Due diligence.

I actually have location audio recordists (thanks, Kenn and Sam!) lined up for the weekend's shooting. So Trap and I can worry with... other stuff. Who knows--maybe I'll even do a little directing.


If I only had an iCade from ThinkGeek, everything would be perfect.

Shot list.

I wish I could draw.


Then I could make storyboards for this weekend's shoot. (Instead, I'm just making working on a shot list.)

Christmas lights.

Is somebody in Birmingham remaking Eyes Wide Shut?


'Cause I can't find any damn colored Christmas lights anywhere.

Thankfully, I finally got smart and called my Mom, and she has the hook-up.

Read-through.

Had a read-through of my screenplay for the anthology movie tonight with the three lead actors (that'd be Mia Frost, Sanford Hardy, and Kyle Holman). I am now officially excited about the project. Well, I was already excited, but I'm more excited now. Even though this particular script doesn't have a lot of dialog, it's great to hear the actors put their spin on it. Aside from being good actors, Mia, San, and Kyle are good guys to hang out with. The read-through was fun and productive, and the actual shoot is looking to be even more fun.


That shoot starts up in a little more than a week, by the way.

My mom is awesome.

Regular readers of this blog know that my mom is awesome. She's always been supportive of my creative endeavors, recently sewing many of the space suits featured in Interplanetary. Now she's made some sandbags to help keep the Trapdolly tracks straight.


Stylish sandbags at that--dig those pinstripes. Thanks, Mom!

Wade scout.

Trap and I went out to the quarry at Wade on Sunday to do a little scouting. Mainly, we were trying to find some areas with enough scale for some wide shots. We didn't find anything as cool as the dry lake bed in Vegas, but, for a rock quarry... not too shabby.

Here are a few photos, with Trap posing for scale...

I love my mom.

Mom just called to let me know that she's put together a new space suit for us, plus several space suit accessories, two days ahead of schedule. Even though I didn't ask for any of it 'til the last minute.

My mom rocks.

(And my dad does, too. He delivered all the raw materials to Mom for me on Monday, plus he bought me lunch!)

Garages, etc.

Working toward being an indie genre movie mogul ain't all it's cracked up to be. At the moment, I could use an editor (to dig through all the footage and audio, sync it up, and see if it cuts together) and a secretary (to get my email under control... and maybe keep this blog updated).

But I do have Trap and Sanford. They're both acting in Interplanetary, and they've both been helping us out behind-the-scenes lately, putting together our garage set.


The photo doesn't quite do our garage justice. Of all our sets, I think it's my favorite.

Tom has also been hard at work finishing up the Mars buggy. Check out the detail, including the buggy's oxygen and coolant tanks...


We almost had to shoot last weekend in the not-quite-finished garage. I was afraid it was the only time I'd be able to get Mia before August, and we're trying to wrap up our Atrox work before then. Mainly because Stacey and I are going out of town for a few days, and I really think I'll be able to relax more if I don't have shooting on the brain. But Mia cleared up next weekend for us, so it's all good.

I've been noticing that the flats we use to create our various set walls are starting to look a little ragged from all the construction and deconstruction they've been involved in. Even my shooting hat is starting to come apart. Thank goodness for gaffer tape...


Also, John returned to the set last Sunday after having to take some time off. It was great to have him back, but I didn't get a photo of him. So here's another shot of the garage.


Arik Sokol recently gave me another batch of photos. I'll get some of those posted ASAP. And I got another batch of footage back from the lab. I should dig through that and post a few screen grabs at some point.

There's now a bigger version of the Interplanetary non-trailer available:

http://209.12.142.75/notrailer640.mov

Click the link and dig on the near-standard-definition quality!

I sent that link out to everyone on the Crewless mailing list. If you're not on that list and would like to join, just drop me a line at chance@crewless.com and let me know.

EDIT: Link changed to reflect new server address (2008-Oct-01).

EDIT: Link changed due to QuickTime file being moved to a different server (2007-Dec-31).

Bang.

