I'll be honest, I found the "costumed fans" comment, for one, quite dismissive, and while I think you might have chosen your words a little more tactfully (something we're all guilty of at one point or another) I'm grateful for the clarification.
I have to say, I normally am a bit reserved about fan films, but every time something new pops up for this one, I get a little more excited. I appreciate the clarification as well. Keep up the good work!
Hey! It's been a while, but things are still happening over at Pacific 201 (besides the Kickstarter, which is still live for another two weeks) But we've managed to get two new videos out, which tackle the Daedalus-class and the costume inspirations. [yt]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QrsZTxvZ5to[/yt] [yt]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jsqy_PgTNU8[/yt]
Dude, you need a character driven money shot for the win. You are obviously smart and dedicated, the product looks to be very well thought out and executed, and yet you lack the actual human element: A scene to whet the (kicstarter) appetite. Just 2 cents.
Ok, there's really NO, I repeat , ZERO reason why this production should NOT have already surpassed their very modest $$ goal in their currently running Kickstarter campaign. Yet at 10 days to go, they are still shy by 8000$ frickin' dollars. Weren't you impressed by all of their behind-the-scènes videos as I was? Just from an art direction P.O.V., this production is Boss!
I love the designs these guys come up with. I love the Pacific, it's such a breath of fresh air, much better than a lot of fan designs. The reason I haven't donated is because there doesn't seem to be a story worth telling. I mean we know so little about what it will be about. We've seen so much passion about the ship and props but not much passion about the crew, or story. It feels like a project run by the concept artists but without the writers. I keep looking at my model kits thinking about how I can build the Pacific out of other kits. These guys seem to be ship designers maybe they'd find more luck doing a kick starter to make models of the 201. Maybe run a shop selling props. Maybe a short film featuring their CGI of their ships with limited set pieces. It kinda sucks they haven't made their goal yet when their production skills are beyond what a lot of other fan films have. ' I bet if they gave some pitches selling us on the story and characters with as much passion as they have for concept art they'd get there.
Crowdfunding is a tricky business, and to do it successfully often required a lot of social media outreach and support building before launching your campaign. And, we've all seen lots of such campaigns that show cool VFX but never deliver a good film, or any film at all. This is why so many fanfilms try to lean on attaching "pro" talent to get visibility and legitimacy.
I hope I'm wrong, but at this point I think I agree with steam. This is shaping up to be all concept and no story.
A problem with our production is that it's in fact SO story-centered that sharing even a little means letting spoilers slip. Our hesitancy to share the story comes across as us not having one - or not having a good one, at any rate. But the truth is that we're ONLY making this movie because we have a really great story to tell. We didn't come up with a cool ship and say "let's make a story about this!" we came up with a really good story, and said "this NEEDS to be told!" And we were actually kind of afraid to share it because it was something that means a lot more if you don't know much coming into it. But now that a lot of the feedback is coming in, we realize we can't afford to be too secretive about the concept, characters, and general narrative. Tomorrow, we will be posting a video that speaks to the character and narrative side of things a little more. And in the coming days, most of our updates will be story and character. And if you go back to our very first teaser on the youtube channel - pay attention, and there are actually a few highly spoilerific giveaways about some elements of the story. It's been there since day one. We've just been beating around the bush about it, to our own harm :\
Sorry about the double-post. Here's the video I mentioned: [yt]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1f76GQCQxzo[/yt]
Will any actual shots of the actors portraying the characters be included? I really, truly believe that's where this buildup needs to go to get kickstarter donations flowing--show that the acting and dialogue do justice to the interesting concept and stellar designs we have been treated to so far...