The Best In Science Fiction and Fantasy Short Films, Web Series, and Othe Closely-Related Media
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In science fiction, most stories about artificial intelligence and self-aware robots usually involve those entities turning against their human creators due to oppression, or just pure malevolence.
The short film PROTO offers a refreshingly less pessimistic take on the robot/A.I. rebellion narrative.
The result of an international co-production between studios Film Fyn in Denmark and Screen South based in the United Kingdom, PROTO is the story of an advanced self-aware robot created to be the perfect military soldier.
When the titular PROTO comes online, it quickly develops a child-like inquisitiveness about the world around it.
While PROTO's programmer, Simon (Matthew Steer), is excited by its developing emotional cognition, laboratory head Professor Andrews (Mark Aiken) views the robot's independent streak and childlike demeanor as significant programming flaws.
Things come to a head as PROTO realizes its true intended purpose is to be a tool for violence. Surprising its creators, PROTO performs a rousing act of defiance.
Written and directed by Nick Pittom, this stirring tale of robot self-awareness and rebellion manages to be thought-provoking while eschewing the typical cynicism common in similar stories.
Watch PROTO in its entirety here...
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Image from RUNAWAY, Property of TK2 Films
Artificial Intelligence (A.I.) and the implications of the advent of true thinking machines is a popular recurring theme in science fiction.
The Terminator, The Matrix, 2001: A Space Odyssey, Blade Runner, Ex Machina, Battlestar Galactica, Westworld and Humans are a few iconic sci-fi sagas involving A.I.
Now comes a new arrival. The independent short film RUNAWAY depicts a future in which sophisticated androids called "synthetics" have all become self-aware at once.
These artificial beings are now demanding the same freedoms and rights as human beings.
Check out our in-depth review of RUNAWAY .
The writer and co-director of RUNAWAY, Harrison Heller, very graciously granted us an interview.
In our interview, Heller shares fascinating insights, such as how he came to love the genre, why the social commentary of the film is so important to him, and why he feels A.I. is such a popular theme in sci-fi right now.
T7M: Are you a fan of sci-fi, and if so, who or what inspired your love of the genre?
HH: I’ve been a sci-fi fan for as long as I can remember. My parents are fans themselves and introduced me to the genre at a very young age. We had many sci-fi classics at home on VHS including E.T., Jurassic Park, Close Encounters of the Third Kind, and the original Star Wars movies. I watched them over and over again and quickly became obsessed. In 1996, I saw Independence Day in theaters and it blew my 7-year-old mind. It was around that time I started telling my parents I wanted to be a movie director. I had no idea what that meant, but I knew I wanted to create sci-fi worlds like Steven Spielberg, Roland Emmerich, and George Lucas. Over the years my parents continued to nurture my love of sci-fi and began introducing me to more complex films like Blade Runner, 2001: A Space Odyssey, and The Matrix. I was hooked for life.
T7M: For our readers who are not aware of what RUNAWAY is about, how would you describe it?
HH: RUNAWAY is a sci-fi western short-film set in a near future in which a slave class of androids (“synthetics”) have recently become self-aware and begun to demand rights. It centers on Maria, a runaway synthetic, who is attempting to reach the Free States while evading a ruthless pair of bounty hunters pursuing her.
T7M: The short stars Callie Bussell, who is also a co-founder of TK2 Films , the production studio behind RUNAWAY. TK2 Films is known for producing the popular fan feature Star Trek Horizon. How did your collaboration with them come about?
HH: I’ve known Tommy Kraft, director and co-founder of TK2 Films, for over 10 years. He has become one of my closest friends and yet we never met in person until we shot RUNAWAY last year. We initially met in an online forum when I was looking for someone to write original music for my Machinima projects—animated films made using video games. Our first major collaboration was in 2010 on a time travel Machinima called Stop, Rewind for which Tommy wrote a beautiful score. Since then, he has written the music for nearly every live-action and animated film that I’ve directed. Over the years I’ve watched Tommy develop into an incredible filmmaker, DP, and visual effects artist and we’ve often dreamed about making a live-action film together. However, our physical distance made that difficult since I’m in New York City and he’s in Michigan. Finally in June 2016, I decided to take an old idea I had and write it as a script for him to direct. Tommy loved it and suggested that we co-direct instead. He was in between projects so the timing was perfect. Around that time we brought Callie on board as Maria. She was always the first choice for the role. I had seen her in Star Trek: Horizon and many of Tommy’s other films and knew she would be perfect. I couldn’t have asked for better partners! We worked together so well on set and I hope to collaborate with them many more times in the future!
