405 is a three-minute film released in June 2000. It was produced by Bruce Branit and Jeremy Hunt on a budget, using significantly self-taught skills with personal computers. 405 is also one of the earliest viral videos. It immediately became notable as an early example of the revolution in digital filmmaking and the use of broadband Internet as a channel to distribute media, and the results rival that of many major film and television production studios at the time. Plot On an otherwise ordinary day in Los Angeles, air traffic controllers in contact with American Airlines Flight 117 have the flight appear on a radar screen. The air traffic controllers instruct the McDonnell Douglas DC-10 airliner to make an emergency landing at Los Angeles International Airport. The flight crew responds by saying that it is unable to maintain altitude, and begin an emergency descent. Meanwhile, during a traffic report, a man is driving a Jeep Grand Cherokee down a mysteriously empty stretch of I-405 as a two-mile stretch was shut down to be used as the airliner's emergency landing strip. Soon, AA Flight 117 appears on its final landing approach while the driver of the Jeep attempts to outrun the incoming DC-10. During touchdown, the airliner's nose gear collides with the back of the Jeep with the nose gear collapsing, and the fuselage slamming onto the Jeep's roof. The two vehicles are locked together, pushing the Jeep to a much higher speed. The driver tries to slow the careening aircraft but in the process of slowing down, the DC-10 and the man's car narrowly miss an elderly woman driving slowly in her Lincoln Continental. While sliding to a stop, the massive airliner's wheels miss the Lincoln Continental, with the wing of the aircraft passing overhead. The incident ends with police cars arriving; at that point, the elderly woman drives slowly past, extending her middle finger at the Jeep's driver. Production The producers shot the film using a digital camcorder and created the special effects using personal computers, all on a budget of $300. Furthermore, $140 of the budget paid the fines of two traffic tickets for walking on the highway shoulder while filming, issued by California Highway Patrol Officer Dana Anderson, who is listed in the "Special Thanks" section of the credits. 405 includes both live action video and computer-generated imagery that took three and a half months to make.