Sci-Fi Short Film "Firmware" | DUST

A young woman and her decommissioned military droid struggle to escape a nuclear exclusion zone, hoping to find a better life on the outside-- free from the oppression of the forces that keep her there.
"Firmware" by Calvin Sander Romeyn
Connect with the Filmmakers:
/ calvinromeyn
www.roxelcreative.com/
www.nichevfx.com/calvin
More About "Firmware":
1990. 20 years have passed since "The Incident". Civilization has collapsed and national borders have been forgotten. The walled-off "Alcazar Exclusion Zone" has emerged as a small functioning society- a melting pot of survivors from around the world. A young woman and her decommissioned military droid struggle to escape, hoping to find a better life on the outside-- free from the oppression of the forces that keep her there.
"Firmware" Credits:
Created by Calvin Romeyn
Cast:
Zaraiah - Angel Celiz
AL1, Old Man - Reece Presley
Misha “The Exploded” - Sam Krochmal
Ivan “The Ambitious” - Suksham Shan
Resistance Leader - Clarie Johnstone
Tannoy Voice - Miglė Kužmarskytė
Droids - Sam Romeyn, Reece Presley
Droids (Voice) - Calvin Romeyn
Additional Performance Capture - Angel Celiz, Reece Presley, Sam Krochmal, Sam Romeyn, Calvin Romeyn
Screaming Woman (Voice) - Avery Taylor
Children (Voices) - Fraser Romeyn, Wesley Romeyn
Gintars “The Taser Wielder” (voice) - Jessica Wong
Nikolaj “Dog’s off The Leash” (voice) - James R. Cowley
Additional Voices - Larry Clay, Jeff Hlookoff, Noah Penner, Angel Celiz, Isaac Kuntz, Emily Wildeman, Jeff Hlookoff, Calvin Romeyn, Sam Romeyn, Welsey Romeyn, Fraser Romeyn
Crew:
Produced and Written by Calvin Romeyn, Sam Romeyn, Noah Penner
Composer - Jose Pavli
Sound Design - Sam Boulton, Anize Amestoy
Visual Effects - Calvin Romeyn
Colour Grading - Brite Point Media
Lead Animator - Fred Smith
Animators - Austin Wright, Emily Chin, Calvin Romeyn
Rigging Lead - Will Inglis
Additional Texturing - Francois Van Eeden
FX Artist - Sam Li
Performance Capture by Beyond Capture, Vancouver
President & CEO - Graham Qually
Production Manager - Maeve Russell
Studio Lead - Vandy Sok
Animation Supervisor - David Raposo
Producer - Rommel Cruz
IT Manager - Eitan Israelov
Tools Programmer - Sinead Kearney
Shoot Master - Ryan Basaraba
Realtime Technician - Parker Hartzler
Camera Lead - Ali Heraize
First AD - Matt Lautrup
Capture Technician - Russell Ma
Audio Technicians - Carlos Rodriguez, Nathan Aron Romer
Production Coordinator - Jenny Zinger
Associate Producer - Mitchell Roberts
Production Coordinator - Bradley Tyler
Facial Lead - Albert Poblete
HMC Technician - Nicole Wheatley
Facial Animators - Morgan Gonzales, Jessica Gonzales
Mocap Editors - Guillermo Aguero, Ashleigh Ayers, Audrey Ayoub, Joshua Brown, Andres Ferrat, Andrea garcia de alba, Kendell Maloles, Julian Martinez, Angelo Nunez, Savian Sills
Brand Manager - Ryan Kearns
Movement Director - Charles Douglas
Marketing Manager - Monika Qually
Financial Controller - Jesse Wirachowsky
Infrastructure Development - Jamie Smith
Prop Maker - Kenzo Babin
Behind The Scenes - Ruby Alstad, Emily Doyle, David Van Dyke, Ben Dextraze
Assistant (to the) Director - Tina Romeyn
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[@calvinromeyn]

Hey Everyone! Calvin, the director here. Thank you for watching Firmware! I'm a full time VFX supervisor and an ever-learning director. This project came about as a personal challenge to learn Virtual Filmmaking in Unreal Engine. And what better way to learn a new software than creating a hugely ambitious short film. Right? Right...? I'd love to answer any questions you may have about the making of Firmware, and will be releasing a Behind The Scenes feature soon! All images are rendered out of Unreal Engine with motion capture by Beyond Capture in Vancouver.

