See how David Karlak made RISE, his cult sci-fi short

Gnomon School of Visual Effects has announced An Evening with David Karlak: The Making of RISE – a chance to see how the LA-based filmmaker and VFX artist created his powerful dystopian sci-fi short.

The free event takes place at Gnomon’s Hollywood campus next Thursday, 5 May, and will be broadcast on Gnomn’s Livestream channnel.

A future where the robots are the heroes
A proof of concept for a full-length feature film, RISE tells the story of a future war between humanity and robots from the perspective of the robots.

The five-minute short, which stars Star Trek’s Anton Yelchin and Hercules’ Rufus Sewell, raised nearly $40,000 on Kickstarter, and became a hit on its release, with over 200,000 views on Vimeo.

Karlak also revisited the scenario last year for an amazing VR demo, created in partnership with Nurulize.

Discover the making of a three-year labour of love
At the live event, Karlak will tell the story of RISE’s three-year journey from concept to finished short: a process in which almost 100 artists worldwide took part.

As well as individual contributors, the film includes contributions from some well-known US facilities, including Atomic Fiction and previz house Halon Entertainment, and Moscow’s Main Road Post.

Karlak will also discuss how the film combines new techniques in CG to create a fully immersive world.

Free to attend, but register in advance
An Evening with David Karlak: The Making of RISE takes place at Gnomon’s Hollywood campus from 7.30-9.30pm on Thursday 5 May. The event is free to attend, but you’ll need to register online in advance.

If you can’t make it to LA in person, the event will also be broadcast for free on Gnomon’s Livestream channel.

Read more about An Evening with David Karlak: The Making of RISE
(Includes link to register and directions to the venue)

Watch An Evening with David Karlak: The Making of RISE

Full disclosure: CG Channel is owned by the Gnomon School of Visual Effects.