The concept of fan-made films based on comic books was once a thing of novelty, but the advent of YouTube has propelled the phenomenon into a matter of course, with many projects achieving creative legitimacy in their own rights. Some films come with the endorsements of the creators of the original works, such as The Price, an in-progress animated film based on a short story from Neil Gaiman's Smoke and Mirrors collection. To complete the project, which is narrated by Gaiman himself, filmmaker Christopher Salmon is availing himself of the popular fund-raising website Kickstarter to solicit financial aid from Gaiman fans.


Described by Blastr as as the touching story of a mangled black cat who, for reasons unknown, defends a rural family from all manners of threats, no matter the cost, The Price was initiated by Salmon with the full blessing of Gaiman. A promising animatic is all that exists at the moment, which is where you come in. In order to complete the film with all the visually compelling touches we've come to expect from computer animation (although Salmon characterizes his approach as "more 2 1/2-D than typical 3-D), the director needs help to the tune of around $150,000.
The money raised through Kickstarter will be used to create all of the designs, high-end 3D models, original music, special effects & titles, as well as for the process of combining all of these elements: rendering, compositing, sound design and editing. There are also hardware and software needs in order for me to create everything at high resolution (2K) so that the finished film will be able to screen theatrically.
In keeping with the Kickstarter tradition, pledges of different amounts come with different awards, like a credit in the film, digital downloads, exclusive DVD copies in various formats, items signed by Gaiman, and invitations to special screenings with Neil Gaiman.


Is Salmon's work worthy of your patronage? Check out his pitch video below and judge for yourself.

[Via Blastr]