Ben Hansford writes about his Kickstarter campaign for a short film called “Uprising – A Post-Apocalyptic Robot Comedy,”On the surface it’s a comedy – but at its heart it’s a story about me (an idiot man-child) becoming a responsible father. It’s also a one-man show, with me doing all of the development, production, post, and visual effects on a shoe-string budget. But most importantly, Uprising is my chance to do my film, my way, with my friends and family by my side.”
Hansford is seeking $36,800 to finish the film. He’s got a track record of working on successful, completed projects, making him a good bet, and the story is both well told and visually compelling.
Beneath the comedy and glorious action, Uprising is actually a story about family. In fact, most of the concept came to me when my son was an infant, and I’d take long walks with him late at night. Within this absurd setting, our four human Heroes fight for each other (and with each other) like Brothers. Two of the robots – our film’s Rosencrantz and Guildenstern – save a human baby and decide to raise it as their own. (Hint: Worst. Parents. Ever.) Even the decisions of the master A.I. ‘Caster’, weirdly mirrors the decisions I had to make as a new Father.
On top of that there’s life-sucking Roombas, self-driving Priuses that hunt humans in packs, vigilante Soda Machines, and Celphones that send your Snapchats to your Mom.
And of course… ROBOTS! These metal monsters think the #ROFLpocalypse is just a game – so they get busy tea-bagging, dry-humping, and Leader-boarding humanity out of existence.
And no, our human heroes are NOT the Snake Pliskins you’d hope would be coming to rescue us in this situation. Instead our code-writing, Yoo-Hoo chugging, supernerds can barely lift a case of Mt. Dew much less an M-16.
Uprising – A Post-Apocalyptic Robot Comedy [Ben Hansford/Kickstarter]