Russell! I think we ought to work on those last words!

Really enjoyed this Trey, good schlocky fun.  Congratulations on your first feature and the accolades that have followed!

Great work on this, guys! The inside scoop on the Asylum is priceless. I know you don't think so, but the effects shots were actually very impressive (altho I don't understand why Moby Dick didn't look anything like a sperm whale). It's silly not to allow time to edit the thing properly. I'd rather have weak effects and a decent structure (a la Hammer studios) than good-looking schlock. But a film with 4 parallel storylines in the third act smacks of Phantom Menace anyway, so the writer didn't do Trey any favors.

It's too bad the Asylum don't put a little more emphasis on quality, because audiences DO notice and the money WILL stop coming in. With just a pinch of care and all they talent at their disposal, they could produce something that actually hits with audiences and really does change the bottom line.

Film makers saw that with westerns, which were made by the wagon load in the 30s and 40s, and mostly stank. Then A-picture producers started making good ones, and the schlock was driven out (well, into sci fi, actually) in 50s.

Fun commentary guys. I remember the day in fond memory where Teague (and myself) almost got Trey thrown off set. Yay.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/zapanderss … 451912559/

As an intro do understand "Asylum" in preparation for this, I watched their "2012: Apocalypse". And holy frigging crapola. Trey, your movie is Oscar material in comparision. And so are your effects

Btw, does anyone know if Asylum had anything to do with "Shark Attack 3: Megalodon", my favourite so-bad-it's-hilarious-fun movie

/Z

Last edited by MasterZap (2010-11-29 10:50:02)

I'm curious, just how much money do Asylum make off of their films? They must make enough to keep it going obviously (and buy them nice cars) but I just don't get it... who is spending money on these movies? They're bargain bin DVDs so they can't be making that much money off of DVD sales and there surely can't be that many people buying them?

What budget do Asylum films usually have?

Nice commentary. I was a bit surprised by how insistent the US Navy is on having their sailors working in near-dark conditions. There's one scene that takes place in an office during the daytime that's so underlit it must be some form of training.

Wow, I have lost a lot of weight. Ho-lee shit.

I dunno if Asylum normally reveals their budgets (and I probably gave away too many of their in-house secrets in the commentary as it is) so I won't specifically answer that.

I will say that if your guess at Moby's budget ends in the word "million" then your guess is way too high.

Which probably answers your question - their budgets are amazingly low, so low that DVD sales actually can reap a profit.  And if a particular movie gets picked up by Syfy or something, even better for them.

Don't mean to put you on the spot there.

I've got to give it to them, they don't let a lack of money affect  their ambition. On the other hand, that's probably the greatest flaw of all their movies. Usually you don't try to make a monster movie about a giant whale smashing cruise liners, submarines and helicopters on a shoestring budget. Usually, you play to your weaknesses rather than try to compete with those who do have the money. It seems almost every one of Asylum's movies is a special effects extravanga wannabe and yet that's precisely the type of movie that needs a bigger budget.  They feature almost hundred CGI SFX shots, which are the most difficult to get right. The best effect of the whole movie was the sliced off limb at the beginning.

Wow. Having heard all the limitations on production, i can't wait to see it. Seems to me more time should've been put into writing, isn't that the cheapest phase?

Makes you realize how much they can get done today on PCs. Get someone like Trey to direct and do half the vfx, and you're in business. It's interesting to compare to let's say Blade Runner, where a guy had to learn to paint mattes in wrong colours to save a generation of film later on, plus all the other people needed.

I wonder what sf/action movies will be like in 2040? (I mean other than: "Shit, i gotta get Star Wars on Flabberdi-Ray 4D, now? I already have it in 5 other formats.")

Teague drove 65mph around that place? OMG!

I DROVE 25 IN A 20, ON A ROAD AROUND THE PLACE

I WILL NOT LET YOU PEOPLE REWRITE HISTORY

Too late. We have already painted you out of the May Day parade photos in Red Square. And in the photos where you were posing with Yuri Gagarin at the Cosmodrome, we have replaced you with a chimp in a space suit.