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http://www.myspace.com/awesomehobartfilms

The other burning question many have is:

"When are you going to do some more work on your film?"

Now that I've graduated from university I can no longer receive Austudy which means I've got to work more. As a result I have less time to for this project, which is unfortunate.

However, I have abandoned it completely and I am working on it occasionally. There is in fact another version of the 5 minute preview which includes a shot whose composition was correctly digitally and a surprise creature added to the background of another shot.

I shall create blog entries for these updates in the near future.

A lot of milage from this footage

Just recapping on my effects handiwork...

Source Footage

As mention previously it was impossible to get the shot I wanted so I had to resort to visual effects.




This edited footage resulted in two very shots.

Shot 1

Shot 2

Panache Leaves Uncle Bulo v2.1

This shot didn't really make sense in it's original form as there needed to a reason for the camera to be hovering around the window.

So to fix this problem I've added a preying mantis. The effect looks a bit shoddy on computer monitors but it looks fine on TV screens.

Ghost Tour

On Friday night I finally did one of Alan Jennison's Ghost Tours. Visit for www.toursofrichmond.com for more details.

So the big question is did I see any ghosts? Take a look at this...

(click thumbnails to view full sized images)

Ok, so that's a double exposure of Michael and his camera. I can tell it's Michael by the clothing, unless some ghosts has a shape shifting ability allowing them to assume the clothing of those nearby... And their video camera as well...


Now take a look at this...




This is most likely a lens flare caused by the light... Seems strange to have a random ball of light in the middle of nowhere though.

Now what be this? I've put a red arrow pointing to the area you need to look. You'll have to enlarge the picture otherwise you won't see anything



Interestingly enough it shows up again in a second picture. But less noticeable.



Perhaps it's another form of lens flare... Perhaps not! Either way I wouldn't mind going back and more pictures - and you should too!

Do the ghost tour and you'll understand why that tunnel is considered a particularly good location for finding ghosts.

A man that really did grow into a tree

This bit of news seems relevant to what I'm doing

Dede is a 35 year old Indonesian man who suffers from an extremely rare condition caused by human papillomavirus. The virus has caused him to develop massive warts on his hands, feet, and face. The warts started growing when he was fifteen years old, after he accidentally cut his knee while working on a construction site. The warts on his hands and feet grow about five millimeters each month, and have grown so long they resemble the roots of a tree. Hence he has been referred to as the "Tree Man".

It is the season to be distracted

This time of year is shocking for getting things done due to the number of distractions. I've decided now would be a wonderful time to begin sharing the context presentation I gave earlier in the semester.

Since I was intended to make a B movie I thought I should thoroughly investigate what a B Movie was. Many people seem to consider them as bad low budget movies but this is not actually the case.


So what I shall do is break the presentation down in section and post it in anti-chronological order. This way it will appear in linear order to those who don't follow the blog daily.

Visual Effect WIP - Gigh Resurrection - Wide Shot 1.03

Now Gigh has been made to appear as though he grows out of the tree. At the moment it looks like too much like an ordinary morph but after the branches and leaves are added this should be reduced.



Next I shall fix the "morph" problem.

Visual Effect WIP - Gigh Resurrection - Wide Shot 1.02

Tree Fitting Gigh

Step 1

---

First I just lay pieces of tree over Gigh roughly where I want them to grow. They're just pictures I've taken from near my place and they probably aren't the best choice so I'll replace them later when I find the "perfect" tree for the role. We better hold some tree auditions...


Step 2

---

Now using a warp mesh I shall conceal Mick behind the tree.


I'll drop the opacity of the tree down to 50% so you can see what's happening.

Now we have Mick within the boundary of the tree but the tree doesn't look very good so that requires improving.


Step 3

---

I adjust the tree so the branches look like they're blended better although they're still not right yet but they will have leaves on them by the final version.




Next I did a render to see what it looks like so far... Kind of like Mick is standing up from behind a tree.


Now I need to make it appear as though the tree is growing into him...

The Last Confession of Martin Pearce

Yesterday auditions for extras were being held for a docu-drama called The Last Confession of Martin Pearce.