[@ClayMann]

First of all I got utterly fooled by this initially. I actually thought for a little while there was something wrong with the actress. Maybe a disability of some kind and then it hit me. Oh its ALL computer graphics. That's how good everything looked. Its still pretty tough getting 100% convincing human faces I guess. Her face looked good but it didn't move naturally. The pupils weren't darting around like you see with normal people in a stressed out situation and probably a whole bunch of other things our faces do that are really hard to capture or hand animate in later. But once I got it was all unreal engine, I was fine with it and just enjoyed the visuals and story. It was just that initial thinking it was all real. Well I thought it was all real except the robot that was obviously CG and it looked so well integrated into the scenes lol Unreal engine film making is here, it is utterly wild how good you make environments look and behave. I'm so impressed. The short wasn't too shabby either. I was engaged through the whole thing. Oh there was one little thing. The sound of hacking the robot early on, that's a dial up modem sound. I'm old so it brought back childhood memories. It would be good to modulate sounds like that to disguise its origin. When it comes down to such tiny things that stand out, I think that's a testament to just how good everything else is. I would happily watch an entire movie of this quality.

[@RD-eg4vo]

Hi Calvin! So, did you record the video of characters wearing the motion sensors and then render that to create like this?

[@NickRomick]

Awesome job, Calvin! As always!

[@EgonSorensen]

Thanks, Very impressive - and best of luck and lots of fun onwards :ø)

[@armynation31B5V5P]

Thank you for sharing with us fans. I extremely enjoyed it.

[@reluctant_clap]

My name is Sam Romeyn, co-writer, voice actor, and mocap actor for the soldiers and military droids. I loved getting exploded, tazed, and falling off a box for this film! Thank you dust!

[@calvinromeyn]

Yeah you did!

[@ictviamfortruthgoogleisspa5886]

What is a point or purpose of this Cartoon? Sir Cowriter

[@AutomationDnD]

this was *EXCELLENT* super well-done

[@calvinromeyn]

@@john_dougg811 great question. There are lots of great resources online. I highly recommend Double Jump Academy. Otherwise, come to Vancouver :)

[@chancepaladin]

that was the best CGI robot falling off a box I've ever seen.

[@jasonsizemore8374]

Poor ol chappie, nice to see he is still making movies

[@calvinromeyn]

:D

[@Dice-Gamble]

lool.. Thought the same... lol

[@lionelk.1739]

Dude, that's hilarious 😆

[@thaphreak]

I was worried no one would recognize his talent and range, I mean come on the guy had a full restomod done for this part.

[@THX-vb8yz]

One of the best robot actors out there.....

[@noahpennerfilm]

Co-writer and co-producer, here - thanks for watching, everyone! @calvinromeyn summed it up well - this project has been years in the making, and it's incredible to finally see it out there. Special thanks to DUST!

[@calvinromeyn]

Everyone welcome Noah Penner on his first ever KZbin comment. Congrats

[@noahpennerfilm]

@@calvinromeynAw, shucks. I'll be here all night, folks. 😅

[@darrenrsmith7119]

Years in the making??? I can do it better and quicker with my phone lol.. joking 😁 She did run weird when turning and her eyes seemed to far apart, only those 2 things I can moan about, so I'm now sad I have little to moan about lol.. Didn't skip or turn of.. so that's a 7/10 from this moaning nob.. good luck with the next one..

[@NeorecnamorceN]

Not gonna lie, the human movements and facial expressions are deep in the uncanny valley, but aside from that, acting, setting, sounds, everything was extremely well done. Nice work!

[@CrankyOldNerd]

Yeah I was struggling with the uncanny valley but great story

[@theelmonk]

I usually can't stand animations, but this was good enough to keep me watching. Realism dropped a bit in the final scene, not sure why.

