The Art of Isolation

Greetings, one and all! Wow… how things have changed. The journey we began in late 2017 is now over, and all the episodes of STORMBORN have been released to the public. I want to take a moment and thank everyone who came along with us on the journey. To those who’ve worked with us, you did great things, and it was a joy to get to know y’all. To those who watched our show, thank you for watching, and your kind comments. To one and all, it’s been a pleasure. 

Now, that may seem a bit pensive to some, but there’s something else to bear in mind here. It has now been 15 days since I’ve seen anyone outside of my immediate family. So I may be a shade more nostalgic than normal. The world continues to go nuts, and I think I’ve finally reached the point of saturation, where the crazy is just the new norm. Fortunately, that means I can now be annoyed by the fact that I just can’t get this raider costume design right, like a good filmmaker, as opposed to being frustrated by people playing politics while the world burns. So, y’know, small victories. :P

Fortunately, this means I can bring you sneak peeks into the design process as it stands. Not quite as active or colorful as the stunt team, but still moderately shiny.

As you can see, we have a general fantasy aesthetic going here, one that apparently involves a lot of scarves and sashes… Some of this production design will go into the preparation for a promo short, or, failing that, some decent proof of concept footage. (Knowing what one will be able to do in lockdown is tough.) If we’re very fortunate, we may actually have photos from the start of that process in the next few weeks here.

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

STORMBORN Finale!

Greetings, one and all! Well, this has been a wild week. First off, the STORMBORN finale is here! Huzzah! It’s been a long journey, and we’re happy to be here, at last.

https://youtu.be/w1ocb7pYCE4

Next up, the day after our last episode release, the first cases of COVID-19 hit our county. What’s more, they skipped the larger communities and hit the veteran’s home in the small town where half our team lives. By that night, the Governor had issued guidelines about group sizes, and the state went into a soft lockdown. Church services were cancelled, as were schools, and anyone who could started working from home. By Monday, the guidelines were even stricter. Naturally, stunt meet is on a bit of a break.

As someone who was preparing to launch out into the community, and get the ball rolling on our next project, this hit me like a freight train. What the ongoing effect of this will be, who can say. All I can do is what I can do. So, I have dedicated some time to production design work, and the further preparation for our intended film project. If we get the green light a few months from now, I do not want to have wasted the months spent in effective quarantine. Yes, I may go a little nuts from social deprivation, but such is life. Maybe next week we’ll have some artwork from the design process.

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

Penultimate Preview

Greetings, one and all! Well, here we are, down to the last two episodes of the STORMBORN series. It’s been quite a journey, and I hope you’re all ready to dive into Episode 7:

https://youtu.be/d44EtSn059s

In other film news, the stunt team met again, and this time blocked in a fight from the script that takes place outside a cairn…

The time flew by, and our team did an excellent job of roughing in the scene.

In heavier news, Mike Reardon, the father of two of our lead actresses, and a beloved friend and teacher to many, passed away unexpectedly last week. It's not really my place to say much, as others knew him better than I, and his family still carries the weight of his loss. But what I can say is he believed in what we’re doing here, and that meant a lot to me. Through him, we were able to work with two amazing young women, and for that I am thankful. He will be missed by many, but I think we’re all grateful for the time we had.

Until next time.

On Weddings and Webseries

Greetings, one and all! Well, this has been an interesting week. First off, Episode Six is out! Woo! It has one of my favorite openings in the series. For the early viewing experience, follow the link below:

https://youtu.be/bjL1E8rQq3A

On top of that, I recorded a wedding this last weekend, using slightly unfamiliar gear. Long story short, that’s a bad idea. Technical oddities piled up, turning a 3-4 hour edit into a multi-day troubleshooting saga. Plus side, by the end of this I will know the inner workings of certain programs far better than I would’ve ever thought necessary.

In more enjoyable news, the stunt team met on Sunday, and choreographed a hypothetical section of a fight scene from one of our scripts. It was a lot of fun to work on, and they got some cool moments in it.

Last, but not least, the current script version has been reviewed, and will be going into further revisions. All in all, we have a full week ahead.

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