Not sure if this has a forum post already, but I happened across a trailer for this new Australia produced Alien fan film set in WWI.
The narration in the trailer is pretty bad, but everything else looks like it has some decent production and xeno suits/effects behind it. The WWI/WWII setting has been a pretty popular idea for Predator, but I don't think I've seen it proposed for Alien, which is interesting.
Looks impressive! Although I would have thought this setting is more fitting for a Predator (fan) film.
The xeno suit, they look like they came out of the movies themselves or at least that's what I thought.
They're from a very popular suit kit that's been online for years.
Terrible trailer (how many times do they need to get the gas?) but I'm keen to see it.
This look cool, does anybody know what became of the short film Alien Identity. Some fan's film centred on an older version of the Newt character. It supposedly was given the cease and desists treatment by 20th century fox for being to similar to the then developed Neill Blomkamp project, the maker of the fan film says that drastically altered what he was making as to it not infringe on Alien, that was years ago.
Quote from: Wweyland on Dec 07, 2023, 10:54:08 PMLooks impressive! Although I would have thought this setting is more fitting for a Predator (fan) film.
I definitely agree. There was even a comic called the Bloody Sands Of Time that had a predator in the trenches of WWI.
Quite cool, I think.
I wish they involved the Predators in this fan film...you know, there is a fan made poster (made for the expected sequel for Prey; link below) with the same title, 'No man land'. It would explain, how got the aliens in Turkey at the time of WW1.
https://mydystopianlife.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/10/prey.jpg
Very harsh to say it's terrible for a fan trailer. In that context the film quality, lighting, scale etc are all very impressive for a non-studio production. I don't think it's fair to hold it up to something like Covenant or Prey as I'd assume this was done on a fan budget. Praise to the folk who put the time, effort, dedication and money into this project and I for one really look forward to seeing the finished article!
This must be an alien that was brought by a predator or decends from an avp alien?
Yeah, the voice-over's flow didn't feel authentic.
The aliens looked good and it looks like a lot of work was poured into this.
Quote from: Bonus Situation on Dec 08, 2023, 03:18:37 PMVery harsh to say it's terrible for a fan trailer. In that context the film quality, lighting, scale etc are all very impressive for a non-studio production. I don't think it's fair to hold it up to something like Covenant or Prey as I'd assume this was done on a fan budget. Praise to the folk who put the time, effort, dedication and money into this project and I for one really look forward to seeing the finished article!
I mean the trailer itself is poorly edited. Drop the voiceover and tighten it up by about 30 seconds and it would be a lot better (we really don't need people saying "get the XYZ" multiple times in a row, it's a trailer)
The production itself looks very impressive for a fan film.
Well this was a surprise! Yeah, the perplexing era, editing for the trailer and the voiceover were meh but those are the only minor things that seemed out of place. The rest looks PHENOMENAL! The production looks great for a fan film, the great direction for the Alien to be in the mist and shadows, but even when it's fully visible, it's so glossy and dark and looks perfect for a fan film. I know there are detailed costumes, but without good lighting, camera direction and tweaks to the costume, it doesn't look anywhere near as this good. Can't wait for it to be released!
Definitely feels more suited to Predator than Alien.
Brave decision, keep it up!
Considering that you can stage fan films completely separate from the actual canon of the originals, it doesn't matter whether the setting would have been better suited to Predator.
I want to see xenos so that's fine.
There were already aliens in the comics in the Middle Ages, long before Predator Dark Ages.
Hordes of xenos against the soldiers,
I can live with that in a fan film.
I think you can conjure up a great action scenario here.
The trailer looks great and I'm excited to see the end result.
Nothing about the trailer justifies the Alien being in it to me, it looks like WWI docudrama footage jarringly intercut with xenomorph footage
The full fan film is released on YouTube!
Spoiler
I checked it out and, while it has flaws for sure, it's overall very solid for a fan film imo!
it started like the THING ;D
i will watch it tonight
Not counting the officially sponsored 40th short fan films, this may be the best one to date. Even better than some of the shorts. Of course, not perfect, far from it. But was surprised really well. A lot better than I thought it was going to be. The suits look nice in most of the shots, and even though the acting was sometimes over the top, they were all charming and engaging. There were lovely acting moments from everyone. They need to do this, but with Predator as well.
A really cool fan film. A lot of good things about it. Yeah it's a weird thing timeline wise, but look at it as just a fun thought exercise. Love how well the actors sold the desperation of the situation. Some of the lighting shots were superb. This makes me want a future scene from shows, games or movies where marines/mercs get ambushed by Xenos in trenches. Would work well.
I recommend every fan watch this. We should support such an obvious effort.