[@angelreign_celiz]

Hi guys! I'm Angel and I play Zaraiah. I just wanted to say thank you to everyone for the support! I hope for everyone watching, you guys enjoy the artistry and countless hours of dedication that we have poured into this project. Thank you to Calvin and his team for trusting me with their vision and to many of our sponsors! Special mention to Dust for sharing our work and allowing us to reach a broader audience! 🎉 Bleep Bloop Bleep Bloop - AL1

[@dindin5422]

Congratulations to you and the entire team, Angel!

[@calvinromeyn]

I'm forever grateful for your passion and dedication to this project since the beginning! You embodied Zaraiah and made the character your own. Thank you Angel! 🙌

[@watchdust]

You are an absolute STAR in this film!!! 🌟 We're over the moon having Firmware on DUST. Welcome to the DUST family 🚀.

[@calvinromeyn]

@@watchdust Literally wouldn't be the same film without Angel Reign Celiz 💪

[@mystralz]

You were great Angel. So glad you took the plunge and auditioned for this. You are obviously totally committed to the part and played it with intention. Nicely done!

[@mystralz]

Nice to finally see the results of all our hard work. Well done Calvin! This looks amazing!

[@calvinromeyn]

Amazing work as always Fred. Your animations brought our vision to life! 👊

[@stevenbottcher5564]

Love this soooo much!!! The fact this was all done in unreal is awesome!

[@calvinromeyn]

Thank you Steven!

[@goilo888]

You might say unreal! 😊

[@nivasantos7653]

Wow!! I toke time to realize that was an animation!! Superb!!

[@calvinromeyn]

What a compliment, thank you! I worked very hard on the environments so I'm glad we fooled you at least for a minute

[@nivasantos7653]

@@calvinromeyn Yes, you did, and I liked a lot!!

[@craigvarey9230]

DEFINITELY one of the better Sci-fi shorts I've seen in a long time!!! MASSIVE THUMBS UP 👍!

[@calvinromeyn]

Thank you for the wonderful compliment!! We're so happy you checked out our film

[@craigvarey9230]

@@calvinromeyn Brother it was excellent. For the first few seconds I thought I was watching live action! I loved the whole look and feel of it...the dystopian landscapes, the character designs...I could go on and on! You are very good at what you do that's for sure. Now, as for the story...I thoroughly enjoyed it! It was very immersive and you took me through a whole range of emotions while I was watching it. Now if that's not immersive I don't know what is. Great production, great directing (direction?) and great story!

[@calvinromeyn]

@@craigvarey9230 Thanks so much for recognizing all those different aspects! As creators we're always hard on ourselves, never thinking anything we do is good enough. So it's really validating to hear when other people connect with something that's important to us. Thanks again!

[@craigvarey9230]

@@calvinromeyn No problem! Thank YOU! I know exactly where you're coming from! I am big film fan and I do recognise just what goes into making something great! Take Martin Scorcese...he spent over FOUR years researching for his absolutely amazing movie Gangs of New York before shooting anything. And doesn't it show?!!! That's why I was so impressed with your short. It really does show just how much hard work you put into it. Just that short 20 minutes or so sets the scene for what could be a fantastic movie of 90 or more minutes I'm sure. What you got on the screen in that short time was skillfully crafted. I mean, a lot of shorts just leave you scratching your head in confusion...like...Eh?! Is that it?... I'm very happy to say that your film was a beautifully together and worked perfectly as a short or indeed as one chapter in a much bigger production! Kudos!

[@bradjohnson9671]

You know when it's done right, it leaves you wanting more.. Well, I want more! Look forward to the behind the scenes feature.

[@calvinromeyn]

Thank you for watching our short film! Check out the BTS on my channel!

[@RussellHixson]

I love that technology has progressed to the point that anyone who is willing to learn and put in the time can produce TV/Movie quality work. Kudos! Audio design, performances, colour/grit effects to give it a film feel were all excellent! I was fully immersed.

[@calvinromeyn]

Thank you for your wonderful comment good sir. You are truly a beacon of kindenss and and grace amongst the darkness of the world. I'm glad you enjoyed our short film. May your days be long and prosperous Mr. Hixson.

[@tinaromeyn2630]

Such an awesome and amazingly talented crew! Congratulations to everyone who worked on this film!

