"Polaris"

Discussion in 'Fan Productions' started by Admiral Buzzkill, Jan 7, 2009.

  1. Admiral Buzzkill

    Admiral Buzzkill Fleet Admiral Admiral

    Joined:
    Mar 8, 2001
    Probably about an hour, give or take.

    Maurice's experience and preparation has already saved our asses on this show and doubtless will again.
     
  2. RJDiogenes

    RJDiogenes Idealistic Cynic and Canon Champion Premium Member

    Joined:
    Jun 11, 2003
    Location:
    RJDiogenes of Boston
    ^^ Ah, I was wondering, if it were movie length, if there was some chance of getting it aired on Sciffy or somesuch.
     
  3. lennier1

    lennier1 Rear Admiral Rear Admiral

    Joined:
    May 3, 2004
    Location:
    Germany
    Personally I'd rather buy it on DVD. Preferrably through a way where the team behind the production gets more than the usual fraction left after a distributor and other middlemen.
     
  4. ST-One

    ST-One Vice Admiral

    Joined:
    Oct 28, 2004
    Location:
    Germany - with UHC since the early 1900s
    Seconded.
     
  5. Admiral Buzzkill

    Admiral Buzzkill Fleet Admiral Admiral

    Joined:
    Mar 8, 2001
    I'm glad to see that there's support for DVDs. We'll be looking into several distribution channels, of course, and nothing will really be settled for quite a while.

    I'm kind of narrow-focus - get the work done the best that we can do it and then move on to the next part. You always have to keep the next part of the process in mind, of course, but I try not to concentrate on it. Right now we've got twenty-two pages of script to shoot in three days this weekend.
     
  6. lennier1

    lennier1 Rear Admiral Rear Admiral

    Joined:
    May 3, 2004
    Location:
    Germany
    Thanks for the heads-up. It's already good to know you're looking into it.
    And I'm sure Jason could be bribed into designing a booklet cover. ;)
     
  7. RJDiogenes

    RJDiogenes Idealistic Cynic and Canon Champion Premium Member

    Joined:
    Jun 11, 2003
    Location:
    RJDiogenes of Boston
    I'll buy it on DVD in any case, but a broadcast deal means more exposure and more money for the creators.
     
  8. xortex

    xortex Commodore Commodore

    Joined:
    Apr 25, 2006
    Location:
    Staten Island, NY
    Damn straight.
     
  9. xortex

    xortex Commodore Commodore

    Joined:
    Apr 25, 2006
    Location:
    Staten Island, NY
    Plus it might become a series and that would make us all happy.
     
  10. Maurice

    Maurice Snagglepussed Admiral

    Joined:
    Oct 17, 2005
    Location:
    Real Gone
    Some general rules of thumb:

    1. Make sure you understand what matched looks are and that you REALLY understand what "the line" is in a scene.

    2. Don't try complicated staging if it's your first film. If nothing else, watch Citizen Kane, and copy the setups, as they're uniformly amazing.

    3. Avoid shots with characters in profile. Seeing people from the side is the least interesting and least intimate. Always get them facing somewhat into the camera.

    4. NEVER shoot only a single setup of anything. ALWAYS shoot some coverage from a different angle, setup, and size, so you have something to cut away to if you need to clip different takes together or lose part of the action.

    5. Always shoot an entrance and an exit (thanks, David Mamet). This means characters entering and exiting the shot. It's essentially free, and can save your butt if you need cut something out and need a character to enter at a different time than in the master.

    6. Shoot B-Roll of characters doing their jobs, looking up and towards other characters off camera, reacting to things they hear, etc.
     
    Last edited: Aug 2, 2021
  11. USS Intrepid

    USS Intrepid Commodore Commodore

    Joined:
    Nov 15, 1999
    Location:
    Left the building.
    Except the poor actors who get replaced by bigger, prettier names. :)
     
  12. Admiral Buzzkill

    Admiral Buzzkill Fleet Admiral Admiral

    Joined:
    Mar 8, 2001
    We'll all just split up the money and run, dude. :lol:
     
  13. Barbreader

    Barbreader Fleet Captain In Memoriam

    Joined:
    Jul 13, 2009
    Location:
    New York, New York
    There is no one prettier than you and your wife...
     
  14. xortex

    xortex Commodore Commodore

    Joined:
    Apr 25, 2006
    Location:
    Staten Island, NY
  15. USS Intrepid

    USS Intrepid Commodore Commodore

    Joined:
    Nov 15, 1999
    Location:
    Left the building.
    I can live with that. ;)

    Ah, if only that were true. But thank you anyway. :)
     
  16. Maurice

    Maurice Snagglepussed Admiral

    Joined:
    Oct 17, 2005
    Location:
    Real Gone
    How about ruggedly handsome? And I don't mean your wife ;)
     
  17. Admiral Buzzkill

    Admiral Buzzkill Fleet Admiral Admiral

    Joined:
    Mar 8, 2001
    Carol, our makeup artist, arrived from L.A. this evening. She and Doug and I had dinner at Nick and Deb Gilbert's house - Nick was our catering/craft services guy in December. Anyway, Carol and Nick G. finally got to see an assembled scene from the movie and they both remarked on how great Nick Cook is in it.

    "Back to kill more of those Transhuman bastards..."
     
  18. Potemkin_Prod

    Potemkin_Prod Commodore Commodore

    Joined:
    Jan 11, 2010
    Location:
    Out of Here
    An excellent list! I've given my fellow producers a copy of it!
     
  19. Maurice

    Maurice Snagglepussed Admiral

    Joined:
    Oct 17, 2005
    Location:
    Real Gone
    Two days into our greenscreen shoot, and we're more or less on schedule, even though we rearranged some stuff. Sunday should prove challenging.
     
    Last edited: Apr 10, 2021
  20. Admiral Buzzkill

    Admiral Buzzkill Fleet Admiral Admiral

    Joined:
    Mar 8, 2001
    Famous Last Words:

    "We'll have all day Sunday to shoot the fight scene."

    I am - there's no way around it - in the early stages of geezerhood. By 12:00 midnight last night I was dead on my feet. And given my inexperience as a director, among other shortcomings, I'm probably the least qualified person in the room to direct a fight scene. This would be the "fight scene," above, which had been carefully scheduled to start shooting about ten hours earlier. God is just not interested in the intended schedules of directors.

    DS9Sega saved the schedule by stepping in and directing it. Working with our Director of Photography Alex, the actors and crew hammered through the scene, which was choreographed by our actor Garrett Melich ("Gaitanis"), in about an hour. One pick-up with Garrett after that, we wrapped the Indian Head shoot around 1:00 AM this morning.

    Garrett is a joy to work with - funny, thoughtful and endlessly patient - and although he's a scary effective villain he makes the character impossible to dislike - IMO, anyway.
     
    Last edited: May 3, 2010