#urbance

Short films are favorite movies of mine without caring on the genre as are written short stories. For the sake of argument, lets say It emulates the type of world we live in, FAST and FURIOUS on a short fuse. However, I follow the Spanish saying (lo bueno y breve, dos veces bueno), that is, what is good and brief, doubly good or twice good. I have brought you several short films. Whatever you make of them, they are excellent pieces of work, I consider them a work of art.

My first story is about Nelly, a girl who locks her mother out or locks herself in, her house on her ninth birthday and starts posting videos on her moms phone on the internet. As the mom attempts to get inside the house, all her attempts fail, the video content becomes increasingly threatening as public services, police, fireman, etc intervene as locksmith was unable to open the doors.

The director: Jonas Steinacker Nelly's Story (2022)

I lived through a similar scenario, however not so dramatic, when my daughter was 4 years old. A neighbor called at the house in the building I live on the ninth floor. My wife and I at that time were the building's community secretary. A neighbor called at our door asking us to look at something in the hall on the same floor that he thought needed fixing. My wife and I went to see what it was when my four year old daughter slammed the door on us and neither of us had the key to open the door. We used the neighbors phone, called a lock smith, explained and he quickly came over, opened the door, we thanked and paid him, all the while my wife is calming and hugging my daughter. They were anguishing moment but more or less under control. So I can easily relay with the story.

link https://youtu.be/EbcEFMp8xl0 source ladydedlock origin Aug 2 Nelly's Story, a very powerful short film about kid influencers by Jonas Steinacker (subtitles are available). Nelly's Story, an Austrian short story with subtitles directed by Jonas Steinacker produced in 2023.

My next is so crazy that nothing made any sense to me ...

link https://youtu.be/BF8kYYqWiOE source junkyarddemento origin Aug 2

Leaning on sex, style, and tech this cool animated short falls somewhere between MTV's Liquid Television, anime, and THE MATRIX in a neo-dystopian world. Since I hardly understood anything, I went to AI Copilot for help on the matter and here is the conversation that transpired:

Urbance (2015) is a visually striking animated short film created by Joël Dos Reis Viegas and Sébastien Larroudé. The film is set in a neo-dystopian world where sex is prohibited due to a deadly genetic virus. The story revolves around underground nightclubs where teenagers engage in dance battles and consume illegal substances to escape their harsh reality.

The creators, Joël Dos Reis Viegas and Sébastien Larroudé, are talented Canadian designers with experience in Hollywood films like X-Men: Days of Future Past and the Godzilla reboot. They aimed to blend Japanese anime influences with Western urban culture, resulting in a unique and edgy visual style1.

Despite its complex and somewhat chaotic narrative, Urbance has garnered attention for its bold vision and high-quality animation. It was initially funded through a successful Kickstarter campaign, raising over $200,000 Canadian dollars.

link https://youtu.be/X3ZeGx_xIQc source junkyarddemento origin Aug 7 Director Michael Rich Writer Michael Rich

URBANCE

What is one to do in a world where sex is outlawed and the genders are separated from each other? That is the driving question of Urbance, a Kickstarter animated pilot that unfortunately never took off.

There's a fatal STD called E1 that originally only transferred through hetero sex before it mutated to also affect homo sex. Don't look at me sideways if that description sounds a little silly. That's literally how the narration puts it.

A premise like this leads to tons of questions. Does E1 only activate when ejaculation happens or is it the act of sex itself? What's stopping the characters from wearing condoms? Its also not explained why the division between sexes still exists when E1 takes effect in both hetero and homo sex.

The characters rebel against this ban by going to secret nightclubs where their state-mandated trackers are disabled and take a drug known as Ndorphin which can artificially simulate sex. Some people still hunger for real sex even at the cost of their lives. It doesn't take long for the Mediators to crackdown on the party and then all hell breaks loose.