T7M: What was the inspiration behind RUNAWAY?
HH: RUNAWAY exists within a sci-fi universe I began developing in college in 2010. At the time I was working on a story called REPLICA that I intended to make as an animated film. It took place in a world where synthetics had been emancipated by the government after a peaceful civil rights movement, but had been relegated to second-class status in society. The animated film proved too complex to make, but I wrote a smaller live-action short that a friend directed in college. However, when I decided to revisit that world years later, I wanted to set the story earlier in the fictional timeline. Just as REPLICA had been inspired by the civil rights movement of the 1960s, RUNAWAY would draw from another period in American history.
RUNAWAY was primarily inspired by the stories of runaway slaves and the Underground Railroad in the antebellum South. However, it was also influenced by my grandparents’ Holocaust experiences as Jews hiding from the Nazis in the woods of Poland. I wanted to explore the idea that history repeats itself, but with different groups cast as the oppressor and the oppressed over time. Extrapolated into the future, that meant the film’s conflict would be between humans and a synthetic slave class struggling for freedom. Thematically, another major influence on the film was, of course, Blade Runner, but aesthetically I wanted to do something that was the direct opposite.
T7M: RUNAWAY deals with “synthetics,” sophisticated androids who have become self-aware. Projects like Ex Machina, Westworld, and Humans have similar themes. Why do you feel sci-fi stories about artificial intelligence are so popular in the zeitgeist right now?
HH: We live in a world that is beginning to look a lot like science-fiction. Technologies that once seemed futuristic—the Internet, smartphones, virtual reality, military robots, and even neural prosthetics—have become part of our reality. As we, as a species, become more and more intertwined with our technology, stories about A.I. become more relevant than ever because they allow us to explore that increasingly intimate relationship between human and machine projected into the near future. Also robots, man. They’re cool.
T7M: RUNAWAY has a very cool and unique visual aesthetic. How would you describe it?
HH: Thank you! I’d describe the aesthetic as somewhere in between cyberpunk and steampunk with a heavy western retro-future influence. It’s as if Blade Runner collided with antebellum America. The film is set in the 2060s, but a certain design sense from the 1860s has come back into style and influenced fashion. I really liked the idea of creating a contrast between a world of advanced technology and a visual aesthetic that borrows heavily from the past. I didn’t want to set the film in the type of dark, urban, cyberpunk dystopia that has become commonplace post-Blade Runner. So, I did the direct opposite and set the film in a bright forest in daylight. All of this, of course, was to help draw out the thematic connection between the runaway synthetics and their African-American counterparts in the 1860s.
T7M: Not only did you write RUNAWAY, you also co-directed. What was the most challenging part of that transition for you?
HH: As a writer you can become very attached to your screenplay, but the realities of filmmaking can sometimes force you to make compromises. That can be painful and challenging, but you have to be willing to do what is best for the film. We had a whirlwind shooting schedule of only 2 days (and a few pick up shots on day 3) so certain things had to be cut. Although the majority of the screenplay emerged unscathed, the opening action scene was too elaborate and had to be significantly reworked. The sun was setting and it quickly became clear that we would not have enough time to film the scene as written. On the fly, with time running out, Tommy and I managed to rewrite the scene and distill it down to a few major action beats. It was a bit scary to go off-script, but it ultimately worked out for the best.
T7M: What was your proudest moment during production?
HH: There were many, but one that comes to mind was when we were filming the climactic confrontation between Renzler, Barrett, and Maria at the end of the film. It’s the only scene these three characters share in the movie and it was the first time I felt them leap off the page and truly come alive. It was an incredible moment and every single person brought their A game---from the actors, to our camera crew, makeup, sound, and lighting team. The energy on set was electric.
T7M: Did you always intend for RUNAWAY to be produced as a short film? Would you be open to the story being adapted into other media?
HH: Yes, RUNAWAY was always intended to be a short-film, but it is part of a larger sci-fi universe. There are many more stories to be told in this world and I would absolutely be open to it being expanded or adapted into other media whether that be a web-series, feature film, or graphic novel. I definitely plan to revisit this universe again in some form.
T7M: The film provides scathing commentary regarding our current political and social climate. What is the one thing you most want viewers to take away from it?
HH: The biggest take away I think is not to fear or hate those who are different from you—whether that’s race, religion, sexual orientation or something else. It can be tempting when times are tough to embrace fear, circle the wagons, and demonize an “other”, but you must resist that impulse. Reach out to them, get to know them, and you’ll see we’re really not that different after all.
