Quantum Stumble: A HitFilm Community Collaborative Short Film
Yesterday (Saturday, February 27, 2021) during my weekly livestream, @solosamuraiwhatchef brought up the idea of creating a collaborative short film or trailer within the HitFilm community. The idea would be to start by creating a script, @DafterThings mentioned that he had a base script that he would be willing to provide for the cause. Then, volunteers from the HitFilm community would film, edit, and add VFX to their scene which would be all put together into a single short film project. Other people watching the livestream who expressed an interest in participating included @tddavis and @spydurhank.
Since it was Chris' idea, if he wants to take the lead, I would be happy to be involved. If Chris doesn't, I am happy to coordinate. Who would be interested in participating in something like this?
Comments
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I think it'd be really interesting not just to see what the community can come up with but how it would all work.
There was a suggestion that it be written so people could film their own scene separately and then have them all stitched together. The script I had in mind doesn't really suit that but I'd be happy to try and write something or contribute to a joint/team effort.
Maybe a scene in a control room, a scene with a pilot (perhaps a dog fight?), drop off an assassin/sniper on the ground (maybe a Halo jump?) and then the sniper taking out the target. Not particularly original but none of the characters would ever have to be in the same place.
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Sounds cool, if I could have stop motion in it I'm (most likely) in!
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I might be able to do a small VFX piece of it
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Maybe a scene in a control room, a scene with a pilot (perhaps a dog fight?), drop off an assassin/sniper on the ground (maybe a Halo jump?) and then the sniper taking out the target.
Sounds like a Call of Duty scene 😉
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In my head it was either ScI-Fi (which does allow a little more freedom on the FX) or CoD-a-like. 😀
Another idea is a connection of stories or some object or portal (Quantum Leap style) which jumps the view from one person to another. Just throwing these out there if the scenes are going to be created remotely.
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@DafterThings Like a multiverse?
Sci-Fi, Cod, or Quantum leap all sound good
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@DafterThings These sound like great ideas!
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I was thinking of a portal thingy ala Rick & Morty so a participant could film themselves doing something, open a portal and step in at the end of their clip then the next person steps out of the same portal effect (a shared asset) into a different location/ universe does their part the rinse repeat the portal thing. Gives everyone latitude to sort shape their own universe Star Wars/Star Trek/LOTR/Tardis whatever their bent is. But the other ideas are better.
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@tddavis That sounds cool too.
A protagonist going through different universes and struggling to get home.
The character changes in each one (multiverses) to hide that it's a stitched together story, the beginning scene person also does the ending scene when the protagonist gets home to show that that is it's homeworld.
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It sounds like a parody of the television show Quantum Leap may be a great way to make this happen. What do you guys think?
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I like it!
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I'm up for whatever
of the topic some of the stuff i've made are these
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... and it wouldn't matter if it was live action, CGI, stop motion or anything.
Dimension Rift is available in Express so that could be the common portal. The style of the rift wouldn't matter either so people can have a good play. The premise wouldn't have to be elaborate: Scientists have found a way to access the multiverse and send a willing volunteer knowing they won't look or sound the same after each jump. They know the multiverse forms a circle so, keep jumping, and you'll eventually end up back where you started. It then doesn't matter how many people want to create a scene/story.
Might need to think about continuity. Could just wing it or explain they won't remember previous jumps until they're finally back in the home world?
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@DafterThings Could we get that guy who scored your Batman film to score this?
We could call it something related to:
A. Getting back
B. The Multiverse/Portals
C. Just something that sounds cool
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@georgefilmltd Might steal from Tolkien and use 'There and Back Again: A Portal Adventure?"🤣
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@tddavis or rip off star wars and call it "Infinite Power" 😂
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Wasn't that Unlimited Power that Palpatine said when he started throwing lightning at Mace Windu?
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@tddavis Then I guess we have one option! :)
Should we use this forum to see who's in, then make a messaging group on the forum for this project?
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@georgefilmltd I think that is a good idea. I should probably put together some basic rules and then see who would be interested in participating.
