{"id":13843,"date":"2014-07-25T13:08:25","date_gmt":"2014-07-25T02:08:25","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/roberthood.net\/blog\/?p=13843"},"modified":"2014-07-31T09:57:04","modified_gmt":"2014-07-30T22:57:04","slug":"it-grows-has-grown-bigger","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/roberthood.net\/blog\/index.php\/2014\/07\/25\/it-grows-has-grown-bigger\/","title":{"rendered":"It Grows! Has Grown Bigger"},"content":{"rendered":"

The film, It Grows!<\/em>, by Ryan Cauchi (director\/editor) and Nick Stathopoulos (writer, producer, director, SFX, art design, star) — first introduced to the world by Undead Backbrain<\/a> back in February 2012 — was originally made as a 7-minute short. It received a faux-theatrical screening as part of the Aurealis Awards ceremony of that year and went down very well with the crowd.<\/p>\n

Since then, however, Cauchi and Stathopoulos (who are also credited with the film’s cinematography) have been hard at work on it — and the film has grown into a monster. Now it is a 17-minute epic, with improved image quality and post-production glitz, new cast members, more plot, and many added scenes.<\/p>\n

\"It<\/a>Click image to enlarge it<\/em><\/h5>\n

When asked about the film, Stathopoulos described it like this: “….it’s a 17-minute short monster movie made by me and my mate Ryan Cauchi along with some other friends who were roped in. We’ve finally finished it … it’s full of matte paintings and hung miniatures and puppet creatures.”<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Synopsis<\/strong>:<\/p>\n

Zac (Nick Stathopoulos) has a problem. He suffers from ‘cyberchondria’ – he contracts every disease he ever reads about online. His long-suffering girlfriend Jan (Catriona Sparks) has had enough. But that’s not his only problem. Something is growing in his garden… and it’s growing fast! Is it just a cute little plant, or could it be the harbinger of something more sinister?<\/p>\n

Can Zac, and his trusty canine companion Rip, nip it in the bud before it’s too late, or will they be pushing up daisies before it’s through?<\/p>\n

It’s ALIEN meets THE THING meets LITTLE SHOP OF HORRORS meets DAY OF THE TRIFFIDS.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Believe me, if you knew exactly how Stathopoulos achieved the FXs (and the Backbrain was treated to a live “commentary track” of the first version, by Stathopoulos himself), you would be even more impressed than you’re going to be when you see it. There’s no CGI here — just fantastic artistry, and old-school techniques used with aplomb and loads of skill.<\/p>\n

With a cast that includes Stathopoulos himself, speculative-fiction writer Cat Sparks, Jaimie Leonarder (Flights of Angels<\/em>, The Movie Show<\/em>, Three Chords and a Wardrobe<\/em>) and Henri Stathopoulos, among others — not to mention an award-worthy performance by newcomer Bonnie the Dog — this “love letter to classic B-grade monster movies” is a real treat.<\/p>\n

“[The music] was done by Andrew Thomas Wilson, who is best known for his commercial work,” Stathopoulos added. “He created a ‘symphonic’ score for our modest little film. It’s brilliant.” In evidence is a theme song worthy of keeping company with the theme songs from such classics as The Blob<\/em> (1958) and Killer Klowns From Outer Space<\/em> (1988). Vocals are by comedian Bob Downe, who reportedly “did a brilliant Shirley Bassey<\/span><\/span>” on it.
\n<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

The sound design of the film generally is by Tim Newsom.<\/p>\n

In short, It Grows!<\/em> is fun, made with love at all levels and is very impressive visually. Ever wanted to see Sydney completely consumed by rabid plants? Then this is the film for you!<\/p>\n

Check out the newly released official trailer:<\/p>\n

[youtube Ps5SmBwfD3c]<\/p>\n

As for the future of the film, Stathopoulos commented: “… who knows? It might just keep growing!<\/span><\/span><\/span>”<\/p>\n

Source<\/strong>: Nick Stathopoulos.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The film, It Grows!, by Ryan Cauchi (director\/editor) and Nick Stathopoulos (writer, producer, director, SFX, art design, star) — first introduced to the world by Undead Backbrain back in February 2012 — was originally made as a 7-minute short. It … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[145,4,1355,104,3,847],"tags":[165,1357,957,1356,1358,953,1014],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/roberthood.net\/blog\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13843"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/roberthood.net\/blog\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/roberthood.net\/blog\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/roberthood.net\/blog\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/roberthood.net\/blog\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=13843"}],"version-history":[{"count":11,"href":"https:\/\/roberthood.net\/blog\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13843\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":13857,"href":"https:\/\/roberthood.net\/blog\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13843\/revisions\/13857"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/roberthood.net\/blog\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=13843"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/roberthood.net\/blog\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=13843"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/roberthood.net\/blog\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=13843"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}