Somebody’s been bad…

Well folks, it’s very nearly time for Are You There? to be released into the wild like a majestic… badger. Before that though I (Patrick) have discovered a rather amusing little bit of copyright infringement on You Tube. The channel pictured below appears to be some kind bizarre creation of a channel completely filed with stolen trailers. In all the descriptions there is a link to a mediafire download of some type of .EXE file.

Why am I bringing this garbage up when it’s clearly just some kind of bot or spam operation? Well all the of the STOLEN videos don’t seem to be related. Some are trailers whilst others are popular science videos. The interesting part is that they happen to have taken a copy of our teaser trailer for Are You There? It’s nice to be up there with the big boys like Transformers though!

Take down notice will be filed of course. It’s only 8 hours old too!

Posters Available

We’re selling these great looking posters from the film. Click a thumbnail for the one you want. If you want all three; you can find them, along with the rest of Patrick’s designs for sale here!

They are available in various sizes and materials (including canvas and metal) I promise you won’t be disappointed!

AYT BTS – Behind the Scenes

Well, work is continuing on our short film. For the my Røde Reel contest, entries must be accompanied by a behind the scenes video. Tom and I have decided that while he works on the main edit of the film, I will put the “BTS” together alongside doing the graphical effects as needed.

Unfortunately it wasn’t until after the shoot that I really thought about how to make a good BTS documentary. During the shoot I was much more concerned with getting the shots we needed. I failed to get as much material and interesting things like interviews with cast & crew.

However I think I have enough stuff to be able to make a reasonable document of the making of Are You There? The (hopefully) forthcoming reshoot will provide me a chance to get some really useful additional footage as well. It’s largely because of a mistake that we have to reshoot but truthfully it’s a great opportunity to change some things we didn’t have time for like; proper set dressing…

Galaxy Building – The Past Worlds of AYT

While we must concede that the universe, in the story of AYT, will probably not be seen on screen; I (Patrick) have spent time making graphics for the Dean’s display screen that shows potential historical sites for our main character. These other worlds are loosely based on candidates that MAY be able to support life. I am going to show off these other worlds.

ISIS 2 – “Isis 2 (Kepler 22b) is the last world colonised in pre light weave days. It has an average surface temperature of 22°c/72°F and is considered a garden world.

It’s become known as by nickname “Spring Board of Light” as it’s the birthplace of most modern space faring and lifestyle tech. However it’s largely out of place in the current statecraft systems though many want it classified as a protected planet.

As it stands a majority of the planet has been used by unscrupulous individuals and corrupt authorities for dumping galactic tonnes of interplanetary waste. Some historical sites still survive and some are protected by armed volunteers.

Archeology candidates may be wary of being posted here but while it is often very tense it’s rare that it turns into a war zone.”

Marduk Prime – ” Marduk Prime (Gliese 581 g) is a rocky world that was favored in the expansion of the middle space ages. It has an average surface temperature in the range of 236 to 261 K (−37 to−12 °C or −35 to 10 °F).

It’s 4.3 times the mass of First-Earth, which made it a super attractive option when early travelers where looking for settlment options.

It is permanently light on one half and permanently dark on the other. Tidal locking also means the planet has  no axial tilt and therefore no seasonality in the conventional sense.

Because of the environmental conditions many early settlers tried to make their home in the mid point between the dark and the light. This led to very interesting and unique architecture.”

Bixia Yuanjin – “Bixia Yuanjin (Tau Ceti e) like most planets is named after an ancient First-Earth deity. It has an average surface temperature 70°C (343 K).

It was thought when first glimpsed by early Earth telescopes that the only Earth life that could exist on the surface would be thermophiles.

From the time of proper spacetravel however this turned out not to be true. Helped in part by more advanced technology and a less dense atmosphere it was actually possible for people to land and live there.

Though the early landings were frought with major problems like improper heat shields and shifting surface plates. Eventually people managed to make a thriving colony.

