Short film: The Ballad of the M4 Carbine
Posted on 13. Oct, 2009 by Andrew Price in Articles
It’s been 3 months since my last post so hopefully this makes up for my absence!
It’s always been a dream of mine to create an animated short, and with this year’s Blender film festival close by I couldn’t think of a better time.
So without further ado I present, The Ballad of the M4 Carbine:
The M4 Carbine has been the weapon of choice for US soldiers in Afghanistan and Iraq since 2001, and is still used today. The meaning of the film is open to interpretation, but I’ve always found an interest with the war in the middle east and our involvement with it. I wanted the film to be politically evocative, yet aesthetically pleasing and enjoyable to watch.
From start to finish the film took approximately 4 months to complete in between working a full-time job. It was rendered in 720p HD and took an average of 2 minutes to render each frame.
Plus as a bonus for being a Blender Guru reader, I’m giving you the M4 Carbine model free. This includes all materials, textures, node setups, bullet shells, muzzle flashes, tracers and smoke effects from the short.
Feel free to use the files for all non-commercial purposes. Enjoy!
Stay tuned next week when I fly to Amsterdam and report on all the important news from the 2009 Blender Conference!
37 Responses to “Short film: The Ballad of the M4 Carbine”
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14. Oct, 2009
[...] Short film: The Ballad of the M4 Carbine [...]
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15. Oct, 2009
[...] This is absolutely gorgeous. I have no idea whatsoever what it means, but it sure is [...]
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01. Jun, 2010
[...] focuses on in the middle of the animation. I used this technique extensively in my film ‘The Ballad of the M4 Carbine‘, where I made the camera focus on a moving empty that changed moved mid [...]
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ezpRado
13. Oct, 2009
Hi! I love to check by your site to follow your tutorials. Been quiet for awhile here but now I see why! What a comeback!! Love everything with this short! (except the main use of these weapons in real life) You master the art of directing as well as all the 3d stuff!
Regards,
ezpRado
Antonio
13. Oct, 2009
Hello !
I like the short a lot !… love the direction, the music, the form and the composition…
my fav. part: when they start shooting and the music clashes with the sound of the trigger and then the paper gets torn appart.. quite realistic…
kyraneth
14. Oct, 2009
I love it, you definately managed to convey the strength of the theme!
dambs
14. Oct, 2009
Great animation, i’m not sure to catch all the meaning…
However, great camera traveling, modeling texture, compositing…
Definitly a blenderguru!
vykelt
14. Oct, 2009
wow! Truly powerful piece of work. More vids like this need to be made to show off what can really be done with Blender. I get the feeling you might be walking away with a dancing monkey. Worth the months of no posts, I’d say for sure.
ssoooOOOooo. thinking maybe this mighta give’n you a few new subjects for tuts. wink wink nudge nudge :)
cheers
ROUBAL
14. Oct, 2009
Great work Andrew… as always !
Very interesting ambiance, and good sound track too !
Congratulations.
beta3designs
14. Oct, 2009
omg!! Amazing modeling texturing and everything O.o
And good music I love that band of horses’ song…
A tutorial would be awesome :P
Well keep up the good work!
Greetings from Spain!
janidotux
14. Oct, 2009
Amazing animation!! Perfect music. And thanks for sharing, already downloading.
Mark Olsen
14. Oct, 2009
Wow… I felt so sad i almost got a tear in my eye… I really like that you had the three rifles focus one target. At first i didn’t realize it.
Your skills are amazing dude. I’m sure you will win. Well, maybe the political statement will ruin it for you, but that has nothing to do with the quality of your short. Camera rocked, lighting rocked, music fitted so well, composition rocked as well…
Whether you win or not, you made some people think for a minute :D
Some people need it with a sledgehammer though… Or a M4 Carbine perhaps.
you made my evening.
Best of luck, here from Denmark.
Ryan
14. Oct, 2009
wow! amazing! I love the camera effects with the blur on super close up shots of the gun!
For a second I thought you had abandoned your site, but you came back with this and it was amazing!!
