Friday, May 21, 2010

Meetings... and a little bit of hope

The project is getting a little more volatile then I would have liked. I forgot how demanding a film project is on your emotional and mental state. Since the last entry we have experienced huge disappointments and but found hope in unexpected areas.
I was getting very stressed out, because I was planning to have a camera person with the project from as early as possible, but we were not getting anywhere. Everyone seems to be based in London and as close a Bournemouth is to London, I need someone who is here to test for quite some time. After all it’s most likely new technology to all of us and I don’t have the budget to pay for expenses like that.
So we decided to just go for it and hold some auditions, see if we like any of the people, who show up and how interested they are in the project and the technology.
I was very pleasantly surprised that we already have a very strong contender. I’m going into this weekend’s phone interviews with the feeling, that we might have already found the right person for the job and that he is the one to beat. So there is one thing less to worry about.
But the weekend will also see another kind of audition, because we are at the same time looking to find the right actors. We just want to make sure that we are not running out of time and that we really can choose the right person. Looking at the applications I’m very hopeful that we will fill the part for the little girl. The watchmaker is a whole different story. No one really looks the part, but we have to wait and see.
Yesterday, I went location scouting in Winchester and I like the place so much. Both watch shops I looked at would be suitable and at least one of them seems like we really have a chance. Having a location would be another crucial step towards making this film a reality. But I will have to wait until Monday, for their decision. I really hope it will be a positive result.
When it comes to animators, there really seems to be the feeling that we are aiming to high. But no one of yet has replied back to me. I putting it down to the fact, that the animators have a week off at the moment. But I’m still left with a bad feeling. Again we have to wait until Monday to find out more. If nobody replies I will send out another proposal and see if I can actually speak to any of them.
Another major point of worry, was the kit. I’ve heard rumors about 3D rigs, but so far I was not able to confirm any of them. Instead I phoned a company in Bournemouth in the hope that they could give me a little bit of information. Instead I was told to come around with a camera person and have a chat with the aim of getting a 3D camera rig for a couple of days. What really blew my mind though, was that he said, that if the dates are right, we would be able to get their rig for free. I wanted to cry. I just hope I’m not celebrating too early.
Never mind this great prospect, I am going to see, if any of the rumors are true as well, because it would be good to have some practice, even if it is not the rig we will use in the end.

Originally, I wanted this blog to be of a more technical nature. I wanted to write down my understanding of the technology involved in s3D. But somehow there is so much to do, that I don’t feel I have the time or space to actually write about that. After all, I want the information I will be giving to be correct and backed by what has been written about s3D before. Maybe I get around to it eventually.

Annette

Tuesday, May 11, 2010

Working away and suddenly unexpected glories

Just got the third draft and things are really slotting into place now. It is impossible not to play out the scene in your mind, while you’re reading it. It’s lively and it feels real, which makes the whole project that much more exciting.
Sara called the story adorable and I could not agree more. I seem to get back to the notion of something magical. It can be found on every level in the storyline, in the characters, in the mood of the script and hopefully eventually in the film as well.
Writing the comments for the script turned out to be much more difficult. Everything you change will have a ripple effect through the script and I was surprised how much I needed to change to accommodate any of my suggested changes. I really hope that Sara will not feel bad about any of it.

The storyboard is even more difficult, because I want it to reflect the idea in my head as closely as possible, but it just does not seem to want to work on paper. So I decided I am going to give it a try as a simple animation. I have created the character in blender, but I forgot how difficult it all was, so as usual it takes a lot more time then expected. But slowly the set is coming together and I just have to fix a few small glitches with the character deformation before I can start just moving the characters around and render off the storyboard images. I am fully counting on the fact that that should speed up the process massively.

Anna made me think about what I’m looking for, when casting the little girl. After search the internet and not coming up with much, I realized that I was basing the character of the little girl at least partly on a children’s book heroine called Pippi Langstrumpf (at least that’s the name I know her by). I am not sure if that is going to help Anna when trying to find a suitable actress, but I think I have a clearer idea in my mind now.
On the same note, I also made a mood board (I think I over did it a little bit), which will hopefully be useful for everyone in creating understanding of the look and feel of the film.

Trying to get hold of a 3D camera has be unsuccessful so far. Sony has made it quite clear that we are planning to film at the wrong time of the year, as the football world cup is approaching, but somehow I doubt that they wanted to give us students anything. They just want the convenient contact to the university and the Bournemouth Skillset Screen & Media Academy.
We have not quite given up yet, but it just does not look good. Contacting Panasonic and looking if any other company is building something similar feels more like going through the motions. I think plan B will have to come into action soon. I think I also have to have a good look at what is available at the university itself, as we might have to built the whole camera rig ourselves in the end. But after a little talk with Steve Hubbard, has lifted my hopes to finish this project. I get too easily discouraged, doubting all the work I have put into it.

With all the work going on I nearly did not go to the Landcrab short film festival in Bournemouth, even though the film ‘The Cases of Detective Policeman’, which I have edited was to be shown.
Well, I can only say, that I’m glad, I did not miss that occasion, as the film won, Best Director, Best Actor and the People’s choice Award.

Thanks to everyone who voted for the film and I’m so glad you all enjoyed it.

...
Annette