It was a glorious weekend at Atrox. We got some shooting (on film) done, then we got some shooting (with a gun) done. Mike Wade (along with Lisa Mason, Mike's wife and Interplanetary actress) stopped by on Sunday afternoon to fire off a few test rounds. Mike and fellow gun-smith Daniel had mixed up a variety of different blank loads, some flashier than others.

We ran video to approximate how the guns firing would look on film -- here are a few frame grabs...

T minus 70 hours...

...and counting. That's how long it is 'til Day One of Production for Interplanetary. As we're still not quite ready, I'll keep this post short -- just a few photos from the last few days, starting with the beginnings of a space helmet.



We were excited when John cut the first hole (for the hose), and the sphere didn't shatter into a million pieces.

Crewless cohort Chuck Hartsell stepped in Saturday to do some 2nd unit directing. Here he is talking to actor/deputy sheriff Rod Robinson about the next shot.



John posed for a moment so I could see what kind of light we're getting from Carl's newly installed over-the-door fixture.



Tom started getting the lines of the Mars buggy defined (in steel!). I think this thing's going to end up lean and mean.



Finally, here I am, trying to actually get prepared by putting together a shot list in advance of Day One of Production.

It's coming together.

We're a little more than a week away from Day One of Production. And there's still much work to be done. But we got a lot knocked out this week. For example...

Received our first "branded" props: two Interplanetary Corporation coffee mugs from Cafe Press.



If you ever need a short run of props featuring a custom logo, Cafe Press is a pretty good way to go. Plus, you can sell replicas of your props to your many fans. That being said, if any of you would like your own Interplanetary coffee mug, they're available now for only $10.99 (plus shipping and handling).

Director of photography Jim Roberson stopped by, and we planned out the first day of shooting. Helping out Carl and John with the production design/building has been a blast (and an education), but I was glad to finally get some actual shooting preparation done. Jim and I got the first day of shooting whittled down to only 10 or 15 shots -- on paper, at least. We'll hopefully get together at Atrox this weekend, walk through the shots, and see how they hold up on the actual set.

Speaking of sets, John and I got more walls assembled Tuesday night.



These walls are going to serve as the basis for several rooms inside Mars Base Two, including the engineering lab and Steve's bedroom, the two locations we're using for Day One of Production. John and I left several of the walls "wild," meaning they're relatively easy to move in and out, to facilitate more flexible camera placement.

John and I also started laying out switches and lights for our sci-fi control consoles.



And my mom, who is the best mom in the world (no, I'm not biased), started helping out costume designer Peyton by taking over some space suit sewing duties.

And I ordered a couple of thousand dollars worth of Fuji film stock from FilmEmporium.com. Ever hear those stories about the scrappy indie film producer who talked somebody into donating a bunch of film stock for their scrappy production? I've had trouble getting anybody to sell me the stuff lately.

Some sales people have been slow with returning calls and emails, and some haven't returned them at all. So I was happy when Darren at Film Emporium was quick to respond to my email, immediately picked up the phone when I called, and had answers to all my questions. On top of that, he discounted the film he sold me a penny per foot (that adds up when you're talking about thousands of feet of film). The next time you need some Fuji (or Kodak if you want to spend more per foot) for a flick, don't even bother with the other guys. Call Film Emporium and ask for Darren.

Believe it or not, that's not all. Crewless co-owner Chuck Hartsell is shooting some 2nd unit stuff for INTERPLANETARY tomorrow, I talked to the lab (CineFilm in Atlanta) about processing and transferring the footage from the upcoming First Day of Production, John got the steel that Tom will use to build the Mars buggy... but I'll write more about that stuff after the fact (and after I get photos).

A banner day for independent filmmaking.

Just got back from the local Target. Got two office chairs for $19.99 each, eight rolls of paper towels for $5.50, hand soap for $1 a bottle... good deals all over the place.

During the making of a movie, I spend a lot of time worrying about the cost of film stock, props, lumber for sets... and it's easy to forget about all of the other stuff you need. Like paper towels and hand soap. A penny saved is a penny earned, especially when you're making an epic sci-fi/horror movie on a tiny budget, so it's a good idea to keep an eye out for bargains on the less-obvious items that come in handy on the set when the camera isn't rolling.

