Prey Alone, High-resolution trailer
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Prey Alone, Low-resolution trailer

Imagine a film that involves complex scenes; blowing up elaborate sets, Harrier jets flying inside the NYC subway system, fast car chases and spectacular crashes on the freeway and of course, a couple dramatic gun battles. This is the staple of your average, modern action film. Most would probably cost tens of millions of dollars to produce.

Back in the 70's, young film-makers such as George Lucas and Steven Spielberg showed that small budgets were no excuse for poor film-making.

Today, armed with little more than green screens, a few scene props and an incredibly small budget, it is possible to create an action flick that will look 90% as good as the big million dollar productions. And this is exactly what James Mather and his crew did on this short, 20 minute production called "Prey Alone". Total production budget? About 80,000 Euros.

Cutting edge tools are now in the hands of millions of people all over the world. With the right idea, and a bit of resourcefulness, it is now possible to create high-quality VFX films for next to nothing. "Freedom of the press belongs to those who own one" they say. Well, these new film-makers prove that we are now entering an age of film-making "Digital Democracy".

Editorial and interview by Jean-Eric Hénault