Beta Test (film)

Beta Test

Theatrical release poster

Theatrical release poster
Directed by Nicholas Gyeney
Produced by Nicholas Gyeney
André Kirkman
Edi Zanidache[1]
Written by Nicholas Gyeney
André Kirkman[1]
Starring Larenz Tate
Manu Bennett
Linden Ashby
Kevon Stover
Yuji Okumoto
Production
company
Mirror Images LTD
Release date
  • July 22, 2016 (2016-07-22)
Running time
 88 minutes
Country United States
Language English
Budget Less than $2 million[2]

Beta Test is a 2016 science fiction, action, thriller film co-written, co-produced, and directed by Nicholas Gyeney. Gyeney described the film as a cross between Die Hard, Gamer, and The Firm.[3] The film stars Larenz Tate, Manu Bennett, Linden Ashby, and Yuji Okumoto.

The film deals with corporate conspiracies, and greed, and the power of video games in the 21st century.[1]

Since released, Beta Test currently unofficially holds the title for longest single shot choreographed fight sequence ever which lasts eight minutes long.[4] The film was released on July 22, 2016.

Plot

Beta Test revolves around a Seattle-based video game tester, Max Troy (Larenz Tate), who is tasked with reviewing the latest sensation from global video game juggernaut, Sentinel, prior to the game's release. As he begins his procedural dissection of the game, he begins to realize this new game is not like any other. As new missions are completed, the same events happening in the game occur within the real world. Soon, a deep-rooted conspiracy is uncovered from within the walls of Sentinel, which is lead to showcase that the game's protagonist, Orson Creed (Manu Bennett), is a real man, in the real world. If Creed can join forces with the man controlling him, together they may have a chance at unraveling and possibly stopping this conspiracy before the tasks in the game escalate and overwhelm their city. This film was produced from 2010 to 2016.[5]

Cast

Production

Development

Gyeney started developing Beta Test in the summer of 2014.[3]

Gyeney provided information on the film stating "this film has 127 scenes and with [my] Type-A personality, I have a very specific vision."[2]

Casting

Gyeney stated, "I'm not Steven Spielberg," while indicating that there would be no auditions or screen tests for the film. Scripts were sent out to actors whom Gyeney was familiar with, and those of whom liked the script with interest of being in the film were cast.[2]

Larenz Tate was cast as the protagonist, Max. Manu Bennett as the hero video game character, Orson Creed. And, Linden Ashby as Kincaid, the primary villain of the film.[6]

Filming

Principal photography was conducted throughout the U.S. city of Seattle, Washington, more specifically at a house in Lake Forest Park, inside Seattle City Hall, and on top of the Dexter Horton building.[6] It took place over 19 days[2] starting November 7. 2014[3] and finishing on November 26, 2014.[7]

Seattle was chosen as the place to shoot the film for two reasons: one being that it is Gyeney's hometown and, two, Gyeney believed "shooting such a movie in the Northwest will diversify the local film community, which is mostly dominated by indie dramas. It could lead to an entire wave of action-oriented material being shot here, which would bring tons of work to local stunt teams and stuff that is totally nonexistent right now."[6]

The film will culminate in an eight-minute choreographed fight sequence at Seattle City Hall — all in one camera shot with no cutting. Of it, Gyeney stated, “the longest long-take fight sequence currently on record is three-and-a-half minutes, and it's held by the Korean movie ‘Oldboy.' Our goal is to destroy that record.”[4][6]

Animation

Video game footage was needed to be developed for the film after principal photography was completed. It began in December 2014 starting with the character, Creed.[8]

Release

The film was set to be released on July 22, 2016.

Marketing

On January 5, 2015, on and off set stills of the film were released via the film's Facebook page.[9] On January 22, 2015, the first official poster was released.[10]

References

  1. 1 2 3 Beta Test (November 6, 2014). "About Beta Test, Page Info". Facebook. Retrieved December 30, 2014.
  2. 1 2 3 4 Courtney Riffkin (December 14, 2014). "Northwest Wanderings. Behind the scenes of "Beta Test"". seattletimes.com. Archived from the original on December 21, 2014. Retrieved December 30, 2014.
  3. 1 2 3 Nicholas Gyeney (November 4, 2014). "I guess it's about time I let you all know what we've been up to ...". Facebook. Retrieved December 30, 2014.
  4. 1 2 Nicholas Gyeney (December 8, 2014). "A little peek at the "long take". A monumental moment for me, filming what is currently the longest single shot choreographed fight sequence ever.". Facebook. Retrieved December 30, 2014.
  5. ↑ Mirror Images LTD (November 6, 2014). "Beta Test". mirrorimagesltd.com. Retrieved December 30, 2014.
  6. 1 2 3 4 Quinn Russell Brown (November 7, 2014). "Mill Creek filmmaker returns home to create his craft". theheraldbusinessjournal.com. Retrieved December 30, 2014.
  7. ↑ Nicholas Gyeney (November 26, 2014). "That's a wrap on #BetaTest!". Facebook. Retrieved December 30, 2014.
  8. ↑ Nicholas Gyeney (December 2, 2014). "Hanging with the animation team for Beta Test, creating the video game footage for the film...". Facebook. Retrieved December 30, 2014.
  9. ↑ "Timeline Photos". Facebook. January 5, 2015. Retrieved January 23, 2015.
  10. ↑ "The first official poster for "Beta Test."". Facebook. January 22, 2015. Retrieved January 23, 2015.
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