Friday, 4 December 2009
Timing Issues in a VFX Film
One of the more challenging aspects of making Diabolus Domi was mastering the timing. To experienced filmmakers, timing comes naturally. To newbies like us, it’s a whole new art form.
Timing is difficult to explain and even harder to learn. Much of it is to do with instinct. As a writer I have learned that timing in a piece of writing is critical to its success. You can’t get the message of the piece across effectively if your timing is wrong. Writers mutter about cadences and rhythm. Directors talk about beats. In filmmaking, beats are the high and low points of the film – the moment in the story where something significant happens which contributes to the story. Beats are used to pace the film so that the story moves forwards (roughly every five minutes in most popular American films). Beats are not necessarily merely different scenes – you could have more than one beat in a scene, for example, or one spread over several scenes. Between each beat a sequence occurs. The sequence is often a series of scenes that relates to the last beat and leads up to the next beat.
Still awake so far? O.K. the next point to make is that beats aren’t the only form of timing within a film. You also have to figure out the pacing within a scene itself: for example, do the actors move at the right speed? Do pauses occur in the right place? For the most part, this happens naturally with real actors – they physically move and interact according to normal live, human behaviour, so even if the pacing doesn’t fall quite right, the process can be further refined in editing.
However with a CG character, the pacing becomes much more complicated. Because you have to simulate human (or animal) behavior and make it as realistic as possible, then the movement of the CG character has to be worked out from scratch. This is very difficult to do, and is further complicated by the fact that visual effects are not necessarily best displayed in real time or according to the laws of physics. With VFX, hours and hours of careful planning are required and even after you have wired the character to move realistically, you still need to rework, rework, rework until the timing is perfect.
At the point in our film when Mervyn materializes in the bathroom, this took a huge amount of reworking of the CG to get the timing right. If Merv materialized too quickly (real time), the viewer’s eye couldn’t follow the visual effect because it was way too fast, so Rich had to re-render the scene and slow it right down, so that the monster materialized more slowly and the viewer could clearly see what was going on. Visual effects artists often forget to do this – often they simply choose to make their visual effect “real time” which means that the effect whizzes past so fast that the eye can’t figure out what on earth is going on. Think of Transformers – maybe I’m a bit slow on the uptake, but I had huge problems figuring out which character did what to whom because the CG action was in real time. There was special effect after special effect – my poor little brain rapidly became overloaded and I couldn’t figure out what on earth was happening (not helped by the fact that one big stompy robot looks much the same as the next at high speed.) The action was just too fast.
So the conundrum for the VFX artist is that he wants to show off his special effects, but he has to judge the timing incredibly precisely so that it is a) realistic to the viewer b) not too fast so that the viewer can keep up (the human brain finds it easier to absorb human movement at speed, but harder to process how a CG monster moves, so this point is critical) and c) the VFX timing has to be in keeping with the story. In our little example above, Rich had to slow down the monster materialization because smoke couldn’t coagulate and form matter that fast. It’s all about appearing real enough to the viewer so that he can accept it as reality within the confines of the story – even though he knows inside that it’s not. To take another example, for me, Spiderman doesn’t work because his CG character swings from building to building too fast – the character looks unnatural. O.K. so Spiderman may be a superhero but he swings so fast that it really does look too cartoony.
In VFX, the transition between the real world and the CG world has to be relatively seamless (and our viewers very politely told us that we need to work on this!) Everything has to look and feel believable to the viewer’s imagination. This is dependent on rhythm and timing as much as on how good the CG artwork is. Without perfect timing of the character, the whole lot will look unnatural and the film will fail.
So how do you decide the timing of your character? Our recommendation is to rework it until you think it looks real, but then let someone else take a look at your scene and provide feedback. A fresh pair of eyes often helps. When I reviewed the monster materialization scene I could instantly see that the timing was wrong, whereas Rich was too close to the work.
You cannot get the timing completely right by yourself. Filmmaking is a collaborative effort, and that goes for timing as much as any other element in the film. Your film is a symphony – as a director it is your job to conduct each instrument and time them correctly so that they blend together to create the perfect performance.
