Last month, I brought you details and clips from writer/producer/director Shawna Baca‘s (Isabel, The Lesson) ambitious project combining Wushu martial arts, sci-fi and mythology entitled, Ascended Masters. The short film is based on a feature screenplay trilogy currently in development and stars Wushu World Champions Don Hyun Kiolbassa and Ernesto Matamoros, and features actress Kikey Castillo (The Broken Hearts Club, Maddoggin’).
Shawna has put together concept art, storyboards, animatics, stunt choreography, visual effects tests and put a creative team, including co-producers Kaz Kipp and Aaron Sanchez, director of photography Michael Dallatorre (Ghild), VFX supervisor Timothy Cairns, and editor Carey Williams to help her complete her vision.
Now, thanks to producer Kaz Kipp, we’ve got our hands on a visual effects test for a battle in the film, along with an interview with director Shawna Baca, where she speaks about why she wants to put this project together. Check it all out below!
Synopsis:
Two Ascended Masters from LOTUS descend down to Earth to fight the Dark Brotherhood, who are trying to kill mankind. These immortal warriors must protect the human race before the Dark Brotherhood destroys Earth.
The VFX Battle Test video goes by pretty fast, so I’ve dropped a photo gallery just below it, containing most of the key frames from the scene so that you can get a clearer shot of what’s going on. Feel free to save them to your computer and go through them like a flip book to watch the action unfold frame-by-frame.
Test Shot: Ascended Masters – VFX Battle Test
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3wZX7Wn_EPw[/youtube]
Ascended Masters: Interview with Director Shawna Baca
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yz6DViM3OF4[/youtube]
Baca is creating this short film version of Ascended Masters, in the hopes of presenting it to production companies so that she can then embark on the feature film. After seeing some of the concepts, heavy visual effects and how professionally this is being put together, it’s going to be no small task to get this short film made.
They only have a little over one week left to secure their funding, and I encourage you to head over to their Kickstarter page and donate as much as you are able to afford. Every five dollars makes a difference, and good sci-fi/fantasy like Ascended Masters deserves the wholehearted support of fans like you and I.
We will do our best to keep you up-to-date on the progress of Ascended Masters, right here on SciFiMafia.com and you can also follow the project on Facebook and Twitter.