[@calvinromeyn]

Thank you dearest

[@ToddHofer]

I am thoroughly impressed. Finally, a movie with 100% accuracy in the computer systems and operation. Somebody did their homework!

[@calvinromeyn]

Oh man. I'm so thrilled you noticed the attention to detail. Technobabble in movies is a pet peeve of mine as I used to work in IT. So when I was coming up for the designs for the screens I tried to make them as pseudo "cinema accurate" as I could. Thanks for watching our film!

[@ToddHofer]

@@calvinromeyn I'm a software and IT Engineer and I"m the same way about tech in movies. I love the little nod to the old IBM's and the Amber monochrome monitor! I'm love to watch a movie where someone actually took the time to get it right. Keep up the EXCELLENT work!

[@calvinromeyn]

@@ToddHofer Yeah, it's super rare to see filmmakers take the time to ensure those details are accurate. It's a super niche thing that only like 1% of us notice, but it's so satisfying when someone gets it right. It was so nostalgiac for me adding those details, like the hard drive scanning sector sound effect you hear in the hideout scene too.

[@ToddHofer]

@@calvinromeyn You have a promising future ahead of you. Moat filmmakers don't take that extra little time to get the "Little" things right. When in all actuality, those "Little" things are actually pretty big in the grand scheme. The more realistic a movie is, the more people will connect with it. Those connections is what makes a movie memorable.

[@calvinromeyn]

@@ToddHofer Thanks so much Todd. Glad to have met you. Feel free to connect with me on social media! Have a great day.

[@benaloney]

(girl) “You gotta be kidding!” (robot) ”I’m not kidding, my humour module is badly damaged…” 😆

[@calvinromeyn]

Hahaha those were really fun lines to write. Thanks for watching!

[@kevinkall8547]

Excellent story and marvelous skins. could not tell it was animation until she was moving/running. Computers haven't perfected that yet.

[@calvinromeyn]

Thank you for checking out our film! You're right, a still human is much easier to animate. Especially for a small team of animators compared to the resources of a huge studio.

[@AlexTrusk91]

at first I thought she was a real actress too. Great work

[@calvinromeyn]

@@AlexTrusk91 thank you!!

[@Manuelomar2001]

I absolutely could tell. Her face looked super unnatural

[@spudeleven5124]

In a word, BRILLIANT. It's all about the story, and it was very well crafted.

[@calvinromeyn]

Thank you so much! I really appreciate that

[@kevincozens6837]

Indeed! Too many current day movies are heavy on special effects and not enough story.

[@134rwa]

This was absolutely one of the best I've ever seen. I love how the conclusion was actually a new beginning, I want to see more of this story!

[@calvinromeyn]

Thank you for noticing that! It was tricky getting the ending just right, having enough of a conclusion with the suggestion of a continuation. Thanks for watching

[@FrogdogAndStinkypiss]

I was glued the whole video😅

[@calvinromeyn]

So good to hear that, thanks for watching!

[@Randytherumbler]

Whoever Calvin is, I'm pretty sure he'll be awfully proud and pleased to know that his work was superb! Outstanding, excellent slightly above average short sci-fi work. Almost pure ingenious. Almost legandary. Almost professionally done. Would've been better if ol' Chappie had been a military model, instead of him being built for,well, companionship. Whatever good that would've done,it had unexpectedly accomplished its mission. And, therefore,made its purpose in becoming a servant of the heroic space marines army... To overcome the forces of evil. Very well,done. 👍😃.

[@calvinromeyn]

Thank you for commenting and talking the time to watch my short film. I'm very proud of the work our team created. 😊

[@catbert7]

The police bot trying to jump over the wall was hilarious xD

[@samuelgoodnews3197]

Name please

[@calvinromeyn]

Haha thanks! My brother, Sam did that stunt. It was so much fun to shoot it

[@LH-zz1xj]

@@calvinromeyn That was hilarious Calvin - I loved the ED-209 from Robocop style tantrum when the bot could not get back up.

[@danman4127]

this is deserving of its own mini series! great work from all involved...I too was fooled at first with the graphics. stunning.

