Tuesday, September 20, 2011

DANGER PLANET: An Animated Sci-Fi Romance Short by Justin Burks

Wow, talk about discovering science fiction romance in unexpected places: Thanks to Galaxy Express passenger A., I learned about DANGER PLANET, an animated short by Justin Burks (via The Mary Sue).

Here’s the story blurb:

During a routine scan on a distant planet, a young space scout finds romance with a female pilot. But when peril strikes the two star-crossed explorers, he must face what lurks in the darkness of the planet to rescue the girl.

And now for our feature presentation:




About the film:

Danger Planet is an animated short created by students at Southern Adventist University in Tennessee. This 4 minute student animation was finished primarily in a summer after over a year of preproduction.

Credits: Justin Burks, Danny Cooper, Andrew Lopez, Chris Wombold, Brandon Bailie, Stephanie Miranda, Aaron Adams, Yannick Amegan, Cassidy Stone, Gareath Murray, Christine Turner, Beau Sherman, Matt Kidd 

Wasn’t that fun? I especially liked the main theme. So haunting and romantic. DANGER PLANET is sci-fi romance through and through.

That said, I would have liked this more if the heroine had been able to vanquish Evil Alien Dude along with the hero. I kept hoping she would rescue the hero toward the end by firing the final shot.

Well, I still consider this a cool sci-fi romance gem. Let’s hope that Mr. Burks has a few more of these up his sleeve. To learn more, here’s a video about the making of DANGER PLANET:




I thought it was veerrrry interesting that by including a romance, Mr. Burks was able to enrich the plot, as well as add "context" and "payoff" that would keep the audience engaged until the end.

(8:06)
Justin Burks: "...it didn't have the emotional connection that it has now."

Interviewer: "Okay, and so your solution?"

Justin Burks: ..Well, when I had the dark day of realizing that the thing needed some work...I talked about it with you about...what makes...something entertaining for the audience...in discovering that it's...something that we can relate to...if the audience sees something on the screen happening that we all can feel as well, like, meeting a girl, falling in love...then you have them riveted."

Sweet.

To learn more about DANGER PLANET, including the "Making of Danger Planet" video, visit dangerplanet.blogspot.com.

Joyfully yours,

Heather