Fallen Star - Episode 1 (it's not Star Trek, but it's close)

[Start Wreck]

I wasn't sure where to put this. It's not Star Trek, but it's an homage of sorts. Well, it's an homage to Star Trek-styled science fiction... just with a British twist (slightly Red Dwarf).

(No, it's not a live-action version of my Start Wreck comic, but believe me, we did consider it.)

A friend and I created this together, on a budget of almost nothing (we borrowed cameras, equipment and 'actors'). I did all the editing and effects myself.

It's called 'episode 1' but it will likely be the only one we do, simply because it was so time-consuming. Anyway, enjoy:

http://www.youtube.com/view_play_list?p=521399E5427DE646

(It's in ten parts. It's 53:25 long.)

 

[Barbreader]

Wow, I love this! It makes me wish my website included non-Trek Films! Great show!

Heck, I inappropriately put it here: http://startrekreviewed.blogspot.com/2009/06/244.html

Warning: for whatever reason, Part 2 stops playing for me about halfway through: (2:55)

By the way, Captain Logan does an amazing American accent... I thought he was a fellow Yank until he slipped when he 'got up' from sleep!

 

[Start Wreck]

Heh, that's actually me. Thanks for the compliment!

 

[Start Wreck]

VFX showreel 1:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4NUZyIs6LOE

(in case anyone is interested)

 

[Start Wreck]

VFX showreel 2:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=flH46E9lhq0

(Does it ruin the 'magic' )

 

[FalTorPan]

I've not yet watched your film, but I wanted to let you know that I will do so this weekend, and that I look forward to it!

 

[Start Wreck]

Thanks, hope you enjoy it.

In the meantime, here's the third and final VFX showreel (don't watch these until you've seen the film):
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=holnijWnTEQ

 

[Tom Hendricks]

I didn't catch it when I first watch the film, but in watching this VFX reel when I saw the "Tri-Corder" device you were using. I believe that it is HD disk recorder, for tapeless acquisition of video & audio. Were you shooting on JVC? I use the DR-HD100 with my JVC GY-HD200u.

 

[Start Wreck]

I can't remember what the two models of camera we used were, as neither of them belong to me -- but you're quite correct, that was an HDD recorder we used for the prop.

 

[Start Wreck]

Fallen Star is now available to watch on Vimeo, in (a far more convenient) three parts:

Part 1: http://www.vimeo.com/17174457
Part 2: http://www.vimeo.com/17474836
Part 3: http://www.vimeo.com/17647509

 

[Captain Randy Hall]

Just thought I'd mention the fact that I've posted a review of this production. You can find it at SciFiPulse.net at this Web address:

http://scifipulse.net/?p=38135#more-38135

 

[Hudson_uk]

I quite enjoyed this, and did I hear a Wilhelm scream when they were on the station ?

 

[Start Wreck]

You sure did!

Did you also notice the lightsabers? There's at least three of them...

 

[Admiral Buzzkill]

Really clever effects.

I liked Logan's accent. Also, the Admiral's final orders - "No life, and no civilizations."

 

[Herkimer Jitty]

Good show, old chaps.

 

[Start Wreck]

Thanks old bean, what-what, tally-ho!

----------

I spoke to my fellow partner-in-crime... uhh... co-producer the other day about the prospect of more episodes.

Yes, more episodes! Like... whoah!

Well, we hadn't really discussed it for a while. To be honest, I wanted to do more than one when we first started, but as the project took nearly 2 years, the appeal waned by the end of it.

I will say, though, that he is "open to the idea", although we both agreed that we need a well-deserved break for the time being. Like, maybe even years.

That said, I do have some stories in mind and I would certainly like to bring them to the small screen if I can, so we'll see if any of them inspire us enough to make it happen. We'd also have to talk to the cast about the possibility of reprising their roles, which they may not necessarily want.

So, we're not ruling anything out. We may well do some more episode(s) in future. We just can't promise anything.

-----

Incidentally, I've now put the bloopers on YouTube. There's quite a lot of them, at 25 minutes long! Here's the link:
http://www.youtube.com/view_play_list?p=7DD4B2146C2A405F (EDIT: maybe not work-safe; contains mild swearing and nudity.)

I found these funnier than the film, but maybe that's just me.

 

[Start Wreck]

And here is a short video showing what the dialogue sounded like before and after we dubbed it.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=whFLGN1IGG4

The dubbing process was done on a line-by-line basis. Our actors would listen to a piece of dialogue a few times to get a feel for the timing, then repeat it into the microphone. Once all the dialogue was recorded, I would then spend a considerable amount of time matching the timing precisely to the original. The lip-synching was achieved not by matching the sound to the picture, but by matching the sound to the sound. Piece-by-piece, I lined up the new dialogue with the original (one audio feed in each ear), stretching or squashing it accordingly, until they matched.

For a 53 minute film, that's quite a bit of work.

 

[FalTorPan]

I've not yet watched your film, but I wanted to let you know that I will do so this weekend, and that I look forward to it!

I finally watched Fallen Star nearly one month after I said I would.

It was fun! I'll have to check out the extras soon.

Keep up the good work!

 

[Start Wreck]

I spoke to my fellow partner-in-crime... uhh... co-producer the other day about the prospect of more episodes.

Yes, more episodes! Like... whoah!

An update on this:

We've moved onto the point where we're actually putting stories together now, and I even have a first draft script for "Episode 2" sitting on my hard drive. We're thinking of doing another five episodes, effectively making it a six-part "mini-series".

Yes, we are quite insane.

So, while we're we in the pre-production phase, I thought I'd throw open the doors to any (and I mean ANY) ideas, suggestions, criticisms and whathaveyou. Anything you think we could improve on, anything we should continue doing, or anything you'd like to see feature.

If all goes to plan, we could be back in production sometime this year.

 

[Start Wreck]

So, not even a year after we finished the first film, we already have a set of completed scripts for episodes 2, 3, 4, 5 and 6.

Our cast is eager and willing, we have the "go ahead" with our location and we're gearing up to rebuild the set at the end of this month, after which we have a ludicrous amount of filming to cram into a five week period. I'm not even sure it's enough time to finish it all, but we're gonna try anyway. The official Facebook page will probably be updated with pics and vids of the process. As for finished episodes, I wouldn't expect that for a few months yet. It's gonna take a long time, but I'm pleased to announce that things are moving forwards.

I've been casting a more critical eye over our first effort and, in hindsight, it has a lot of problems. As amateurs, there's stuff you just don't pick up on at the time, but I can see we made some rookie mistakes in a lot of places, in directing, editing, and so on. Crossing lines of sight, chopping off tops of heads, that sort of thing. Our writing/dialogue is a little stilted. Editing should be snappier.

I'm confident the continuing adventures of the HMS Britannic will be... an improvement. It should also be more exciting, universe-building, amusing and more well-rounded in general. We're pretty pleased with the scripts.

Exciting times ahead! I'll keep you posted.

Cheers.