Yesterday, Oats Studios posted God, a four-minute, darkly funny short that finds Neill Blomkamp’s frequent collaborator Sharlto Copley playing God. You should watch it!
Blomkamp has had an interesting run, the past few years: After debuting a few shorts that were striking in their skill and originality (particularly Tetra Vaal and Alive in Joburg), he was slated to direct a big-screen adaptation of the Halo video game series; when that fell through, Peter Jackson helped him make District 9—an acclaimed hit that captured the dark, unique weirdness of Blomkamp’s shorts.
Then came Elysium, a film that was not met with such open arms, and Chappie, which was met with outright hostility. (And for good reason—while Chappie‘s visuals are jaw-dropping, I can also think of few films that are as obnoxious to experience. Casting Die Antwoord as your leads will do that.) Most recently, Blomkamp was set to make an Aliens sequel; that got scuttled once Ridley Scott tottered into the room and declared he would be the one making Alien sequels for ever and ever, even if no one wants them.
So with his latest endeavor, Blomkamp is stepping away from the studio system: Oats Studios finds Blomkamp and his collaborators making their own films—shorts for now, with an eye toward future features—and soliciting donations from those who watch. “Our wish is to receive funding sourced directly from our audience, as we establish a studio fuelled by pure creativity and passion,” Oats Studios proclaims. “We have many, many more worlds to create and stories to tell, but we need help from people around the globe.”
It’s a great idea, but I’ve been… mixed on what Oats has put out. The gritty, verité futurism of Blomkamp’s earlier work is still very much in effect, and he’s clearly got top-level casts and crews working with him. (Chappie‘s Sigourney Weaver stars in one of Oats’ shorts series, and effects-wise, these YouTubes look better than 95 percent of big-budget cinematic offerings.) But much as how District 9 and Chappie riffed on Blomkamp’s original shorts, there hasn’t seemed to be a lot of newness in Oats’ output; the shorts’ grimy body horror and surreal alternate realities feel pretty similar to work Blomkamp’s already made.
But God is funny and fun, and uses its scope and visuals to excellent measure. In some ways it feels a lot like George R.R. Martin’s short story “Sandkings,” but its also willing to enjoy its concept; Copley, as a God who’s both senile and cruel, seems to be having a blast. Along with another Oats offering, Cooking with Bill—
—God does things with visuals and tone that most YouTube shorts never think of. That makes Oats Studios seem pretty promising. If Blomkamp & Co. can keep experimenting—and, in those experiments, can keep finding stuff that works—it’ll be fascinating to see what else they create.
