No doubt one of my favorite films to have shown in 2019 during our television run, Big Boom is a fantastic story with lovable characters. Written and directed by Brian Watson, the short features convenience store robot worker Jimbo and his gang as they wait for a human customer.
Jimbo starts to realize something may be wrong as the sky has started to change color and it’s been days since the essential workers have seen anyone. Thrown into the mix is Jimbo’s desire to see his friend Bob, but his programming hinders him from leaving.
Brian’s Production Notes
Big Boom is a film that explores the questions of existence through the eye of a lonely service robot. It was definitely inspired by things like Wall-E and Fallout 4, however Big Boom has it’s own unique voice as well. Perhaps a bit bleaker than it’s influences (or optimistic depending on how you interpret the ending).
The film itself is the result of me teaching myself Substance Painter and the Unreal 4 Engine (UE4). As I created assets, I figured I might as well make a short film as practice. It was completed almost entirely within UE4, I did some fine-tuning in Adobe Premiere. A small team of 6 people were in the production. With the exception of the voice acting and some of the natural elements, I was responsible for the entire production.
