The Longest Day

Okay, so maybe not overly long, by most film standards, as it was a shade over twelve hours, but shooting in three different locations with a radically different supporting cast each time was an adventure all its own.

 

First off, we used a different section of the quarry as the location of the confrontation between our hero in training and a band of pirates.

 

 

 

     

 Next up, a scene involving short tribesmen. Though what that's about... you'll have to wait and see.

 

Finally, after the sun set, we returned to the alley where we filmed the first scene of "Othersight" to capture a slightly less heroic moment in the heroes journey...

That leaves us with just three shots and a title sequence remaining for the short. In other news, the LCC entries are now live, and ours, titled "Spite," can be found here:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GopqNQbO6Cw

Well, that's about all for this week. Until next time!

Chaos Cometh

In less than 48 hours from the time of this writing, we will be on our way to what may be one of our craziest shoots ever. Three scenes, in three wildly different locations, totally different supporting cast, all in one day. Since that's the case, all our energies this week have been focused in that direction. I will be leaving later today to do the final scout, ensuring the locations are open.

 

Sunday we brought the rest of the cast up to speed, and taught the new team members some of the finer points of weapons handling.

Other than that, there's not much to report. Just preparing for the shoot... oh! That reminds me, I need to make sure "The Flamethrower" is working...

Until next time, fare thee well

Final Steps

After the blog went up last week I had a chance to talk with Max, a fellow filmmaker and former LCC winner, who put me on the right path to find a decent way to compress the entry so we wouldn't require a ridiculous amount of bandwidth. As of September 13th, the entry has been accepted for the competition. Last I checked, the entries are allowed to go public about noon on the 28th, after all the entries have been received, and the judging will be that Saturday. Exact time still to be announced.

With the entry being processed early, we have at last been able to turn our attention toward the last scenes for the promo short. Storyboarding and scene breakdowns were completed, followed by costume tests:

 

 As we are planning a long and complicated shoot day, this was followed by a scheduling and logistics meeting, where we blocked in the various phases of the shoot day, running from early morning to 9-something at night. (Not to worry, not all of you actors and extras will have to experience all that. The crew, on the other hand...) With the current elevated fire danger some locations may not be available, so we're definitely praying for rain between now and then. A strange thing to do here in Oregon.

This looks like it could be our largest shoot yet, so here's to the adventure. We'll have one more update between now and then, so until then!

Entry Rendered

Woo hoo! As you probably figured out from the title, the LCC entry has been rendered out and, barring a tweak here or there, is ready for upload. Now, the less good news. Now that our first true HD project has been rendered out, we can see that the three minute entry comes to 17.3GB in size. The problem is this: High speed internet isn't much of a thing around here, and on our connection, it would take about a week to upload. Yes, a week of total bandwidth domination. Needless to say our team members are looking into better options. Nathan may have one, though it may be a bit of a drive to get to the location. Seems the "best quality" requirements for the entry are proving somewhat prohibitive.

 

On top of all that, Sunday, the team met once again, teaching our newest member the fundamentals of the sword, before going on to plot a montage sequence for the short more in keeping with the tone of the promo project.

"See, the broad blade is better against unarmored foes..."

 

I am much more excited about the new direction, as I think it captures the spirit of the world, and what we try to do, so much better.

 

Tomorrow we will be out on a location scout for the *spoiler* pirate camp.*end spoiler* Jesse brought some pictures to the meet several weeks ago, and we've been looking forward to seeing it for ourselves.

So, that's about all for this week. Until next time

The Story Thus Far...

It occurred to me that it's been a while since we've had a discussion on the state of Brightsword Productions and the projects on our platter. For that, we'll need to cover a bit of history. As some of you may know, Gatewalkers was not our first long form project. Nor was it intended to be our first public offering. There was a speculative fiction thriller called "Othersight." Being our first project, I'll readily admit I walked into it a bit naive, and quite optimistic. This had the happy effect of allowing us to do things that shouldn't have been possible, if we'd known any better. On the down side, it can come back to bite you years later. Being an introvert by nature, and having no experience with leading people at the time, I let some things slide that should have been addressed immediately. As I'm sure you know, people tend to take liberties when working with "nice" people, and that was just the beginning of the spiral.

