Spag West Teaser Trailer - Spaghetti Western Parody/Homage (7 months ago)

I am the director of the upcoming short film Spag West and I would like to post a teaser trailer for the production:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0_JWc-_tf7c

It is a parody/homage to Spaghetti Westerns. The film is shot on location in Wauchope, NSW Australia at Timbertown, a re-creation of an 1880s pioneer town - Timbertown have been gracious to allow us to film this short on the premises.

If you would like to know more about Timbertown here is their website - www.timbertown.com.au

Spag West is currently still under production. Our first day of shooting was a success and the final day of filming is imminent.

The release strategy with this is to submit to film festivals and at a later date upload to the internet for everyone to view.

Enjoy this teaser and I hope it makes you want to see the finished product!

Rodney Petrie's KARMA (short film) (9 months ago)

The short film KARMA is now available worldwide for viewing.

This was directed by me and is being released under WTHIS Productions.

I am directing my next short for them in September, which will be a parody of spaghetti westerns.

Here is the link to view Karma.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rP7JMEEO0Ks

I intend to make a career in Australia as a filmmaker and hope to learn from my experiences in making short films.

Hope you enjoy the movie!

Re: The Dark Knight Rises (10 months ago)

Sorry to bump this old topic up, found it kind of interesting that not much talk on these forums has been about this film.

Anyway, I guess where to begin?

What were everyone's thoughts, those who have seen it, about the film and how it compares with the previous two in the trilogy?

I feel that The Dark Knight was a hard film to top. Do I think this film has topped it? That's quite hard for me to decide because I have only seen The Dark Knight twice (once at the cinema and then on DVD about three years ago) and unless I watch it again after seeing this third film I can't decide.

However I will say that I felt this film's villain, Bane, although he wasn't done exactly the same way he was in the comics - at least he wasn't done exactly the same way he was in the atrocious Batman and Robin.

He was an imposing and very threatening villain because while the Joker was an opponent for Batman that had a psychological edge, Batman could easily overpower him physically in a fight - Bane is not a physically weak character so Batman has a hard fight with him.

Each film in this trilogy has been about a major theme, each film has it's own theme that runs through it - Batman Begins was about fear, The Dark Knight was about chaos...The Dark Knight Rises is about pain and there's a lot of pain both on a physical and emotional level.

This film has proven that you can do a third entry in a series that is just as good or even better than its predecessors. If its not the best trilogy ever made in any genre, I feel that it is the best trilogy ever made in the Superhero genre.

Re: Assassin's Creed III (10 months ago)

I cannot wait to play this game. I really enjoyed the other games in the series. It's interesting to read the novels based on the games as well, which I recommend any fans of the series to read.

Because of Ezio's story arc from Assassin's Creed II through to Assassin's Creed Embers (animated short film) I really feel attached to the character considering the fact as a player you're practically with him since his birth in ACII.

One of my concerns with ACIII was whether or not I could feel an attachment to Connor, the new Assassin, in a similar way to Ezio. So far I have liked what I have seen and heard of this character from the trailers and I look forward to finding out his part in the overall story arc and how that plays into Desmond's storyline.

Re: Silent Hill 2 film moving ahead (2 years ago)

There are only two things that concern me with this:

1. The fact that its in 3D

3D for nearly every single movie coming out soon is getting ridiculous. It's as if film studios are afraid to release a movie now if it isn't 3D.

But that's a whole new forum topic.

2. Harry Mason

Since he wasn't in the first film, what point of reference are they going to use in this movie other than the fact that he's gone missing and Heather is looking for him?

There is a lot of information and backstory to try and put into this movie. Heather's existence is related to what Harry went through in the first game.

My guess is that it will be a truncated version of the first Silent Hill game mixed with Silent Hill 3.

Re: More details emerge about planned Castlevania: Lords of Shad (2 years ago)

I played the demo and wasn't really taken with this game to be honest. I went ahead and read the ending for the game on wikipedia because I wanted to see if Dracula would be in it as all the things I had read previously did not mention him at all.

