Number 13 : SF Short Film
Number 13
Short Film, Based on the hit Dark Horse comic book – DUST Exclusive Premiere
Number 13 is a very short film based on the Dark Horse comic and is currently available only on the Dust YouTube channel. When I say short, I do mean short as its only 2 minutes, 57 seconds long and this includes the opening title and the trailing credits. It’s a mixture of animation, CGI and live action which is rather well done.
After the opening title the camera view point ventures out of a cave and we see what could be a family group consisting of a man, woman and a young girl (with three eyes!) in post-apocalyptic world. You don’t get to see the faces of the man and woman as they are wearing what appear to be breathing masks.
Their attention is drawn to what first appears to be a meteorite crashing to the ground. It crosses a ruined city and then has a glancing blow with a nearby mountain before finally coming to rest in what appears to be a larva lake. I must admit this sequence had me a bit dizzy as the camera angle swirls around the family group to follow the meteorite which is actually some type of ship. The effects and scenery are very well done though.
Climbing out of the wreckage and appearing to be unhurt and unconcerned about the molten rock all about him is a young boy who looks to be about 10 to 12 Earth years-old. His clothes seem to be as resistant to the heat as he is. It’s not clear how the family group got there but they are on the edge of the impact crater looking at the boy when an army arrives. This is a mixture of CGI and live action which I thought was done rather well.
The army consists of giant lizard-like creatures with big guns and lots of tanks and quickly takes aim at the young lad emerging from the crater. As soon as the first shots are fired the film switched to comicbook animation. I can see why they did this as it would be difficult to depict a young lad running amok and laying waste to an army using CGI and live action. The animation does get the message across but isn’t as stylish. We do get to see that the lad has the number 13 emblazoned on the side of his head.
Once the shooting is done the youth lands back in the impact crater as he’s been doing a bit of leaping about. At the top of the final leap, its animation but as he falls it switches back to CGI and live action. This is a blended transition so that the animation morphs into the live action and I thought was very well done.
The lad runs towards the family group who having just witnessed what has happened are not to happy about this. The male quickly draws a sword and brandishes at the lad who promptly ignores it to give the male a hug. He then speaks the only dialogue of the film and its only four words.
Dust are working with the filmmakers to develop a ‘Number 13’ series. Now the whole purpose of this short film is to get the viewers intrigued enough to tune into the Dust channel and see more. It has certainly left enough unanswered questions for me to be interested. The big question of course will be the quality of the production and from what I have seen in this short film it does look to be very good. If they take the time and effort to develop the series in the same format as this short film then I think we are all in for a treat.
“Number 13” Sci-fi Short Film – DUST Exclusive Premiere: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6DuJaofEWU0
