"The New Kind" crowdsourced-labor CGI web series

[jefferiestubes8]

A new sci-fi web series teams Hollywood visual effects artists with a global scattering of up-and-coming animators, all of whom are working for free to craft CGI elements for a wigged-out futuristic saga.

The New Kind project is being spearheaded by visual effects hot shots whose resumes include Star Wars, Avatar and Hugo. These moonlighting pros are sharing their expertise with 200 anime enthusiasts to produce a crowdsourced labor of love made possible because the cost of CGI animation tools has dropped several hundred thousand dollars in the past few years.

Well when you have really talented people doing the visual work it then becomes about the script & the voice acting.

That story, set 30 years in the future on the heels of a global economic meltdown, focuses on teenage protagonists Darvin, from Texas, and Yuka, from Japan. The two traverse urban wastelands dotted with self-illuminated graffitti and populated by robotic street gangs wearing mecha suits. Ruling the chaos is The Dark Order, whose members live in opulence and secretly manipulate countries, industries and religions. Darvin and Yuki have never met, but they’re psychically linked, and if they ever get together their union will lead to an evolutionary upgrade for humanity and spell doom for Dark Order villains.

The project’s visual style pays open homage to the work of anime legend Shinji Aramaki, who designed the original Transformers action figures for Hasbro in 1983, and later pioneered the mecha genre in Japan. The mid-1980s Japanese cartoon Robotech also influences New Kind characters,

The New Kind pulls in top-tier digital artists who are eager to collaborate simply because they love the genre. According to Hyoguchi, a typical New Kind contributor normally does effects for mainstream popcorn flicks, but would rather be making anime.

a great movie poster at the link &
Crowdsourced Movie Studio Creates a Bold New Kind of Sci-Fi Series

1:35 length teaser trailer at the link.
no robots or characters in the trailer at all but there is some concept art and a grey CGI model still.

Imagine if these guys took an episode of The Clone Wars and kept the entire soundtrack (music, dialog, and FX) and did their own CGI treatment on it....