Some behind-the-scenes tidbits:
There were originally just two preds in the script, but I ended up making enough armor parts and gauntlets for three so I added the third in. The Scout Trooper was originally supposed to be a Stormtrooper, but I changed it, partly because not many fan films have Scout Troopers, and partly just as an excuse to go ahead and make the costume.
The guns are mostly repainted Nerf guns, but the Mobile Infantryman's rifle is a stunt prop from "Starship Troopers".
I couldn't find any stock sounds I liked for some of the FX, so I ended up making my own. The screeching sound that the Trackers make is an audio blend of a dolphin and an egret calling. The howling sound the Preds use to call back the trackers is me blowing over the top of an empty beer bottle.
I don't have any CGI animation skills, so I had to use a physical model for the Pred Drone scenes. I zipped up a greenscreen suit and moved the model around by hand. Alas, that may work well for professionally-lit movies, but for me it produced all sorts of shadows and was a nightmare to key (you can see holes in the keying, and some places where there is still greenscreen in the shot). I don't think I'll try that again.
But the most difficult shot by far was the two-second clip of the parachutes falling to earth. I put the camera on the floor and aimed it up at the greenscreen, then dropped a little toy parachute. The damn thing never floated where I wanted it to go, so I dropped it several dozen times and only got two shots where it was in camera long enough. I ended up compositing those together.