Quote from: Still Collating... on Feb 24, 2024, 11:32:18 PMNot counting the officially sponsored 40th short fan films, this may be the best one to date. Even better than some of the shorts. Of course, not perfect, far from it. But was surprised really well. A lot better than I thought it was going to be. The suits look nice in most of the shots, and even though the acting was sometimes over the top, they were all charming and engaging. There were lovely acting moments from everyone. They need to do this, but with Predator as well.
A really cool fan film. A lot of good things about it. Yeah it's a weird thing timeline wise, but look at it as just a fun thought exercise. Love how well the actors sold the desperation of the situation. Some of the lighting shots were superb. This makes me want a future scene from shows, games or movies where marines/mercs get ambushed by Xenos in trenches. Would work well.
I recommend every fan watch this. We should support such an obvious effort.
Very much in agreement!
I also feel like this stands toe to toe with, if not slightly above, some of the 40th shorts. At least in terms of entertainment.
Definitely has some flaws, but for a fan film it's very forgivable, and respectable. Good cinematography, good costumes, some decent writing and dialogue, a good pace that keeps the tension/action ramping. The trenches of WWI setting seems more suited for Predator but that also makes me give them extra points for thinking outside the box and trying something very different for Alien.
This may be one of the best Alien fan films now.
Thanks for sharing, will watch soon
I saw it last night and thought it was extremely good in terms of the setting and acting.
Showing the aliens in daylight was a brave decision because we know that this makes them even more difficult to believable.
At the same time, the portrayal of the aliens was a bit of a weak point.
This was somewhat concealed with hectic cuts, which is of course absolutely fine for a fan film.
The spaceship at the beginning was more reminiscent of The Thing and gives you a wrong impression at the beginning due to the actually poorer CGI quality.
Everything that comes after that actually turned out really well for a fan film.
I liked the many small details and cross-references to the originals.
Almost all of the actors delivered very good performances.
The background music was also good. Camera work was great, almost cinematic.
It is generally much more difficult to portray the xenomorph believably than a Predator.
That's a problem in big films and it's even harder with fan projects.
Definitely one of the better fan films and can compete very well with the anniversary shorts.
Congratulations to the makers of No Mans Land.
The release went totally under the radar, most of the Alien/AvP sites are not even posting about it. Lets fix that :)
I feel like it could make for a decent review video or podcast from Hicks and Ridgetop
Completely agree! Fan content of this quality needs to be celebrated!
I'm getting flashbacks to S.E.E.D. As soon as the action starts it falls apart because it's just not at all coherent.
But there's some great talent on display and I hope they keep it up.
This fan film was pretty dope, mildly mixed about when the xenomophsa are shown, at least it's mostly practical, they seemed to have film separately and serenaded insert shots, I get it's difficult to be the performers in these intricate Alien costume on a hot location but that's a nitpik, it's complicated doing an Alien story at a certain point in the past without clashing contradicting the recorder encounters humanity\the company had with the Aliens.
I like it when they nerve gas the whole f**king nest
To repeat what I said elsewhere - what SiL said.
Fantastic setup, but once the Aliens show up it falls apart in the shooting and editing. Costumes looked great but weren't shot right. You completely lose track of a bunch of largely unnamed guys. Some nice easter eggs with the tinned Corn bread, and the dialogue call backs raised a smile rather than a cringe. Final scene was a bit mean spirited.
And I'd love to see the whole thing done like the newsreel they did over the credits.
Music was nice too.
Yeah it's not without flaws for sure.
I thought that it was largely shot pretty well, but lacking in the editing at points for sure.
Although, I think it was a benefit that they had restraint in showing the xenos too much. Was a good work around for the production value and limitations.
The score was a standout as well, I agree!
I tend to give fan films a fair amount of leeway, but it's also of course fair to critique it on any/all filmmaking merits as well. I do think this is very exceptional for a fan film. Also agree with SiL that there's a lot of talent on display and would be cool to see more from them!
Fewer characters, fewer Aliens, smaller action set pieces could've really let the talent in front and behind the camera shine through.
Thanks AVP Galaxy for sharing our film, it's heaps appreciated. Your site is awesome and a massive contribution to the fans.
Quote from: No Mans Land Fan Film on Feb 29, 2024, 09:08:56 AMThanks AVP Galaxy for sharing our film, it's heaps appreciated. Your site is awesome and a massive contribution to the fans.
How did you find so many Aliens in Perth? I've seen one on the other side of the country and even then they've retired.
music was great . drew me right in from the start.
how many times have we seen an alien in daylight?
So much love for this piece. It's amazing to see so much care and effort go into a fab film. All involved should be very proud and I for one am very grateful for all who spent time, effort and money on this project as I'm sure are many others.
My feedback below:
- the quality of the picture is outstanding. That must be one expensive camera but it makes all the difference.
- the Outback location is beautiful and the trench set very believable. The ship was good also but, as is probably a common theme, less could've been more.
