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78-484: Their work includes contributions for the films and series District 9 , The Mandalorian , Game of Thrones , Lost in Space , Jurassic World and Elysium . In 2022, they won a Creative Arts Emmy Award for Outstanding Special Visual Effects In A Season Or A Movie for The Book of Boba Fett . In July 2015, they partnered with Cinesite . Other partner companies include Trixter , Squeeze, L'Atelier , FX3X, Assemblage , and

156-463: A king cricket species considered a pest in South Africa. Copley has said that the theme is not intended to be the main focus of the work, but can work at a subconscious level even if it is not noticed. The racism in the film is portrayed on an institutional level, as despite the brutality towards the aliens by MNU exposed to the public they are still relocated as originally planned. Duane Dudek of

234-412: A face and an anthropomorphic shape. Like if you see something that's four-legged, you think it's a dog; that's just how we're wired ... If you make a film about an alien force, which is the oppressor or aggressor, and you don't want to empathize with them, you can go to town. So creatively that's what I wanted to do but story-wise, I just couldn't." Blomkamp originally sought to have Weta Digital design

312-442: A film of his own choosing. This led to the creation of "District 9." The alien settlement depicted in the film was actually shot in an African slum, lending a gritty realism to the setting. Except for the main characters' dwelling and the alien protagonist Christopher's hut, which were temporarily constructed, all the slum shacks were real locations. The depiction of aliens dismembering wild beasts and their fondness for cat food draws

390-487: A financial success, earning over $ 210 million at the box office. It also received acclaim from critics and garnered numerous awards and nominations, including four Academy Award nominations for Best Picture , Best Adapted Screenplay , Best Visual Effects , and Best Film Editing . In 1982, a giant extraterrestrial spaceship arrives and hovers over the South African city of Johannesburg. An investigation team finds over

468-587: A giant weapons manufacturer, to relocate the aliens to a new camp outside the city. Piet Smit, an MNU executive, appoints an MNU employee and his son-in-law, Wikus van de Merwe, to lead the relocation. Meanwhile, three aliens, Christopher Johnson, his young son CJ, and his friend Paul, search a District 9 garbage dump for alien fuel in Prawn technology, which Christopher has had them spend the last 20 years synthesizing enough of to enact his plan. They finally finish in Paul's shack as

546-459: A government-built settlement area. This approach in the movie not only adds a layer of authenticity but also serves as a powerful metaphor for the socio-economic issues faced by marginalized communities. The aliens in District 9 were designed by Weta Workshop , and the design was executed by Image Engine . Blomkamp wanted the aliens to maintain both humane and barbaric features in the design of

624-533: A list of the Top 25 Sci-Fi Films of All Time. Vivisect Vivisection (from Latin vivus  'alive' and sectio  'cutting') is surgery conducted for experimental purposes on a living organism, typically animals with a central nervous system , to view living internal structure. The word is, more broadly, used as a pejorative catch-all term for experimentation on live animals by organizations opposed to animal experimentation, but

702-553: A man responds when he's forced to confront his identity during extraordinary circumstances." Entertainment Weekly ' s Lisa Schwarzbaum described it as "...   madly original, cheekily political, [and] altogether exciting..." Roger Ebert of the Chicago Sun-Times gave the film three stars out of four and praised it for "giving us aliens to remind us not everyone who comes in a spaceship needs to be angelic, octopod or stainless steel", but complained that "the third act

780-399: A million malnourished aliens inside, and the South African government relocates them to a camp called District 9. However, over the years, it turns into a slum, and locals often complain that the aliens—derogatorily called " prawns "—are filthy, ignorant lawbreakers who bleed resources from humans. Following unrest between the aliens and locals, the government hires Multinational United (MNU),

858-440: A parallel to the desperate living conditions in slums, where inhabitants often rely on carrion or cat food for sustenance. The idea of aliens eating cat food was inspired by a crew member who used cat food as bait for shrimp during the film's production. Additionally, the narrative of the aliens' relocation in the film mirrors a real event: the demolition of a Johannesburg slum and the subsequent forced relocation of its residents to

