A superb example of the collapsing boundaries between professional and vernacular creativity, and despite squarely belonging to the fan production category, definitely exposing the constructedness of the Hollywood budget-to-quality ratio: The Fanimatrix – Run Program is now available for free download.

The Fanimatrix – Run Program’ is a collaboration between over a dozen professional actors, stuntpeople, special effects artists as well as an amateur filmmaking crew (all based in New Zealand) who set out to accomplish four primary goals:

• Do something constructive with our spare time (boredom is a killer y’know…)
• Create a short film that the general audience would actually WANT to see
• Celebrate our mutual love for one of the finest film sagas put on our screens for over a decade – ‘The Matrix’.
• Provide an opportunity for everyone involved to practice and hone their filmmaking skills and respective talents.

The Fanimatrix’ is a fan-made, zero-budget short film set within the Matrix universe, specifically shortly before the discovery of ‘The One’ (i.e. the first ‘Matrix’ feature film). It tells the story of two rebels – Dante and Medusa – and of their fateful mission onto the virtual reality prison world that is The Matrix.

The film was shot on the Sony Mini-Digital Video format and edited on a PC editing suite utilizing Adobe Premiere, After FX and AlamDV Special FX. The entire production was completed over nine nights, ranging from six to over fifteen hour shoots, not including rehearsal and blocking-tape-shooting sessions. Most of the props, sets and lighting equipment was borrowed and locations were either hired or shot guerilla style. Although the film was a ‘zero budget’ production, the final cost of the movie (combining personal expenses of cast and crew such as investment into costumes, transport costs, food etc) has reached upto approximately $1000 NZ (or $400-$600 US). The movie was shot entirely within Auckland City, New Zealand (our home).