Neill Blomkamp uses YouTube, Twitter, Steam to fuel new sci-fi series
There's a new sci-fi series out that's must-view material, but it's not the new season of Black Mirror. This one is from none other than film director Neill Blomkamp (District 9, Elysium, Chappie).
Launched on YouTube under the name Oats Studios, the series of 20-minute films takes us on trips through alternate realities featuring invading aliens, rogue parasites, tech-powered jungle myths, and even god itself controlling the fate of mankind with laboratory-style experimentation.
The latest, titled Zygote, launched on Wednesday and stars Dakota Fanning (War of the Worlds, Man on Fire, Twilight Saga) in a terrifying short that has her fighting for her life in a deserted outpost against a creature whose screams will haunt your nightmares. Another episode in the series, called Rakka, stars Sigourney Weaver leading a revolt against an alien horde attempting to enslave the entire planet.
Two things stand out about each short: The writing and acting immediately make you care about the characters, despite the short running time; and the special effects are convincing enough to be worthy of any major Hollywood sci-fi production.
The shorts are available for free on YouTube, and Blomkamp is hoping to fund the next batch of shorts by selling assets and extra features from the productions on Steam. You can get things like downloadable 3D models of the creatures in the shorts, allowing you to 3D print them for your own use.
According to Blomkamp, part of the goal with Oats Studios is to use funding from fans to "eventually [produce] full-scale feature films and series from the titles that we create."
On Friday, Blomkamp used a Twitter poll to find out which short film fans want to see turned into a full-length movie.
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So far, it's a tight race, with Rakka barely in the lead, but if you'd rather see the studio develop one of the other shorts, there's still time to weigh in on Twitter.