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936-441: A population of sick and malnourished insectoid aliens is discovered on the ship, the South African government confines them to an internment camp called District 9. Twenty years later, during the government's relocation of the aliens to another camp, one of the confined aliens named Christopher Johnson, who is about to try to escape from Earth with his son and return home, crosses paths with a bureaucrat named Wikus van de Merwe leading

1014-533: A probe. Ferrier was successful, but many decried his use of animals in his experiments. Some of these arguments came from a religious standpoint. Some were concerned that Ferrier's experiments would separate God from the mind of man in the name of science. Some of the anti-vivisection movement in England had its roots in Evangelicalism and Quakerism. These religions already had a distrust for science, only intensified by

1092-586: A prolonged dissection of a greyhound which attracted wide public comment. Magendie faced widespread opposition in British society, among the general public but also his contemporaries, including William Sharpey who described his experiments aside from cruel as "purposeless" and "without sufficient object", a feeling he claimed was shared among other physiologists. The Cruelty to Animals Act, 1876 in Britain determined that one could only conduct vivisection on animals with

1170-449: A rising trend among digital natives who develop marketing trends and techniques which are appropriate to the digital age, and is cost-efficient due to its reliance on social media and communications. This breaking down and circumvention of existing marketing structures follows postmodernist theory in cinema. WETA released in July 2010 Christopher Johnson and Son as sculptures. According to

1248-451: A total of 60 days of shooting. Filming in December raised another issue in that there was much more rain. Due to the rain, there was a lot of greenery to work with, which Blomkamp did not want. Blomkamp had to cut some of the vegetation in the scenery to portray the setting as desolate and dark. The film features many weapons and vehicles produced by the South African arms industry , including

1326-501: Is a wanted fugitive who has contracted a contagious disease from copulating with aliens. Wikus takes refuge in District 9, finding Christopher and the spaceship's concealed command module dropship underneath his house. Christopher explains to Wikus that the confiscated fuel is crucial to his plan of reactivating the dropship, and if he can get them in the dropship to the mothership, he can cure Wikus. Wikus attempts to acquire weapons from

1404-451: Is disappointing, involving standard shoot-out action. No attempt is made to resolve the situation, and if that's a happy ending, I've seen happier. Despite its creativity, the film remains space opera and avoids the higher realms of science-fiction." Josh Tyler of Cinema Blend says the film is unique in interpretation and execution, but considers it to be a knockoff of the 1988 film Alien Nation . IGN listed District 9 at No. 24 on

1482-461: Is the most exciting science fiction movie to come along in ages; definitely the most thrilling film of the summer; and quite possibly the best film I've seen all year." Christy Lemire from the Associated Press was impressed by the plot and thematic content, claiming that " District 9 has the aesthetic trappings of science fiction but it's really more of a character drama, an examination of how

1560-623: The Daily Voice . Dr. Shohini Chauduri wrote that District 9 even echoes apartheid in its title, as it is reminiscent "of District 6 in Cape Town, declared a whites-only area under the Group Areas Act". She also discusses how the wide shots used in District 9 strongly emphasize the idea of exclusion under apartheid. The separation of people and "prawns" into human and non-human zones marks South Africa's social divisions. The film emphasizes

1638-518: The American Humane Association , the film displays an unauthorized "no animals were harmed" end credit, which is a registered trademark of the group. The Blu-ray Disc and region 1 code widescreen edition of District 9 as well as the 2-disc special-edition version on DVD was released on 22 December 2009 by Sony Pictures Home Entertainment . The DVD and Blu-ray Disc includes the documentary "The Alien Agenda: A Filmmaker's Log" and

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1716-534: The Halo film. Blomkamp had previously directed commercials and short films, but District 9 was his first feature film . The director co-wrote the script with his wife, Terri Tatchell , and chose to film in South Africa, where he was born. In District 9 , Tatchell and Blomkamp returned to the world explored in his short film Alive in Joburg , choosing characters, moments and concepts that they found interesting including

1794-696: The Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee , which contains at least one veterinarian, one scientist, one non-scientist, and one other individual from outside the university. In the United Kingdom, any experiment involving vivisection must be licensed by the Home Secretary . The Animals (Scientific Procedures) Act 1986 "expressly directs that, in determining whether to grant a licence for an experimental project, 'the Secretary of State shall weigh