Urbance's greatest feature is its visuals. The scenery is absolutely stunning with its vivid neon details and graffiti aesthetics that harken back to Jet Set Radio and Motorcity. In fact, Hideki Naganuma is a fan of the Urbance Facebook page. The pilot also does a good job of making its hip-hop influences readily known. Steambot, the animation producer of Urbance, even got anime studio Yapiko to help its production. The cast is dominated by black people; most of whom are wearing hip-hop-styled clothing. It's an interesting example of black people being center stage in scifi animation when they hardly get represented in that genre at all. The only downside is that all of the voice actors were white even though casting POC actors should be the absolute bare minimum for diverse media.

With a successful Kickstarter and a highly acclaimed pilot, Urbance seemed destined for greatness. So what happened? Nothing. That's what happened. The creators let this IP remain dormant despite the promise of not only a full episode but also a complete series to go along with it. The only official products to be produced were an artbook that went out of print years ago and a mediocre card game on steam that plays like an old Newgrounds web browser. Who even asked for a card game? The gameplay seen in the official footage was uninspired and doesn't seem to continue the conflict in the pilot.

This problem is unfortunately common with Kickstarter campaigns. Kickstarter doesn't enforce its content creators to make good on their promises so nothing is stopping these people from running off with donations. It is honestly scrummy that creators would just build up people's hype for Urbance and refuse to deliver on it. Not helping matters is how the official steambot and urbance website got shut down with no explanation. This kind of behavior is so unprofessional and should not be tolerated.

Before we end off, let's address the criticism this show, I mean, pilot faced and the current status of Urbance. A small but vocal minority of people have alleged that Urbance is racist and LGBT phobic with very little evidence to back up their claims. I see no way how on earth this show could be perceived as racist unless you think urban street life is "problematic", which in itself is a racist mentality to have. The LGBT phobic claim arose from how the premise completely ignores how gay individuals and nonbinary people are affected by the gender divide. While it is true that this is a narrative that SHOULD discuss how LGBT members are harmed by the sex ban, it's kinda hard to address those themes with a seven-minute pilot. People acted as if it was a finished product.

Another misconception is that Urbance is an example of a persecution flip where straight people are the oppressed ones and homosexuality is the norm. Some have also called the story an allegory to the HIV/aids panic which spread mass fear concerning gay people. I think people are looking at things the wrong way and trying to make it seem like straight people are co-opting the struggles LGBT members face and making it about them. Heterosexuality isn't taboo in urbance nor do straight people face any discrimination. Sex itself is what's banned and this ban also applies to gay people. I also don't know where this being gay is the norm claim came from because separating the sexes wouldn't just magically turn people gay. Did people even watch the first minute of the pilot?

With all that said, Urbance is a story that would benefit greatly from exploring LGBT themes. What was the attitude concerning gay people before/directly after E1 mutated and how do people who don't fall into the gender binary cope with the ban? I'm especially interested in how intersex people are treated in the Urbance world. It's interesting to note that Kenz refers to himself as an ace, a slang term for asexuals. I'm not sure if the producers were aware of this because Kenz quickly shows attraction to a girl in the club.

As of January 2022, Urbance shows all signs of being a canceled project. The years of radio silence are a grim reminder of the fate of far too many crowdfunded projects. Whatever sliver of hope Urbance has comes from one of its creators, Joel Dos Reis Viegas. His most recent Instagram posts depict comic-style images of urbance. When asked by a fan about the status of the show, he replied that there were legal issues and a comic will be made to start things fresh.

Two takeaways from this: The producers should've discussed the legal issues YEARS ago instead of giving fans false hope. We have to deal with radio silence for years on end but apparently, the legal issues didn't stop them from making a thrashy card game. Second of all, I can't stay hopeful that Urbance can revive as a comic at this point. It's clear that the production team isn't good at commitment and following through with promises. The comic is still clearly in the planning stages, making the future of Urbance as for away as it ever was.

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