News From The Fandom: Gamma Crisis!
Today's feature is the fairly impressive trailer by one-man fanfilm juggernaut, Nanashi. It features decent Computer Generated Graphics of VF-1 Valkyries doing what they do best - transforming into humanoid robots and shooting stuff.
First of all, who is Nanashi? Well, as you might not know, was once known as ARMY_Ranger in a fairly popular site called Newgrounds. Newgrounds is a repository of all things Flash. Flash is basically a web movie of sorts.
Army Ranger basically began the whole Robotech series on Newgrounds back early 2001. He has since produced such classics as "Birth of Robotech" and "Macross: Unsung Heroes", and many more.
Here's a short list of the current Robotech flashfilms available on Newgrounds:
http://www.newgrounds.com/collection/robotech.html
ARMY_Ranger/Nanashi's more notable contributions:
Macross Classic Revisited - A fairly entertaining dogfight sequence between a VF-1 Valkyrie fighter and several battlepods. Heavily influenced by Macross Zero.
http://www.newgrounds.com/portal/view/344395
Birth of Robotech - An interesting reimagination of the first two or three episodes of the Macross Saga. Fairly entertaining with great dogfights.
http://www.newgrounds.com/portal/search.php?terms=birth+of+robotech&kind=j&x=0&y=0
Macross: Unsung Heroes - A fine tribute film set during the initial invasion of the Zentraedi through the eyes of the Lancer space-based fighters.http://www.newgrounds.com/portal/view/347827
Nanashi is also one of the key founders of the United Earth Group:
The group is best known for the Robotech: Genesis project. A project which last I heard, was cancelled due to internal conflict among its members. I have heard it said though that a new project is being developed, and it is only a matter of time when it would be released.
What is Gamma Crisis then?
Macross Gamma Crisis is a short (15 min +) video OVA based off of the anime SDF Macross, Macross Plus, Macross Zero and Macross DYRL. Knowledge of these anime is not necessary to apply for this part! The story is set around 2015, and covers the growing friction and dysfunction in a society of humans who are trying to adapt to living with and integrating with a species of alien.
Youtube Link:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qk7mrVE56zc
Based on what I saw in the trailer, the project is light years ahead of whatever I can achieve at this point. I don't know anything about making CG, so this stuff is pretty impressive - for a fanfilm. A lot of Pearl Harbor influences can be seen in the trailer, with some interesting action sequences involving one VF-1 Valkyrie Battroid.
Currently, the film is wrapping up casting voices for certain roles, if you are interested in how that went, check it out at:
Voice Acting Club
http://voiceacting.proboards62.com/index.cgi?board=general&action=display&thread=1164671128&page=1
For more details on the project, as well as Nanashi, check out his website (It's a flash-based website, so you'll need a Flash player)
Robotech Flash
http://www.robotechflash.com/