1872-504: The Journal Sentinel wrote that "The result is an action film about xenophobia, in which all races of humans are united in their dislike and mistrust of an insect-like species". Another underlying theme in District 9 is states' reliance on multinational corporations (whose accountability is unclear and whose interests are not necessarily congruent with democratic principles) as a form of government-funded enforcement. As MNU represents

1950-506: The Ponte building . Filming for District 9 took place during the winter in Johannesburg. According to director Neill Blomkamp, during the winter season, Johannesburg "actually looks like Chernobyl ", a " nuclear apocalyptic wasteland". Blomkamp wanted to capture the deserted, bleak atmosphere and environment, so he and the crew had to film during the months of June through July. The film took

2028-652: The R5 and Vektor CR-21 assault rifles, Denel NTW-20 20 mm anti-materiel rifle , Milkor BXP submachine gun , Casspir armoured personnel carrier , Ratel infantry fighting vehicle, Rooikat armoured fighting vehicle, Atlas Oryx helicopter and militarized Toyota Hilux "technical" pickup truck. Blomkamp said no single film influenced District 9 , but cited the 1980s "hardcore sci-fi/action" films such as Alien , Aliens , The Terminator , Terminator 2: Judgment Day , Predator and RoboCop as subconscious influences. The director said, "I don't know whether

2106-516: The University of Hawaii newspaper Ka Leo writes that "Substitute 'black,' 'Asian,' 'Mexican,' 'illegal,' 'Jew,' 'white,' or any number of different labels for the word 'prawn' in this film and you will hear the hidden truth behind the dialogue". Themes of racism and xenophobia are shown in the form of speciesism . Used to describe the aliens, the word "prawn" is a reference to the Parktown prawn ,

2184-605: The 'interest' of [the physiologist's] experiments". In the early 20th-century the anti-vivisection movement attracted many female supporters associated with women's suffrage . The American Anti-Vivisection Society advocated total abolition of vivisection whilst others such as the American Society for the Regulation of Vivisection wanted better regulation subjected to surveillance, not full prohibition. The Research Defence Society made up of an all-male group of physiologists

2262-576: The African drums to sound dark and heavy, Shorter used a combination of taiko drums and synthesized instruments for the desired effects, with the core African elements of the score conveyed in the vocals and smaller percussion. Both the score and soundtrack feature music and vocals from Kwaito artists. District 9 held its world premiere in 23 July 2009 at the Reading Gaslamp 15 at San Diego Comic-Con, with Copley, Blomkamp and Jackson in attendance. It

2340-504: The District 9 Nigerian arms dealer, Obesandjo, who wants to eat Wikus's alien arm to gain alien abilities. Wikus, however, seizes an alien weapon and escapes. Wikus and Christopher force themselves through MNU to the lab to retrieve the fuel. However, after seeing the brutal experiments MNU has performed on his people in the lab—including a dissected Paul—Christopher tells Wikus he must return home as fast as possible for help and cannot undo Wikus' mutation until he returns in three years due to

2418-554: The Imaginarium Studios . Picture Project District 9 District 9 is a 2009 science fiction action film directed by Neill Blomkamp in his feature film debut, written by Blomkamp and Terri Tatchell , and produced by Peter Jackson and Carolynne Cunningham . It is a co-production of New Zealand , the United States , and South Africa . The film stars Sharlto Copley , Jason Cope , and David James , and

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2496-537: The Nigerians, and Wikus enters the suit and rescues Christopher from the mercenaries. Heading to the dropship, the two come under heavy fire, and Wikus decides to stay behind to fend off the mercenaries and buy time for Christopher to escape, who promises to return after three years and heal Wikus. After all of the other mercenaries are killed, Venter finally cripples the suit and is about to execute Wikus when slum Prawns attack and dismember him alive. Christopher makes it into

2574-530: The United States, the Animal Welfare Act explicitly requires that any procedure that may cause pain use "tranquilizers, analgesics, and anesthetics" with exceptions when "scientifically necessary". The act does not define "scientific necessity" or regulate specific scientific procedures, but approval or rejection of individual techniques in each federally funded lab is determined on a case-by-case basis by