The intended release for Othersight was delayed for reasons beyond our direct control, at least at the time, but I knew we couldn't just sit back and wait. The filmmaker's best friend is inertia, and if you aren't in the middle of at least three projects, you're pretty much considered a hobbyist. If someone asks you "what else do you have?" you're required to have an answer, or you've just torpedoed your career. Since the mythic rules of filmmaking frown upon gaps, we moved into the strange and wonderful world of the webseries, and Gatewalkers was born. But something happened during the pre-production, something that can be crippling for a profession that relies so heavily on people. A series of betrayals of trust had made me leery of relying on others, if I may speak the sad truth plainly, especially in the church.

Thankfully, I had proven friends behind me, and the new friends that came along the way allowed us to do marvelous things together, but I believe my own baggage and private fears were responsible for the project not reaching as far as I'd planned. With first class burnout from trying to make sure all the pieces came together on schedule and were released on time, and no money for Season 2, Gatewalkers died at season's end. Needless to say, this felt very unsatisfying for cast and crew alike, and Chaos on the Fringe was born as a way to close out that era of our lives. For this reason, and the fact that it is a short, it takes back seat to any endeavor aimed at actually making some money. It will be released, but it's not at the top of the priority list.

This brings us full circle, Othersight is still unreleased, and with every passing year, every passing project, my skills and understanding improve to the point where I see every single flaw in the project, every error in judgment, and it's painful. I promised to see it through, I promised to release it to the public, but I struggled, because I had learned so much, and I realized how many foolish assumptions I'd put into the work. But in all this, God was working.

This last winter saw me at an all time low in life, a black knot of doubt and frustration. Yet through all that, I learned so many things. Through the process of making impossible movies, I learned leadership. From the betrayals, I discovered my own fears. From the frustration, I finally learned to let go, and that was the greatest revelation of all. If I truly believe this is my calling, then it is my duty to work as hard as I can, learn as much as I can, to tell the best story possible. But I am not allowed to discredit that work. I may have taken it all on myself, and made foolish mistakes, but in the end, God used it to change me. I have grown more in five years as a filmmaker than the previous ten. Sadly, part of that has been unlearning the habits formed as an employee, but still... Now I wake up every morning and say, "Okay God, it's your project." That brings incredible peace, I may still be working my tail off to see things through, but now, when things go wrong, it's 100% his worry, not mine. Not even a lead backing out thirty minutes before call time rattled it.

Which brings us to the present. Othersight still must be released, but we are now too broke to go with the original plan, so we are seeking out the best download/print on demand services that will allow us to deliver without jumping through too many hoops. I have printed out a copy on standard home DVD's for everyone involved, so, if you're reading this, I hope to be getting those out to you soon.

This new promo we have been shooting is the product of this learning process, this time I'm trying to do it right. I have no idea where this is going. Could be small, could be really big. It may not be what I expect, it may not be what the church expects, may not be what the world expects. But for the first time, that's not my problem. I will reach out and offer the vision, share the call, and leave the rest up to Him.

It seems fitting, with this conversation about the journey to where we are now, that I leave you with these words from another person looking back, and to the future. A future that may be playing on your screens very soon...

 "It is written in our oldest texts that man was created good. If this is so, it did not last. For great evils have come upon all mankind, and no matter how far one runs, evil will find them. For evil does not come from without, but from within.
The price of this has been a history written in blood. Worlds groan under the weight of oppression, their people crying out for deliverance. But in darkness, even the smallest light is a beacon.
Such are the Illani, the last hope of a galaxy in flames. Warriors without peer, they fight to free the peoples of the galaxy from the oppression of dark lords and the chains of dark gods. These are a breed apart, for they carry in their hearts the light of an ancient promise, and on their tongues the words of a sacred oath.
Unstoppable, because they are living proof of an ancient truth.
For 'tis so much to be a Knight, that you must first die to live."--- Excerpt from the Memoirs of Akerra of Ser