Timing is difficult to explain and even harder to learn. Much of it is to do with instinct. As a writer I have learned that timing in a piece of writing is critical to its success. You can’t get the message of the piece across effectively if your timing is wrong. Writers mutter about cadences and rhythm. Directors talk about beats. In filmmaking, beats are the high and low points of the film – the moment in the story where something significant happens which contributes to the story. Beats are used to pace the film so that the story moves forwards (roughly every five minutes in most popular American films). Beats are not necessarily merely different scenes – you could have more than one beat in a scene, for example, or one spread over several scenes. Between each beat a sequence occurs. The sequence is often a series of scenes that relates to the last beat and leads up to the next beat.
Still awake so far? O.K. the next point to make is that beats aren’t the only form of timing within a film. You also have to figure out the pacing within a scene itself: for example, do the actors move at the right speed? Do pauses occur in the right place? For the most part, this happens naturally with real actors – they physically move and interact according to normal live, human behaviour, so even if the pacing doesn’t fall quite right, the process can be further refined in editing.
However with a CG character, the pacing becomes much more complicated. Because you have to simulate human (or animal) behavior and make it as realistic as possible, then the movement of the CG character has to be worked out from scratch. This is very difficult to do, and is further complicated by the fact that visual effects are not necessarily best displayed in real time or according to the laws of physics. With VFX, hours and hours of careful planning are required and even after you have wired the character to move realistically, you still need to rework, rework, rework until the timing is perfect.
At the point in our film when Mervyn materializes in the bathroom, this took a huge amount of reworking of the CG to get the timing right. If Merv materialized too quickly (real time), the viewer’s eye couldn’t follow the visual effect because it was way too fast, so Rich had to re-render the scene and slow it right down, so that the monster materialized more slowly and the viewer could clearly see what was going on. Visual effects artists often forget to do this – often they simply choose to make their visual effect “real time” which means that the effect whizzes past so fast that the eye can’t figure out what on earth is going on. Think of Transformers – maybe I’m a bit slow on the uptake, but I had huge problems figuring out which character did what to whom because the CG action was in real time. There was special effect after special effect – my poor little brain rapidly became overloaded and I couldn’t figure out what on earth was happening (not helped by the fact that one big stompy robot looks much the same as the next at high speed.) The action was just too fast.
So the conundrum for the VFX artist is that he wants to show off his special effects, but he has to judge the timing incredibly precisely so that it is a) realistic to the viewer b) not too fast so that the viewer can keep up (the human brain finds it easier to absorb human movement at speed, but harder to process how a CG monster moves, so this point is critical) and c) the VFX timing has to be in keeping with the story. In our little example above, Rich had to slow down the monster materialization because smoke couldn’t coagulate and form matter that fast. It’s all about appearing real enough to the viewer so that he can accept it as reality within the confines of the story – even though he knows inside that it’s not. To take another example, for me, Spiderman doesn’t work because his CG character swings from building to building too fast – the character looks unnatural. O.K. so Spiderman may be a superhero but he swings so fast that it really does look too cartoony.
In VFX, the transition between the real world and the CG world has to be relatively seamless (and our viewers very politely told us that we need to work on this!) Everything has to look and feel believable to the viewer’s imagination. This is dependent on rhythm and timing as much as on how good the CG artwork is. Without perfect timing of the character, the whole lot will look unnatural and the film will fail.
So how do you decide the timing of your character? Our recommendation is to rework it until you think it looks real, but then let someone else take a look at your scene and provide feedback. A fresh pair of eyes often helps. When I reviewed the monster materialization scene I could instantly see that the timing was wrong, whereas Rich was too close to the work.
You cannot get the timing completely right by yourself. Filmmaking is a collaborative effort, and that goes for timing as much as any other element in the film. Your film is a symphony – as a director it is your job to conduct each instrument and time them correctly so that they blend together to create the perfect performance.
