We live in a great time, where the future knows no bounds. On one hand, this modern age, with its incredible technological advances, could, in fact, lead to a dystopian downfall, birthing self-aware sentinels with runaway artificial intelligence that would then threaten all of human existence as we know it.
On the other hand, these technological advances, more realistically appropriated, offer us the means and resources of connecting with people on the internet, reaching wide audiences to showcase new and exciting short films from artists and filmmakers with cinematic-level excellence about, well…self-aware sentinels with runaway artificial intelligence that would then threaten human existence as we know it.
In this day and age, where the distribution landscape has all but exploded, having fragmented off into endless channels that let the consumer decide where to spend their viewing energy, it can be said that the internet has truly democratized entertainment itself, giving the people an unmatched power over their tools for such control.
However, being in control of your tools isn’t the case or story in the new digital series, Ambient, an originally scripted sci-fi episodic story about a self-aware computer virus that pushes mankind to the brink of extinction.
Ambient is a total of five episodes, ranging from five and a half to ten minutes each totaling the better part of a half-hour to watch in its entirety. They are an easy continuous watch, all to the great fun and entertainment of its story. Just hit the Auto-continuous play, sit back, and transport yourself to a world of true sci-fi invention, and impressive independent film-making vision. Written by Rob Kotecki and Gabe Michael (producer, Epic Rap Battles of History), and directed by Michael, the series is a full story, with no shortage of visual impress and great locations. While it may track along the more familiar notes of what we’ve seen of popular apocalyptic sci-fi survival, the story is fresh and certainly ambitious in scope. These guys know how to build tension through a combination of intriguingly laid out story and impressive sound design to achieve its fascinating vision.
The first episode, “The Noise,” is about exactly that–and explains, in ominous voice-over narration similar to Terminator 2: Judgment Day’s flashback seriousness, what this story’s about. Opening with a computer log explaining, “Jeremiad,” “a work lamenting the state of society and the prophesying of its downfall,” and that technology, for all its wonder and power, if its global inter-connectivity were used for bad, then we’d all be in “deep, deep shit”; and that his brother and he would be the ones to blame.
The thing that dooms them all is a noise; more specifically, a frequency, sustained by an ear-splitting screech, like a cracked-out dial-up connection to hell. An early bar fight that sees a band of rag-tag survivors narrowly escape the clutches of another threatening bunch by punching up the sound as a weapon, we at first think the weapon is used by the two brothers mercilessly. But with the arrival of a rogue military unity hell-bent on capturing them the question soon enough arises: are these brothers the good guys or the bad? Are they merely survivors, or cyber terrorists? And if they’re not the ones responsible for creating the Jeremiad virus–then who is?
Ambient is a savvy, smartly made, and excitingly suspenseful sci-fi tale of big ambition. And I’ll say it: to have made the thing for a website alone that exchanges value-monetization for simply view watching, is damn incredible, and applause-worthy. It has the look and feel of some of today’s hottest hits: strikingly, it has the fan familiarity of The Walking Dead‘s neo-grunge aesthetic and storytelling, which should satisfy audiences entertained by that. Every piece of new information discovered, every final moment in each episode, continually piques your interest in launching the viewer into the next part of the ever-evolving story and experience.
Although the dystopian future that Ambient imagines up is shown as a bad thing, it’s great that we can watch such a unique and original story that’s accessible on the internet, and for free (!). This binge-watching culture should find no problem supporting this new endeavor, and building loyal fans who will spread the word of mouth to develop and continue to find audiences over for even greater success. Although our Macbook Pro’s might all take over the world someday, there’s great fun had here to tide us over until then.
Watch the series on www.youtube.com/forgeapollo
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LTrVb1lobVs&list=PLcLSYAr5p6CFudLz3j39Q2zQxbRHQJuZw&index=1
Thank you for the great write up, Ryan. We love your site and writing style.
Gabe- it’s entirely easy to put the words down when there’s something at the heart of it to inspire them. And thank you for the kind words! We want CINEMACY to continue to serve as a champion and celebrate the movies and stories we believe in. Continued success to you all and the series!