Computer animation is popular, but it’s also expensive and it’s a huge pain in the ass. You have to get everything exactly right; the reflection of light, for example.
Shane Acker, who you might remember from “9”, decided to get creative and use Valve’s Source engine to perform lighting effects and design.
It’s an interesting choice not least because of the movie itself: called “Deep”, it’s set entirely underwater as humanity hides under the ocean after World War III.
In other words, Source’s ability to render that notoriously difficult substance water is about to get a workout. We’ll be interested to see where this movie goes from here, especially since the budget is only $19 million. If Acker can deliver a high-quality CGI film using Source, we could see a lot more more CGI features soon.