Seeing it as an opportunity to gain some experience on professionally funded project I decided to volunteer my services. My assistance was met with open arms which was very fortunate for them because they were flooded with an absolute deluge of auditionees.

A couple of days prior I was told there were 75 people coming along to audition and there may be a few that just walk in. In the end 153 people registered to audition and that's not including those who didn't return after I had to tell to them to come back in an hour. So the response was quite good!

It was very hectic (which I quite enjoyed) and afterwards I got to spend some one-on-one time with director Michael James Rowlands and he gave me some directorial advice and a further insight into the film.

It was quite a good learning experience!

Visual Effect WIP - Gigh Resurrection - Wide Shot 1.00

Several weeks ago I attempted to create the visual effect depicting a tree growing from the ground and then into Gigh. As I was missing the footage I required to complete the shot I was having great difficulty in achieving the animation I desired.

I now have that missing footage thus providing me with the visual references I require to achieve the effect.

Here is the footage I shall be working with:



You'll notice Mick stands in the same position for 5 seconds then walks out the frame.

For greater flexibility I need to separate Mick from his background so I take the first frame and cut him it out using image editing software. I've made the background magenta so he contrasts nicely and you can see what I've done.



The part of the video after Mick steps out becomes a background plate:




Now I insert Mick into the background plate:



And I can now move parts of him around without interfering with the background. Mind you it doesn't look natural, partly because

1. The material of his shirt isn't blowing in the wind.
2. The shadows aren't adjusting as he moves.
   
3. This is the first time I've used this tool and I'm not very good with it!

I could improve upon this things but they're not really important to the shot I'm attempting to achieve.

Next I must "tree-fit" Mick...

Location Scouting for Tavern - Blue Bell Inn

Since I've been busy of late I haven't been producing any new material and consequentially my recent blog entries have been very textual. So to break the monotony I've decided to delve into the vast backlog of content I didn't have time to blog earlier.

Today are some location scouting images of the Blue Bell Inn which was taken into consideration for the Tavern. The reason it wasn't selected because the rooms are a bit too small for filming purposes.

I admit the photography in these pictures probably isn't the best I've taken either.

Preview DVD

If anyone involved in the production is interested in seeing the Preview DVD send me a message and I'll mail one to you.

The Preview DVD is the first 5 minutes of the film which I submitted for university assessment. Being a preview it's still not the final edit, because the effect shot take hours (or in some cases days) to complete I've decided to press ahead rather than spend more time refining the first half.

University Results

I decided not check my university results because I knew I'd passed and getting a high mark wasn't important to me. I was quite happy to go through the rest of my existence not knowing the actual mark but unfortunately a certain lecturer informed me that I got "top mark". That foiled that idea...

I still haven't checked the exact score yet...

New Non-Film Projects

It appears my Web Design clients I have almost paid off the websites I designed for them in 2006. This means I better do some more paid work because having the extra finances is very pleasant but there is a downside.

The downside is there will be further delay in the recommencement of post-production. Perhaps annoying because it pushes back the completion date of the film but unfortunately websites make money, working on this film does not.

Pity how life gets in the way of these things...

The Rehersals

Someone reading this blog for the first time might see the footage from the final rehearsals and think "What the hell is this?".

Despite the outlandishness of the final rehearsal session the actors nailed their roles during production and their performance were pretty much spot on. I think the acting is probably one of the stronger points of the film.

So give a round of applause to the actors!

Final Rehearsal - September 7th - Fianle

Finale - Take #1



Finale - Take #2

Final Rehearsal - September 7th - Tavern

Tavern - Take #1



Tavern - Take #2



Tavern - Take #3

Final Rehearsal - September 7th - Back to Uncle Bulo

Uncle Bulo 2 - Take #1



Uncle Bulo 2 - Take #2


Uncle Bulo 2 - Take #3

Final Rehearsal - September 7th - Gigh Resurrection

Gigh Resurrection - Take #1



Gigh Resurrection - Take #2

Final Rehearsal - September 7th - Uncle Bulo 1

Uncle Bulo 1 - Take #1



Uncle Bulo 1 - Take #2


Uncle Bulo 1 - Take #3



Uncle Bulo 1 - Take #4