Sites of interest include a massive melted metal lake made of failed landers and settlements. The early non sol system colony is the major stepping stone to the expansion of the rest of the galaxy.”

Mars – “Mars is the most colonised of planets humans ever lived on, due to its close proximity to First-Earth. Mars was called the first step into a wider world. Before it was colonised and terraformed the Martian surface temperatures vary from lows of about −143 °C (at the winter polar caps) to highs of up to 35 °C (in equatorial summer).

The wide range in temperatures was due to the thin atmosphere which couldn’t store much solar heat, the low atmospheric pressure, and the low thermal inertia of Martian soil.

Mars has become a very distant but important historical planets, second only to Earth itself. As humanity expanded outward into the rest of the galatic table, Mars became largely abandoned; though archeologists sent here occasionally tell of encounters with odd humanoid creatures.

The United Aerospace Corp managed establish a major mining base on the moons, Phobos and Deimos. Though something catastrophic happened and no one heard from either moon again. Ships sent here never came back and the moons became quarantined.”

Earth – “First-Earth, aka Terra aka Humanity’s cradle, the ‘garden of Eden’. Earth was once considered the jewel of the milky way. But it’s now nothing more than an abandoned, backwater curiosity.

Due in part to it’s remoteness and it’s major historical significance only a handful people have ever set foot on First Earth in over a thousand years.

Only the highest achievers can ever be considered for a chance to research here. When planet side, the time between a communication satellite and earth is just a few days over one earth year. This also means that working on Earth is a massive undertaking requiring dedication and a constitution well suited for isolation and loneliness.

Most of Earth’s natural resources were depleted before the exodus. However because of the amount of time Earth has went undisturbed these resources are beginning to reach mine-able levels again. This has some conservationists and archeologists worried that it might make it a target for rogue enterprises trying to consume those resources for profit.”

In the story design, Earth is one of the furthest planets from the current seat of humanity. There’s a few references to a larger universe but I tried to stay away from being very specific.

That’s a wrap! – Shooting “Are You There?”

Well, after two long days, principal shooting for “Are You There?” is finished. This will be a long post so before I continue I want to thank everyone who helped during the shoot. There will of course, be proper credits in the finished film but we are still a good bit away from that! So thanks to RJ, Elaine and Sharon; our primary cast. Thanks also to Zakk for general dogsbody-ing and Ryan for lighting assistance, both being willing extras along with Naomi, Lauren and Shelley.

Day 1 – Tuesday 22nd – 1pm: National Outdoor Centre.

Our first location on the first day of shooting. This in some senses was the most critical location because we had very limited time and would not be able to come back to re-shoot anything if we didn’t get it. However in terms of the look of the film the mountain (Clairemont Cairn) is the most critical, more on that later!

And this was the extent of our craft service table! Tom and I (Patrick) didn’t have much in the way of a budget, even for feeding cast and crew. The National Outdoor Centre was gracious enough to let us use away at their coffee machine though.

We spent a large amount of the limited shoot time on maneuvering furniture and trying to dress the office set, which was not the best use of resources we must admit.

In the above you can see Tom direct Sharon (Dean Harper) and RJ (Teeay) during a rehearsal. We tried dress the office set as best we could; we had our lights outside the window for a nice back lit effect but sadly the bulbs were far far too weak to produce worthy lighting, there was also supposed to be A3 posters which I designed relating to other planets and archaeology however the printer wouldn’t play ball. You can see A4 versions on the desk. The screen was also intended to be used however it wouldn’t cooperate properly and will have to be added in post!

Day 1 – Tuesday 22nd – 8pm: RJ’s House.

Party time! This is were the few extras mentioned at the start were needed. This was one of the more physically demanding setups with the moving of lots of heavy furniture and installing of lighting rigs. Fair play to RJ for being a good sport about it. In the footsteps of Hollywood greats, the party scene was recorded without the actors being able to listen to music. Tom has already created the music for this scene but it’s somewhat unusual and he didn’t want people to have preconceived notions about how they would dance.

