The Plot
An experimental spaceship, the UNN Atalante, goes off-course on its maiden voyage, leaving its two astronauts stranded in space. Facing impossible odds and with no way home, Mission Specialist Aditi Chari and Captain Zhenya Zejekovic have to come to terms with death and make the most of, what could be, their final moments.
Earthlings explores sci-fi concepts like space travel, panspermia, technology etc. while juggling everyday themes like life and death, and the friendship in between.
The Team
Marking Erwick’s first Directorial debut, Earthlings has been a slow burning passion project for the sci-fi buff and tech fan. Bringing over eight years of filmmaking experience into the project across three countries, Erwick had to learn to use 3D software from the ground up to bring his ideas to the life. With a love of classic science fiction, and a background in Engineering, Erwick brings his technical expertise to the writing and directing of Earthlings along with close friend and frequent collaborator,
A lifelong fan of sci-fi, fantasy, and horror, Dimitri welcomed the opportunity to express a lifetime of thinking about death and thoughts about life and nihilism in Earthlings. After months of heated arguments over the script, the two directors brought the story to life with high-end motion capture technology and just a bit of chutzpah. As director, Dimitri draws from his experience on stage and with improv, drawing out spontaneity from the performers.
Annette (Eun-Kyoung) Cho – producer/ assistant director
Annette (Eun-Kyoung) Cho is a visual artist and creative producer from South Korea. Eager to delve deeper into the VFX world and support her friends Dimitri and Erwick, she joined Earthlings as a 1st Assistant Director and producer.
The Cast:
Sanchi Pandey is getting her BFA in Musical Theatre at UNC Greensboro. She is so grateful to have worked with this talented crew and to represent a badass South Asian character- and of course, to explore motion capture Space!
Corey Lee Peña has been involved in film making since his teenage years. Making Sci-Fi movies and war adventures with his dad’s super 8 camera. As an actor to be in a Sci-Fi motion capture production is a dream come true! Corey has been pursuing acting seriously in films for the past two years with a number of full length features and short films to his credit.
On the set of Earthlings: Left to right: Dimitri Dyó, Annette Eyn Kyong Cho, Corey Lee Peña, Prof. Bob Keen, Sanchi Pandey, Erwick D’Souza, Asa Gordon and Dante Armstrong.
Making Earthlings
When the original plan to film Earthlings as a live action film got scrapped, a proposal was put forward to the team to do the film in Unreal Engine 5, a video game engine. The actor’s performances would be recorded in motion capture of both, the body and the face. Unsure of the technologies involved and a lot of testing later, the team put together a production and cast Sanchi and Corey to create a special one-of-a-kind science-fiction film.
Unreal Engine 5
Unreal Engine 5 is a cutting-edge next generation video game graphics engine. By using the best-in-class 3D rendering with ray-traced lighting, UE5 bridges the gap between real and Computer Graphic Imagery. It makes photorealism more accessible to smaller filmmakers by allowing us to create expansive virtual sets using the principles of real filmmaking.
Asa and Ben Keen setting up a scene in Unreal Engine 5
Behind The Scenes:
The motion capture set with a massive LED Wall to preserve actor eye-lines and increase immersion.
Corey and Sanchi rehearsing their lines
Dimitri directing the actors on the weightless camera sequence on production day
Erwick directing the actors on the crash sequence on production day
Annette ADing like a boss with Erwick monitoring sound
If you are interested in supporting this project, please go to INDIEGOGO for Information on how you can be a part of Earthlings: Earthlings – A Science Fiction Short Film | Indiegogo