Dwarves, magic, steampunk, and a new world to explore. That’s what The Dwarves of Demrel promises. Set in a new steampunk fantasy world, follow an adventure with three dwarves and a human in this one setting film.
Basic Information
Format: Feature Length, Digital/DVD/BD
Estimated Delivery:
Location: Bronx, NY
Video Overview
I’ve been meaning to back a few more video campaigns. Being so backlogged with reviewing games, which take quite a lot of time, I felt like getting a few more videos in my collection would be a smart move. That way all I have to do is grab some popcorn, sit back, and judge people.
Okay, so I’m not too much of a fan of thrillers. At least that’s what I assume Dwarves of Demrel would be categorized as, assuming that there weren’t dwarves involved. But I can’t judge a campaign or a product by my personal tastes alone. What did catch my attention was the promise of a much larger universe. One of the stretch goals for the campaign even includes expedited work on a prequel.
As a late night, or early morning, viewing of LOTR apparently set this project in motion, it is likely that the world will rely heavily on ideas from Tolkein mythology, although it will hopefully be their own unique creation.
Now, if you’re curious about what their world is like, you won’t be seeing too much of it in this film. The Dwarves of Demrel takes place in one scene. More specifically it takes place in a mine. Done properly, a one setting film can be quite powerful. One of my favourites, although not a perfect example as there are some scenes that take place in a different setting, is 12 angry men, which takes place almost entirely in a single jurors room.
The story revolves around four characters, three dwarves named Brenn, Calcas, and Odryd, and a human named Drusso. The character designs are well thought out and appear to have enough depth that we’ll get to see a lot of fascinating interactions between members of the group.
Campaign Specifics
Goal: $40,000
Pledge Tiers: 11 tiers ranging from $10 to $5,000
End Date:
Funding Type: Fixed
Chances of success
Character design seems to be more or less complete. Set, props, costumes, etc are in the works. If the trailer is any indication, the team involved in this project definitely has the skill to bring to life a high caliber feature length film.
Interaction between the campaign’s moderators and the backers has so far hasn’t been unreasonable. There was no failure to post updates within the first 48 hours thanking the backers for progress made so far. There do seem to be a few points where there’s some radio silence for a couple of days. Adding one more member to the team might help that. Actively engaging backers is key to a successful campaign.
While pledges have slowed considerably since the launch, the campaign is currently more than half way to its goal, and a final push in the last leg of the campaign could easily push funding over the top.