Labels: Diabolus Domi, filmmaking
Monday, 30 November 2009
Recording Film Sound for the Clueless: Part 2
The Importance of Music in a Horror Film
One of the most important elements in any film is to get the score right! In a horror movie in particular, using extra-diegetic sound is an important tool which can be used to build atmosphere and suspense. When timed correctly, the right music can be used to scare the viewer witless, where dialogue and action alone would not be enough.
I’m afraid our little film would not have worked remotely as well as it did without the suspense music. Whatever other criticisms we received from viewers (and there were many) the sound and the use of music were judged to be very well done (hurrah! We did something right!) The film music starts off quiet and sinister, and gradually grows throughout the film until it gets louder and more dramatic towards the end, thus raising the suspense levels to the optimum level when the demon attacks.
In order to get the score right, Rich listened to various pieces of scary music over and over again. He did this by loading pieces of potential suspense music into a Windows Media player playlist and learning them off by heart. He then visualised each element of the film in his head and tried to put himself in the place of the viewer. He needed to figure out which pieces of music generated the right emotional reaction for each scene, and that meant that he had to build the whole movie in this head i.e. pre-viz both action and music, and then match them together perfectly in order to pace the story properly and build suspense. This sounds easier than it is, incidentally – many filmmakers employ professional sound designers to do this. Alas, we don’t have that option, so Rich had to try it himself. Personally I think he did really well, considering this was only his second attempt!
Dramatic music has the ability to alter our mood, manipulate our emotions and compel us to respond to the film in a different way. A film succeeds only if it generates emotion, which in turn is directly dependent on the sound. Emotion can be attached to any piece of film footage through effective use of the film-score. If used correctly, suspense music can be used to play on our innermost fears and thus create a truly effective horror movie.
Resources:
For our own little film-short, we used stock music, in paricular, Tunes of Terror from Stockmusic.net.
One of the most important elements in any film is to get the score right! In a horror movie in particular, using extra-diegetic sound is an important tool which can be used to build atmosphere and suspense. When timed correctly, the right music can be used to scare the viewer witless, where dialogue and action alone would not be enough.
I’m afraid our little film would not have worked remotely as well as it did without the suspense music. Whatever other criticisms we received from viewers (and there were many) the sound and the use of music were judged to be very well done (hurrah! We did something right!) The film music starts off quiet and sinister, and gradually grows throughout the film until it gets louder and more dramatic towards the end, thus raising the suspense levels to the optimum level when the demon attacks.
In order to get the score right, Rich listened to various pieces of scary music over and over again. He did this by loading pieces of potential suspense music into a Windows Media player playlist and learning them off by heart. He then visualised each element of the film in his head and tried to put himself in the place of the viewer. He needed to figure out which pieces of music generated the right emotional reaction for each scene, and that meant that he had to build the whole movie in this head i.e. pre-viz both action and music, and then match them together perfectly in order to pace the story properly and build suspense. This sounds easier than it is, incidentally – many filmmakers employ professional sound designers to do this. Alas, we don’t have that option, so Rich had to try it himself. Personally I think he did really well, considering this was only his second attempt!
Dramatic music has the ability to alter our mood, manipulate our emotions and compel us to respond to the film in a different way. A film succeeds only if it generates emotion, which in turn is directly dependent on the sound. Emotion can be attached to any piece of film footage through effective use of the film-score. If used correctly, suspense music can be used to play on our innermost fears and thus create a truly effective horror movie.
Resources:
For our own little film-short, we used stock music, in paricular, Tunes of Terror from Stockmusic.net.
Labels: Diabolus Domi, filmmaking, sound
Thursday, 26 November 2009
Recording Film Sound for the Clueless: Part 1
The Recording Process: General Sound Recording
Despite the hundreds of hours spent on the CG in our little film, as well as many hours endlessly editing, it wasn’t until we finally put the sound into the film that it really started to gel.
I was appointed as the sound technician for the actual recording of the footage. I thought Rich was very brave trusting something as important as the sound to a half-deaf wife, but you gotta love his faith in me. Anyway, we decided that we wanted sound which was a bit more advanced than the camera’s microphone, which always ended up with the dialogue sounding as though it was recorded in the loo. So we took the plunge and allocated some of the film budget to purchasing a microphone and big furry cover (which is rather horrifyingly called “a dead cat”- as a cat lover I must protest – I really do prefer live ones.) We also bought a groovy new Tascam DR-100 Solid State sound recorder, which was so simple to use that in no time at all I was wandering around practising my newbie sound-recording skills by poking my dead cat into the faces of anyone and everyone in the vicinity.
