A squadron of fighters in a civil war between Earth and Mars set out on a supposedly routine mission that will test their skills and comraderie to the breaking point.
Breakdown at 238 Hypatia is a space dogfighting film by Andrew Bugenis, released in 2021 and screening at film festivals around the world in 2022. Along the way it was nominated for numerous awards, including Best Editing and Best Director.
Where to Watch
Breakdown at 238 Hypatia is available to rent or own on Amazon Prime Video in the United States and the United Kingdom.
Amazon.com (United States viewers)
Amazon.co.uk (United Kingdom viewers)
It is also available to YouTube channel members at Andrew’s YouTube channel, BoterBug.
YouTube (channel member exclusive)
The Making of Breakdown at 238 Hypatia
The Idea
Breakdown at 238 Hypatia happened because I watched Wing Commander (1999) in 2016 while hanging out with Christopher Spenceley (who would end up playing Reed in the film). “I could do that,” I said, looking at how it was shot. You don’t need to see out of the cockpit, you can imply it; that’s a level I was confident I could do, even if it would stretch me to my limit.
Pre-Production
I wrote a screenplay and started diagramming a cockpit with the help of Anthony Magliulo, who I’ve collaborated with many times before. We wanted to keep straight lines for ease of construction and leaned into an 80s aesthetic.
We picked up lumber at Home Depot and a bunch of switches at a soon-to-close RadioShack and set to work. Fortunately, my neighbor Bobby stepped in and offered us use of his power tools, which sped things up considerably. We built up the frame, nested a gaming chair into a base we constructed with a harness attached, installed a gaming joystick and switches and a small Bluetooth keyboard, the works.
The floor was foam padding with a diamond-plate pattern and the walls were a series of pans from Pizza Hut that were going to be thrown away for the only metal in the actual set. The rear was made to be removable so people could easily get in and out.
As the cockpit took shape, we got measurements sent to Damien Valentine so he could start building the CG model to match. Finally, we hung up a black backdrop on two walls of my garage, and we were good to go.
Before the set was completed, I worked with David Mann, who’d go on to play Brooks, to shoot the entire movie for previsualization. This was instrumental to filming it in such a way that pilots would visually seem to converse, and to keep everyone in consistent places throughout scenes to make it easier to read.
Production
We filmed in the dead of winter, 2019. Friends came by one at a time, some local and some from further away. One, David Carlson playing Davis, I hadn’t met in-person before filming, but I had voice acted in his audio drama, The Hyacinth Disaster. Filming them one at a time felt more like an audio production rather than a film, and I have to add shoots to the edit as soon as I was finished so I knew how to deliver the lines that subsequent actors would work off of.
With the backdrop only on two walls of the garage, we had to rotate it. A shot list was made so that we’d go all the way through the movie filming the actor from one side; then, we’d rotate and go through it again, picking up additional shots as needed. This is where the previsualization came into play, the most I’ve ever used such tools for a production.
The set still stands, half-deconstructed, finally tucked into a corner of my garage because I don’t have the heart to truly take it apart.
Post-Production
As I worked on the edit, I also worked with Damien to get the CG shots in order. In addition to the live-action previs with Dave, I also filmed some toy planes with a GoPro (supplemented with references from other media) to show what I needed for animation. In all, just under 100 shots were created by Damien for the film.
I also worked with Grant Robertson on composing the score. I usually don’t know what I want for a soundtrack, defaulting to something orchestral. The most direction I gave was that, “Maybe we could reference Mars, the Bringer of War from Holst’s Planets Suite,” which didn’t happen but was enough to give Grant some amazing direction.
Speaking of sound, David, who already had a sci-fi audio drama under his belt, took the finalized dialogue tracks for each character and made me a version with a good radio filter. With full tracks for both clean and audio, I was even able to make some last-minute timing tweaks without needing everything to be processed again, which was helpful as the film reached the final stage: release.
Featurette
Watch this behind-the-scenes featurette to learn more about the production of Breakdown at 238 Hypatia.
Film Festivals
Iconic Images Film Festival Sixth Season
—Best Director SEMI FINALIST
Symbiotic Film Festival Second Season
—Best Editing NOMINEE
Anatolia International Film Festival 7th Season
—Best Editing FINALIST
—Best Visual Effects FINALIST
—Best SciFi/Fantasy Short Film FINALIST
Golden Bridge Instanbul Short Film Festival SUMMER 2022
—Best Science Fiction Short Film FINALIST
New York State International Film Festival 2022
Love & Hope International Film Festival SPAIN 2022
FantaSci Short Film Festival 2022
Miami International Science Fiction Film Festival 2022
New York Istanbul Short Film Festival 2022
Colortape International Film Festival 2022