After four years, more than 200 shots and “thousands of hours,” a movie-loving Ajax dad has achieved a lifelong dream and turned his kids into action heroes along the way.
It all started in 2014, in the basement of Brian Vowle’s home. The full-time animator, who works from home for a Hamilton-based studio, just wanted to see what his new iPhone was capable of.
What started as a quick test shot of his boys “running around shooting lasers,” quickly morphed into a passion project.
“I said, ‘Hey guys, you want to pretend you’re fighting a giant robot at the end of the world?’” Vowles recalls asking his kids.
“And that was pretty much it. They went for it.”
Vowles and his two boys, then seven-year-old Brandon and six-year-old Dylan, sat down for their first “meeting” soon after, to come up with a title.
That’s when “Robot Attack” was born.
Using his iPhone as a camera and his surroundings as the set, Vowles planned an original story about the brothers taking on a giant robot in a post-apocalyptic world.
A “Walking Dead, end of the world, Terminator-kind of vibe,” Vowles explained.
The shots were taken in a variety of locations around Durham Region, including parts of Highway 401.
Vowles quickly learned a lesson he says many filmmakers face – “nothing ever goes right, ever.”
“I gave myself three months and here we are, four years later,” he said with a laugh.
“I tried to shoot out by the 407 because they had stripped it all down, but when I went back, the highway had been built, so we kept losing locations.”
Along the way, Vowles shot a series of “How It’s Made” videos, which he uploaded to his YouTube account. The videos gave people an insight into both the painstaking retakes and the goofy bloopers, courtesy of his kids.
The videos also brought him a following of fans and fellow animators who gave him feedback and, occasionally, a push to keep going.
“You’re by yourself. There’s only so much venting you can do to your wife,” Vowles quipped.
“I wanted to trash it so many times… but on the days when you’re done with it, someone online will be like, ‘Hey man, how’s it going? How’s that project?’ And then you go back down into the basement and just keep trudging.”
He was able to keep the project hidden from the boys for four years, showing them only small snippets of the film.
Vowles dedicated a couple hours a night to the project and tried to keep some personal deadlines. Finally, this past weekend, it all came together.
The premiere brought the film’s newly-minted movie stars to tears, along with Vowles’ wife and parents.
“The screening was pretty emotional,” he said. “I think they’re proud and happy it’s over, but also sad it’s over. It’s a weird family bonding project.”
Since then, the movie has racked up more than 3,000 views on YouTube.
“A lot of the comments have been, ‘Oh we watched it with the family, we watched it on the TV, because everyone’s got a SmartTV now, which is something I never anticipated four years ago,” he said.
“I like the idea of families sitting around and watching it and having a laugh, especially parents with boys, they just get it, they get how goofy boys can be, and they see their kids in it.”
As for how Vowle’s own kids feel?
“In the beginning it was fun because you could go to a bunch of abandoned places,” Brandon said.
“But at the end, I started to be done with it.”
When asked if they’d do it all over again with dad at the helm, the boys didn’t hesitate with their answers – a resounding ‘yes.’
“I started to get teary-eyed at the end, because I knew it was done,” Dylan said.
“He was a really good director.”
Vowles said he’s not sure where his moviemaking will take him next, but quashed the idea of a sequel.
“There’s more story you can tell there,” he said with a grin, “but not with one guy in the basement.”
