Jason Sondhi
I was at a film festival party last night and was reminiscing with someone about the technological trends (or fads you may call them) we had witnessed in indie filmmaking over the past decade— interactive, 360/VR, crypto. They argued that AI was clearly next in this lineage, and also clearly the most promising of the bunch. While the rate of improvement we’re witnessing (and the billions of dollars being sunk into it) makes it hard to argue against that case, I think that here, at the end of 2024, I would still lobby for Realtime Animation as the potentially more impactful technology for what ends up on our screens.
As expected from that cold open, today’s film Rally is an excellent example of a real-time animation film, a 10-min action-thriller produced largely by one person when, in a traditional CG pipeline, a dozen would have been needed (this review can serve as a primer if some of this is new to you). Both AI and realtime animation promise to democratize the specialized expertise of VFX to bring the power of animated movie magic to non-technical creators. But, AI surrenders artist control. I’m skeptical about its ability to dial-in on artist intent and produce finished images fit for the screen, making it most useful an exploration or ideation tool. Realtime animation delivers the sense of exploration but also control.
“When I first started, part of the goal was to learn Unreal Engine as a tool for future projects” – director Santiago Menghini
A desire to explore paired with exacting standards is what lead director Santiago Menghini to Unreal. Rally was an idea that was originally envisioned as a live-action project but the pandemic consigned it to the back-burner where it was nearly forgotten. Menghini began experimenting with the powerful game engine for his own edification and developed the inkling that a fully 3D version of Rally was within his capabilities. He dove in headfirst.
What resulted from this creative freedom is something Menghini describes as a short “…the 14-year-old me would have loved—rally cars, night vision, criminal underworlds, danger, and a touch of post-apocalyptic atmosphere.” Honestly 14-year-old Menghini has some pretty good taste, as 40-year-old me likes a lot of these same things! The premise of Rally is fairly simple and the appeal largely lies in execution—the moody stylization of the imagery, the tension within the pauses, the thrill of the action. This is a film not for the head, but for the heart—or more accurately perhaps, the gut.
“As both the animator and director, I had full creative control” – Menghini discussing the positives of working on your own
Better known for his live-action genre films like his Netflix feature No One Gets Out Alive, or his award-winning shorts like Intruders or Red Wine, which we featured earlier this year, Menghini does have VFX skills, as demonstrated by his Sundance-selected 2015 short Voyagers. However, if the first realtime shorts, like Irradiation, came from VFX professionals, Menghini represents a second wave of creators that are directors and storytellers first, but who also possess technical skills. These include people like Joe Sill, or Mike Anderson and Ryan Dickie.
What I like about this movement is the stylistic innovation that non-VFX artists bring to the table. A film from last year, Flite, was a legitimately groundbreaking technical achievement that utilized realtime, but a bit blandly familiar in design. Menghini’s film cuts corners—helmets obscure the uncanny valley nature of facial performance or lip-syncing—but he smartly bends his limitations to his advantage. The tight nature of the camera in the car cabin and the oppressive blackness of the night are tactical moves by the filmmaker, but also incredibly effective in producing a claustrophobic feeling in the audience. The night vision and b&w introduce a stylized effect that disguises the artists’ technical limitations.
Menghini began Rally as an experiment and says that it “grew into something I’m proud of”. He has every right to be in my mind, he’s produced a splendid action film on a fraction of the normal budget, using his creativity to work around his weaknesses in exceedingly clever ways. After playing festivals like REGARD and Fantasia we’re very pleased to help share it’s online debut with you today.