Judge Minty, the Judge Dredd fan film.

Judge Minty Edmund Dehn
Judge Dredd Greg Staples
Director Steven Sterlacchini
Director of Photography and Digital Imagery Stephen Green
Prop and Costume Creator Daniel Carey-George of Custom Creations
Storyboards & Concepts Barry Renshaw
Written By Steven Sterlacchini & Michael Carroll, based on the work of John Wagner

Thursday 6 December 2012

Cardiff International Comic & Animation Expo




We are happy to announce that Judge Minty will be screening at The Cardiff International Comic Expo, at the Mercure Holland House Hotel. The convention takes place on the 2nd and 3rd of March 2013.  The screening time and day for Judge Minty will be announced later.


Thanks to Iz for arranging the screening and as always thanks to Rebellion for giving their permission.

Thursday 29 November 2012

The Canny Comic Con

Thanks to Alex and Stacey we have been able to arrange a screening of Judge Minty at The Canny Comic Con at Newcastle Central Library on Saturday the 8th of December.

http://www.cannycomiccon.co.uk/

Thanks as well to Rebellion for giving permission for this screening.

Wednesday 28 November 2012

Judge Minty Reviews


Thank you to all the people who have taken the time to come and see Judge Minty at it's first three screenings. We've had lots of great feed back on the film. Both shows at Leeds Film Festival and Thought Bubble were well attended with very positive audience reaction.

A third cast and crew screening on Saturday 17th of November was also attended by a number of 2000AD creators including our Dredd, Greg Staples and Judge Dredd co-creator - John Wagner. As nerve racking as it was to have a screening with so many important Dredd creators, any other screening will seem calm in comparison. It was also a cool atmosphere for Minty lead man Edmund Dehn to watch the film for the first time.

John Wagner was kind enough to describe the film as 'brilliant'.

A big thank you to Lisa and Clark for allowing us to screen at Thought Bubble and for organising another amazing convention. And of course thanks to Rebellion for giving us permission to show the film, which we need for all public screenings.

I've had a quick look on the net for some reviews and found these. It's been great to hear comments on some of the more subtle aspects of the film which I thought would only be noticed if someone watched it a couple of times. There are some eagle eyed Dredd fans out there!


Judge-Tutor Semple Review WITH SPOILERS

Everything Comes Back to 2000AD Review

Foldsfive Review

I would have liked to have composed a longer and more in depth account of the the screenings and all the people we spoke with, but we are immediately back to work. We are now researching suitable events to submit Minty to for screening. There is no secret master plan or schedule. Up until this point we have been completely focused of finishing the film, so have not been actively looking into screening opportunities. We are thinking globally and as soon as we have any firm dates we will announce them.

Monday 8 October 2012

Judge Minty Screenings for November

Judge William Minty has spent his entire adult life policing the violent streets of Mega-City One - and now he's slowing down. When a lapse of judgement almost ends his life, he knows that it's time to quit. He can choose to teach in the Academy, or he can leave the city and walk alone out into the anarchy of the Cursed Earth, taking law to the lawless.

Judge Minty is a NOT FOR PROFIT fan film, shown with the kind permission of 2000 AD and Rebellion Judge Dredd® is a registered trademark, © Rebellion A/S®, All rights reserved.
Judge Dredd is the Creation of John Wagner and Carlos Ezquerra.

Judge Minty - Edmund Dehn
Judge Dredd - Greg Staples
Aquila - Mark Watson

Director - Steven Sterlacchini
Director of Photography and Digital Imagery - Stephen Green
Prop and Costume Creator - Daniel Carey-George of Custom Creations
Written By Steven Sterlacchini & Michael Carroll, based on the work of John Wagner

Judge Minty will be shown on the following dates and events in November.

Please note that due to the film not being certified, at this time, all showings will be 18+.

Monday 12th of November, 7.30pm, The Hi Fi Club
Judge Minty will be shown along side another film. The Hi Fi Club is a night club and also a music and comedy venue, which is showing a number of films during the festival.

Sunday 18th of November, 10.20am, Alea Casino Screening Room
Thought Bubble is the UK's largest annual event which celebrates sequential art in all it's forms. The screening room has a capacity of around 50 - 60 people.

Both these screening are at reasonably small venues, so plan ahead if you wish to see the film at these events.

We will be planning more showings as soon as opportunities become available. We are hoping to submit to a number of international film festivals. For some of these a requirement is that the film has not been released on the internet. This will delay making Judge Minty available to view on the internet for a little while. 

Wednesday 11 July 2012

Why the new Dredd film costume rocks!

As immensely flattering as it is for the Judge costumes used in our fan film to be compared alongside those created for the official new Dredd film, we thought we'd take a moment to say why we think the uniforms created for the Karl Urban film are excellent.

When we were initially deciding the visual style of the Judge costumes for Minty (created by Daniel Carey-George), we also seriously considered contemporising the look of Dredd, by bringing his uniform more inline with current body armour technology and scaling down some of the more extravagant elements. We even bought numerous items of riot gear.

Eventually we decided that as our film was aimed soley at fans, we did not need to contend with the problems that an unusual costume would cause the viewer's 'will to suspend disbelief'. Because our audience were already well versed in the visual language of Dredd, we could try to emulate the comic book look more closely. We are extremely happy with the costumes Dan created.

Needless to say, if we had been trying to appeal to a larger general audience, we would have DEFINITELY chosen the same route as Alex Garland and could have only hoped to have created a costume as cool as Karl Urban's.

Also, although we have tried to make Judge Minty as gritty and dark as possible, it is still very much set in a fantasy world. As opposed to Alex Garland's Dredd which appears to have a much more hard hitting, real world feel, where Dredd's uniform needs to be instantly believable.