Unfortunately I didn’t have any training in how to use the recorder correctly to obtain the cleanest sound levels, so my learning was strictly a trial and error process. We were also filming the outside scene in the middle of the worst winds for several years, so we had to reshoot the scene many times so that I could learn to record the actress’s speech as clearly as possible whilst minimising the sound of the howling gale. I screwed up frequently at first, mainly setting the recording volume too high, resulting in red-lining the sound levels and generating a godawful hiss. At one point I set the recorder too low and the sound was inaudible on playback, resulting in a lengthy reshoot – the kids were not happy. No, not happy at all. And before you say, “Why didn’t you just over-dub afterwards?” I’m afraid that option wasn’t available to us as our leading actress is five years old and has a pretty bad stammer. With the best will in the world, overdubbing and stuttering do not mix. But it’s all a learning process and we recorded some good sound in the end – crisp and clear, just the way it should be.
The next stage was for Rich to synch the sound and match it to each scene, originally in Acid Pro 7, but when that turned its toes up, with Adobe Audition 3 instead (good software – a piece of cake in the end – shame we can’t afford it though.) He then added foley sounds (feet crunching on gravel, walking up stairs, monster sounds etc) which were mostly recorded separately by me, although we also used a few commonly available foley sounds which were available for free online. Finally he added the creepy music (which will be the subject of the next post.) Then the film really started to come alive!
So to summarise, Rich recommends adding sound to your film is as follows:
1. Master the dialogue
2. Add the major foley components
3. Add the music
4. Add any additional ambience and foley sounds which are needed to fill any spaces
5. Check, check and check again that the timing is perfect
What would we do differently next time round?
Well, for future movies I will definitely avoid recording sound in bad weather conditions - picture if you will your trusty sound-recording-mama bracing herself 45 degrees against the howling wind and driving rain, desperately trying to record crisp clear sound whilst simultaneously shoving her dead cat into face of her young, courageous actress-daughter and frantically worrying that said actress-daughter might be swept away in the gale.
Oh yes, that’s what all great family memories are made of – stress free, jolly, happy filmmaking. Such a shame real life isn’t like it is in the movies...
Resources:
Tascam DR-100 Solid State sound recorder
K6-ME66 Microphone by Sennheiser
Dead Cat: Rycote Softie
Tunes of Terror from Stockmusic.net
Monsters and Creatures Foley Sounds from Sound Ideas
Tips:
Don’t be afraid to spend real-live-money to buy good sound equipment. It will pay for itself many times over. On-camera sound is the sign of a newbie and almost always sounds like it comes out of a toilet, so make sure you invest in a decent microphone and sound recorder instead!
Despite the hundreds of hours spent on the CG in our little film, as well as many hours endlessly editing, it wasn’t until we finally put the sound into the film that it really started to gel.
I was appointed as the sound technician for the actual recording of the footage. I thought Rich was very brave trusting something as important as the sound to a half-deaf wife, but you gotta love his faith in me. Anyway, we decided that we wanted sound which was a bit more advanced than the camera’s microphone, which always ended up with the dialogue sounding as though it was recorded in the loo. So we took the plunge and allocated some of the film budget to purchasing a microphone and big furry cover (which is rather horrifyingly called “a dead cat”- as a cat lover I must protest – I really do prefer live ones.) We also bought a groovy new Tascam DR-100 Solid State sound recorder, which was so simple to use that in no time at all I was wandering around practising my newbie sound-recording skills by poking my dead cat into the faces of anyone and everyone in the vicinity.
