The Fanimatrix
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| The Fanimatrix | |
|---|---|
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| Directed by | Rajneel Singh |
| Produced by | Steven A. Davis Rajneel Singh |
| Written by | Steven A. Davis Rajneel Singh |
| Starring | Steven A. Davis Farrah Lipsham Fasitua Amosa Vaughan Beckley |
| Music by | Don Davis |
| Cinematography | Rajneel Singh |
| Editing by | Rajneel Singh |
| Distributed by | Plutonian Shore Productions, Absolute O Productions |
| Release date(s) | September 27, 2003 |
| Running time | 16 min. |
| Language | English |
| Budget | $500US |
| IMDb profile | |
The Fanimatrix (full title The Fanimatrix: Run Program) is a science fiction/action fan film based on The Matrix, released on the Internet on September 27, 2003, written and directed by Steven A. Davis and Rajneel Singh. It stars Steven A. Davis, Farrah Lipsham, Fasitua Amosa, and Vaughan Beckley. Its name is a deliberate pun using the title The Animatrix and the term fan film. Hence it is a live-action, fan-made version of The Animatrix.
It was featured prominently on Slashdot.org, garnering the film's website with nearly 3 million hits during the first 5 days (with 70,000 downloads in that same period), and is also remembered for being an early contributor to the popularity of the BitTorrent file-distribution system.
With an estimated 1 million downloads since 2003, it is arguably New Zealand's most widely seen short film.
The short film is set within the Matrix universe, shortly before the discovery of The One (in The Matrix feature film). It tells a story of two rebels, Dante and Medusa, operating out of a ship called the Descartes and of their fateful mission onto the virtual reality prison world that is the Matrix.
The Fanimatrix was filmed in New Zealand. The producers note:
"The film was produced for the intention of developing filmmaking craft and expressing our passion for "The Matrix" saga as well as conveying our gratitude to the persons, studios and companies responsible for its creation."
With an estimated budget of $800NZ ($500US), most of which spent on wardrobe and props, the fan film was shot on a single CCD Sony camcorder on DV tape. Utilizing guerilla filmmaking techniques, the film-makers worked over the course of 9 nights to finish the project. The notable fight sequences were choreographed using the same martial arts system (Wushu) as used in the feature films. Several members of the local stunt industry assisted in the fight sequences and wire-work. The final product was edited on Adobe Premiere Pro non-linear offline video editing software and premiered online on September 27th, 2003, freely hosted by local internet service provider IHUG.
The success of the film garnered the makers with international attention and they featured in news stories in the national paper - The New Zealand Herald - and on Television New Zealand's ONE News.
The Fanimatrix was also the subject (along with many other fan films) of an unreleased documentary on The Matrix series affectations on popular culture. The documentary was originally slated to be released in the The Ultimate Matrix Collection, but was not included due to space limitations, and remains unreleased to this day.
[edit] Notes and references
- The Matrix Re-done By Fans on Slashdot
- The Fanimatrix on Gadgetopia
[edit] External links
- Download The Fanimatrix: Run Program Mirror Host
- The Fanimatrix at the Internet Movie Database
- Official website (defunct)
- Fanimatrix on Internet Archive Wayback Machine
- The Fanimatrix: Run Program on fanfilms.net
- Viewers rush for net flick by Richard Pamatatau on The New Zealand Herald