Once we finished shooting we helped get the place back in order and we were totally knackered! It didn’t help we knew we’d have to be up again at 5:30am to go shoot on the mountain…

Day 2 – Wednesday 23nd – 6am: Clairemont Cairn.

DISASTER! The weather was reportedly going to be bad anyway but worse later in the day. Upon arriving at the mountain at 6am we were pretty crushed. Our main location, inspiration for the film no less, was covered in thick cloud. We sat in our cars for an hour and a half to see if the weather would lift. It didn’t.

The location itself is pretty much a character in its own right.

We decided to leave and go try and get other shots done.

Day 2 – Wednesday 23nd – 9am: Abandoned House.

We were provided with another excellent location that morning though, when we turned up at a super abandoned house. Left derelict roughly 26 years ago it was perfect! This put the disaster on the mountain to the back of our minds as we got about filming our scene.

The house provided a fair challenge because unlike other locations; using our work lights would be impossible without a generator, which we did not have. We resorted to using a dive torch and two iPhones for light, the reflector we had was the biggest help though. This is where an extra crew member would’ve been useful as even between 3 of us, there wasn’t enough hands to hold all the gear properly.

Day 2 – Wednesday 23nd – 12pm: RJ’s Again!

The above office cabin, being “decorated” by RJ & Zakk, was the setting for the scene of the movie where our hero finally reaches the top of the mountain. Once again thanks go to RJ for his generosity. By this point in the afternoon we were spotting nice bright patches of blue in sky which gave us hope that we might yet get our main shots up on the mountain.

This was probably our most “dressed” set which included lots of old telecoms equipment we got free off gumtree, LED light ropes and even my own 32″ TV. The TV was for displaying some effects which I created and ran off my personal mac mini. We even managed to get some 60s era Star Trek practical effects in the form of Zakk turning on some LED’s at the right time, which actually worked quite well for it’s simplicity.

Day 2 – Wednesday 23nd – 5pm: Back to the Mountain!

ALL CLEAR ON MOUNTAIN! The thick, low, cloud that put our scheduled filming off in the morning had finally buggered off! Cameras out!

Once on the mountain we were trying to get as many shots as possible. Whilst being very tired, the fact that we were now presented with the possibility of being able to finish all shooting, in spectacular fashion, really gave us the energy to push on and get everything we could.

At some points though, there was plenty of time for the crew to stand back and take in the scenery. Elaine and Zakk pose for a quick photo in between setups.

At approx 8:30pm we finished all shooting. Tom and I thanked Elaine, RJ and Zakk then sent them home to which RJ said he was going for a big juicy steak. Unfortunately for Tom and I though, there was still more traveling to do along with some organizing of the footage.

That’s the main production shoot for Are You There? done. Now we have to make into something! We will still keep this updated with stuff too.

Patrick’s Production Diary 1 – Effects, Special

There it is! Draft number 1 of the script, draft number 1 of the storyboards. My name is Patrick and I’m going to be doing most of the graphics in and for our short film.

Are you there? is a film designed around a beautiful location and simplicity in storytelling but it is still a sci fi film. Of approximately 162 shots, about 1/3rd involve some sort of effect or graphics. This is my big challenge for the final look of the film. The aesthetic of the film is supposed to be based around a kind of 70s retro futurism. The good thing about this is that the effects don’t have to be “perfect” or seamless looking.

Out of 49 effects shots, the majority will have to be completed before shooting. The reason for this is because we want the most options for implementing the effects. We still haven’t decided the method for displaying some effects like screens. There are various ways we can do it; we can have the pre-made animations play and record in camera when getting takes OR we can try the green/blue screen route which adds a massive complication for shooting in small rooms or offices. Plus our green screen is currently more wrinkled than than a sphynx!

The design for display screens and tech UI will be a large part of the atmosphere of the film. I’m still not sure how I can effectively make a retro UI design that isn’t totally silly. I do know that it’s not going to be floating, holographic or modern!