slice

Thanks to Catherine for sending me the link~

I'm afriad to post the images here becuase of copyright issues. Here is the source link for the complete set of images: http://www.aintitcool.com/node/34683 and http://community.livejournal.com/ohnotheydidnt/17133781.html?page=1#comments
Splice is a movie starring Adrien Brody and Sarah Polley that has gone into production and has scheduled to come out in 2009.

The Story
Base on limited information, the plot is as follow:
Two young doctors, Clive and Elsa who have became famous for their researches on creating new animal species. However, they have secretly used human DNA in the experiment and created this female animal-human hybrid. Up to this point, the idea is very similar to my project. Then the plot follows a similar direction as many of the sci-fi/creature/mad-doctor horror movies out there. This hybrid, whom they thought is the "perfect organism," undertakes a change and became a being that could destroy humanity.
For my project, I wish to create more successful hybrids who do not necessarily threaten humanity.

The Science
Splice, used in genetic engineering, referes to "the process in which fragments of DNA from one or more different organisms are combined to form a new organism." This is something different from the experiments that have been researching on, which is the process of injecting human cells to an animal embryo.

The Visual
Looking at the images, the hybrid is very nicely done using CG technology, reaching a photo-realistic goal that I am hoping to achieve. The lighting, the setting, her posture, the composition give a cold, horrific, science lab feeling to the audience, which is pretty different from what I want to accomplish. I wish to position the hybrids in the same living enviroment as humans. Seeing these hybrids in our every day setting might make them less intimidate, or make us more uncomfortable. I am not sure which will be true; it is something that I want to explore.

The Social Issues
Quoting from the director, "Splice is about finding the humanity in the monster...and the monsters that lurk within humanity. " This movie labels the hybrid as a monster, presenting an extremely negative view on the science experiment. Even though I am unsure about my postion in the current animal-human hybrid researches, I still do not refer to these hybrids as monsters. They might have problems positioning themselves in society, I do not see them as terrifiying beings that might destroy humanity.