[@calvinromeyn]

I take it as a huge compliment that you were fooled by the graphics. I would love to make it a series. Maybe one day. Thank you for watching Firmware!

[@lucasjones3338]

Is Angel Celiz the actor for the main character? She was really good.

[@calvinromeyn]

Yes she was! The character was also designed after her. She is superbly talented!

[@mystralz]

Yes! She was perfect for the part. She played the part with total commitment.

[@4AFREEPALESTINE]

You all talk like chatbots. Are any of these comments by real people?

[@calvinromeyn]

@@4AFREEPALESTINE Yes. I am a real person. I love doing all human things like eating and having conversations with other humans.

[@4AFREEPALESTINE]

@@calvinromeynAfter watching videos about AI destroying the human race followed by your brilliant short film (series?) Dust, I was feeling a little paranoid. That being said, I'm not entirely convinced you are human... What human says "I like to do human things?"

[@vonSchnoid]

Awesome done! Got a lot of Half-Life vibes to it with that big tower, the rundown city, the humans with gasmasks. Maybe next one can be a Half-Life spin-off?

[@calvinromeyn]

That's definitely in my list of potential future projects. This one was definitely very Half-Life inspired. Thanks for watching!

[@Sadler2010]

I got a little Fallout vibe too!

[@The411]

Very well done. Gripping tension. Only one criticism, the gas mask filters still had the shipping plugs in the end, can't breathe with those in. I doubt a lot of people noticed though.

[@calvinromeyn]

Haha ohh noo. Are you serious!? I didn't even know that was a thing.

[@noahpennerfilm]

Completely intentional. They don't breathe like anyone, or anything, else. 😉

[@reluctant_clap]

Wow, good catch!

[@phillipayoung10]

Sequel please!!!😊😊

[@rickbiessman6084]

WOW. So many things done SO RIGHT. I only now realized the film was over 20 minutes. Felt like a lot less to me, in a really good way. Zaraiah has enough depth to stay interesting throughout the film, and right from the get go we learn what she’s about, with just enough back story for the whole setting to make sense. That’s really difficult to do. And you got it.

[@thepilotmaster777]

I thought this was real for the first three mins. These are getting frighteningly realistic looking

[@huoshewu]

Great Stuff. I'm very invested in the whole thing, so good job on that! I want to see if she can get another droid and plug her screwdrive in there to bring her companion back. Knowing she has a literal ticking clock and motivation is fantastic for a story that was only ten minutes long. If you had a middle and end you could easily fill a few theaters. Or maybe get a Netflix deal? I'd binge the whole thing. Can't wait to see what's next, or more of this, if you're so inclined! I think, with VERY LITTLE (that's a joke) WORK, you could easily make a game out of it. Just a thought.

[@calvinromeyn]

Thank you for your kind comment! I know we'd all love to see what happens next too. Had a blast working with a really talented crew and amazing actors. I'm excited already for our next project. Thanks again for watching!

[@diolemmen6936]

these running scenes feel like running in my dreams, heavy and slow, but really well made :D

[@muhammadsarmadafzal2157]

I'm

[@SWEscapePodcast]

Well done Calvin!!! 🎉 Awesome short film once again!

[@calvinromeyn]

Thanks for watching Escape Pod!

[@Mechknight73]

If nobody wanted to make a full movie of this one, it's definitely got potential as the plot of a video game. There are many times during the film that you forget you're watching CGI animation. Very fluid motion, and a story with heart. If you wanted to expand this one further, you could always do the "back story" as to what the nuclear incident was, although save for the lack of Russian script and some buildings, it could almost be "another Pripyat."

[@jonathanmui6764]

Wow this was such an incredible story. And great acting 😉

[@calvinromeyn]

Thank you!

[@SyntaxScout]

Masterpiece,so much work and dedication was put in this excellent film.

[@calvinromeyn]

Thank you very much!

[@v8muzik]

Imagine this becoming a game. The Graphics alone are insane !

