Space Suits!

I promised pictures, and it's time for some pictures! These were created mostly off a tutorial by Indy Mogul.

Freedom: The Series

I just realized how quiet like this page has been... Well, there's a reason for that. All the updates are over at freedomtheseries.blogspot.com, because we're working on a web series. Filming is starting next month. The script is basically done, and we're finishing up the casting. I'll post some pics soon.

Can't Stop The Serenity

The Salt Lake City Can't Stop The Serenity screening is tentatively scheduled for October 1st. This is a charity screening of the movie Serenity, which benefits groups like Equality Now.

Become a fan of the Utah Browncoats Facebook Page to show your support, and watch for updates.

Does It Make A Sound - A 48 Hour Film Project

Believe

This is a submission for a Trans-Siberian Orchestra contest. Please head over to youtube to like, comment, and share. It's for about $15,000 worth of computer equipment. And we put a lot of heart and soul into it.

48 Hour Film Project

I have signed up for the 48 Hour Film Project. My brothers will be helping, as well as Selena (the girl from Eilert and Reaverized), and a few others. But if you've ever watched the credits at the end of a movie, you know that we can use all the help we can get. So speak up if you want to join us!

Reaverized

Do It Anyway Filmmaking

I don't consider myself an expert on movie making, but I have gotten far enough in that I feel like I should share a bit of what I've learned so far. The first - and biggest - thing I would like to emphasize is that if you don't have what you want, do it anyway. I'll run through each of the things that you'll think you need, and what you can get anyway.



You really can create a movie with the camera on your phone. It may not be perfect, but it's a camera. Do it anyway. Seriously.

An option just above that would be the Flip Mino HD cameras, available in either a 60 minute or 120 minute version. These have almost no controls. They are literally point and shoot cameras. But they work pretty well in almost any light.

The camera we use is a Canon VIXIA HG21 (Somehow the price on that never stays the same - I've seen it as low as $600). It's what's considered a prosumer camera.

There are of course fancier, more expensive cameras out there, but if you're looking for one of those, you wouldn't be reading my blog.



When it comes to editing, there are a bunch of options. The Flip Mino cameras come with software. It ain't perfect, but it works. Most versions of Windows come with Windows Movie Maker. Most Macs come with iMovie. Any of these will do the job.

For under $100 you can get either Adobe Premiere Elements (which won't do HD, sadly UPDATE: 1080p!) or Sony Vegas Movie Studio. Both of those have high end versions that work really well, but you pay for the extras.



What are we at now for our budget? Oh, yeah. Nothing. Well, okay. You could have spent some money by now, but you didn't have to.

Now that you know you can actually film it, you can start on your script. I use Adobe Story. It's totally free and web based, and it formats your script for you. Celtx is also a very popular option. It's open source and pretty user friendly.

I also recommend that you follow the Hero's Journey story structure. I'd be willing to bet that most if not all of your favorite movies followed it. And if it ain't broke... Yeah. Once you master that, then feel free to play with it. Know the rules inside and out before you break them.

I generally get a good feel for what my resources are before I write the script. For example, on this latest project I had a make up artist come forward, so I decided to do some wounds and such in the film that I wouldn't have been able to otherwise. I also had someone volunteer some lab coats, so I set it in a hospital.



For lights, I actually use shop lights. They do the job. If you want to make sure they're the right color and such, you can find professional bulbs for them at Filmtools.com. The video above gives a good description on how to use them.

But, let me emphasize this again. You don't have to have fancy lights. If you don't have them (say it with me now) do it anyway. We actually skipped the lighting setup on our filming last weekend, because if we didn't we would have run out of time before we ran out of script. (Let's just hope it doesn't look too horrible when it's done.)

When it comes time to film, there is one rule that is usually ignored, but it will confuse your audience if you don't follow it. 180 Degree Rule: Treat your scene like it's on a stage, and keep the camera where the audience would be.

There are a couple different shot types fairly common in movies. They work, so use them. You can change them up if you want. It's your movie after all. But try to have an idea of what shots you want before you start filming, or your actors will get annoyed.

Long Shot
Mid or Medium shot
Close-up
Two shot
Point of view shot

For finding actors, use what you've got. Family and friends are usually pretty willing to help. If you need more, try Craigslist or other classifieds. And if you're making a fan film, find some fan sites and forums. And if you can't pay them, at least feed them.

For more information, I highly recommend Indy Mogul's Backyard FX, Videomaker, and FilmmakerIQ.com, or even Wikipedia.

I still don't think we've spent any money here. Movie making doesn't have to be expensive. If that's your passion, then go for it. To play with an old phrase, if you wait for your ship to come in, you're going to spend your whole life sitting on the docks. Build your ship out of leaves and twigs if you have to, and set sail.

If You Haven't Been Watching The Facebook Feed

We're filming in a couple hours. The details are on Facebook.

