... Yes, seriously. Or so says director Barry Sonnenfeld.
Sonnenfeld - who is the director of the Men in Black franchise - is teaming up with comic book writer Grant Morrison to develop a graphic novel and movie sharing the same name: Dominion: Dinosaurs Versus Aliens.
"The graphic novel will chronicle a secret prehistoric world war battle. When an alien invasion attacks Earth in the age of the dinosaurs, the planet's only hope is the giants that roam the planet with, it turns out, a lot more intelligence than previously realized."
It should go without saying, but the following videos currently being debated online by UFO researchers are hoaxes created using Computer Generated Images (CGI):
Although I have a background in film production and have taught college modules on CGI history and technique, by and large, my expertise is in the field of cinema studies, which is to say that my focus is on film theory, rather than film practice. With this in mind, I consulted recently with a few of my old friends who do indeed have considerable hands-on experience with CGI. Two of these individuals - whom I would term skilled semi-professionals - are final-year students for degrees in Film Production Technology and Digital Film and 3D Animation at Staffordshire University (a leading UK institution in these fields). The third individual is a veteran Post Production Technical Instructor at the same institution. For their analyses of the above footage, as well as its broader - and rather bizarre - back-story, check out Grant Cameron and Paul Robinson's ongoing investigation over at presidentialufo.com
In all likelihood, this footage is part of a viral marketing campaign for one of the numerous Hollywood UFO movies due for release in the next 12 months, such as Area 51 or Super 8, for example. It is also possible that the videos are part of a professional showreel for one of the hundreds of CGI companies operating today: "leak" your own CGI footage online in order to create buzz, then, in time, reveal yourself to potential clients as the creator of said footage. Finally, some have contemplated the notion that the footage may be part of a government-sponsored Psy-Op designed either to further acclimate us to UFO/ET reality (highly unlikely, in my opinion), or simply to confuse, divide and waste the time of UFO researchers (slightly more likely).
If the footage is a Hollywood viral campaign or merely self-promotion for an ambitious CGI company, then its creators will reveal themselves in due course. If, on the other hand, more sinister forces are behind these videos, then the originator's identity will likely never be known and arguably is irrelevant anyway. Indeed, if the footage is part of a government Psy-Op, then surely that's all the more reason to ignore it. Whichever of these scenarios is correct, someone, somewhere is rubbing their grubby hands together with devilish glee and having a good old laugh at our expense.
Kudos to those UFO researchers who have declared this footage as phony, and especially to those who have supported their declarations with evidence, but isn't it now time that we all got back to debating more pressing UFO-related matters?
If and when UFO Disclosure comes, it will not take the form of a grainy video "leaked" onto YouTube. If and when footage of a genuine extraterrestrial is disclosed, more than likely it will be in the form of a live, globally transmitted TV broadcast (but that's not to say that we humans will be the ones doing the disclosing). If and when we all see ET, the question of CGI will not even be raised, much less debated. There will be no doubting it. Move along, people... there's nothing to see here.
The full trailer for the Spielberg-produced Transformers: Dark of the Moon is now online, and the concept of a black-ops space program and even extraterrestrial Disclosure itself are central to the film's plot.
For in-depth discussion of Hollyood's utilization of Disclosure-related discourse in the UFO subgenre, see my recent article on the subject, and for an overview of Spielberg's historical fascination with UFOs, check out Spielberg's Saucer Secrets.
Does Hollywood really drive UFOlogy, as many sceptics suggest? What are the arguments for and against the idea that big screen entertainment fuels the UFO mythos? How has the Disclosure movement of the 21st Century influenced Hollywood's millennial UFO movies?
Over at Bryce Zabel and Richard Dolan's A.D. After Disclosure site, I have a new article addressing these and related questions.
I'll be speaking this August at the 3rd Annual Leeds Exopolitics Expo, where I'll be addressing the popular concept of the "Hollywood UFO conspiracy."
Lecture synopsis:
Highlighting the seriousness with which Washington has long regarded the potential of entertainment media to shape popular perceptions of the UFO phenomenon, this talk will bring together six-decades-worth of concrete cases in which the US government and military have attempted – often successfully – to shape the content of UFO-themed film and television products. In the majority of these cases, the government has sought to downplay the significance of UFOs and to massage its own public image in relation to the phenomenon.
At the opposite end of the spectrum, the talk will challenge as simplistic the popular notion that there exists an overarching “Hollywood UFO conspiracy” designed to acclimate the populous to UFO reality, and will provide an objective assessment of the evidence both for and against the idea that the ever-elusive “THEY” are using Hollywood to prepare us for Disclosure.
This three-day event will be held at the University of Leeds, UK, and will feature talks by the likes of Richard Dolan, Stephen Bassett and Nick Pope, among others. For full details, see the conference's official website.
A huge selection of clips from UFO-themed movies and TV episodes has been put together by a YouTube poster who writes:
"I believe Hollywood and the entertainment industry at large has been instrumental in educating the public with the erroneous idea that Flying Saucers are physical craft piloted by alien beings from other planets. This montage will form part of a larger documentary I am completing exposing that UFOs and the 'alien beings' that pilot them are something entirely different and far more sinister."
... DUN, DUN, DUNNNNN!!!
Sinisterness aside, this seven-part montage makes for fascinating viewing and must have taken ages to compile. Watch it here.
The Spielberg-produced "Sci-fi Western" hits US cinemas July 29 (and UK cinemas in mid-August). The screenplay is by Roberto Orci and Alex Kurtzman (Transformers, Star Trek, Alias [TV], Fringe [TV]).