2652-438: The ability to operate Prawn weaponry, which is biologically restricted for them. Wanting to capture this human/alien hybridity before Wikus fully transforms, Smit orders Wikus' body to be vivisected and harvested for its profitable properties. Wikus, however, overpowers the lab personnel and escapes. While Venter's forces hunt for him, a smear story is broadcast, one that reaches Wikus' wife Tania (Smit's daughter) claiming Wikus

2730-426: The accuracy of this claim is disputed by many historians. In the 12th century CE, Andalusian Arab Ibn Tufail elaborated on human vivisection in his treatise called Hayy ibn Yaqzan . In an extensive article on the subject, Iranian academic Nadia Maftouni believes him to be among the early supporters of autopsy and vivisection. Unit 731 , a biological and chemical warfare research and development unit of

2808-401: The aliens appearing on the operating table in the medical lab, all of them were created using CGI visual effects. Weta Digital designed the 2 1 ⁄ 2 -kilometer-diameter mothership and the drop ship, while the exo-suit and the little pets were designed by The Embassy Visual Effects . Zoic Studios performed overflow 2D work. On-set live special effects were created by MXFX. Some of

2886-523: The animals as "victims" and the apparent sadism that Magendie displayed when teaching his classes. Magendie's experiments were cited in the drafting of the British Cruelty to Animals Act 1876 and Cruel Treatment of Cattle Act 1822 , otherwise known as Martin's Act. The latter bill's namesake, Irish MP and well known anti-cruelty campaigner Richard Martin , called Magendie a "disgrace to Society" and his public vivisections "anatomical theatres" following

2964-401: The anti-vivisection movement in Britain with his experiments when he had a debate with his German opponent, Friedrich Goltz. They would effectively enter the vivisection arena, with Ferrier presenting a monkey, and Goltz presenting a dog, both of which had already been operated on. Ferrier won the debate, but did not have a license, leading the anti-vivisection movement to sue him in 1881. Ferrier

3042-515: The anti-vivisection movement. One polarizing figure in the anti-vivisection movement was François Magendie . Magendie was a physiologist at the Académie Royale de Médecine in France, established in the first half of the 19th century. Magendie made several groundbreaking medical discoveries, but was far more aggressive than some of his contemporaries in the use of animal experimentation. For example,

3120-447: The appropriate license from the state, and that the work the physiologist was doing had to be original and absolutely necessary. The stage was set for such legislation by physiologist David Ferrier . Ferrier was a pioneer in understanding the brain and used animals to show that certain locales of the brain corresponded to bodily movement elsewhere in the body in 1873. He put these animals to sleep, and caused them to move unconsciously with

3198-470: The audience was meant to sympathize with these creatures who had such human-like emotions and characteristics. Blomkamp established criteria for the design of the aliens. He wanted the species to be insect-like but also bipedal. The director wanted the audience to relate to the aliens and said of the restriction on the creature design, "Unfortunately, they had to be human-esque because our psychology doesn't allow us to really empathize with something unless it has

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3276-402: The creatures, but the company was busy with effects for Avatar . The director then decided to choose a Vancouver-based effects company because he anticipated making films there in the future and because British Columbia offered a tax credit. Blomkamp met with Image Engine and considered them "a bit of a gamble" since the company had not pursued a project as large as a feature film. Aside from

3354-420: The creatures. According to Terri Tatchell, the director's writing partner, "They are not appealing, they are not cute, and they don't tug at our heartstrings. He went for a scary, hard, warrior-looking alien, which is much more of a challenge." The look of the alien, with its exoskeleton-crustacean hybrid and crab-like shells, was meant to initially evoke a sense of disgust from viewers but as the story progresses,

3432-416: The development of more advanced medical tools such as the stethoscope are but a few of the changes in the medical field. There was also an increased recognition that medical practices needed to be improved, as many of the current therapeutics were based on unproven, traditional theories that may or may not have helped the patient recover. The demand for more effective treatment shifted emphasis to research with

3510-554: The discovery of the different functionalities of dorsal and ventral spinal nerve roots was achieved by both Magendie, as well as a Scottish anatomist named Charles Bell . Bell used an unconscious rabbit because of "the protracted cruelty of the dissection", which caused him to miss that the dorsal roots were also responsible for sensory information. Magendie, on the other hand, used conscious, six-week-old puppies for his own experiments. While Magendie's approach would today be considered an abuse of animal rights, both Bell and Magendie used

