Buck Marshal Inner Space Commando

Tagline

Adventure is right under your nose!

Logline

A heroic Inner Space Commando and his novice apprentice navigate microscopic dangers, interpersonal relationships, and encounter their arch nemesis in this animated sci-fi adventure.

Synopsis

Buck Marshal, a revered and highly decorated Commando, and his recently appointed apprentice Max Houdini, work for the Inner Space Command. Miniaturized and sent from the future to protect “Primes”, persons important to the timeline, Buck and Max have had many adventures. Can Buck turn his bumbling, naïve apprentice into a true Inner Space Commando? Maybe not today, but that's just how it goes working for the Inner Space Command.

Written, directed, and animated by Andrew Haupt, this humorous sci-fi adventure takes you into a microscopic world that exists right in your living room. If you see movement out of the corner of your eye, don’t swat it! It could be Buck Marshal here to protect you, and other Primes just like you, from threats both great and...really small.

About the film

Buck Marshal Inner Space Commando is a Sci-Fi adventure comedy for all ages. Conceived in the 1980’s and finally produced in the 2020s, the film had a long time to gestate in the mind of its creator.

Buck Marshal is the prototypical hero; square jawed, heroic muscular proportions, and fabulous hair. Max Houdini, his naive Inner Space Apprentice (junior grade), may not be the typical sidekick. Not very muscular or decisive, easily distracted and fearful, he still totally believes with hard work he’ll one day be a great Commando just like Buck, his personal hero. He can’t wait for his jaw to grow as wide as Buck’s.

The character Buck Marshal was inspired by, and is meant to be a loving tribute to, the sci-fi characters Andrew enjoyed growing up. Heroes from the blockbuster hits, sure, but maybe more so from the low budget schlock of "cliff hanger" serials from the 1930’s. Buck Rogers, Flash Gordon, and Commando Cody were larger than life characters who seemed to do no wrong, but what do their co-workers really think of them? These were the ideas that inspired the script.

During pre-production Andrew realized that his clay sculpted heads with replacement mouths didn’t quite have enough expressiveness for the material. Since his computer modeling skills were far better than his clay sculpting skills Andrew decided it was time to explore creating 3D printed replacement faces. He would just have to learn 3D printing, no biggie, right? Of course it took a little longer than expected. A year later faces, set pieces, and Buck’s ship were printed, painted, and ready. Buck Marshal, finally, rolled into production.

About Atomic Trousers Studio

While working in advertising and marketing, Andrew created Atomic Trousers Studio as the brand for his personal collection of creative works.

From a young age Andrew loved sci-fi movies, comic books, Saturday morning cartoons, film making, and creating things. After Star Wars came out in 1977 he assumed he would end up working for George Lucas, but real world responsibility, girls, and the need to "make money" pulled him away from those loftier dreams.

Andrew ended up working in advertising and marketing. While he created marketing for small businesses as well as Fortune 500 companies, he never stopped working on his own creative ideas. In 2017 Andrew began toying around with the idea of producing a short animated film. He would write it, create puppets, build sets, animate, edit, compose and perform the music. So he did it.

Andrew can often be found playing drums/piano/guitar with friends, acting as Designer/Technical Director for local theatre productions, creating online marketing, creating motion graphics and videos, and delighting neighborhood kids (and grown-ups) with his impressive Halloween displays.

"Creating things has always been the most satisfying aspect of my life. Whether it’s children, media, or art projects, having an idea and realizing it is sublime. Even if the result isn’t perfect I believe the passion elevates the project."

"I don't feel I’m smart enough to create something hard hitting or socially relevant, but I do think I'm capable of whisking you away for a few minutes of silly Sci-Fi adventure. I hope you agree."

FAQ

Q: Why did you make this film?

A: I had been thinking about this story idea for years. I had written a few "Buck" scripts with the idea that I’d shoot it live action. I realized that building the full size cockpit set wouldn’t be cheap, so I figured a 1:6 sized set would be affordable. That’s when I decided to produce this as a stop motion animated film.

Q: What were some of the challenges?

A: Very early in production, while sculpting the heads and replacement faces, it became evident that my physical sculpting skills were not refined enough for this project. My first set of character faces were unusable. Fortunately my digital sculpting skills were much better so I decided to create the faces on the computer in 3D and print them. Unfortunately, I didn’t own a 3D printer, nor had I ever printed anything in 3D. Production was delayed while I dove in and learned 3D printing. Once I was up and running I expanded what I was printing to include replacement hands, costume pieces, set pieces, and camera braces. The decision to learn 3D printing saved the project and really opened up other creative avenues.

Just as the sets and puppets were coming together, COVID-19 locked everything down and I couldn’t use the voice over talent that I wanted for the project. Fortunately my son Zachary is a very talented guy. He stepped in and created an excellent Buck Marshal for me.

Q: You were making the faces, hands and costuming on the computer, why not just make a Computer Animated movie?

A: While it’s true, I did design a lot of things on the computer in 3D, I was really drawn to the idea of actual puppets on actual sets under actual lights. I’ve done plenty of computer animation before and wanted to keep everything as "real" as possible. While the idea of hand crafting a film one frame at a time can seem overwhelming to some, for me it was a great experience, as good as meditating.

Q: How long did it take to make the film?

A: I had kicked this idea around a long time, so I could say it took 30 years, but really, once I decided I was going to actually do it, it took about 3 years. The actual animation part was the easiest and went very fast. Stopping to learn 3D printing added 4-8 months. I designed and created a robot for this film however he was cut just before animation started. Post production also took a large chunk of time. I spent a lot of time creating the score. I created far too much music. In the end I cut a lot of it.

FAQ (continued)

Q: What was your favorite part of production?

A: I actually loved making the puppets. Sculpting, casting and painting is always fun. Designing Buck’s costume was fun. I knew I wanted some cool sci-fi bracers and boots. I don’t think you ever actually see his boots, but they are a cool sci-fi take on motorcycle boots. I love Max’s costume, the 1960’s tin can space man. The whole process was very satisfying, like making the coolest action figures I never had, but always wanted.

Q: What frame rate did you shoot

A: Everything was shot at 24 frames a second, even the live action sequences. Friends called me a "maniac" and said I should be shooting on the twos. I tried that and I didn’t like the look. In the end, the animation looked best shooting at a full 24fps

Q: What software did you use?

DragonFrame for animation.
Blender was used for all my 3D modeling work.
I used Cura to slice the modes for 3D printing.
After Effects and Photoshop for rig removal and image fixing.
GarageBand is what I used for recording dialogue as well as recording and creating the music.

The Cast

Zachary Haupt (Buck Marshal/General Malaise)

Zachary has appeared in local South East Michigan community theatre productions such as Les Miserables (Grantier), Beauty and the Beast (Gaston), and Shrek (Lord Farquaad). He co-starred in the short film RUN with Xavier Haupt. This production is Zachary’s first venture into the world of voice acting. A graduate of Michigan State University, Zachary spends his days working in Bio-Medical research.

Andrew Haupt (Max Houdini)

Andrew has spent many years working in Advertising and Marketing and multi media production. He has produced multimedia for advertising agencies and Fortune 500 companies. He took his love of creating things to local community theater by designing and building sets and special effects. He also builds elaborate Halloween displays in his front yard each year. Completing this film has been a dream come true.

Xavier Haupt (Nathan Prime)

Xavier is currently attending Michigan Technological University pursuing a career in Engineering. While he has also appeared on stage and in short films, like RUN with Zachary Haupt, he decided it wasn’t his passion. He says he took this role mainly because he wouldn’t have to speak.