The Short Film Series That Changed Real-Time Rendering: “Adam” Retrospective by Mother of Movies
Why We’re Watching in 2026: In a world now dominated by AI-generated video, Mother of Movies looks back at the Unity Engine demo that started it all. Does the CGI still hold up against today’s tech, or has time rusted these robots?
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Oats Studio 10 Years Later – Adam Short Film
Trying to explain how this series of short films came about and why it remains important led me down a digital rabbit hole back in 2016. What I saw first was a single amazing short film, unlike anything I had ever seen before. Adam is special not just for its narrative, but because it’s an animated film made with software technology that makes the picture realistic. Back when this was released, this software was at the top of its game.
Adam was created using the Unity Technologies game engine to demonstrate just how far the software had come. This software runs in real-time with fancy graphic applications that give it that extra cinematic feel. When Adam was released in 2016, the short film won a Webby Award, and looking back now, it was the grandfather of the technology we see used in massive blockbusters today.
Plot Synopsis: A Prisoner in a Metal Shell
The story of Adam is deceptively straightforward. The protagonist is a prisoner who wakes up to find his consciousness trapped in a robot body. The narrative continues through three short films, all available on YouTube.
After the original 5:43 minute episode, Unity reached out to Neil Blomkamp, the founder of Oats Studio. Blomkamp, well-known for movies such as District 9 (2009), Elysium (2013), and Chappie (2015), took the reins to expand the universe.
Blomkamp worked with Unity to produce episode two, Adam: The Mirror (October 2017), and Adam: The Prophet (November 2017). Judging by the comments on the YouTube channel, fans were screaming for a full feature.
About Unity Technologies: More Than Just Games
Unity Technologies is primarily known as a game development company. They provide tools for developers to create immersive worlds. Their website boasts that over 2 billion downloads of Unity games were played on mobile devices in 2016 alone.
If you like mobile, Xbox, or PlayStation games, you have likely played something built on this engine. Some classic titles include:
- Call of Duty: Strike Team
- Unkilled
- Hitman Sniper
Is Adam (2016) still good? Oats Studio Breakdown
The company boasts that 35% of the top 1000 free mobile games are credited to their software. Their client list includes heavy hitters like Coca-Cola, Disney, NASA, and Nickelodeon.
Why this matters now: Anyone can access these tools. You can open a free Personal account to develop something yourself (great for hobbyists). With the current boom in AI filmmaking and indie animation, Adam stands as proof that you don’t need a Hollywood render farm to make something beautiful; you just need the engine.
Love animation and horror, watch To Your Last Death (2019) next.
Movie recomendation for another film with animation
What Else Has Oats Studio Made?
Filmmaking abilities using game engines allow creators like Neil Blomkamp to generate photo-realistic images in half the time and for a fraction of the cost of traditional cinematic rendering.
When Oats Studio utilized Unity Technology’s software, the result was realistic digital humans in a tangible world. If you look at Adam, you will notice the details: clothes moving in the wind, depth in the shadows, and lighting that behaves realistically. Oats created these worlds by shooting more than 35,000 photographs of real elements to build the scenes.
While Adam was the tech demo, Blomkamp has continued to experiment. Below is a refreshed list of the Oats Studio shorts that defined this era.
Short Films Made by Oats Studio and Neil Blomkamp
| Name of Short | Released | Starring | What’s it About? |
|---|---|---|---|
| Adam: The Mirror | Oct 2017 | Unity Software | Part 2 of the Adam series. |
| Adam: The Prophet | Nov 2017 | Unity Software | Part 3 of the Adam series. |
| Zygote | July 2017 | Dakota Fanning | Two survivors in an Arctic mine fend off an alien creature made of human limbs. |
| Rakka | June 2017 | Sigourney Weaver | A grim post-apocalyptic story where the world is overrun by reptilian aliens. |
| Firebase | June 2017 | Steve Boyle | Vietnam War era horror; a new supernatural threat appears on the battlefield. |
| God: Serengeti | July 2017 | Sharlto Copley | Geoffrey and God play with a miniature civilization on a tabletop. |
| Kapture: Fluke | Aug 2017 | Ken Lawson | Scientists test a weapon on a prisoner with dark comedic results. |
| Praetoria | Nov 2017 | Dakota Fanning | A huge Robot Knight wants some gold. |
| Gdansk | Nov 2017 | Unity Software | A medieval giant who loves to kill. |
stars as Jasper in the episode Rakka
Other famous faces that appear in the Oats Studio short film series are: Sigourney Weaver, Carly Pope, Sharlto Copley, Jason Cope, Kellan Lutz, Michael Rogers, Jose Pablo Cantillo, and Dakota Fanning.
Watch Adam “Unity”
Expand the Adam Universe
Purchase and Expand the Universe: Embracing a unique open-source philosophy, the studio allows the public to purchase the actual digital assets used in their films, including 3D models, concept art, scripts, and sound effects, as downloadable content (DLC) on Steam. Much like Unity Technologies provides free access to its engine tools to encourage the creation of new films, this model invites fans and filmmakers to take the helm. By making professional-grade assets accessible, the studio encourages creators to expand on existing lore or utilize these building blocks to construct entirely new projects
Where to Stream if You Don’t Have YouTube
OATS Studios (TV Series 2017–2020) is streaming on:
