Topic: Rocket Ship Epsilon Theta 9 - In Martia's clutches

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Rocket Ship Epsilon Theta 9 - In Martia's clutches

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A new episode of the series "Rocket Ship Epsilon Theta 9", in which our heroes set out to save the President of the Earth.

The short film pays homage to the early science fiction films and series of the 20s and 30s such as Metropolis, Buck Rogers and Flash Gordon.

My entry to Steinerei 2018 (German Brickfilm Festival) with topic "simply heroic"

Last edited by S. Brickbuilder (May 27, 2018 (04:10am))

Re: Rocket Ship Epsilon Theta 9 - In Martia's clutches

Total Fritz Lang vibe here. Excellent work. You've really captured the feel of those early German Expressionist films and also the matinee serials that followed. The Saint Saens symphony is an excellent music choice. I also really loved the set designs, especially the base of the rocket ship. Watch out for screen direction, especially in the monorail sequence. Also redressing the set to portray different areas of the monorail is a good idea but didn't change enough. Still an excellent synthesis of this classic style. I can't wait to see what you come up with next. Are you entering BRAWL?

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Re: Rocket Ship Epsilon Theta 9 - In Martia's clutches

Hey, thank you so much for your comment. mini/bigsmile

If I have the time then, I will participate the BRAWL. mini/smile

Re: Rocket Ship Epsilon Theta 9 - In Martia's clutches

You really pulled off the classic Space Serial feel, with the music and the tone. Even the sets are designed in the style of those old sci-fi films. This is a really creative film, and I think you succeeded in what you wanted to accomplish pretty well. I have not seen any of the previous episodes in the series, but I'll definitely check them out.

I really like your use of practical effects, especially the lightning effect near the end, and the animation was good.

The shot at 1:55 felt a little too long for me, but I'm not sure if that might not have actually been intentional, as a lot of old films in the style that you are replicating did tend to have long shots like that.

Spoiler (click to read)

Also I really love how easily they took down the martian, by simply tapping on his head mini/bigsmile

As I stated earlier, I really like your set design. My only critique on the sets is when they're on the mine cart thing, and you only rearrange a couple of bricks to convey that it's another shot. I feel like maybe you could have done with changing the set up a bit, just to make it a little clear, or perhaps moving the position of the camera.

Overall, though, this is great. I really enjoyed it. It's a great homage to the old classic sci-fi movies!

Re: Rocket Ship Epsilon Theta 9 - In Martia's clutches

Yes, the lightning effect was fantastic and worked really well! I forgot to mention that.
Were there previous episodes? I assumed you were going for the serial film effect in showing the setup that hadn't ever really been made...

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Re: Rocket Ship Epsilon Theta 9 - In Martia's clutches

Fantastic work! The film does an excellent job at emulating the style of a classic black-and-white science fantasy. My favorite part is when the heroes land on Mars and take out the martian thug in one hit -- it reminds me so much of old 70's shows where the good guys could knock anyone unconscious with a single punch. mini/tongue

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Re: Rocket Ship Epsilon Theta 9 - In Martia's clutches

thistof wrote:

... Were there previous episodes? I assumed you were going for the serial film effect in showing the setup that hadn't ever really been made...

Hello,
no, there are no previous episodes right now. I used this kind of story telling, because there was a limit in time of 6:30 minutes in the contest I made the film for. So I quick told what happened before to save time. mini/wink
But I wish to produce more episodes.

Re: Rocket Ship Epsilon Theta 9 - In Martia's clutches

Pongowl wrote:

... My favorite part is when the heroes land on Mars and take out the martian thug in one hit -- it reminds me so much of old 70's shows where the good guys could knock anyone unconscious with a single punch. mini/tongue

Hello,
thank you very much mini/smile
You got it right mini/bigsmile  I thought of Cpt. Kirk with his legendary shoulder punch to knock the villain out, when I created the scene. mini/bigsmile

Re: Rocket Ship Epsilon Theta 9 - In Martia's clutches

William Osborne wrote:

... My only critique on the sets is when they're on the mine cart thing, and you only rearrange a couple of bricks to convey that it's another shot. I feel like maybe you could have done with changing the set up a bit, just to make it a little clear, or perhaps moving the position of the camera...

Hello,
thank you so much mini/smile
The changes are indeed not enough. I tried to make it minimalistic, to show the efforts of the old production to save money by using the same set again and again. By the way, the rock wall behind in every shot is always the same configuration. only the foreground changes to create new places on Mars. The only time I changed the wall is when I put "Maria" in the background in remembering Fritz Lang's Metropolis.

Re: Rocket Ship Epsilon Theta 9 - In Martia's clutches

S. Brickbuilder wrote:

I tried to make it minimalistic, to show the efforts of the old production to save money by using the same set again and again.

Ah, I also thought it wasn't changed enough, but I get now that you intentionally made it obvious, like the kind of low budget set reuses that would have been in those old shows. Nice work.

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