From Concept To Art
When we start a new project one of the most important things we need to do is make sure everyone is on the same page. And that can be hard to do when you're creating things that exist only in our imaginations. One way is to spend hours talking about and describing the details of the ships and locations in the film to each person, but a much better way is to have our ideas turned into sketches and paintings so everyone can see what we're thinking.
Even before we started working on the details of the story for "The Darkest Matter" we had a few ideas for the space ships and stations that will be in the film. James described the look and feel of the ships to Andrew, our concept artist. I contributed technical details about how the ships would actually work. Andrew, armed with this information, created a couple of pages filled with thumbnail sketches. James and I give him feedback and select a few of the designs to have done in larger sketches. And we continue this process until we have finished paintings of the final designs.
This year we want to get everyone involved in the pre-production process, and not just as observers. So by joining the production you'll get a chance to help us choose between different designs. But we'll have more info on that later, for now enjoy some of Andrew's early artwork for "The Darkest Matter!"
The Darkest Matter
The entire crew at Dawnrunner Productions is incredibly excited to announce the launch of the pre-production phase of The Darkest Matter. We're doing something a bit different this time, in that we've created a website designed to help include people in the process! This is a fairly new concept, and we're thrilled to have the opportunity to participate in this new level of collaboration! So - what can I tell you about the story? Well, it's much darker than previous projects, Singularity and Fortunes Mine. We have decided that we liked space, I think it has something to do with all of DRP's secret dreams of being cosmotographers, cosmocinesists... we're still working on the actual title. This time we're taking a look at the darker, more sinister side of space - and ourselves! As we get into the development process there is going to be a ton of information about the story available so be sure to check back often! I guess I better get back to working on my research for the script instead of writing on the first blog post....
Production Wrap Up
Well today is finally the end of our official production for Fortunes Mine. Finally the end of an amazing and intense three weeks of shooting, problem solving and getting to know the wacky and talented kids that we were working with. This is our second year of the Summer Film Camp, and this year was definitely much different, and it felt so much improved. Although in fact there were many new problems and difficulties to address, I think that every obstacle actually allowed us to create solutions that were better than the original idea; overall I learned so much more about what it takes to make a movie happen. I am so excited to begin post production, and to finally see the final product in October. Even now I can tell what an amazing piece of work Fortunes Mine will be. It was fantastic and loads of fun, and its already time to begin planning for next year’s camp.
Some More Pre Pro Photos
The cave walls are done! We've got most of the props loaded in, set and ready. We're looking forward to next week! Here are a few more photos taken during construction. Geoff talked me into operating the paint sprayer again this year, only I had to get all dressed up. You'd think that a jumpsuit made of napkin material would be cooler - it's not. Stages of work
Well the project we've been working on for the last few weeks has had the opportunity for some real concept work for me. There will be visual effects shots which will be using miniatures, live footage and lots of composition work in post, but before all this goes down an idea of what we are aiming at is required. A good example of what I am talking about is a shot where our characters walk out of a mine tunnel into a huge underground cavern with a walkway on one, chains hanging down into the darkness, and a waterfall. In order to get all the elements required into one angle I picked a top down shot looking at where the people will be walking.
Ok, so the way that I constructed my images for this project were all the same with only minor changes from pic to pic. I would start with a line drawing of the scene. . .well actually, it starts with a conversation with James or other crewmembers to see what they had in mind for the shot, to figure out important things like scale, lighting considerations, what elements were related to plot points, and the mood and the emotions the scene are trying to convey. Stuff like that, then the drawing. My example will be the room with the treasure, cuz hey, who doesn't like treasure?
After each stage I would go and get feedback from the crew before moving forward. With a thumbs up on the drawing I would scan the pic and go over the whole thing in black and white, getting the value and lighting figured out. This is where a lot of the mood would be injected into the piece. Alot of the lighting in this project is going to be produced by flashlights, which makes directing the attention and focus of the viewer alot easier. Literally just point at it.
Also getting the black and white value drawing done makes the rest of the job alot easier. In a layer set to colorize, just painting over in any color adds tone and saturation without messing up the light and dark value that has already been established. Some adjustments to the levels and contrast are going to be necessary as the image will be different than expected with color.