Unfortunately I didn’t have any training in how to use the recorder correctly to obtain the cleanest sound levels, so my learning was strictly a trial and error process. We were also filming the outside scene in the middle of the worst winds for several years, so we had to reshoot the scene many times so that I could learn to record the actress’s speech as clearly as possible whilst minimising the sound of the howling gale. I screwed up frequently at first, mainly setting the recording volume too high, resulting in red-lining the sound levels and generating a godawful hiss. At one point I set the recorder too low and the sound was inaudible on playback, resulting in a lengthy reshoot – the kids were not happy. No, not happy at all. And before you say, “Why didn’t you just over-dub afterwards?” I’m afraid that option wasn’t available to us as our leading actress is five years old and has a pretty bad stammer. With the best will in the world, overdubbing and stuttering do not mix. But it’s all a learning process and we recorded some good sound in the end – crisp and clear, just the way it should be.
The next stage was for Rich to synch the sound and match it to each scene, originally in Acid Pro 7, but when that turned its toes up, with Adobe Audition 3 instead (good software – a piece of cake in the end – shame we can’t afford it though.) He then added foley sounds (feet crunching on gravel, walking up stairs, monster sounds etc) which were mostly recorded separately by me, although we also used a few commonly available foley sounds which were available for free online. Finally he added the creepy music (which will be the subject of the next post.) Then the film really started to come alive!
So to summarise, Rich recommends adding sound to your film is as follows:
1. Master the dialogue
2. Add the major foley components
3. Add the music
4. Add any additional ambience and foley sounds which are needed to fill any spaces
5. Check, check and check again that the timing is perfect
What would we do differently next time round?
Well, for future movies I will definitely avoid recording sound in bad weather conditions - picture if you will your trusty sound-recording-mama bracing herself 45 degrees against the howling wind and driving rain, desperately trying to record crisp clear sound whilst simultaneously shoving her dead cat into face of her young, courageous actress-daughter and frantically worrying that said actress-daughter might be swept away in the gale.
Oh yes, that’s what all great family memories are made of – stress free, jolly, happy filmmaking. Such a shame real life isn’t like it is in the movies...
Resources:
Tascam DR-100 Solid State sound recorder
K6-ME66 Microphone by Sennheiser
Dead Cat: Rycote Softie
Tunes of Terror from Stockmusic.net
Monsters and Creatures Foley Sounds from Sound Ideas
Tips:
Don’t be afraid to spend real-live-money to buy good sound equipment. It will pay for itself many times over. On-camera sound is the sign of a newbie and almost always sounds like it comes out of a toilet, so make sure you invest in a decent microphone and sound recorder instead!
Labels: Diabolus Domi, filmmaking, sound
Monday, 16 November 2009
Panned!
When we released our first little movie short, we featured on the blog some incredibly kind and generous comments from fellow directors and movie-festers about how promising our filmmaking efforts were. Wow! The reviews were wonderful! We truly basked in the glow of appreciation!
This time...um...the critics were not quite so kind. Most folks liked the initial (non animated) scene but eight out of ten cats really hated poor little Mervyn, and were pretty scathing about him too:
"I have to give you a lot of credit for giving an attempt at a 3D monster throughout the movie, but ...honestly, it felt like being trapped inside Playstation 1. I don't want to sound mean because I'm sure it was a lot of work, and you get credit for that, but because the monster looked so cheesy, it took away from the experience in a big way.”
“The story itself wasn't at all bad - it was really the monster itself that brought the whole thing down.”
“... for the film as a whole, I think it would have been better served with a real actor in makeup playing the part.”
“When using a CGI monster you film is going to rise or fall on the strength of that monster. Unfortunately, yours was a bit thin”
“Not convincing.”
“kind of smacks of a Dad film - dad and the kids making a film - which is quaint and cute, but often times horrifying to inflict upon a public audience! (This isn’t!!!) But it teeters as a form of self indulgent experimentation not quite ready to be unleashed to the discerning public.”
Blimey. Time to hit the vodka, I guess.
Actually the comments weren’t all bad, and our profound thanks go to those few kind souls (who were mostly professionals and worked in the VFX industry) who generously gave unconditional support and appreciation for Rich’s 200+ hours developing and animating Mervyn (yes, you read that right – it really did take over 200 hours of blood, sweat and tears!) You have no idea how much your suggestions and encouragement meant to Rich, and our extra-special thanks to Bruce Allen who was incredibly helpful.