3588-416: The documentary-style filmmaking, staged interviews, alien designs, alien technology/ mecha suits, and the parallels to racial conflict and segregation in South Africa, and fleshing out these elements for the feature film. QED International financed the negative cost . After the 2007 American Film Market , QED partnered with Sony's TriStar Pictures for distribution in several territories. The film

3666-423: The dropship with CJ, and the dropship is levitated via a tractor beam back into the mothership, which leaves Earth. MNU's experiments are exposed, and the aliens are moved to the new camp named District 10. Tania finds a metal flower on her doorstep, giving her hope that Wikus is still alive. Wikus, now fully transformed into a Prawn, is shown in a junkyard crafting flowers for his wife. Like Alive in Joburg ,

3744-415: The elements of a thoroughly entertaining science-fiction classic." On Metacritic , which assigns a weighted average rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream critics, the film has a score of 81 based on 36 reviews, indicating "universal acclaim". Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "B" on an A+ to F scale. Sara Vilkomerson of The New York Observer wrote, " District 9

3822-409: The emergence of the animal welfare and animal rights movements, arguing that animals and humans have the same natural rights as living creatures, and that it is inherently immoral to inflict pain or injury on another living creature, regardless of the purpose or potential benefit to mankind. At the turn of the 19th century, medicine was undergoing a transformation. The emergence of hospitals and

3900-443: The film has that feeling or not for the audience, but I wanted it to have that harsh 1980s kind of vibe—I didn't want it to feel glossy and slick." Because of the amount of hand-held shooting required for the film, the producers and crew decided to shoot using the digital Red One 4K camera. Cinematographer Trent Opaloch used nine digital Red Ones owned by Peter Jackson for primary filming. According to HD Magazine, District 9

3978-430: The film's release, an anti-MNU blog run by fictional alien character Christopher Johnson, and an MNU-sponsored educational website. An online game for District 9 has also been made where players can choose to be a human or an alien. Humans are MNU agents on patrol trying to arrest or kill aliens. Aliens try to avoid capture from MNU agents whilst searching for alien canisters. This digital approach to marketing follows

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4056-682: The film's second weekend, it dropped 49% in revenue while competing against the opening film Inglourious Basterds for the male audience, as Sony Pictures attributed the "good hold" to District 9 ' s strong playability. The film enjoyed similar success in the UK with an opening gross of £2,288,378 showing at 447 cinemas. Rotten Tomatoes gives District 9 an approval rating of 90% based on 314 critic reviews and 82% based on 250,000+ audience reviews, with an average score of 7.80/10. The website's consensus states, "Technically brilliant and emotionally wrenching, District 9 has action, imagination, and all

4134-422: The goal of understanding disease mechanisms and anatomy. This shift had a few effects, one of which was the rise in patient experimentation, leading to some moral questions about what was acceptable in clinical trials and what was not. An easy solution to the moral problem was to use animals in vivisection experiments, so as not to endanger human patients. This, however, had its own set of moral obstacles, leading to

4212-486: The irony of Wikus and the impact of his experiences on his personality, which shows him becoming more humane as he becomes less biologically human. The film uses his story to pose the question of humanity as the "prawn" characters in the film are shown to be kinder to Wikus than the actual humans are as he undergoes his transformation. The film also features the portrayal of Nigerian Arms dealers, provoking thought on conflict between marginalized communities. Chris Mikesell from

4290-523: The likely adverse effects on the animals concerned against the benefit likely to accrue. ' " In Australia , the Code of Practice "requires that all experiments must be approved by an Animal Experimentation Ethics Committee" that includes a "person with an interest in animal welfare who is not employed by the institution conducting the experiment, and an additional independent person not involved in animal experimentation." Anti-vivisectionists have played roles in

4368-514: The limited supply of fuel. Enraged, Wikus knocks Christopher down and attempts to fly the module to the mothership, but Venter's forces shoot it down. Venter captures Wikus and Christopher, but Obesandjo's gang ambushes the MNU convoy and seizes Wikus. Meanwhile, CJ, remaining hidden in the dropship, remotely activates the mothership and a large robotic alien battle suit in Obesandjo's base. The suit guns down