An inspirational and very entertaining video!
agreed. you made my evening.
BlendElbis
15. Oct, 2009
The was awesome. i really like the scenes. Very nice work on the gun animations.
DJMoore
15. Oct, 2009
Very nice, excellent work.
I admit, though, I was expecting a musical retelling of the story of Carbine Williams.
Nixon
15. Oct, 2009
Hey Andrew:)
first of ….great animation and amazing model:) gotta love the band of horses song too (..tho it blew so big since that other guys trial biking video :( )…
i really admire all your blenducation and your works
and as the others I’m very happy to see your still live and kickin it with blender !!! Thanks for all the dedication and skill u put in and that you sharing with the community.
I really appreciate the .blend that u put up with this, it makes me super proud of being a blenderguru fan :)
YOU OWN!!!
@ kyraneth
your name reminds me of the good ol times within the elder scrolls! (my fav. rpg since ever!!!)
Nixon
15. Oct, 2009
i watched it multiple times now and its absolutely great theres lots of stuff wich u find each time watching it..may it be effects color or the camera focus etc..
this is awesome!!!!
#good luck and tons of fun for your time in amsterdam, i hope you enjoy the conference and will find some time to relax and enjoy the city aswell:)
best regards!
DanH
15. Oct, 2009
Very cool video. I don’t think can figure out what it means though.
What’s with the “Made in Israel” stamp?
Mike
16. Oct, 2009
Great video, I blogged about it!
Mats H
18. Oct, 2009
Hey! I really wish there were posts like this one more often. Great work! And thanks for sharing!
Craigsnedeker
21. Oct, 2009
Hey I saw this a while ago on blendernation. love it :D
FunkyDude
26. Oct, 2009
awesome, good lighting.
Roger L. Waggener
27. Oct, 2009
Nice work.
I really like the feel of the renders- not photo real, but crisper than reality looks.
Perhaps you could do a write up of your render set-up- lighting, nodes, etc.
It is very atmospheric and, though it is abstract to the point of ineffability, it does make a point and, no pun intended, a strong impact.
The only changes I would have made would have been to reduce the flickering effect of the flares a bit and to have tweaked the flag materials to look less stiff.
Richard
13. Nov, 2009
Thank you for the .blend file. You create and share in the true spirit of open source and creative commons. Thank you for your contribution to education by sharing your experience and expertise.
william
20. Nov, 2009
awsome
screenzzzz
24. Nov, 2009
great animation, concept and the message was right on the button. I was kinda “In awe” for about 30 seconds!
Thanks a lot mate
Frank
30. Nov, 2009
AMAZING!
Stuff like this keep me going. Great job.
Andrew Price
30. Nov, 2009
Thanks Frank! Glad you liked it :) Keep making art!
riaHK
02. Dec, 2009
Great !
People like you keep Blender community growing, I can only say thanks
Tobey
11. Dec, 2009
I also wondered about the relative silence on BlenderGuru. Now I get it. It was well worth it. Impressive work.
Cite(vykelt): “More vids like this need to be made to show off what can really be done with Blender.”
Rephrase(myself): “More vids like this need to be made to shake and wake people up. And to show off what Blender is capable of.
Thumbs up.
Andy Pace
11. Dec, 2009
Really, a stunning video. Fantastic modeling, incredible textures, I love the choice of music. All in all, job well done.
Kyle Andrews
18. Jan, 2010
Dred I am new to the this blender stuff, a newbies as you guys say, but this was really exciting!!!!!!!
dahomee
05. Apr, 2010
fuck fuck fuck u!!! they kill children with this weapon !!!!!! u fucking …..
Hayden
09. Apr, 2010
WOW! i wish i could make animations like this. you are the best ive seen ever!
Ra
09. Jun, 2010
impressive,
the only negative comments are either from towelheads extremists and their sympathizers
Travis
23. Aug, 2010
Just amazing! Very awesome animation!
Nick
02. Sep, 2010
How did you do the muzzle flash?