We are all very much looking forward to the new Dredd film and the more we see, the better it looks!

To explain in greater detail why we believe the new Dredd costume works, we will hand over to Minty cast member, John Burdis. The extract below is taken from an article published on "Everything comes back to 2000AD" in August of 2011.

Finally, having looked at the pictures in Empire and digested everything that I need from them I have decided to comment and Grud says, ‘it’s all good’.

Before I go any further I should add that I’m a massive Dredd fan, have a few minor parts in the upcoming Judge Minty fan film (also worn ‘that’ uniform) and I’m also ex forces. This will help you understand where I am coming from with the whole uniform. Also a bit of advice for anyone not knowledgeable with the Military and the wearing of uniforms, you get issued two types, work and parade. Many people try and slightly alter the works uniform just to make themselves look a little better and usually are met with the phrase “it’s not a F**KING fashion parade!” on inspection.

Above all these uniforms are NOT bespoke, you get the size or nearest size to your size, that’s life!

First up, the complete package! Helmet, badges, leathers, pads, Lawgiver and colour scheme, it’s all there and it looks like a real uniform that could be worn on the streets, to fight crime! Above all, that is what the uniform is for and so we don’t need to see the extremes of certain artists work up on the big screen.

Having not read the script (why would I want to spoil the surprise) but sadly not being able to escape the gist of the storyline, this uniform seems to be from the early stages of Mega City One (check the first appearance of Dredd in 2000AD). Because of this, it has to be practical, hard wearing, easy to wear and distinctive in a crowd.

Helmet – When issued these you would be issued a stock size for your head, this is taken from the circumference of your head and nothing else. It’s not made individually for your face and therefore some may not look right but they’re not there to be all nice and pretty. It’s there to protect primarily and secondly to help you stand out in a crowd to let the public see you, if they need your help. When that first picture came out, screams of its too big flooded the net. I knew it was mainly down to the angle of the picture and the bespoke point above.

Looking at the pic of four Judges in Empire on page 98, you can see this point. Lex has part of his cheeks in shadow and there is light between the bottom of the helmet and neck protector, so the helmet looks big. Alvarez looks spot on, his dark skin blends with the shadows and his neck protector is higher and goes up behind the back of the helmet, making it look smaller.

The Judge stood at the rear looks absolutely perfect. The smaller Judge, well I take you to my point about being issued your helmet. If the helmet is your size then unlucky that’s the one you will be issued!

One last thing about the helmet, the cross section that covers the nose. I know many people will say it hinders your ability to see properly. Well similar designs have been used through the ages, just look at the Greeks/Normans/Vikings/etc… It’s a tried and tested design!

Let’s compare it to the modern day and the wearing of a respirator, I had to be able to fast rope down from a chinook wearing it, move through corridors/rooms/stairwells, etc… I also had to be able use my primary and secondary weapons, with it’s restrictive view. Now how was I able to do that? Training is how but unlike the Judges I didn’t train for 15 years wearing it!

Leathers/Body Armour – Spot on with the hard wearing, contact parts being reinforced and the areas where you need to breathe being made more accomodating (around the crotch – look at the cover). You can also see tiny holes around the body armour, probably to help keep you cool by wicking moisture away from you. You have to make a stand between protection and comfort and protection will always come out on top!

Shoulder Pads – Perfect for what is needed. As has been said by many a fan, these are as close to the original version of the Judges uniform as we have seen in a long time, close fitting and protective! There are no snag points on these (an eagle, like in the comic would be a massive snag point), so you can shoulder barge your way through bodies and doorways without worrying about being slowed down. The eagle is embossed on the right hand shoulder, which is great and they are functional. They’ve even made them gold in colour, what more do you need! Some have mentioned the sloping shoulders, I take you to the point at the top, again!

Badges – The name badge reminds me of Stallone’s a little and I can live with that. It’s functional, flat (no hero badges here) and sunk into the chest armour (no snag points) so it’s another practical part of the uniform. Okay, there’s no chain but that’s a grab point for a perp in close quarter combat and is a big no-no. Just look at the amount of clip on ties that have to be worn in certain jobs nowadays because it’s a grab point enabling the wearer to be choked, similar stuff!

Elbow/Knee Pads – These look as though they are more than just the pads, with a sleeve protector added, to fit over the leather. They seem to have fastners at the top of the sleeve as well but I can’t be sure from the pictures. These would probably end up being damaged the most through everyday use in Mega City One, so it’s best that they can be slipped off and exchanged easily.

Boots – These look quite flexible for ease of movement while still providing enough protection on the streets. Notice there is no boot holster, do you really think that would work. The Lawgiver Mk I might have just about got away with it but there is no way the MK II would and especially the beast Urban is carrying in this.

Colour Scheme – This is spot on with the helmet, the black/blue of the leathers, gold shoulder pads and green boots, knee and elbow pads


For the complete version of this article, please click here.
Check out the official Dredd film website here.

Tuesday 28 February 2012

Rough Cut Complete

As usual I'm a couple months behind on updates. So to bring things up to date - just before Christmas we managed to complete a 'rough cut' of Judge Minty.

This was a very rough chop together of takes, without any effects, or sound for the most part. It is simply to check whether we had shot enough footage to tell our story and, apart from a couple of interior pick up shots, we have!

The rough cut and original footage has now been sent to Director Matthew Giffin, for a fresh set of eyes on the cut. The plan is for Matthew to both tighten up the cut and suggest improvements. Matthew will then work closely with Steve Green to help make sure the final edit is suitable for all Steve's digital magic.

There is a lot of digital work to complete on the film and we will still have the audio & dialogue to add, but things are moving forward steadily.

Oh, here's a nice picture.

Edmund Dehn as Judge Minty