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Sounds like I need to finish up the Quantum Leap "Leaping" effects I started on and never finished. The blue glow on the leaper is basic these days, as is the electrical arcs on the figure (heck we don't even have to freeze frame like the show), but getting the "vortex" correct - matching the back lighting animation - has been hard to get looking right.
(Incidentally I was working on this effect because I want to do a title sequence for a Doctor Who/Quantum Leap mashup. "TARDIS Leap."
"Theorizing it was possible to traverse Time and Relative Dimensions in Space within one's lifetime the Doctor stepped into the Tardis Leap accelerator...and vanished. He awoke..." *Skipping ahead * "His only companions, Susan, Ian, Barbara, Steven, Dodo, Polly...(increasingly long list of names). ..Yaz and Al..."
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@Triem23 I love it! 😁
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@Triem23 Yes, do finish that. While using a preset effect would be the most efficient way to use a shared asset for the portals, I think a custom effect put up on the cloud and a download link shared via DM would also work, and give a much more polished look to the piece. But I am good either way... and if someone wants to come up with a creative reason why the effect appears different in their piece that could work too. Like say, an anime universe.
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HitFilm Community Collaboration - Quantum Leap Parody Short Film
What are we doing?
As a cooperative community, we will create a collaborative short film that will be a parody of the American television show “Quantum Leap.” In this show, the main protagonist, a physicist, leaps through space-time during an experiment in time travel. He temporarily takes the place of other people to correct what he believes are historical mistakes before leaping into another person’s existence. It is his hope that every time he leaps, he will leap back home to where he started.
What we would like to do is get a group of volunteers to create (film, edit, add VFX, etc…) a finished segment that can be grouped together with other segments into one final short film. These segments can be set at any time, in any place, and be of any medium… i.e. live action, stop motion, cartoon animation, etc…. The story can be whatever a person would be interested in creating, as long as it is family friendly.
Terms, Conditions, and Details:
- Anyone who is interested in participating will be allowed to. If you are a minor, you must have your parent's permission.
- Completion Date is April 15, 2021.
- The themes, language, and general content must be family friendly. G or PG rated please!
- For the sake of brevity, there is a two minute time limit per segment. You can tell a whole story in two minutes!
- Don’t add any music. We will add music after the fact to tie the whole short film together.
- To make it simple for the participants, I will cut together the final short film, ordering the segments as best as possible and also creating the “leaping effect” using the first and last frame of each segment submitted. I will also create the first and last segments in order to tie everything together.
- Aspect ratio, resolution, and frame rate should be 1920x1080 (16:9) at 24 FPS
- At the beginning of your segment, the character leaping in should say, "Oh boy." This is in keeping with the original Quantum Leap Television show.
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Actually, that approach to have one person doing the portal effect on all clips is far more efficient than sharing an effect! Great idea.
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@FilmSensei Should we have a google form later on saying what dimension your scene takes place in? And if we have duplicates, just work it out with the two?
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This is a great idea! I'd love to do a segment in 2D animation (maybe even with the character arriving in 2D space?...). As to title, you could go with something "similar" to Quantum Leap like "Random State" or such.
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OK. I have something written. Not sure about the first and last frames though, Quantum Leap is something a little different from a portal/rift effect.
My opening frame is our man kneeling on the ground. My closing frame is him waving. Is that going to be OK Jay or should they enter and exit the scene as if they were coming through a portal?
<2min.45s at the moment though so will need some trimming>
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@DafterThings In the show Quantum Leap, at the beginning of any given episode, he materializes freeze frame style, and at the end he dematerializes frame frame style. So your beginning and ending are fine.
@apyorick That is a great idea for a segment, and also a great idea for a title.
@georgefilmltd I am thinking that there will not be enough participants to worry about duplicate stories, settings, etc, but if it gets too big, then maybe a short description might be in order.
Also, I think setting a standard aspect ratio would probably be in order. Should we go with a television (16:9) or movie (1.85:1) ratio? I think 1080 is the best resolution regardless.
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@FilmSensei Sounds good,
We could upscale it to 2k (after 1080 render) If uploaded on YouTube