Well, so much for that fest. Onwards and upwards, as they say.
R.I.P Mervyn. We’ll miss you.
Labels: Diabolus Domi, dvx, reviews
Tuesday, 20 October 2009
Pretty Freekin’ Scary
I am a filmmaking widow.
Rich is totally consumed with a short, skinny monster and is working 70 hour weeks (yes really) to make him look authentic. If it was a choice between me or the demon, believe me, the demon would win. Never has so much time and effort been devoted to lovingly perfecting something so incredibly revolting. He spends all day and night rendering Merv, right down to the last bloody tendril spilling out of its guts. The thing now looks so darn real that it’s starting to scare me a little.
I guess for most folks who will see Merv in low-definition then he probably won’t seem overly disturbing, but I see this creature in all its gory glory, day-in-day-out on a high resolution monitor. It hisses at me whenever I go near Rich’s computer, and I can swear I can feel its evil eyes following me around the room. Combine that with suspense music and atmospheric lighting, and it’s all too easy to imagine that wretched thing creeping around the house after you at night.
Am I a wimp to be afraid of my own film-character?
Yeah, probably. But it’s just so darn REAL.
An earlier shot of our very own Merv, still in the design stage and with wires.
Rich is totally consumed with a short, skinny monster and is working 70 hour weeks (yes really) to make him look authentic. If it was a choice between me or the demon, believe me, the demon would win. Never has so much time and effort been devoted to lovingly perfecting something so incredibly revolting. He spends all day and night rendering Merv, right down to the last bloody tendril spilling out of its guts. The thing now looks so darn real that it’s starting to scare me a little.
I guess for most folks who will see Merv in low-definition then he probably won’t seem overly disturbing, but I see this creature in all its gory glory, day-in-day-out on a high resolution monitor. It hisses at me whenever I go near Rich’s computer, and I can swear I can feel its evil eyes following me around the room. Combine that with suspense music and atmospheric lighting, and it’s all too easy to imagine that wretched thing creeping around the house after you at night.
Am I a wimp to be afraid of my own film-character?
Yeah, probably. But it’s just so darn REAL.
An earlier shot of our very own Merv, still in the design stage and with wires.
Labels: Diabolus Domi
Wednesday, 7 October 2009
Thou shalt not change the script....
Well it’s been a completely hectic few weeks over here at Camp Freek. Lots of brainstorming, planning, filming and yes, I’ll admit it, a teensy weensy bit of arguing.
This was IMPORTANT ARGUING though – genu-ine existential angst betwixt scriptwriter and director which took a few hours (or three) to sort out. Let’s just say our artistic visions...umm...kinda parted a little. We had a differing of opinions. A moot. A clash of wills. A parting of the (artistic) ways. An entirely measured and mature adult discussion about the future and mutual co-operation of our creative inputs.
Meanwhile, our tremendously patient actors got bored with the grownups acting like grotty kids and wandered off in search of milk and cookies, leaving the Freeky Entertainment Board of Directors to slug it out.
So after several hours the pecking order was resolved and the scriptwriter learned (the hard way) the difference between a scriptwriter’s script and a shooting script. I guess this is a new experience for me: being told what to do. I’m most excellent at giving orders but terrible at taking them. Let’s just say that the producer hat fits me better than the scriptwriting one!
Anyhoo, arguments aside, the movie is going splendidly. Filming is now complete, even if it is an essentially different movie than the one I originally wrote (subtle dig there) and even though the unpredictable weather meant that we had to re-write the start of the movie (can you believe it? He blamed the weather?! I ask you!) So I’m SURE it will be a much better movie because it we did it HIS way....after all, the Director’s Cut is always the best.
No egos bruised here. Nope. No egos at all. I’m just fine and dandy. Thank you for asking.
Incidentally, when we started Freekstorm, I do recall many kind-hearted folks promising me that making a movie with the family would be a wonderful, heart-warming experience, a way of creating lasting memories, strengthening family ties and deepening the bond of respect between all of us.
