The film, while it has A-list Hollywood actors and uses considerably more advanced technology, retains the style and spirit of the short as well as uses the same process of filming the actors alone on blue screen and animating everything else. The short itself was not shown to the public until the DVD release of "Sky Captain" in early 2005.
Essentially, the short is nearly shot-for-shot the first few scenes of its offspring. While some may seem a bit turned off hearing this having already seen the final film, watching the short is still a completely different experience. The real effect comes when one thinks about how this was all done on a single computer; merely as a labor of love. It is clear that Conran is enthusiastic for what he does. While it is also clear that this isn't a professionally-done film some of the effects are a bit hokey-looking, many cheap sound effects are used, etc - the visual and sound effects are overall quite impressive, as well, given the circumstances and the period of time in which they were done. It is also interesting to see how much of the short survived in the final film; with the exception of a few added sequences, it's pretty much there in its entirety.
The short ends with old-style title overlays, making the short a promotional trailer of sorts for a presumed full series. Unfortunately, however, Conran never got to complete this particular project, after working on "Sky Captain" and his upcoming feature films. In some ways, however, it's satisfying enough that the short is left unfinished and the reason for the elements of the story remains left to the imagination.
Overall, "The World of Tomorrow" is groundbreaking, perhaps even more so than the much more popularized "Sky Captain." Even if you weren't a big fan of the film, you should give this short a chance, if only to see the result of long hours of dedicated work with limited tools. Aspiring filmmakers who are interested in making their own independent film should also check this one out, and who knows, some day they might find themselves following in Conran's footsteps.
"The World of Tomorrow" is Kerry Conran's brainchild, and the original version of his first feature film, "Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow" (2004). Presented in black and white, the short is entirely CGI with the exception of its actors and falls nothing short of impressive. Of course, to fully enjoy it, one must watch it knowing some of its back-story: around 1994, Conran decided he wanted to independently make a film in the style of 1930s sci-fi serials (a la "Buck Rogers" (1939) or "Flash Gordon" (1936)). Only with the help of a few friends and family, he set up a blue screen in his own apartment and shot friends as the actors of the film. He then animated and rendered all of the visual effects (in other words, everything else that is seen in the short) alone, on his personal Macintosh computer. Painstakingly working through morning, noon and night for 4 years, Conran had only completed 6 minutes of footage by 1998, until he was discovered by Jon Avnet, who agreed to finance the project that was eventually to become "Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow." The film, while it has A-list Hollywood actors and uses considerably more advanced technology, retains the style and spirit of the short as well as uses the same process of filming the actors alone on blue screen and animating everything else. The short itself was not shown to the public until the DVD release of "Sky Captain" in early 2005.
Essentially, the short is nearly shot-for-shot the first few scenes of its offspring. While some may seem a bit turned off hearing this having already seen the final film, watching the short is still a completely different experience. The real effect comes when one thinks about how this was all done on a single computer; merely as a labor of love. It is clear that Conran is enthusiastic for what he does. While it is also clear that this isn't a professionally-done film some of the effects are a bit hokey-looking, many cheap sound effects are used, etc - the visual and sound effects are overall quite impressive, as well, given the circumstances and the period of time in which they were done. It is also interesting to see how much of the short survived in the final film; with the exception of a few added sequences, it's pretty much there in its entirety.
The short ends with old-style title overlays, making the short a promotional trailer of sorts for a presumed full series. Unfortunately, however, Conran never got to complete this particular project, after working on "Sky Captain" and his upcoming feature films. In some ways, however, it's satisfying enough that the short is left unfinished and the reason for the elements of the story remains left to the imagination.
Overall, "The World of Tomorrow" is groundbreaking, perhaps even more so than the much more popularized "Sky Captain." Even if you weren't a big fan of the film, you should give this short a chance, if only to see the result of long hours of dedicated work with limited tools. Aspiring filmmakers who are interested in making their own independent film should also check this one out, and who knows, some day they might find themselves following in Conran's footsteps.