I'll probably be shot (or whipped) for this comment but I don't think this is a true Castlevania game. I'm glad that this installment has made the main character look more masculine and not as effeminate as in the recent games, though.

However I'd still take Super Castlevania over this any day

Re: Guitar Hero: Queen on the way? (2 years ago)

^ What about Princes of the Universe, featured in Highlander?

Re: E3 2010: New Silent Hill detailed (2 years ago)

This piece of music by Akira Yamaoka is a testament to his talents and a reminder of how much his involvement in the series is a key and integral part.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x3ndB4l7oNg

Akira's music will be missed. It's a great loss to the series. I don't know if it will ever be the same now...

Re: E3 2010: New Silent Hill detailed (2 years ago)

@fatpizza - If that is true (I somehow hoped it was just a case of not being able to have Akira do the music for the trailer due to other commitments), then it is a sad day for Silent Hill fans.

Re: E3 2010: New Castlevania Lords of Shadow trailer (2 years ago)

So is Dracula going to be in this or not?

Re: PALGN Weekly Releases - 19/04/10 (3 years ago)

I got sick of waiting and purchased Silent Hill: Shattered Memories off Ebay last night.

Re: Shortcut (an independent short film) (3 years ago)

Lol there were bloopers caught on camera but as yet we haven't edited them into a video.

Re: Shortcut (an independent short film) (3 years ago)

Under $100 actually so basically very low budget. The producer used his own camera to film it. He also purchased a Merlin, a type of steadicam, not specifically for this film though as he wanted it for other uses as well.

So I guess you could factor that in as part of the budget which would make it more.

Re: Shortcut (an independent short film) (3 years ago)

Thanks for the comment! The ending was something we wanted the audience to ask questions about and we really haven't settled on exactly what happened.

We had some lighting issues in the scenes shot at the beginning and end of the film. The cemetery scene was reshot and is what you see in the finished film, originally it was much shorter and with less tension - it is much better than what we had in the first place.

The next short we want to do is going to be something Post Apocalyptic.

Shortcut (an independent short film) (3 years ago)

Shortcut is about this girl who is taking a guy along a path through what is supposed to be a shortcut. They are being stalked by someone or something that eventually attacks them both.

Here is a link to the film - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z_4QMwRpBvk

This is a zero budget short film made in Port Macquarie NSW towards the end of last year as part of a Media Course. Since then my friends and collaborators have been trying to get the short film out there and get some feedback. It has been on YouTube for a little while and we intend to enter it into the Short and Sharp Film Festival being held in Coffs Harbour.

Please feel free to comment or rate this video.

We are putting together another short film this year and we are currently in Pre-production.

Re: Band Hero track list revealed (3 years ago)

I'll be skipping this one lol!

I'm looking forward to seeing down the track if they will ever do a Guitar Hero: Queen.

Re: Silent Hill: Shattered Memories - Wii, PSP, and PS2 (3 years ago)

I'm looking forward to returning to Silent Hill for the seventh time

Re: The Expendables (3 years ago)

Once Bruce Willis and Arnold Schwarzenegger film their scenes, it will add more epic awesomeness!

Re: What are you watching? (TV Discussion) (3 years ago)

^I will check them out sometime in the near future

Re: What are you watching? (TV Discussion) (3 years ago)

I haven't been watching any current television programs, I have been watching a television show on DVD and that is the Hercules: The Legendary Journeys series.

I have introduced this cool old school series to my girlfriend's daughters who are finding it a very entertaining show. It's good to see that it lives on even with the younger generation.

I miss these types of shows but they will never be made again in this style unfortunately.

Re: Nintendo store update - 18/09/09 (3 years ago)

I'd like to see them make Star Wars Episode I, II and III in the same style of gameplay as the Original Trilogy games on the SNES.

Re: Arkham Asylum demo available this week (3 years ago)

I had a crack at this at Supernova in Sydney. I only played it for a short while cause I didn't want to hold up the line and hog the whole thing

But it was pretty good. I liked the stealth elements, cause I'm big on stealth games and the over the shoulder view ala Resident Evil 4 didn't feel out of place.

