Skyline may be so under the radar that you have no idea what I’m talking about — until now! The cast and producers of the film have come to Comic-Con to promote their Sci-fi thriller. We just got done with the panel that included actors Eric Balfour, David Zayas, Scottie Thompson and Brittany Daniel and producers Colin and Greg Strause. The panel discussed the making of the film and we got to see an exclusive trailer and some special scenes.

Apparently, the idea for this movie was born out of Paranormal Activity, and the directors thought “why can’t we shoot a movie out of my house – might sound crazy but that’s exactly what we did.” Only their house was a little bit different since the Strause Brothers were the ones in charge for the BEST special effects within the past 2 years. But more on that soon, lets talk about the amazing footage they just blew us away with…

Footage:

What a pleasant surprise. After complaining about films that had no right to be at Comic-Con, they just screened Skyline, which was meant for this audience, even though it’s not a comic book movie. This is not a film with a built in fanbase, but one created by real film “nerds” (which I say with the utmost respect) with an indie budget. It has a desire to make something great, using special effects in a brand new way, and giving us something new to experience. How perfect?!

Knowing that they made their “home” from their house — which is quite a different meaning then with others homes— they did an absolutely amazing job of stretching the boundaries. The special effects, as expected, will blow you away. The overall concept seems to be quite interesting, it’s innate interest in tragedies that’s our downfall. There’s definitely a lot to play with there.

Overall the trailer looks like District 9 meets Cloverfield. The monsters have a transformer-ery type feel, with a bit of the oily Alien texture. Kind of a mixture of all classic alien/monster movies gone by. The use of bright blue lights jump off the screen and catch your attention.

The cast is interesting all around. I for one love that they went for actors and not necessarily movie stars because it allows you to experience the film without being distracted or having too many pre-conceived notions.

Although it’s not quite clear if this will be a hit, it’s got enough to get me interested and into the theater.

After the trailer they also showed us an actual scene from the film:

Overall, it looked pretty cool. Balfour and Donald welcomed us to the beginning of the alien abduction.

It’s clear that although this film was shot out of their house, it’s not limited to any apartment, and their version of “in house” is from two of the top special effects teams responsible for Avatar, 2012, The Day After Tomorrow, Iron Man 2 etc. That being said, the film still is very independent. One of the things that make this movie so exciting is that they owned everything that they used. All the special effects were done by things they all had access to — which is a lot of cool shit. It’s like an Indie film with the best toys possible.
Panel Quotes:

The cast discussed making the film, and how it felt so big and yet indie at the same time. One of the most interesting things about this project is that they got to see a trailer with the special effects before ever even shooting a thing.

Donald: After the audition they showed me the trailer and it was amazing. Although after seeing Avatar [I was like] “I don’t care, I wanna be in this movie.” I’ve always wanted to fight against a green screen and thank goodness I got the chance.

Eric: We sat in their apartment to make this movie, we weren’t even allowed to wear shoes…

Greg: We wrote, shot, and made this movie in under 11 months.

Colin: We made the entire movie with under 20 people… one of the things that really changed it [and is the future of filmmaking] the new camera pack. The RED and what not…

Greg: It allows us to take risks and take the cool ideas which the fans respond to the most and work on an independent movie scale without putting $150 million on the line. And those risky ideas are the ones that put cool things on screens.

Eric: It also allowed them to hand us off wires of the side of a buildings without anyone saying anything. My manager showed up and asked “is this safe?” [and the thing was] there’s no one to stop us. There were only 5 people on set to make decisions and that was it.

From Screen Crave

There is a wonderful article of Brittany from The Gainesville Sun that ran in the paper this weekend, you can read it below…

Brittany Daniel may stay in the heart of Los Angeles, but the Gainesville native is far from living the Hollywood life.

The beautiful actress has seen movie-star fame with “Joe Dirt,” “White Chicks” and “Little Man,” and small-screen success from “That 80s Show,” “It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia” and most recently, the former CW comedy, “The Game.” But the gleam of the spotlight hasn’t led the 1994 Gainesville High School graduate to fall into the common traps of Hollywood.

She spends most of her time in the gym or with her twin sister Cynthia’s family in Malibu, Calif. She doesn’t drink or hang out in nightclubs. Her “low-key” lifestyle, she says, is because she comes from a “a good family and great small town.”

Daniel is the daughter of Carolyn Daniel and the late C.B. Daniel, a longtime city leader and banking executive in Gainesville. Her oldest brother, Brad, lives in Fort Lauderdale.

“I just come from a very stable home and I’m just very normal and I think having my family and sister around me keeps me grounded. I’m not a big party girl. I’m focused on work and being healthy,” says the fit and lean 33-year-old. “My health is really important to me so partying and all that stuff doesn’t really match my lifestyle.”

Brittany Daniel’s dedication to living healthy led her to her latest venture as consulting executive producer on the Style Network reality show, “Ruby,” which starts its third season Feb. 14. The cable series follows the life of an obese woman named Ruby Gettinger, who, in order to save her life, must confront her food addiction, lose weight and change her lifestyle. To become fit and healthy, she works with a team that includes a doctor, trainer, nutritionist and therapist.

Daniel met Gettinger at a fitness center in L.A., where Gettinger worked as a receptionist and Daniel was a client. When Gettinger moved back to her hometown of Savannah, Ga, she gained weight and her health declined. Daniel wanted to help so she created the concept for the show, connected with a producer and pitched it to different networks. Finally, after a three-year-long process, the Style Network bought the show and it premiered in November 2008.

“Ruby and I have been friends for about 10 years. … She was telling me how she had diabetes and that if she didn’t lose this weight the doctors said in the next two years, she could die,” says Daniel, who has appeared in a few episodes of the show. “I didn’t think there was any other way she was going to lose that weight unless she had a full support system behind her.”

The new season will shift from her physical journey to her emotional one as she seeks to remember her childhood and put together pieces of her past. At her heaviest, Gettinger was more than 700 pounds. In a December 2009 article from Australian-based Website, www.news.com.au, Gettinger said she weighed 350 pounds.

Working on “Ruby” has inspired Daniel to focus more on project development.

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