We first came across Irish director Nick Ryan a couple years back thanks to his very impressive short film A Lonely Sky - in which he accomplished impossible things on a miniscule budget - and now he's at it again with The German, a WWII themed aerial dogfight film starring Rock'N'Rolla's Toby Kebbell made with a total EFX budget of ... wait for it ... zero.
November 1940, during the greatest conflict man has ever known, an epic duel unfolds between two ace pilots, each willing to take the match to it’s ultimate conclusion. Unknown to the pilots is a fate neither has considered.The German is a war story seen through the eyes of RAF officer A C Barton (Kebbell) who will take his fight to the very end. The singleminded desire for revenge drives Barton, but when it comes face to face, can he pull the trigger?
The budget may be what jumps out on paper but, honestly, this would be spectacular at any budget. Check the trailer below the break.
The German HD Trailer from Nick Ryan on Vimeo.
Wait... how does this work. There are obviously effects, so were they borrowed from another production, donated free of charge by a generous crew or taken at gunpoint? Perhaps we you could flesh that out for us, because I am a history junkie and crave realistic accounts, but a heartless film industry provides me with only "Flyboys" to whet my thirst for combat aviation. Realism is hard to come by in historical combat films, and a man can only watch "Band of Brothers" so many times.
Wow looks pretty amazing!.
Look's great but just how does it have a 'zero' budget. The cockpit alone would have cost money to make, never mind creating all those 3D assets and render times and the kit to run it all on.
Ryan did absolutely all the effects - rendering, compositing, all the wireframe work, etc - himself using his own gear and still photographs as reference. If you do a search for him on Vimeo - or check the official site for this film - you'll find some behind the scenes videos that explain how he did it.