Patch.

NASA space suits always have a patch on them, usually specific to a particular mission. You can see several examples at AB Emblem's Web site.

Since we have space suits in Interplanetary, I figured we need patches, too, so I asked Ted Speaker to take the Interplanetary Corporation logo he'd already designed and turn it into something that'd look good as a 3" x 3" circle. He came up with...



I love the design, and I love the approach Ted took in creating it. After first confessing to being a science fiction/astronomy/physics nut (aren't we all?), he explained:

"You probably already know some of this, but... the major key to unlocking the secrets of space travel, the physical universe, and the theory of everything is a unified field theory -- a theory that bridges quantum mechanics with relativity (E = M C squared), or the bridge between the very very large and the very very small."

"So, on the patch, the stars represent Einstein's relativity and the atomic model represents quantum theory. And of course the Pi symbol 'appears routinely in equations describing fundamental principles of the Universe, due in no small part to its relationship to the nature of the circle and, correspondingly, spherical coordinate systems.'"

Details.

It seems like the start of any project, or any phase of any project in this case, goes fast. But, after you knock out all the brute force work, things slow down as you begin to take care of the details.

That's where we are with Interplanetary at the moment. As such, there isn't a lot of big news to report from the last few days. John, Jen, and I did get Carl's massive Master Control light fixture rigged tonight, though.



Carl built this thing out of some lumber and a king-size bed sheet, but, from below, it truly does look like something straight outta the future.

We also started playing around with the acrylic spheres that we'll be using as the basis for our space helmets. Here's a shot of Carl, John, and an LED light.



I just realized I haven't covered much "how to" stuff yet on this blog, so it's not quite living up to its billing as a sequel to "This Movie Ain't Gonna Shoot Itself." I will attempt to rectify that soon. And we'll hopefully get some more of the details taken care of this weekend.

Purring like a kitten.

Tom has been doing some serious mechanic-ing -- he already got the engine for our Mars buggy running.

Here's a close-up of the engine and the beer bottle that's serving as a temporary (and very small) gas tank.

Making a monster.

Jonathan Thornton, who we're really, really lucky to have doing special makeup effects for Interplanetary, got to work in a big way over the weekend, doing a full body and face cast of Shane "Trap" Traffanstedt. Trap will be playing the monster in Interplanetary. I did mention there's a monster, didn't I?

Here's Jonathan and wife Ramona working on Trap...



Jonathan has also started designing some effects stuff that looks amazing. I really want to show it off, but it would give away too many plot surprises, so I'll have to save it 'til the premiere.

Who says you can't find a desert in Alabama?

Our new friend Tim gave Carl and I a tour of Wade Sand and Gravel yesterday. There's a massive quarry over there that we're hoping to use for some exterior Mars shots. Here's a shot of Carl standing in the quarry...



We'll obviously have to wait 'til that large pool of water dries up before we do any shooting in that particular spot.

DP Jim Roberson also stopped by the set at Atrox to do some preliminary lighting tests...



And that's not all -- it's been a busy week. I'll try to post an in-depth recap soon.

Evidence.

Digital photographic proof that we are making a movie.

Here's Ming the Merciless manning Carl's small scale model of a control console...



John deconstructing a monitor for inclusion in the eventual full-scale control console...



Carl stepping through our first (unpainted) door frame...



Angie painting up a storm...



You wouldn't believe how much math was involved in constructing this control console frame...



Unloading the VW Beetle that will serve as the basis for our space age Mars vehicle...



Prototype space suit being fit for actress Mia Frost...

Whew.

Busy week and weekend putting set stuff together at Atrox. We got our first wall more secure and started working on a door. Plus, we got what will become our "Mars Buggy" (actually, more of a truck). And tonight, I'm heading out to see Peyton, our costume designer, about the prototype space suit she's working on.

I'll try to post some photos tomorrow...

The (first) wall.

Carl and John stand proudly in front of our first wall...


It isn't dressed or properly lit yet, but it's standing.