I've just seen footage of a movie you've never heard of but, if it is a financial success, could be a game changer for the term "independent cinema."
The Strause Brothers, who made Aliens vs. Predator: Requiem and also run the top level special effects house Hydraulx (they've done everything you've loved this decade), have self-financed a popcorn movie and shot it with their own cameras at their own home studio. It is called Skyline and the very short trailer shows tremendous promise.
Citing Paranormal Activity as a catalyst to "just shoot at home," the story looks like a marriage of Cloverfield meets Battle: Los Angeles.
We open with a group of slick party friends having a good time drinking champagne in the Hollywood Hills. In the middle of the night, blue light shines through the windows. Our characters wake up and discover blue glow-y spheres over the city of Los Angeles. It is soon clear: the aliens are invading!
The trailer zips by at a quick pace - the friends shout and try to figure out how to survive, similar to the group from New York on 1-18-08.
We see two types of ships. The giant mother ships look 50% mechanical and 50% organic. There are smaller ships buzzing around the bigger ones that also look partially organic and have freaky blue lights. In brief flashes we see giant stomping aliens that have this same unique look: mechanical, organic and spotted with blue circles of light. Even though we only saw flashes, they look pretty cool.
The trailer was followed up by a short sequence where two of our leads witness the reveal of the ships over Los Angeles from atop a parking lot. The ships lower themselves over the city, drop blue spheres that create vortices that suck up buildings and people. Our guys realize that - yikes - the ships are coming for them! They race to get back downstairs but the metal doors are locked. They try to shoot the door open but they can't. Finally, a hot chick opens the door, but at the same time an alien blue light shines on them and their skin turns. . . .into a tattoo? As their skin burns into some sort of discernible pattern all over their face and arms. . .and that's all we saw.
I guess if you own all the latest tech and have the space at your pad for a giant green screen, you can shoot whatever you like. If it is good (or marketable), a studio will pick it up for distribution. Universal's risk is low for Skyline, but if it is good (and it makes dough) it could be a reference point for genre films for some time.
