Azureus Rising

Azureus Rising is a proof of concept developed by the San Diego production company Black Sun Entertainment. We know very little about them other than the fact they created a pretty epic piece in hopes of fleshing it out into a feature film trilogy. Independently, I might add.

The basic premise thus far involves a “heroic freedom fighter” pitted against a mecha-scorpion. We aren’t entirely sure about his motivations but he definitely has some impressive talents navigating his way through the hyper futuristic metropolis he inhabits.

Motionographer’s Harm got a little bit more info from the director, David Weinstein, when he asked him about how much story can be crammed into 5 minutes. A note we pulled, as it turns out, from the Q&A from Black Sun Entertainment’s site and not from conversation with the director.

That’s the thing. With 5 minutes—how much story can you really get? I knew I could not get a emotional reaction with only 5 minutes of screen time. There’s no time to set up the characters so you feel like you can relate to them, and then watch how they handle and react to the events that unfold around them. For me story is about showing change. The change in a character—or the changes in the world and the hero’s impact on those transformations. So instead of trying to half ass my story into a 5 minute short film, I opt to make a exciting visual display of the world and the character in action.

The 5 minutes do fly by rather fast, but in a good way. We look forward to seeing more from Black Sun Entertainment and the budding saga of Azureus.

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About the author

Brian is a designer, drawer, director, and dad based in the perpetually weird city of Austin, Texas.

14 Comments

MrTsLuvChild

“I knew I could not get a emotional reaction with only 5 minutes of screen time.”

say whuuuuuuu?

there are hundreds of animated shorts and short films that would beg to differ. hell, there are 30 second commercials that have introduced characters and elicited a genuine emotional response.

the guys at Black Sun are obviously technically skilled, but i just feel like i’ve watched this scene a thousand times before. does the world really need another cyber ninja fighting brain-dead drones?

catsforsale

Its got some cool technical stuff, a few nicely composed shots, but the timing/anticipation leaves something to be desired. The guy drops and poses in is squat position every other shot….they should have just continued the action instead of pausing. I think it would have helped build the excitement a bit more.

Looks cool though.

Jens

well said MrTsLuvChild!!!

bicycleman

I thought it was tight! :) It is worth 5 starts!

mk

Wow, an independent CGI production, with videogame cut-scene quality graphics, that feels like it was created by 13 year olds with no sense of story and whose cultural literacy doesn’t extend beyond the world of gaming? Sounds like this could be the next Delgo!

federimanu

Reading these comments, you would think that you have an army of very accomplished Scorseses here. Its always so easy to sit back and talk smack. Its so easy being sarcastic and jaded when you haven’t accomplished anything, I cant believe that you actually took the time to sit down and write something to take down your fellow artist.. Disappointing, I am quite frankly so tired of this attitude. Lets evolve shall we ?

Moving forward,
MAD props for creating a very polished spot.
MAD props for actually getting people to believe in your concept and produce it.
MAD props on getting noticed.
Now you have proved you can execute. Polish all other areas of your story and congratulations on getting it out there.

ochyming

I am not much skilled, i am an amateur who dreams of making animated movies.

Artists DO create for artists believe it or not.
Artists do not expect others to tell them how good they are, they would know that.

Student works from Europe posted here are Way superior in all aspects.

Hyper realistic mimicry contradicts all the unrealistic Slow and Myopic Oppressors, killing this VideoGame galore!

pligface

I agree with all the mad props but I believe if you don’t have the skill to do something, you can still be a critic. I’m not the best actor, but I can tell when I watch a movie like Mega Shark vs. Giant Octopus that the acting is terrible. I don’t think people are talking smack, just making observations. It’s all constructive.

monovich

I can’t believe you just dissed Mega Shark vs. Giant Octopus.

vergani

You don’t have to be a baker to know how good is the bread. right?

gavsonline

Great technical skills, I hope u get a great writer to help u with story. U can get an emotional response in TVC ads so u can certainly do it within 5 minutes. Also less crouching I could not watch it all due to the repetition of action. But a great style to it! best of luck with the project looking good!

1angryDwarf

federimanu:
Right on target! This piece is way too kick-arse, to be slammed. Does anyone remember the 1980’s back when this would NOT have been possible? Or is everyone just too young in this blog? Great job Black Sun!

yellow

Totally blown away. Love the illustrative look. Feels like it may be appealing to a younger age than the motionographer viewer maybe? Impressive craftsmanship. Double like.

adam

looks great.can’t wait to watch the whole thing

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