Dagger Plays and Prop Making

Greetings, one and all! The weather warmed up just enough that we could finish the old set teardown, so now we have a neat pile of 2x4’s, and the space we have available in the shop is about two feet wider.

Next up, despite some ongoing sicknesses, the stunt team still managed to meet and do a bit of a focused session on dagger plays. Specifically, doing a deep dive into a few alternate methods for the classic dagger plays…

Last but not least, we take a lesson learned from the stairway fight in Stormborn. Specifically, thou shalt not use a bespoke and irreplaceable piece of kit in an area where it is likely to be damaged or destroyed by the scene.

To that end, we are now in the midst of making multiple replacement wrist comms for one of the major characters.

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

Writs and Blades

Greetings, one and all! This week had a bit more diversity of effort than many in recent months.

The first is an ongoing project, namely writing pitch, presentation, and recruiting emails and messages. As this is a fairly broad-spectrum affair, the trick has been keeping the thing lean and efficient, while still covering all the essential points.

Next up, we finally have the grips for the new stunt blades roughed in and shaped, as well as the guards fine sanded.

Once everything cures and the weather gets far enough above freezing the painting and staining can begin. On top of that, some basic leatherworking projects have kicked off...

Last but not least, we also managed to fit more composing sessions into the decidedly busy week. So progress on The Nine Isles continues apace.

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

Deconstruct and Reconstruct

Greetings, one and all! So… the moment the frost left the ground each morning, the chief job of the week became tearing down old set pieces so that the materials could be reused, which should save us a few hundred dollars. However, since this has largely been a solo project, it’s going slowly, and has been murder on the wrists and shoulders. Still, all in all, a pretty good return for the week.

Next up, the stunt team met again, and choreographed the last bits of major fight scenes. First, a revision of the prologue duel, and the second piece of the raider camp fight.

All that together means we’re now ready for final refinements, and after that, teaching the actors.

Last but not least, the music sessions this week framed in some complicated moments from the edit, including some deceptively complex ones like a walking scene with a shifting mood.

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

When You Finally Have a Brain

Greetings, one and all! Well, after weeks of low energy and low brainpower post-flu, I’m happy to say that my brains, will, and energy have finally returned. The first outcome of this was finally figuring out the design for an important vehicle in the current script. This was soon followed by coming up with a way that allows 70 percent of the sets to be built with twelve wall panels, six buttresses, two columns, and a reversible door. Still not cheap, but this saves a lot on labor between shoot days.

Next up, we managed a couple music composition sessions, which actually covered a decent amount of ground. This was also interspersed with prop design work, as well as digging in our collections to make sure we still have some important pieces.

Last but not least, the team met again, and this time worked on the prologue fight, as well as a sequence of training vignettes…

We also managed to reconnect with some of our contacts from days gone by, but it's still early in the cycle, so we'll see what comes of it. All in all, a productive week, despite distant medical appointments and some unexpected last minute turns.  

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