Short of the Day
Director Andrée Wallin has worked on The Force Awakens, Rogue One, and two upcoming films.
Andrée Wallin is an artist who got his start in Hollywood a few years ago when he was hired as a concept illustrator for Joseph Kosinski’s Oblivion. His work there must have really impressed the right people, because his next gig was with Lucasfilm creating iconic concept art for J.J. Abrams’ The Force Awakens like this beauty right here:
Hell yeah. I can imagine the goosebumps Wallin had when he finished that one.
After Episode VII, Wallin was brought back for Rogue One and is also creating art for two other unnamed Star Wars films (feel free to send some exclusives along, Andrée). Bottom line, then, dude has chops and is one of the industry’s most in-demand concept artists. However, he could be about to become one of the industry’s most in-demand new directors.
State Zero is Wallin’s debut short, and like the films he has worked on as an artist, it is a sci-fi action spectacle heavy on visual dynamism wrapped around a straightforward story of survival. The synopsis:
Knowing that the horror exists doesn’t make it any easier to deal with. Four soldiers enter a building filled with terrifying creatures to fix faulty equipment, but will any of them make it out alive?
That’s not a lot to go on, but it’s more than enough to fill Wallin’s 14-minute film with the kind of excruciating suspense and palpable terror that makes State Zero resonate in the same vein as Alien.
And of course, given Wallin’s background, the short is beautifully rendered and features creature, weapon and vehicle designs that are on par with any found in feature-length, big-budget tentpole films. State Zero speaks volumes as to Wallin’s potential, and if the people at Lucasfilm are watching, you’ve got a visionary in your midst, might be time to give him a camera instead of a brush.
We were tipped to State Zero by DUST, which describes itself as “the first multi-platform destination for binge-watchable sci-fi.” They feature a ton of sci-fi shorts from up-and-coming directors like Wallin who place an emphasis on VFX, plot, and complex characters. “Robots, aliens, space exploration, and human experience are all a part of DUST.”
There’s some other cool stuff over there, so after you ravenously consume State Zero, hop over and see what else there is. And also, for Pete’s sake visit Wallin’s personal site, it’s full of more amazing art work that showcases just how broad his talents stretch.
Related Topics: Filmmaking, Short Films, Star Wars
