I’m actually surprised this hasn’t happened sooner, but apparently a web series is being created where the CGI effects are being outsourced, or “crowd sourced” as it’s called, in exchange for getting your effects work shown.
With so much labor being crowd sourced in the world, I’m not surprised, and with the economy in the crapper, I could also see people working for free in exchange for their big break in the biz, or at least they hope.
Wired just did a story on The New Kind web series, a project where a team of striving CGI artists are working for free, and are being trained by talented CGI people who worked on Star Wars and Avatar as well.
This also isn’t a surprise because the technology is easier to get your hands on than ever.
As Peter Hyoguchi, the mastermind behind The New Kind told Wired, “Somebody in Malaysia or Greece who lives in their mom’s basement can now create visual effects with a $2,000 computer and a $3,000 software license that’s on par, or even superior to, what you would have seen in Jurassic Park. If you know how to find them, there’s a glut of visual effects artists out there.”
A lot of times in Hollywood you have to start out for free, or little to no money to get your big break, but it could lead to your big break, so you’ll do it. Having seen the pre-production art and the teaser, Wired feels that Hyoguchi “may be on to something big.” And this project is being made on “a super-cheap production model that costs nearly nothing to implement.” Like the low budget drive in days, this project is apparently being done on deferment, where the money will come in later if it’s a hit.
Hyoguchi is raising money for the series by charging a buck for the sneak previews, and he told world he probably raised $1 million since The New Kind started up last year. The big names involved are art director Christopher Evans, who worked on Star Wars and Alice in Wonderland, M. Alexandar Weller (FX artist for Hugo), Devorah Petty (Matrix texture artist), Reuben Langdon (Avatar motion capture producer), Fon Davis (ILM model maker), and more, all working together with unknowns to create this show.
There are many hoping that if the next revolution in storytelling comes, it will be on the smaller screen, and maybe The New Kind could be it. If it’s done this low budget, and can make a ton of money, and put the power of production and the profits back in the hands of the artists, Hollywood may never be the same again.