[@mikeunum]

More from this, more, more, more please

[@calvinromeyn]

So kind, thank you for watching

[@osmia]

Thanks for having CC enabled

[@calvinromeyn]

Haha it was a lot of work typing that all out. Thanks for appreciating the effort 😂

[@marineenigella8062]

I just wanna point out that the dad in the photo is the VA’s dad irl LMAO its so cool to see

[@The_Opinion_of_Matt]

Very strong Half-Life 2 vibes. Good job overall!

[@beccamitchell7903]

Dude so good! It looks amazing, I'm sure we'll be seeing much more from you. Amaaaaazing job cuz! PS: got a good laugh at the special graffiti on the robot in the beginning....lol

[@calvinromeyn]

Ahahaha! Thank you cousin! You're the first person to point out the graffiti. It was really entertaining adding all those easter eggs

[@FROCKLIFFE]

So awesome being able to see how it all turned out!!

[@NickRomick]

OG Galactic Battles crew!

[@calvinromeyn]

Wait - is this Fenner from Corridor?

[@calvinromeyn]

@@NickRomick Haha heck yeah

[@jabalengelhard960]

Nice short film! The quality of the VFX reminds me of Alita, Battle Angel...this is very good quality and I'm viewing on a laptop :) Thank You to all who produced this film!

[@calvinromeyn]

Thank you so much!

[@CplHicks31415]

Love the old "DOS/CPM" computer with old school CRT.

[@calvinromeyn]

Haha thank you for watching Firmware! It was prob my favorite detail to design.

[@doylebarnett2254]

Great job. I love it. One tiny detail that stood out was that too much of the whites of her eyes showed so they looked a little unrealistic. Keep up the good work. I write Sci-fi too.

[@calvinromeyn]

Thanks for the critique. You're totally right, human eyes are so difficult.

[@deadlly7]

This is incredible, everyone who worked on it should be so proud. I’m blown away.

[@calvinromeyn]

Thank you Erik!!

[@screamingiraffe]

rarely see shorts this good , nice work. Had me thinking 'last of us' meets 'district 9'. This would make for a very interesting web series, perhaps netflix.

[@calvinromeyn]

Thanks for watching our short! Last of Us and District 9 were to of the biggest inspirations for this piece. Glad it landed for you without being too derivitive. Would love to make more as well. Stay tuned.

[@josefroque5551]

I love how realistic the bots move, the part where it got confused about how to overcome the wall was hilarious.

[@theoriginalplatform]

💥Incredible work! Congrats to all that worked on this!

[@calvinromeyn]

Thank you for all your help with casting!

[@flyergowest]

Awesome. Great story. Hope there will be more coming in the future.

[@calvinromeyn]

Lots more coming for sure!

[@MarcopoliPolo]

It was really great hope one day a sequel would be created, story has potentials to be a one night movie maybe a mini serie.

[@pipersall6761]

What a great little film!! Well done everyone!! I wish it were longer but it is more precious in its limited time form. Thank you!

[@calvinromeyn]

Thanks for watching! Wish we could have made it feature length as well.

[@no-prophet]

This was amazing, congratulations to the team behind the scenes. It's funny that the girl's droid runs BIOS and Windows.

[@Bonewerkz]

DOS, with dial up modem.

[@calvinromeyn]

Haha thank you for noticing my little nerdy details! I loved the BIOS aesthetic and adding those touches for the eagle eyed

[@calvinromeyn]

@@Bonewerkz Good ear, yes that was really fun to add

[@noahpennerfilm]

Thank you! I, too, am relieved that Windows will survive the post-apocalypse.

[@lucasjones3338]

2:45 Boston Dynamics bots would have made that climb

[@calvinromeyn]

Haha glad you liked the reference

[@Shadow-1949]

Absolutely fantastic Very well done and I look forward to seeing more of your work! Haven’t seen better! Thank you

[@joelbrecknell1557]

Great work Calvinnnn!!

[@calvinromeyn]

Thanks for watching Joel! Hope your teeth are doing great. You know, from all that clenching while watching this at the edge of your seat.

[@cyremtutorial27392]

Thats my couzin right there. Yeah. ASTIG..

[@averdadeestalafora.2578]

Otimo trabalho. Ja pode mostra um trabalho para o cinema. Parabéns.

[@ltgenx532]

wow the animation is crazy, the storyline and the voice actors did a really great job I have just started learning and creating animation and I wish and pray I had such skill.