Time For A Change

Well, most of the crew that I started out with isn't with me anymore. Other commitments have kept them from doing as much as they had hoped. The superhero series that we were doing was mostly their idea, and honestly won't work as well without them. That's how all of my projects are, actually. I have a script after I know what my resources are, instead of the traditional Hollywood method of writing a script and getting it filmed. This is what happens when you have limited resources. I loved the concept we were working on, and it would have been a hilarious little set of short films, but it's time to move on.

So, at Mysti's request, we are going to do a medieval / fantasy film. I found a castle that looks like it will work really well(the picture above is from google earth, but it honestly doesn't do it justice), and I've met a few SCA people lately that may be willing to help.

Wesley Stagg has also agreed to help with this new film. He's passionate about cameras and lighting, and will be an invaluable asset.

So expect a few updates coming soon. I hope to get this project moving quickly.

Stunt Dummy

Wow. I haven't posted in a while. Sorry. I'm in the middle of moving. But that doesn't mean I'm not working on stuff! I don't have any pics of mine exactly, but I've been following this. I think I'll call him Steve. I'm a lot less afraid of Steve.

Our Newest Cast Member

Mysti Sadler has agreed to join our little "How To Be A Superhero" production. She's an aspiring model who has also started taking acting classes, and I think she'll make an excellent addition to our film.

How to MacGuyver a Dashcam

I've published an instructable if you want some details, but it's pretty straight forward. Now it just has to stop raining long enough for me to film what I need...

A Side Project

Things are going a bit slower than we had planned for our Superhero series, so I'm working on a side project. It's mostly on my own, but I've also got some help from family.

It is based on the idea that the chase scene in the first Transformers movie was way too short, and will involve the following characters (plus a few more):






I'm not really going for the same thing as all the stop motion animation Transformers fanvids on youtube. I may use some stop motion, but I'm mostly going to treat the toys as miniatures. I'll probably even chroma key in my kids, just for the fun of it.

I Am Testosterone Man!

This is a concept from way back in the day. It wasn't even mine, originally. We had to do a short film in our youth group, and this is what we came up with. I don't have the film (I don't think it exists at all anymore, actually), but anyone who saw it will attest that it was freakin' hilarious. I ended up playing the main character, and from that point on, I have been Testosterone Man. I had this drawn up by a comic artist I met in the Philippines, and it looks a whole lot better than the white long johns and pink cape that we started with.

So, I believe this is where we'll be going with our "How To Be A Superhero" shorts.

I'm gonna make a total and complete fool of myself, and then I'm gonna put it on youtube. This is gonna be awesome!

Our Goals

I thought now would be a good time to outline the goals of our little organization. Our long term goal is in Interactive Storytelling. If you're not familiar with that concept, it's what the Choose Your Own Adventure books were, except that we plan to do it with video. We've considered both animation and live action, so we'll see where that goes.

The thing is that interactive stories require considerably more work than regular fiction. A one hour story that has only four decisions from the audience would require over seven hours of footage (that's some math that I definitely need to look at more closely - there has to be a formula for that). I would consider us amateur filmmakers at best, so we have some progress to make before we start in on the really difficult stuff. That's why we're currently working on silly little short films like "How To Be a Superhero" - It's all for practice.

And for fun. Fun is good. :-)

Starting on Our First Project

We've started our first project - "How To Be A Superhero - Chapter 1: Discovering Your Superpower." Yes, I said Chapter 1. This will be the first in a 5 part series of very unrealistic, just-for-laughs videos. I will play the guy that gets pulled off the street and paid $20 to be a test subject. Daylan will play the guy running the tests (Oh, of course, they're very scientific... Yeah, right!). And Andrew will be the one running the show. We should start filming the first week of May, and have it done by the end of the month.

Oh, and I honestly don't think that I'll look like that in the video, but the picture was classic HeroMachine fun.

The Membership is Growing

On Saturday I met with Andrew and Daylan. They were both in that initial film that we did, and were hard working, talented guys. I'm glad to have them on board. They may even make a few posts here. Andrew's specialty is fight choreography, as well as writing. Daylan is an awesome designer and 3d modeler, and is pretty good at programming as well. And they both share my passion for making games and movies. As far as I know, Andrew doesn't have his own site, but Daylan's is at eegamedesign.com.

Oh, and for your viewing enjoyment, here is that film I keep talking about.

Illusionext is Officially Up And Running

A little over a year ago, I headed up a little film we called Eilert The Dragon Slayer. While we had made a few short films before, this time we were attempting something that had never been done at the Murray ITT before - a ten minute short film. We were told that anytime another group had attempted to make a film longer than two minutes, they had failed. Ours was ten minutes. Well, we made it. It's far from perfect, but it was done.

We called ourselves Illusionext. We've hardly seen each other since then, so we haven't used the name since. But today I'm changing that. Today Illusionext is back.