4446-556: The movie was developed with six different endings, but only one was ultimately used. During the same period, Peter Jackson was planning to produce a film adaptation of the Xbox game "Halo" and had chosen Neill Blomkamp as the director. However, due to the interests of major corporations, the project was indefinitely shelved. Believing in Blomkamp's talent, Peter Jackson decided to fund a new project, investing 30 million dollars for Blomkamp to direct

4524-410: The past, its opening attendance was slightly less than the 2008 film Cloverfield and the 1997 film Starship Troopers . The audience demographic for District 9 was 64 percent male and 57 percent people 25 years or older. The film stood out as a summer film that generated strong business despite little-known casting. Its opening success was attributed to the studio's unusual marketing campaign. In

4602-546: The recent publishing of Darwin's Theory of Evolution in 1859. Neither side was pleased with how the Cruelty to Animals Act 1876 was passed. The scientific community felt as though the government was restricting their ability to compete with the quickly advancing France and Germany with new regulations. The anti-vivisection movement was also unhappy, but because they believed that it was a concession to scientists for allowing vivisection to continue at all. Ferrier would continue to vex

4680-431: The relocation begins, but when Wikus comes to serve Paul a notice, he finds the hidden container with the fuel and accidentally sprays some of it in his face while confiscating it. Koobus Venter, a cruel MNU mercenary, kills Paul. Wikus begins mutating into a Prawn, starting with his left arm injured after the fuel exposure. He is immediately taken to the brutal MNU lab, where researchers discover his chimeric DNA grants him

4758-543: The relocation. The title and premise of District 9 were inspired by events in Cape Town 's District Six , during the apartheid era. A viral marketing campaign for the film began in 2008 at San Diego Comic-Con , while the theatrical trailer debuted in July 2009. District 9 had its World Premiere on 23 July 2009 at San Diego Comic-Con. It was released by TriStar Pictures on 14 August 2009, in North America and became

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4836-508: The resistance of its residents. This includes the high-profile attempted forced removal of the Joe Slovo informal settlement in Cape Town to temporary relocation areas in Delft , plus evictions in the shack settlement Chiawelo, where the film was actually shot. Blikkiesdorp , a temporary relocation area in Cape Town, has also been compared with the District 9 camp, earning a front-page spread in

4914-545: The same rationalization for vivisection: the cost of animal experimentation being worth it for the benefit of humanity. Many viewed Magendie's work as cruel and unnecessarily torturous. One note is that Magendie carried out many of his experiments before the advent of anesthesia, but even after ether was discovered it was not used in any of his experiments or classes. Even during the period before anesthesia, other physiologists expressed their disgust with how he conducted his work. One such visiting American physiologist describes

4992-498: The short film on which the feature film is based, the setting of District 9 is inspired by historical events during the apartheid era, particularly alluding to District Six , an inner-city residential area in Cape Town , declared a "whites only" area by the government in 1966, with 60,000 people forcibly removed to Cape Flats , 25 km (16 miles) away. The film also refers to contemporary evictions and forced removals to suburban ghettos in post-apartheid South Africa, as well as

5070-430: The software used for the visual effects were Autodesk Softimage . The music for District 9 was scored by Canadian composer Clinton Shorter, who spent three weeks preparing for the film. Director Neill Blomkamp wanted a "raw and dark" score, but one that maintained its South African roots. This was a challenge for Shorter, who found much of the South African music he worked with to be optimistic and joyful. Unable to get

5148-576: The special features "Metamorphosis: The Transformation of Wikus", "Innovation: Acting and Improvisation", "Conception and Design: Creating the World of District 9", and "Alien Generation: Visual Effects". The demo for the video game God of War III featured in the 2009 Electronic Entertainment Expo is also included with the Blu-ray release of District 9 playable on the Sony PlayStation 3 . District 9

5226-448: The term is rarely used by practicing scientists. Human vivisection, such as live organ harvesting , has been perpetrated as a form of torture . Research requiring vivisection techniques that cannot be met through other means is often subject to an external ethics review in conception and implementation, and in many jurisdictions use of anesthesia is legally mandated for any surgery likely to cause pain to any vertebrate . In