Oh yes indeed, they promised me a stress-free, warm ‘n’ fuzzy experience.
I have nothing to say to these people. Nothing that can be printed here, anyway.
Garden Shoot
This was IMPORTANT ARGUING though – genu-ine existential angst betwixt scriptwriter and director which took a few hours (or three) to sort out. Let’s just say our artistic visions...umm...kinda parted a little. We had a differing of opinions. A moot. A clash of wills. A parting of the (artistic) ways. An entirely measured and mature adult discussion about the future and mutual co-operation of our creative inputs.
Meanwhile, our tremendously patient actors got bored with the grownups acting like grotty kids and wandered off in search of milk and cookies, leaving the Freeky Entertainment Board of Directors to slug it out.
So after several hours the pecking order was resolved and the scriptwriter learned (the hard way) the difference between a scriptwriter’s script and a shooting script. I guess this is a new experience for me: being told what to do. I’m most excellent at giving orders but terrible at taking them. Let’s just say that the producer hat fits me better than the scriptwriting one!
Anyhoo, arguments aside, the movie is going splendidly. Filming is now complete, even if it is an essentially different movie than the one I originally wrote (subtle dig there) and even though the unpredictable weather meant that we had to re-write the start of the movie (can you believe it? He blamed the weather?! I ask you!) So I’m SURE it will be a much better movie because it we did it HIS way....after all, the Director’s Cut is always the best.
No egos bruised here. Nope. No egos at all. I’m just fine and dandy. Thank you for asking.
Incidentally, when we started Freekstorm, I do recall many kind-hearted folks promising me that making a movie with the family would be a wonderful, heart-warming experience, a way of creating lasting memories, strengthening family ties and deepening the bond of respect between all of us.
Oh yes indeed, they promised me a stress-free, warm ‘n’ fuzzy experience.
I have nothing to say to these people. Nothing that can be printed here, anyway.
Garden Shoot
Labels: Diabolus Domi, scriptwriting
Thursday, 20 August 2009
Busy, Busy, Busy
Work on our new little movie for the DVX Monster Fest continues apace, squeezed in tiny gaps between running the day-job, looking after three boisterous kids on their school summer holidays and managing house & home.
The script was written over a champagne-fuelled brainstorming session (champers discovered lurking at back of grubby office cupboard, courtesy of happy customer last year.) I’m not saying it was brilliant (the script I mean – the champers was very nice) but no doubt the plot will change and grow slowly over time (sorta like a fungus I suppose) as Rich decides how it needs to be modified to fit in with the CGI monster, whom I’ve called “Mervyn” because…well…he’s just a Mervyn kinda guy. Just look at those big scary eyes on the banner below. Doesn’t it scream “Merv” to you? Yep, exactly.
The script was written over a champagne-fuelled brainstorming session (champers discovered lurking at back of grubby office cupboard, courtesy of happy customer last year.) I’m not saying it was brilliant (the script I mean – the champers was very nice) but no doubt the plot will change and grow slowly over time (sorta like a fungus I suppose) as Rich decides how it needs to be modified to fit in with the CGI monster, whom I’ve called “Mervyn” because…well…he’s just a Mervyn kinda guy. Just look at those big scary eyes on the banner below. Doesn’t it scream “Merv” to you? Yep, exactly.
Incidentally, the title took hours to sort out – my Latin is atrox (terrible), and that’s a huge understatement! I wanted to call the movie the Latin equivalent of “monster in the house” but there was no exact translation and the nearest alternative wasn’t exactly snappy, if you catch my drift. Hence “Diabolus Domi,” literal translation “Devil at Home.” The movie does what it says on the tin, and I’ll leave it at that. To give away any more would reveal too much.
Producing wise, I’ve been buying CGI software (gulp!) and creepy foley sound effects (double gulp!) which will come in handy for scaring the kids late at night if they misbehave (kidding of course, but they don’t know that – hey, it’s been a long summer holiday and their mother is getting desperate – any morally dubious parenting device to reassert authority comes in handy! Whatever works, you know?)