- direction was very good, editing as mentioned a little choppy in places but overall a good experience
- the alien costumes were great, again less shots and a bigger first reveal might've been better
- I thought the acting for the most part was good but I'm not a fan of callback lines personally, though each to their own
- music was great in places but a little too varied, personally would've preferred a consistent theme but the production and quality was outstanding
- I would dropped the intro scene, the cgi wasn't up to the quality of the rest of the film and actually took me out of the experience initially. The rest of the film from there on in was consistent in quality
- I quite liked the ending of a little predictable. I actually thought he might stumble upon a small settlement and taken in, given food around a dinner table and then put his hand on his chest with a quick cut to black!
That's just some of my thoughts. Overall it was a very good experience for an Alien fan. I got that excited feeling of new Alien film content when watching and will definitely be having multiple rewatches!
Again, thank you and well done to all involved! You should be very proud 😊
Cheers, thanks for watching, and your comments. It was a very challenging production for sure to keep a high production look on a small scale budget, but we had a lot of fun making it.
We have a behind the scenes clip coming soon on the same youtube channel so stay tuned. And will likely do a Director commentary explaining some of the making of, if your interested.
Thanks,
:) Bought the suits from a guy in Colorado/US (we made 2 of them for the film). Bought them as foam latex unfinished pieces and then had them painted and constructed on wetsuits locally by CDM studios, Perth. They were huge Alien fans themselves and knew the right way to paint them to get a similar look as the Aliens warrior suits.
Quote from: Christian on Mar 03, 2024, 03:19:24 PMCheers, thanks for watching, and your comments. It was a very challenging production for sure to keep a high production look on a small scale budget, but we had a lot of fun making it.
We have a behind the scenes clip coming soon on the same youtube channel so stay tuned. And will likely do a Director commentary explaining some of the making of, if your interested.
Thanks,
Awesome, can't wait for behind the scenes and dc! Did you guys do any story boards or artwork prior to shooting?
Quote from: Christian on Mar 03, 2024, 03:30:53 PM:) Bought the suits from a guy in Colorado/US (we made 2 of them for the film). Bought them as foam latex unfinished pieces and then had them painted and constructed on wetsuits locally by CDM studios, Perth.
Those kits still exist? Amazing! Do you still have the details of the seller?
Quote from: Christian on Mar 03, 2024, 03:19:24 PMCheers, thanks for watching, and your comments. It was a very challenging production for sure to keep a high production look on a small scale budget, but we had a lot of fun making it.
We have a behind the scenes clip coming soon on the same youtube channel so stay tuned. And will likely do a Director commentary explaining some of the making of, if your interested.
Thanks,
Thanks for sharing! Will definitely be looking out for the behind the scenes clips and commentary!
Quote from: Bonus Situation on Mar 03, 2024, 08:50:28 PMQuote from: Christian on Mar 03, 2024, 03:19:24 PMCheers, thanks for watching, and your comments. It was a very challenging production for sure to keep a high production look on a small scale budget, but we had a lot of fun making it.
We have a behind the scenes clip coming soon on the same youtube channel so stay tuned. And will likely do a Director commentary explaining some of the making of, if your interested.
Thanks,
Awesome, can't wait for behind the scenes and dc! Did you guys do any story boards or artwork prior to shooting?
I did some very rough black and white storyboard/sketches and shot the film from them. Not very fancy.. just to show what angles & lens choice for each scene etc.
Quote from: SiL on Mar 03, 2024, 09:13:14 PMQuote from: Christian on Mar 03, 2024, 03:30:53 PM:) Bought the suits from a guy in Colorado/US (we made 2 of them for the film). Bought them as foam latex unfinished pieces and then had them painted and constructed on wetsuits locally by CDM studios, Perth.
Those kits still exist? Amazing! Do you still have the details of the seller?
I bought them a few years ago from a place called 'Monsteroom Props'. I emailed them recently but didn't receive any response.. So not sure they are still operating business.
Watched it yesterday. It's really good for what it is. The lighting and shots of the aliens aren't as good as the rest of the movie, and the editing and special flame effects are also a little lower than par, given the decent quality of the rest.
Overall, though, I'm impressed!
This may be odd to ask but with a fan film is the Adsense something the channel would be denied if said video involved copyrighted characters and elements from a studio's I.P. intellectual property, certain things like music and movie clips get you in trouble with copyright or is an example of a fan film safe under fair use?
I think it's totally cool to explore creative avenues like fan films, especially when they blend different genres like No Man's Land's WWI setting with an Alien twist. As for your question, it's a bit tricky. While fair use could potentially cover certain aspects, including copyrighted characters and elements, it's not a guaranteed shield against copyright claims. It often depends on how transformative the content is and whether it could be considered a derivative work. Regarding Adsense, using copyrighted material might indeed pose risks. It's always a good idea to tread carefully and perhaps seek legal advice if unsure. By the way, any new movies out this weekend (https://wealthofgeeks.com/movies-out-now/) catch your eye?