I wish it was out earlier though!

Re: XBLA: The Secret of Monkey Island: Special Edition Review (3 years ago)

It has been like playing the game for the first time all over again. I know the story and what happens but because you now get to hear the text you used to read, with voice actors giving new life to the characters, especially hearing Dominic Armato uttering the words of Guybrush once more, it makes this feel like a new game.

The first time I ever played the original I explored everywhere even when I was told by my friend that there was nothing there, I still wanted to see for myself. With this special edition I'm not doing that but I am talking to nearly every character just to hear what type of voice they have and how the voice actors articulate the dialogue, even though I know what the characters already say.

I hope this and the Tales of Monkey Island are successful so we get a fifth entry into the series.

Re: More Guitar Hero 5 tracks revealed (3 years ago)

I think I will give this one a miss. I'm quite happy to keep playing Guitar Hero Metallica until another Guitar Hero game focuses on another band I like.

Re: My Favourite Waste of Time #5 (3 years ago)

In response to you Benza you have a valid point. You do also need to be a good filmmaker, which is what we need for more game to film adaptations.

Christophe Gans was a great choice to direct Silent Hill because he understood the source material and knew how to translate it to the medium of film.

Re: My Favourite Waste of Time #5 (3 years ago)

You need to create a balance when making a film based on a game with the fans and non-fans. You don't want to cater too much to the fans to leave the non-fans in the dark, and vice versa.

However, appealing to the non-fans does not mean making major alterations to the source material. It means making sure that the story makes sense to people who haven't played the game.

If you take a film like Silent Hill and compare it to Doom, they are both completely different films based on two game series that are completely different. If you compare them against eachother in terms of how true they were to their source material, you will see that Silent Hill adhered more to theirs than the Doom film did to it's source material. Changing the Demons from Hell to genetic mutatations and experiments was a major mistake.

The latest video game to be adapted to film is Prince of Persia the Sands of Time. But wait a minute, The Sands of Time game came out about six years ago, why adapt that game into a film, why not come up with a completely different story with a different Prince?

I bet you any money that there will be no scenes of the Prince (I think giving him a name, especially Dastan, is silly) dodging traps at all. Even if there are, it will be just one scene at the most. I will be highly surprised if there are any more than that.

Mortal Kombat was an entertaining film and one of the things that made it work was the fact that there weren't too many characters in it from the games. That's one major mistake the sequel made. It made the story convoluted. There are plenty of other flaws in Mortal Kombat Annihiliation, you could write a book on it.

One more thing. If you're going to adapt a game into a film, you better make sure you have played it for more than just one playthrough, you need to know every thing there is to know about the game through first hand experience, you need to have studied it endlessly. You better be a gamer, first and foremost, then a filmmaker second. That is one of the reasons why there hasn't been a truly excellent film adaptation of a game.

I have hope that there will be such a film released someday.

Re: Sony acquires publishing rights for Ghostbusters (4 years ago)

Ultimately this comes down to the clout of Sony Pictures. The Ghostbusters film was released in 1984, a few years before Sony Pictures acquired Columbia Pictures who released the film originally. This is why they can do what they've done.

I don't think it's fair but that's the name of the game. I do think it's fair though when games are exclusive to consoles when it's an IP made from the ground up for that particular system, like Halo or Gears of War and Metal Gear Solid.

Re: Guitar Hero 5 and DJ Hero this year (4 years ago)

I'll be skipping the DJ and Band Hero games as I have no interest whatsoever in Top 40 music or Hip-Hop etc, I cannot stand either genre of music, it makes my skin crawl.

It will be GH: Metallica and GH5 for me. I guess GH: KoRn won't ever be made but as long as they have more of their songs in future GH games I'll be happy.

Re: POTW: Reality in our games (4 years ago)

This is a great way to recruit for the military....

Re: Dragon Ball: Evolution (4 years ago)

All I'm going to add is that there are some aspects of characters that you don't change from the source material when adapting them to a different medium.

Whether you agree or not is a matter that is up for everyone to decide on their own.