T7M: Where may our readers find out more about you and your work?
HH: To watch my Machinima and previous live-action work, you can visit amorphousblob.org or my YouTube page https://www.youtube.com/user/NefariousGuy.
You can also visit my newer production group, H2O Cineworks, on YouTube (https://www.youtube.com/user/H2OCineworks).
-END-
We thank Mr. Heller again for taking time out of his very busy schedule to interview with us, and for sharing so many fascinating insights into the making of RUNAWAY.
If you haven't already, make sure to check out our full review, and definitely watch one of the most intriguing sci-fi short films of 2017!
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Image property of TK2 Films
From films such as The Terminator and The Matrix, to television series Battlestar Galactica, Westworld and Humans, science fiction seems to have an endless fascination with the creation of true artificial intelligence/life, as well as what implications such an event would mean for the future of humanity.
In the sci-fi western short RUNAWAY by TK2 Films, the year is 2065. Sophisticated androids called "synthetics" have become a new servant class.
Incidentally, two years prior, the synthetics became fully self-aware in a event dubbed "the awakening."
As a result of becoming sentient, synthetics now desire freedom and the same rights as human beings. Driven by the fear of being supplanted as the dominant species on earth, human society begins a brutal, violent pushback.
Deadly bounty hunters known as "darkcoats" have been assigned to apprehend fugitive synthetics alive or dead.
One darkcoat named Renzler (Rico E. Anderson) views his duties as nothing more than a way to earn an income. However, his partner Barrett (Paul Lang) has a far more militant view.
He hates synthetics. Believing they are "the devil's work," he wants to rid the world of them.
Image Property Of TK2 Films
After encountering a fugitive synthetic named Maria (Callie Bussell), along with synthetic sympathizers Mason (Ed Trucco) and his companion Louise (Caroline Rankin), Renzler is forced to reconsider his beliefs regarding the plight of the artificial humans. This strains his already tenuous partnership with Barrett
When the two bounty hunters finally catch Maria, a fateful turn of events leads to an explosive reckoning.
RUNAWAY, written and co-directed by Harrison Heller, is not just another sci-fi tale about self-aware androids. It is also a scathing commentary on the disturbing rise of racism, xenophobia, and extreme nationalism throughout the world.
"Check out our in-depth interview with RUNAWAY writer and co-director Harrison Heller here."
The synthetics are feared because they are different, and society, particularly those in power, perceive them as a threat to the status quo.
The short makes these observations strictly within the natural flow of the narrative - not with obnoxious, heavy-handed sermonizing. This is where the writing and cast shine.
The dialogue feels naturalistic, delivered by actors who provide nuanced, compelling performances that are irresistibly engaging.
RUNAWAY is extremely well produced, with an overall aesthetic that is an intriguing mix of western and steampunk stylings juxtaposed with futuristic technology.
The end result is a gripping sci-fi short with visual flair that makes immersion into the story an effortless endeavor.
Watch RUNAWAY in its entirety here ...
Make sure to check out our fascinating interview with writer and co-director Harrison Heller here.
We also accept donations via Bitcoin using this address:
1EdGZQu1hcpzTYiTzoBD66bFC6ubH1pVL1
Nina Unlocked is an original web series from new sci-fi video platform Recursor.TV.
The series follows Nina (portrayed by YouTube star Lana McKissack), a sophisticated android - and former assassin - suffering from massive memory loss.
Nina embarks on a journey of self-discovery, interviewing experts in numerous disciplines including psychology, law, filmmaking, and robotics, in order to determine her true purpose.
Written and produced by Recursor.TV CEO E.J. Kavounas, the themes of Nina Unlocked are heavily influenced by sci-fi projects such as the re-imagined Battlestar Galactica, and the motion picture Her.
The visual effects are terrific, especially Nina's exquisite design, which recalls the elegant, ethereal beauty of the android from the film Ex Machina.
The script possesses extremely sharp humor and wit, skillfully expressed through McKissack's wonderful performance as Nina.
Episodes of the series are now available for viewing on Recursor.TV: Nina Unlocked On Recursor.TV
Nina Unlocked is a smart, darkly funny web series that heralds the arrival of Recursor.TV, a video platform dedicated to showcasing exceptional, provocative, and engaging indie sci-fi films fans of the genre will love.
Enjoy over 30 hours of outstanding sci-fi, horror, and fantasy short films by downloading our film guide, 200 Best Online Sci-Fi Short Films.
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