The Calm

Release Date: June 2007
Directed & Written By: Akim Bischoff
Genre: Action / Sci-Fi / Thriller
Runtime: 23 mins

Plot Outline

One visitor came from the sky. Another came from the future. Tonight, LAPD Officer Ash Walker will end up fighting for his life, and it’s only a matter of time…

Credits

Directed & Written by: Akim Bischoff
Cast: Peter Nanejian

Behind-The-Scenes

The fan film was written and directed by Akim Bischoff. As a child, he was inspired by films like The Terminator and Conan the Barbarian. During his 20’s, his dream of being a filmmaker seemed unobtainable. It wasn’t until he got to 30, he felt he needed to do something and looked at his $300 camera and told himself to do something with that. He came up with a short film where people would care about the characters and chose to do one about Predator and Terminator. He wrote the script in three weeks, keeping in minds sets that would be accessible to him. He then got to work on storyboards and drew over 350 pieces of art. Every single shot in the fan film, Bischoff drew first to visualise it. Once the storyboards were complete, he worked on the costumes.

Biscoff’s cousin, Peter Nanejian, played all three characters in the fan film. Peter had previously starred in many of Bischoff’s amateur films he made as a child. Peter never pursued acting professionally but he always had an interest in acting. The fan film took about 70 hours to film and 80% of that time was scene prep. The Predator scenes took the most prep time. Every time Peter moved in the suit, the paint would crack and degrade. It was very hot inside the suit which was affecting the actor. Bischoff poured ice water down the suit to keep him cool and removed pieces of the Predator costume that weren’t in camera which allowed his body to breathe. The Terminator costume was much more comfortable for Peter to wear and the facial maintenance between takes was a lot more manageable. After filming was complete, Bischoff got to work on editing. Despite having storyboards, it was a lot of trial and error to get things right such as the score.

Review

Posted by The Ultimate Predator on June 23, 2007

A low budget Predator vs Terminator fan film, this was released on the internet on Monday 4th June, 2007. The fan film was created completely (yes, costumes, storyboards, directing – everything!) by Akim Bischoff, and all the acting was done by his cousin; Peter Nanejian.

The film starts with a man walking his dog in his garden when he sees what appears to him to be a falling star, which is what we know to be a Predator spaceship. He ignores it and goes back inside his house, where we see him eating, brushing his teeth etc. He starts to hear sounds, but again, he ignores them. However, when he is asleep, he wakes up at the sounds of more noise, and gets up, taking his gun with him. Suddenly the Predator attacks. Without giving away the exact details of this scene (it’s one of the best of the film), it ends with the Predator killing the LAPD officers. The Predator removes his skull and spine. Then, out of the blue (literally!), a Terminator attacks. A fight ensues, with what seems to be the Terminator’s demise. However, the Terminator’s system reboots, and he kills the Predator. Then, comes the massive twist at the end, which I found made the film really quite interesting.

This film could have been perfect. Two things, the darkness (it’s all in a dark blue hue) kind of ruins parts of the film. In fact, it’s probably one of its biggest pitfalls. The other problem, some of the scenes aren’t best directed, too many close-ups for an action film. This is ultimately what detracts it from being a 5 out of 5. What makes it great, is a brilliant storyline, a great script, cool acting, and really good costumes and effects. It’s highly enjoyable and well worth watching.

Rating:
(4/5)

Screenshots

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Download

 The Calm
The Calm Fan Film + Behind-The-Scenes
Watch the full fan film and there is a behind-the-scenes segment at the very end too.
Stream: YouTube
Download: Predator Dark Jungle Behind-The-Scenes (107.12MB) (2 downloads)
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