| Project Journal |
| 12.16.06: The Trailer Has Been Posted!!! Happy Holidays Everyone!
I am happy to announce that the first teaser Trailer has just been posted on the site - please check it out! http://www.braveknightmedia.com/trailer.htm
I have had quite a busy fall / winter but I wanted to let everyone know that I have asked my good friend Kat Alix-Gaudreau (who is an independant film producer as well- http://www.SneakyCamel.net/ ) to help us out by helping to organize and gather us for our upcoming shoots. I would like to introduce her to all of you, she's very talented and will be truly invaluable to me to get through the production phase of this project. Look for an email from her in the next few weeks.
I want to extend my warmest wishes to you all this holiday season. There is no film without you. Thanks for sticking with me.
Always, -- - Peter |
| 7.27.06: Itch itch itch... Poison Ivy Poison Ivy! I'm in the middle of week two of the worst poison ivy I've ever had. Not that it is in a lot of places, but I feel like pizza-the-hut! Aikido summer camp is now as well so I wil be picking up the production after that concludes. In the mean time I've been working on some post production stuff and should have an official trailer soon! ...This is a learning experience... |
| 7.8.06: Murphy's Law is Real... It's just a lesson in being creative, really. I finally worked out things with the town and now I'm ready to shoot a few more scenes. I just learned that the car I was planning to use for the 'Driver' just got into a major accident and has significant damage such that it can't be driven! Oh well, I'll shoot some other scenes - oops! Another lead actor is out of town for a while, hmmm... I'll work on some CG stuff - Crap! I'm completely out of space on my hard drive after capturing the footage I've shot already! Well, I bought an external hard drive so storage is no longer an issue. I should have a clip from the data center scene posted in a few days to a week. |
| 6.26.06: Hi All, People have been telling me that they've been checking the site - thanks! I know it's been almost twenty days since the last post, but that just means we've been busy! David & Tim finished their obligatory scene where they explain why everyone is running around chasing each other. It came out great! Look at the production stills to see for yourself. Caleb & Roger did their first shoots during this period too. They got to play in Ch 9's remote studio which is inside this cool truck. They also met Josh for the first time and Caleb went and pulled a gun on him! Actually, these are not real guns at all. We are using paintball and airsoft replicas. They do look convincing so I figured out if I have my cast running around with 'guns' someone might call the cops... so I did it first... There is a lot more to making a film than shooting a film. One of the major things to do as a filmmaker is to communicate and let people know what you are doing. Not only does it build a buzz about your movie, it will prevent Special Forces showing up and shooting your cast! I found out how to pull a permit and hire a Police Detail for my action scenes. Everyone I spoke to was really nice and I think things will go a lot smoother with a police presence - especially in these times. Thank you Framinham PD! |
| 6.08.06: Sorry to be so long to post anything since I shot on Tuesday - I wanted to play with the footage too much! David Halprin came to the Ch 9 studio to do his special effects shots. It was just a little bit of set piece and a lot of greenscreen. You can see what it looked like in this picture, and you can see what I did with it here(6mb). I played with it this evening for less than 2 hours to get what you see. The background is not what will appear in the film, it's just a place holder. David's character has just entered a massive data center that the bad guys have and will place a bomb there. The production is really picking up speed. I have a shoot lined up for next week which will take care of a couple of scenes and I am in the middle of planning the ensemble scenes. So far no one has thrown so much as a punch on screen (or off for that matter!), and that is on purpose - I plan to get all the non-action filmed so that the cast and crew can become familiar with being on set and how long things take to get through. Thank you for everyone who has replyed that they are interested in helping out - you know who you are! |
| 6.03.06: First of the Dojo shoots complete! Josh Blake was the first brave soul to step in front of the lense this afternoon. The shoot went extremely well despite all the rain we are having. In reviewing the footage this evening I have discovered what I think may be the phrase people will remember me for in this project... "Cool, Do it again..." Josh got to open and close the garage door in the dojo all afternoon under my supervision. My compliments to him for pushing through! Jay, my crew, got to see the Dojo for the first time and loved it. I would recommend everyone come and visit us. There is real peace to be found here (despite a camera crane, lights, boom pole, ...) . Thank you Jay for the help today, it made everything go so much smoother. I have posted some production stills on the main page here for people to see. These are actually captured from the video we took. I will be making a nice section for all the stills in a few weeks. Look for more! The week ahead looks like it will be a lot of fun - I am planning my first big greenscreen shoot at the Ch 9 studio on Tuesday. |
| 5.28.06: Note to self... Printer Cartridges are never truly empty! Happy Memorial Day everyone! I've learned that the next time around I will involve at least one other person (hopefully many) in pre-production work. While it's fun, the saying "many hands make light work" is so true. I've been thrown back into my arts & crafts days while making props. The latest is the Holo-Phone... A printer cartridge that I detailed and put a light inside. It spilled it's guts all over me, my desk, the floor, and out the door to the back yard! Someone warned me, but did I listen? I've also been having a lot of fun with foam core boards and tracing paper. It turns out that I will be buying (and returning) a counter top from Home Depot for one of the scenes after all. That's when I'll be using all the other aforementioned props as well. June is going to be the big month for principal photography - get your seat belts on! |
5.23.06: Well the first footage has been shot! Chris Cuddy did a wonderful job being our news anchor. We filmed at the Channel 9 Studios in Framingham (they will be showing up in a lot of these notes) and we were in and out in about an hour. I wanted the look of a nice news desk and so I went to Home Depot (another name you'll hear a lot of in this journal) and was going to buy some counter top, which I would return after the shoot. The only problem is that news desks don't have back splashes! I'm not budgeted for a hundred dollar counter top so instead I bought an unfinished door for $19 and a can of clear glossy spraypaint for $4 and voila! A nice news desk! My door piece will also double for a 'bed' in another scene to be filmed later. Speaking of making things for this project, I want to show you some of the equipment I've constructed to date. None of this would have been possible were it not for the generosity you all have shown me. Click on the links to see more: - Boom Pole & Microphone Shock Mount System - Camera Jib (Crane) - The "Molly" (or mono-dolly) |
5.23.06: The Journal Section has been started. There are some cool links within I think you'll like! |
5.16.06: Brave Knight Media is the new name! Aaugghhh! There is a company called white night studios, which will just lead to much confusion. I have decided to change the name. |
5.2.06: White Knight Studios website launched. |
5.1.06: Dojo Stories - The Device (D.S.T.D.) is now in Production! Principle Photography will commence May 13th and is scheduled to be complete at the end of June. I would like to thank all in advance that are involved! Now let's have some Movie Making Fun! - Peter |