Special
What James Mah said about it.
(from his Robotmedia review)
INTRO
Good intro, technically brilliant. Not only that but the in-jokes were
brilliant, adding a new layer to the humor which was already present.
Sure it was funny if you didn't get the in-jokes, but if you did you could
appreciate what was happening on a whole new level. The switch from animation
to live action was a tad jarring, but that was quickly forgotten as the
Special Effects took hold, looking cool and creating some funny moments
at the same time.
INTERLUDE
Still funny. Everyone appreciated the trappings of emo kids being attributed
to a robot. Robots acting like humans are funny.
OUTRO
The live journal joke was funny.
What
Julie Chow said about it.
(from her Robotmedia review)
INTRO
We see our beloved RM robot being created in a factory in the midst of
nowhere (somewhere in Davis). Each RM robot is programmed to exude hardcore
metal music. When the Davis RM robot is tested, Dashboard Confessional
is heard instead. As a result, the system boots the Davis robot out. This
is how the showcase starts, with the Davis RM robot on the road to nowhere...
-Loved the special fx. Some parts were glaringly 3D animation, etc. but
for what it was, superb. magnificent. Esp when the shots cut to the pov
of the robot (although all those cool shots must have been a real bitch
to render). I cracked up when the malfunction bit came in. the whole intro
established the theme very well, although I'm not sure if the interval
and outro were only done as filler (even if they were, it was effective.)
ROBOTMEDIA INTERVAL
the robot approaches three guys standing on the street. one whips out
a cellphone and starts talking. this enrages the robot who hones in on
the guy and zaps him to bits. the others see the robot and start running..
-adam, you should have gotten the whole robot sequence to take place at
10 PM. ;)
ROBOTMEDIA OUTRO
the robot sits down on the sidewalk, feeling discouraged from having vaporized
someone. a girl (his girlfriend?) appears and tries to cheer him up. "We're
young, we all make mistakes" she says. She persuades him to go catch
a concert with her, and that's how the showcase ends - robot and girl
walking off into the distance.
The Script
Intro
Exterior shot of Punk Rockbot Mfg. Dark, foreboding, Blade Runner-esque,
smoke stacks with oily smoke pouring into a smoggy sky. Zoom in on factory.
Sign on factory that says “No Cell Phones”.
Fade to factory interior. Loud mechanical noises. A conveyor belt is bringing
out robot chasses one by one. A mechanical device comes down and attaches
to the robot’s head. Hardcore Punk music plays. The robots eyes
glow red. The device lifts and the conveyor shuffles forward. This continues
3 times or so. The arm comes down on another, and wussy emo music plays.
The factory halts. Readouts display “wtf?” The device recalibrates
and tries again. Still emo. Sirens sound, with a big flashing light that
says “Reject” “Reject”. The emo-bot is picked
up off the conveyor and tossed into a chute that says “Mosh incapable”.
Robot falls through darkness. Cut to shot of feet in low top converse
shoes as they hit the ground. Camera pans up, revealing emo-bot, wearing
too short pants, tight sweater and a scarf. Emo music plays. Cut to internal
robo-view. Cut back. Robot walks ofscreen. Cut back to internal robo-view,
and form credits from this screen. Cue “High” by Feeder?
Interlude
Emo-bot is walking down the sidewalk. “Out of Reach” by The
Get Up Kids plays. Cut to notebook in robot’s hand. Cut to patch
on the robots back that says “Life Metal”. Cut to side shot
of face. Cut to internal robo-view as robot walks toward people. Cut to
people as robot walks in their direction. Someone’s cell phone rings,
as they fumble to answer it, we see radiation waves streaming off the
antenna. Cut to robot, and fade to internal view of its circuitry. The
radiation waves pass through it, frying the circuits with humming and
buzzing sounds. Cut to external robot as he trembles. Cut to internal
robo-view as the screen flickers and turns from blue or green to red.
Flashing MALFUNCTION. The status display stops reading emo things, like
sadness, introspection, poetry, blab la bla, to reading KILL, KILL, KILL,
KILL. Hardcore metal starts to play. Cut to people as they notice the
robot. Cut back to robot as his eyes glow red. Power up sound effect.
Cut back to people as person with cell phone is vaporized. Cell phone
falls to the ground. The others start running in terror. Cut back to robot
as lasers shoot from his eyes and he runs toward camera. Quick fade out.
Conclusion
Cut to face shot of robot running. Heavy music playing. Cut to internal
robo-view. Screen reads Re-Routing Power….. Emo Functions Restored.
Cut back. Robot stops running. Looks around. People are gone. Robot sits
down.
ROBOT: I killed a person. I’m a bad robot. I’m sad.
A black tear rolls down his face. Cut to internal robo-view. Screen displays Establishing Wireless Livejournal Connection……Friends Only. Lj screen pops up. Typing appears. I am a bad person. I am utterly alone. Blablabla.
A girl walks up to the robot. She seems to know him.
GIRL: Cheer up, emo-bot.
The robot looks at her.
ROBOT: I can’t. I’m a bad person. I vaporized someone.
GIRL: Hey, don’t worry about it. You’re young. We all do dumb things.
Robot sighs.
GIRL: There’s a show at Gilman tonight. We can go and stare at our feet and pretend to be completely unexcited. (she grabs his arm). Come on, it’ll be fun.
ROBOT: Okay. (they get up and start to walk off) I’m not excited about it, though.
GIRL: I know.
ROBOT: The scene is so dead.
THE END