Even the most cursory glance through director Neill Blomkamp’s early personal projects and advertising work unearths the visual and thematic roots of his first feature film District 9. In fact, “Alive in Joburg” is literally the short film upon which D9 is based. Dig around some more, through the Tetra Val short, the Nike Crab ad or the ‘Yellow’ spot for Adidas and it becomes apparent that there is a consistent “world” being explored in all of his work, at once familiar and extraordinary.

In anticipation of D9′s official opening tomorrow, I’ve compiled a YouTube Playlist of Blomkamp’s work that includes his Vancouver Film School demo reel and a couple of early music videos that prove that even the most brilliant artists have to start somewhere…

One other short film that is also worth checking out that is not on YouTube is “Tempbot”, a lighter, though perhaps equally bleak take on the robot theme that exists throughout Blomkamp’s work. Enjoy.