The Sundance Film Festival is well under way in Park City, Utah as I type this. The festival is world renowned and is known as the largest independent festival in the United States. Every year since its inception in 1978, the festival showcases the best and brightest independent filmmakers. Typically the films are made without the studio system and are there to find distribution. The festival has grown tremendously over its 32 year history and now Park City is no longer filled with a slew of struggling actors, directors and writers trying to make a name for themselves. The festival now brings out well known celebrities and filmmakers who have already had success, many of whom have worked on huge blockbuster films. This year the festival premiered films that starred such high profile talent as Toby Maguire, Elizabeth Banks, Kevin Spacey, Jennifer Connelly and Al Pacino to name a few. Whether the films showcased star high profiled talent or someone completely unknown, the one thing that stands out year after year is that most of these films are either straight, edgy dramas or quirky comedy/ love stories. As I scoured the titles of the films being showcased, the one genre that I found to be lacking was science fiction or films with any heavy visual effects. So I started thinking, do visual effects have to equate big budget blockbuster? Can you make a movie on low budget and still have it be chock full of visual effects. In honor of the celebration of independent films this week, here are a few of my favorite “indie” VFX movies that have been released in the last couple of years.

“Moon”

Directed by Duncan Jones, son of acclaimed rock star David Bowie, “Moon” actually premiered at the Sundance Film Festival in 2009 and was quickly snatched up by Sony Classics for distribution. Made for a budget of $5 million, the film looks like it could have easily had a price tag of well over $50 million. The film stars Sam Rockwell as an astronaut who is alone on a space station for three years and begins to slowly lose his mind. I actually had the good fortune of interviewing Jones right before the US release of the film and I can recall him sharing a story about how he would sit up late at night and help construct the space station out of styrofoam. Done mostly with models instead of digital animations, the film is visually stunning. Bill Pearson who is known for his modeling work on the film “Alien” was instrumental in designing key elements on the film. Jones had previous visual effects experience having come from the commercial world. For me, the film is a shining example of creating visual effects on a low budget.

“District 9″

Though it was made for 6x more than “Moon” at a price tag of $30 million, that is still considerably low for a film with a great deal of VFX. The film also made that back and then some in its first opening weekend at the box office. Written and directed by Neil Blomkamp, the film was shot on location in South Africa, where the Director was originally from. The film was Produced by Peter Jackson and the visual effects were executed by his studio, Weta Workshop, as well as Image Engine, Zoic Studios, and The Embassy. Nominated for four Academy Awards, “District 9″ showcases that Hollywood doesn’t need to spend a lot of money to create great visual effects.

“Monsters”

A relatively unknown movie for now, “Monsters” has been compared to “District 9″ because it deals with an alien invasion and also in terms of what can be accomplished on a low budget. However, “Monsters” budget came in well under $30 million. The Director, Gareth Edwards, has claimed he made the film for $15,000 and yes I am not missing a zero. However, some estimates have the films budget as high as $800,000. Either way, Edwards shot the film on a prosumer camera, with two people as his crew and created the visual effects in his bedroom. Edwards who just signed on to direct Legendary Pictures’ revamped “Godzilla” movie, has said “You can go into the store and buy a laptop that is faster than the computers they made “Jurasic Park” on.” Monsters is about a journalist who agrees to take an American tourist through Mexico across the US border. The only catch is Earth has been invaded by aliens. Shot in Mexico, Belize, Guatemala, Costa Rica and Texas, the two actors and two crew members literally drove around in a mini van, jumped out on random streets and started filming. Along the way they would ask people on the street if they wanted to be in a movie. Sadly this gem came and went back in November, but seriously if you have the opportunity definitely check out the film. It’s no wonder that Edwards’ next film is going to cost a whole lot more than what he is used to spending on making a movie!

As for Sundance, you can still head to Park City, and shmooze with some fabulous people. Just don’t forget your parka. The Sundance Film Festival continues through January 30.