5304-633: The type of corporation which partners with governments, the negative portrayal of MNU in the film depicts the dangers of outsourcing militaries and bureaucracies to private contractors. Producer Peter Jackson planned to produce a film adaptation based on the Halo video game franchise with first-time director Neill Blomkamp . Due to a lack of financing, the Halo adaptation was placed on hold. Jackson and Blomkamp discussed pursuing alternative projects and eventually chose to produce and direct, respectively, District 9 featuring props and items originally made for

5382-400: Was adapted from Blomkamp's 2006 short film Alive in Joburg . The film is partially presented in a found footage format by featuring fictional interviews, news footage, and video from surveillance cameras. The story, which explores themes of humanity , xenophobia and social segregation , begins in an alternate 1982, when an alien spaceship appears over Johannesburg, South Africa . When

5460-417: Was also presented at the 2008 San Diego Comic-Con , advertising the website D-9.com, which had an application presented by the fictional Multi-National United (MNU). The website had a local alert system for Johannesburg (the film's setting), news feeds , behavior recommendations, and rules and regulations. Other viral websites for the film were also launched, including an MNU website with a countdown timer for

5538-431: Was designed to provoke reactions in its target audience (namely, sci-fi fans and people concerned with discrimination), hence the use of obviously fake segregational propaganda. According to Dwight Caines, Sony's president of digital marketing, an estimated 33,000 phone calls were made to the toll-free numbers during a two-week period with 2,500 of them leaving voicemails with reports of alien sightings. Promotional material

5616-403: Was filled. This film is essentially an expanded version of director Neill Blomkamp's 2005 work. The original short film, titled "Alive in Joburg" was written and directed by Neill Blomkamp. It narrates the conflict between aliens and local residents in Johannesburg (referred to as Joburg). Sharlto Copley, who starred in "Alive in Joburg," also became the lead actor in "District 9." Interestingly,

5694-603: Was founded in 1908 to defend vivisection. In the 1920s, anti-vivisectionists exerted significant influence over the editorial decisions of medical journals. It is possible that human vivisection was practised by some Greek anatomists in Alexandria in the 3rd century BCE. Celsus in De Medicina states that Herophilos of Alexandria vivisected some criminals sent by the king. The early Christian writer Tertullian states that Herophilos vivisected at least 600 live prisoners, although

5772-400: Was not found guilty, as his assistant was the one operating, and his assistant did have a license. Ferrier and his practices gained public support, leaving the anti-vivisection movement scrambling. They made the moral argument that given recent developments, scientists would venture into more extreme practices to operating on "the cripple, the mute, the idiot, the convict, the pauper, to enhance

5850-583: Was released by TriStar Pictures on 14 August 2009. Sony Pictures launched a "Humans Only" marketing campaign to promote District 9 . Sony's marketing team designed its promotional material to emulate the segregational billboards that appear throughout the film. Billboards, banners, posters, and stickers were thus designed with the theme in mind, and the material was spread across public places such as bus stops in various cities, including "humans only" signs in certain locations and providing toll-free numbers to report "non-human" activity. This marketing strategy

5928-488: Was released on Ultra HD Blu-ray on 13 October 2020. District 9 grossed US$ 115.6 million from the United States and Canada, with a worldwide total of $ 210,819,611, against a production budget of US$ 30 million. It opened in 3,048 theatres in Canada and the United States on 14 August 2009, and the film ranked first at the weekend box office with an opening gross of US$ 37.4 million. Among comparable science fiction films in

6006-471: Was shot on RED One cameras using build 15, Cooke S4 primes and Angenieux zooms. The documentary -style and CCTV -style cam footage was shot on the Sony EX1/EX3 XDCAM-HD. Additionally, the post-production team was warned that the most RED Camera footage they could handle a day was about an hour and a half. When that got to five hours a day additional resources were brought in, and 120 terabytes of data

6084-522: Was shot on location in Chiawelo, Soweto , during a time of violent unrest in Alexandra ( Gauteng ) and other South African townships involving clashes between native South Africans and Africans born in other countries. The location that portrays District 9 is itself a real impoverished neighbourhood from which people were being forcibly relocated to government-subsidised housing . Several scenes were shot at

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