[@calvinromeyn]

Thank you! We def worked with some amazing actors. Keep pushing and surround yourselves with talent!

[@MR3DDev]

Love seeing more content made in Unreal

[@calvinromeyn]

I had a great time learning it. Looking forward to making more

[@bullit4x]

Looks like a video game storyline from 2019.

[@calvinromeyn]

Thank you! It was definitely inspired by some of my favorite games

[@noahpennerfilm]

The vibes. Little bit of Half-Life, little bit of Stalker. :D

[@rogerlau4932]

This is very good. Solid plot, sustained tension, logical and realistic visual scenery. No real surprises, and fairly predictable, but still satisfying conclusion. The woman commander's face was nicely. The animated running of our heroine was stilted, however. Everything else was well worth watching.

[@drew-shourd]

Very cool, not into animated films though. Loved the AOL dial-up start sounds @0:39...the youngsters here won't know that sound...hahaha

[@calvinromeyn]

Thanks for watching our short film! Yes! The dial-up sound effect was one of the very first sound effects we added to the edit. The retro tech was very important to the films aesthetic. Thank you!!

[@slybri5751]

Best dust short in ages⭐⭐⭐

[@calvinromeyn]

I am a master of self doubt so thank you for saying that 🤩

[@noahpennerfilm]

Aw, thank you! There's a lot of great competition, though...

[@coldlyanalytical1351]

Impressed!

[@noahpennerfilm]

Thank you for watching!

[@TMFShooting]

Great Film 💯💥💥💥💥💥💥💥

[@RelaxingMusic-gp3st]

Took me till before the initial chase at intro to realize this was CGI. 🤯 EXCELLENT voice acting as it was convincing. 🤩🥳

[@kennypersson2556]

Beautiful! Love it❤

[@noahpennerfilm]

Thank you for watching!

[@osmia]

Brilliant!

[@Rouge_7]

Well done. Exceptional storyline that was well programmed. Very enjoyable, so much so I could watch a 3 hr movie or a weekly series. I am looking forward to the behind-the-scenes project along with further completed challenges.

[@calvinromeyn]

Ah so glad you liked it! I know we'd all love the mini series version of this world too. The BTS is on my channel if you want to check it out. It goes into all the challenges and technical details of achiving this. Thanks so much!

[@merion297]

Though the girl got into trouble twice due to his unjustified carelessness, and despite the retro modem sound and "A:\YES", it was damn cool. And finally a short on Dust that has a proper ending. 🤘🏼

[@DoubleJumpAcademy]

amazing work!

[@JohnnyLevier]

The best Sci-fi short I have ever seen ! A video game based on this idea would have been cool ! Even a TV-show ! Awesome !

[@calvinromeyn]

Thank you so much! I'm glad you enjoyed our short. Lots more like this to come.

[@Sm3lldiver_404-wj2ci]

I think there is a game with this premise. It's called Metro. Oh wait, there's also S.T.A.L.K.E.R. ...

[@calvinromeyn]

@@Sm3lldiver_404-wj2ci I studied both those games while working on this. And listened to the STALKER soundtrack while writing.

[@DigitalNomadInvestor]

Great job folks! I just created an entire IT business using AI and I want to start using AI and other new tech to film my graphic novel projects. I've optioned a number of my projects in the past to production companies in Hollywood and pitched at a lot of studios, including Disney and the other large ones. I still have relationships with people in the industry through my venture capital friends in L.A. This film reminds me of "Dark Angel" the TV show that starred Jessica Alba in her first big role. Anyway, I'll check out your other projects and going to recommend this one to my VC friend too. Again, great job!

[@user-zg6lm8gc9t]

То что вы делаете - потрясающе!!!

[@noahpennerfilm]

Спасибо!

[@kurtweiand7086]

Thanks for this!

[@MultidimensionalBeing124]

I can imagine the future of gaming is going to be a blast, we just have to survive the birthing of the new world. hopefully, its not as depicted as it is here. Your team is very talented.

[@stephendavis4241]

My assumption is any any military smart enough to plan an attack, can find the logic in the "Firmware" to open the gate. Lots of good SciFi technical details. Nice Work Teams!!