I’ve also been dispensing coffee, enthusiasm and soothing the Director’s sweaty brow as he has agonised over his “ambient occlusion,” which sounds kinda kinky but apparently is the slight shadow produced where Mervyn the monster touches objects – makes ol’ Merv look like he’s really in the room rather than just pasted there. Impressive stuff, but waaaay over my head.
Rich has also been deeply immersed in designing and animating the monster. No small task, but our resident CGI artist has risen magnificently to the occasion and Merv is looking very impressive. Rich is using a combination of Mudbox and Softimage (which cost an absolute fortune – sob- but the results are definitely worth it and Autodesk sure love us.) Now all he’s got to do is get Mervyn moving, and then it’s on to filming…
To that end he has also been designing a camera dolly made out of glue, plastic pipe, castor-cups and old roller-skates (we more-than-blew our budget on the software, so it’s a Mr Maker DIY dolly, I’m afraid.) Yep, that’s my hubby: a true creative! He can make something amazing out of nothing and it’s always a success (shame the bathroom taps still leak terribly, but we can’t have everything.)
Anyhoo, my five year old daughter was tremendously excited about her Daddy making her a dolly for her movie, and watched her father’s artistic efforts with much fascination and daughterly devotion. So imagine how gutted the poor thing was when she found out that the finished dolly wasn’t called Barbie and didn’t wear a frilly pink dress. Talk about confusion.
You try explaining movie-making to five year-olds. They just look at you as though you’re nuts.
Trouble is, they’re almost certainly right…
Producing wise, I’ve been buying CGI software (gulp!) and creepy foley sound effects (double gulp!) which will come in handy for scaring the kids late at night if they misbehave (kidding of course, but they don’t know that – hey, it’s been a long summer holiday and their mother is getting desperate – any morally dubious parenting device to reassert authority comes in handy! Whatever works, you know?)
I’ve also been dispensing coffee, enthusiasm and soothing the Director’s sweaty brow as he has agonised over his “ambient occlusion,” which sounds kinda kinky but apparently is the slight shadow produced where Mervyn the monster touches objects – makes ol’ Merv look like he’s really in the room rather than just pasted there. Impressive stuff, but waaaay over my head.
Rich has also been deeply immersed in designing and animating the monster. No small task, but our resident CGI artist has risen magnificently to the occasion and Merv is looking very impressive. Rich is using a combination of Mudbox and Softimage (which cost an absolute fortune – sob- but the results are definitely worth it and Autodesk sure love us.) Now all he’s got to do is get Mervyn moving, and then it’s on to filming…
To that end he has also been designing a camera dolly made out of glue, plastic pipe, castor-cups and old roller-skates (we more-than-blew our budget on the software, so it’s a Mr Maker DIY dolly, I’m afraid.) Yep, that’s my hubby: a true creative! He can make something amazing out of nothing and it’s always a success (shame the bathroom taps still leak terribly, but we can’t have everything.)
Anyhoo, my five year old daughter was tremendously excited about her Daddy making her a dolly for her movie, and watched her father’s artistic efforts with much fascination and daughterly devotion. So imagine how gutted the poor thing was when she found out that the finished dolly wasn’t called Barbie and didn’t wear a frilly pink dress. Talk about confusion.
You try explaining movie-making to five year-olds. They just look at you as though you’re nuts.
Trouble is, they’re almost certainly right…
The legendary Mr Ikon and his trusty sidekick Coppertop on a mission to build the perfect Barbie doll. A doll barely alive. Gentlemen, we can rebuild her. We have the technology. We have the capability to build the world's first bionic Barbie...with the help of the cat of course.
Success! Even if it won't work without Bang's Patented Bionic Bungee Technology!
Labels: Diabolus Domi, producing, visual effects
Tuesday, 11 August 2009
Diabolus Domi
Dare you leave your little darlings home alone on All Hallows Eve?
or
A demonic little ditty dreamed up by two dastardly parents with a devilish desire to exploit their nearest and dearest in the name of making a dazzlingly dreadful Halloweeny-fest.
Labels: Diabolus Domi
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