Escape From City 17 producer Frank Gugliuzzi has gone to IndieGogo for help finishing the third part of the live-action short film based on Half-Life 2.
Way, way back in 2009, the Purchase brothers cooked up Escape From City 17, a live-action short based on Half-Life 2. It was pretty fantastic, not least because it was done on a budget of just $500. A couple of years later they put out the far more ambitious part two; and now, two years after that one, work on part three has begun in earnest. But this time around the team is looking to spend a little more money.
The need for a bigger budget is driven by two things: The presence of a car chase, which Gugliuzzi said “cannot be done on NO money,” and the need for a pile of CGI. The actual filming has already been completed but the Purchase brothers became too busy to finish it, so Ian Purchase gave Gugliuzzi permission to use the footage in an effort to get the third part done.
“We had big plans for Part 3 including an incredible car chase sequence, which you may have seen briefly in one of the teasers for Part 2,” Gugliuzzi wrote on IndieGogo. “We have a great VFX team lined up, that Ian Purchase is going to oversee, ready to take on the project and finish it fast. The first episodes were completed on a shoe string, imagine what we could do with help from the people who want to see this the most – that’s YOU.”
The campaign is seeking $50,000 for VFX, music and post-production, which should be complete by November if the goal is met. It sounds like work will continue even if the campaign falls short of the goal, but the release date can’t be guaranteed – although such “guarantees” are rarely worth much anyway. It is an awfully good-looking trailer, though, and the quality of the first two chapters speaks for itself.
Because it’s an IndieGogo “Flexible Funding” campaign, the Escape From City 17 team will get whatever money is donated regardless of whether or not the target is actually hit – a rather significant difference from Kickstarter and something to bear in mind if you donate. The campaign runs until September 22.
Source: IndieGogo
Published: Aug 27, 2013 05:05 pm