[@jonathaningram4672]

Brilliant. I often feel like that robot squished in the door.

[@cat52]

I loved this!!! Please make more short films like this!

[@calvinromeyn]

Thanks for watching cat! I'm brewing up lots more content like this.

[@87398]

I must admit it is marvelous if you can do a sequel this would be extraordinary

[@rabsmcsporrin9572]

Excellent work

[@redwolfmaddox3986]

Chappie????????

[@be_vocal_online]

I had no idea it was animated until I thought she was running funny like out of a computer game. It is insane whats possible these days with technology. Well done

[@Scheckler27]

This is so fun, awesome and entertaining ! Thanks

[@calvinromeyn]

Thanks for watching!

[@tonydabaloney]

Nicely done and filmed. All the people with brains are warning us about the danger of AI, but at the same time are working hard to make it happen. How about this for a plot. Man creates human/computer interface along with a net of satellites surrounding the earth and then creates a true AI! WHAT COULD GO WRONG? Oh,right, they already made a movie called The Terminator 1,2,3,4,5 of them. SkyNet is almost complete, thanks ,Mr. Musk.😂😂

[@philstone3859]

Coolness. 😁👍 Impressively done. 🤖 You’re all right Calvin & crew. Dust rocks!

[@calvinromeyn]

Thank you so much for watching our short!

[@danawhite9823]

Thanks guys! I really enjoyed this one. I could see this being a really great feature film and would LOVE to play it as a video game as well.

[@calvinromeyn]

I know I'd love to play the video game version of this as well. Thank you so much for watching, and I'm glad you enjoyed it!

[@jul3249]

wtf it took me like 2 minutes of questioning my perceptions before realizing this is CGI and not actual actors... How can a low budget movie achieve such results??

[@calvinromeyn]

Wow thank you so much! I appreciate the comment

[@lisetteclay7480]

10/10 Great film! Hope to see more from @calvinromeyn in the future! Fantastic acting, loved the cheeky Easter eggs throughout the film. Got some good chuckles in 😂

[@calvinromeyn]

Thank you kind stranger!

[@kpadalldotablet1009]

Why would that driod fall over trying to climb a wall? Still a cool short, like a game and movie merged. Love it.

[@tymonjames8577]

Liked this one a lot! CGI has come a long way.

[@russ4024]

Amazing environmental storytelling, cool world building, loved it! Looking forward to seeing what else this team puts out

[@calvinromeyn]

Glad you enjoyed our short film. I had a blast designing the world and trying to tell as much as I could visually through subtext. Glad you recognized the effort. Stay tuned for lots more!

[@TheSilmarillian]

Cant even imagine the work that went into making this nice one indeed. Was didn't realise it was it was animated in the beginning ,then it didn't matter hello from down under.

[@calvinromeyn]

Thanks so much! Definitely a lot of work. Feel free to check out the BTS video on my channel which goes into lots of detail on the making of

[@olphotography5555]

Finally a sci-fi short that is easily to understand! Thank you

[@calvinromeyn]

Glad to hear this, thank you! Writing a simple plot was very easy for me because my brain is very simple.

[@olphotography5555]

@@calvinromeyn Awesome! Pure Awesomeness!!

[@SeverineErickson]

Congrats Calvin and co.

[@calvinromeyn]

Fancy seeing you here Severine! Thank you for watching!

[@ISandbagI]

hahaha "My companionship protocols simply suggest that we hope for the best"

[@CesarinPillinGaming]

Was this done in unreal engine? It seems some of the animations are rough but looks impressive in the general aspect.

[@calvinromeyn]

Unreal Engine 5, yes! It was my first time learning the software and I can confidently say I'll use it again for more short films in the future.

[@woodstoney]

Definitely some excellent production efforts! Very nicely done and certainly open for a continuation.

[@calvinromeyn]

Thank you! It was a huge team effort between many talented artists. We're super proud of the result and would love to continue the story. Thanks for watching Firmware!

[@miguelalonso8543]

Many thanks for the amazing work.

[@PennyPincherCoins]

loved it and hope you the best for movie making!!!