torrentfreak.com — A Swarm of Angels is a project that aims to create the first community driven film. The film will be written, funded and distributed over the Internet - a break from the traditional movie business model. The genre will be thriller based with some soft sci-fi elements and will be released under a Creative Commons license.
Sep 26, 2006 View in Crawl 4
polterbyteSep 27, 2006
A "Long Tail" movie project? I hope it works.Oh, and here is wishing it doesn't suck like 95% of stuff that Hollywood's releasing these days.
eghieSep 27, 2006
There was already a Open Source kind of movie named Elephants Dream (<a class="user" href="http://orange.blender.org/).">http://orange.blender.org/).</a> It's also free for download. It's animated though, but it's the first one. Only it's not P2P driven, as far as I can tell anyway.
thewriteguySep 27, 2006
They're asking each person to contribute the equivalent of $47 to become a member. And their goal is to have 50,000 members. So they can have about $1.7 million to produce a movie.I'm sorry, but I have severe doubts. First, I doubt they will get that many people to put up that amount of money each.Second, the way they are approaching the script seems like a disaster waiting to happen -- basically, the committee of members will assist in the development/writing of the script. A better strategy might be to accept outside screenplay submissions, have a small group choose 10 or so finalists, and then let the members read and vote for their favorite.Also, $1.7 million is a lot for what will essentially be an indie feature. I couldn't find any specifics, but it seems like they intend to shoot on digital video, when film would be preferable and affordable if they manage to secure $2 million. To compare, Napoleon Dynamite and Brick, both of which were shot on film, each cost less than $1 million to make.Sure they've convinced Cory Doctorow and Warren Ellis to consult and lend their names to this project. But a lot things about this project aren't adding up, as it stands now.I would say a more realistic approach (besides accepting outside screenplays for consideration) would be to state they will shoot on digital video, and that their goal is to raise $50K for the movie's budget.
catoutfitSep 27, 2006
A camel is horse designed by committee.
ampledismantleSep 27, 2006
It's just refreshing to see people collaborating to produce non-DRM entertainment in an industry so heavily dominated by people that think they can tell us what we can and (more commonly) can't do with its media.
dewellerSep 27, 2006
I see a lot of "Too many chefs in the kitchen" arguments being posted here.But has anyone really tried this? This is very different than soliciting feedback from an audience that sees a screening one time and says "Give us more blood!" This has the potential to harness the power of an intelligent and creative community (us!) that will be involved in the project from start to finish. Is this not the same concept that makes Digg great?I guess I am becoming a fan boy. But if this works, I think it could really start to change the entertainment industry for the better. Sometimes you have to try something that sounds crazy to start a revolution.
bleutunaSep 27, 2006
Crap. Give us some money, everyone will get a say, and we'll make a trainwreck to give away for free! YAY!OR, you can make your OWN movie, and give it to the world. There's a lot of stuff that goes into filmmaking, and these yahoos don't seem to know anything about it. Even the name is pretentious, "A Swarm of Angels." Right, because you guys all coming together to make a mediocre movie equates to you being "angels."Might as well called it, "A Gaggle of Gods"
p0psSep 27, 2006
We don't know what model(s) of collaborative media making will work and really we don't even know what "working" would mean for open source media. Turning a profit is not necessary, a large group of new media-makers having instructive experience may be the most positive outcome from a project like this. This is one way to go, I'm supporting it, hoping for the best. Hoping to have fun, at least.
staticneuronSep 27, 2006
"Second, the way they are approaching the script seems like a disaster waiting to happen -- basically, the committee of members will assist in the development/writing of the script. A better strategy might be to accept outside screenplay submissions, have a small group choose 10 or so finalists, and then let the members read and vote for their favorite."Actually to me thier way sounds interesting. Have you ever seen a movie in which you disagreed with a character behaviour or the ending that you wish you could change? This systems sounds like a pieced together story, in which multiple POVs or frames of minds could actually produce a very interesting and non predictable film. It would be great to be hit with a storyline change or a character trait that you cant help but think," Wow! I never thought of that."
angelgabrielSep 30, 2006
Amazed at some of the above comments which have been made - clearly insufficient research into the model and process has been undertaken. I recommend to all those sourpusses that if you are going to make a comment - be informed first or you just sound like a W&(-d)ker.ASOA seems like a breath of fresh air in the world of movie making. As long as the administrators of the project maintain focus, then members' input will be valuable and should make a considerable and positive difference to the project. It has the potential to release a truly groundbreaking film as well as setting a perfect example to the creative community as to how to generate content that people ACTUALLY WANT!