2013...

Another year has gone, and very little progress has been made, at least in terms of demonstrable results. Other things I've tried doing last year have not been successful, and this pot has remained simmering away in the meantime. In the meantime I've also completed a feature script, am collaborating on a comic, and kept my son alive and comfortable for at least the first year of his life. I've I have a surfeit of locations scouted, and all the found props I need are taken care of. I have more than adequate camera, along with adequate computing power to edit on. In relation to this I've done little tests to actually put into practice the theory I had learned, and gained actual confidence. And I still have this poster, which I think is pretty gnarly. Left on my list is: -6 actors who can commit. The tricky part for me is filling the 3 female roles. There's plenty of guys I can find who think it'd be loads of fun, but I'm not currently active any theatrical social circles, which I need to work on. -Animatronic puppets. I have the theory, and the workspace to create some effective yet not overly complicated puppets. I've studied the animals quite substantially and know the performance I want. -Extra puppeteers, where needed. Some of my designs require up to three people operating, as well as the camera operator, but it's only for a handful of shots. -A shotgun mic with a wind shield. Things I can fudge, if need be: -A camera stabilising system. I can gussy up a basic version quickly and cheaply, but there is a design of my own I want to try out, if I get the chance. -CG birds. I'm no modeler/animator, and I'll probably just use composites of found footage and puppets for the more dynamic shots. -The process shots for car scenes. Ideally I'd get a go-pro for the footage, but if I can't, I'll come up with other creative ways.

I want to lend these guys a hand too, they deserve support.

After another script polish, I may have found a way to get this project off the ground in a better way than I first envisioned...

If nothing else, I'll at least have this cool poster...

New Arrival

On the 8th of December, my son was born. This of course is something that'll take up a lot of my time, as well as my job, but I still hold hope to put something together soon...

Haven't given up yet

My baby son is due any day now, and I haven't shot a single thing yet. Despite this impending setback, I'm trying to draw the character designs myself. I can't draw, but with focus I think I may be able to come up with something usable, and the tutorials on the Stan Winston School of Character Arts is really helpful in inspiring some design theories, I just have to do the leg work all by my onesy.

The weather is still pretty wild and wooly, even though it's summer, so it'd be pretty useless to shoot now anyway. At least with how wet it is, January should still easily be able to be passed off as spring, so at least there's that...

Life happens

It's been such a long time, and so much has happened in the intervening months. My girlfriend and I found out we were expecting a child. Started a new job, working on it for three months and out of the blue being dropped from it.
But still in my mind I've pressed on, trying to get help, and not receiving much. I now believe I'll just have to take on practically every behind the camera responsibility myself. Which isn't easy, but if I press forward, I'll at least get a result. It likely will not be a result I'm very happy with, but then it's better than no results at all...

On the plus side, I have that one last role I needed to be cast finally, with someone I know. She acted in a friend's film many years ago, and turned out to be the best in that one, so I'm relaxed about that. Hopefully the rest of the cast is still a go, most of them should be.

And this weather somehow manages to be really nice during the week, and then all wind and rain on the weekends, which will be really inconvenient if it continues while I finally get a shoot going...