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Production Update 9-2-2010

We've been busy this week! We're making progress on the trailer despite numerous technical and schedule challenges.

Teaser Trailer - September

Shots are rendering. Voice artists are...artisting. And I'm frying hard drives at a rate of about 2 per week, apparently. I've done more computer repairs this week than when I worked in IT support (we used to just play Pong all day and ask folks to reboot; seemed to do the trick).

Enough of my snarky comments (I'm just also annoyed that I'm missing Dragon*Con this year) - here's the recap:

  • Finalized wardrobe for Devian Blackstar
  • Completed setup of all but 3 trailer shots - they're in the render queue
  • Reworked and completed Devian's hair model
  • Sky background mattes - I think I now have all the skies I'll ever need; while the main workstations were down awaiting replacement drives (and what's UP with computer stores not being 24/7?? Don't they know things ALWAYS go down at 2 a.m.?), I put my iMac #2 (I think this one's a 2001 model) to use to create and render the mattes and layers
  • Completed setup of 2 movie shots on iMac #1
  • Finished the teaser trailer score, and several rough cuts in Vegas Pro
  • Lost the last of my hair with drive failure #4; so, no hair to lose for the failures of drives 5, 6, and 7.



Merch Updates

Still working on merch designs - all the computer issues kinda threw the updates I planned under the bus. Will still be rolling out the t-shirt designs ( 3 of 'em!) when the trailer debuts. And a couple of other surprises that I don't want to say much about yet...!


Working on a still image of Devian Blackstar for the SF7 merch.

Voice Artist Links:

Check 'em out at:

Show your support for the voice artists - whether it's movies, music, art, etc, check out the other projects they're working on. This is a very talented team. You can find many of the musicians at FiXTStore.com or FiXTRemix.com.

Animatic

Work continues on the animatic. Just roughing out the chapters and audio stingers. This will take a backseat the next two weeks to the teaser trailer.

Signing off, hitting the Render button, and hoping I won't find this machine DOA in the morning...

Peace + <3,
--DC

A Chill of Distant Eyes on Facebook
Star Force 7 on Twitter

Sep 02, 2010

Production Update 8-26-2010

Hey folks, it's been two weeks since an update. Sorry for the lack of tweets, posts, etc. I've been crazy slammed with freelance work and other things that pay the bills, plus rehearsals for a benefit gig, so I'm playing a little bit of (ok a LOT of...) catch-up this week.

Teaser Trailer to Debut in September

I've been working on shots that are specific to the teaser trailer; we're shooting to debut it mid-September. Currently working out details and venue for a local showing, and then we will release it online. If you're in the Charlotte area - let us know and we'll get details to you for the local event!



Voice Over Updates

Candace and Brad are currently recording their VO for scenes, some of which you will hear in the next few weeks when we debut the trailer. Follow @CandaceVO and @Spinn12 on Twitter to keep up to date on stuff - rumor has it they'll both be posting snippets and teasers between now and then!



Rumor also has it that you will finally get to hear Marc Cholette in the teaser trailer. Marc is a Toronto-based composer and voice actor who plays BOTH Admiral Torrance and Kanai in A Chill of Distant Eyes. Marc (or GoofParade, as he's known in machinima circles) was recommended to me by Dulci, and he is an incredibly talented guy - I'm honored to have him in this film! Marc composes for tv and broadcast, has appeared in numerous machinima films (such as The Bard) and has an amazing singing voice. Check out his page at Voice123.com - he's done a LOT of cool projects.

I'd like to give a big shout-out and congrats to @xRYLEx for landing the gig as Celldweller's tour manager! Ryle will be recording his lines for Janik Larson later this fall, and you'll be able to hear him in the second trailer that we'll be rolling out in December!

SF7 Merch & Posters

Related to the film, I'm working on merchandise designs this week - currently this is more of a test-run, so not a lot to report. Currently there are several mini-posters and a couple of other items in our Cafepress shop. We'll be adding additional posters in the next couple of weeks (including Devian and Atharian), as well as several t-shirt designs. Besides Cafepress, I'm also testing shirt designs with local screen printers for comparison.

That's about it for this time - next week look for info on the trailer, new merch, and follow the voice actors on Twitter!

Peace + <3,
--DC

A Chill of Distant Eyes on Facebook
Star Force 7 on Twitter

Aug 26, 2010

Production Update 8-12-2010

It's Thursday ALREADY? Sheesh, where did the week GO?

We've been working on shots for several combat scenes, and despite various wardrobe malfunctions (these Elven Princesses tend to have elaborate clothing, but hey, they gotta look good in combat too, right? Right.) wrapped up about 6 shots of Atharian, including some with Fluffy's voice over work. I also have four shots in progress right now of Kiri Atroan (two combat shots and two other shots). Here's a little teaser: (click for larger image)



Speaking of images, I added a few new shots to the gallery page. More on the way this weekend!

Catching up on items that were on the to-do list:

  • Continuing the animatic - changed some storyboards, updated and added several shots.
  • Working on trailer shots. Not a whole lot to tell yet. Hope to announce trailer showing in next week or so. :)
  • Shots of Devian: have 4 shots ready to render, then I'll review after a few days so they're fresh.
  • Cutting together final audio of voiceovers for two scenes with @MartinHarp and @DulciTMU, after which the shots will be set up.

Also did some brainstorming with @CandaceVO on Kiri's voice and overall persona. We like how she's turning out. Here is a look at the original Kiri, when I did the first draft of The Skartiri War graphic novel in 2006, as a Jovian colonist.

the first teaser trailer is well underway and several shots are complete. Candace and Brad have started VO and you'll get to hear them in the upcoming trailer next month!

Speaking of aural delights, while the renders were umm, rendering, I knocked out a few more demos for the score. Armed only with my trusty iPad and headphones, three new full-length compositions and about 12 stingers are now in the "review later" folder. I did actually review them later, and finished comping one of the full tracks during downtime this week, and am pretty happy with it. Can't wait to hear these with either a real orchestra or at a studio that can approximate one.

I will give a shout-out to the developers of iSequence though - many of the non-orchestral tracks and stingers are sounding good enough to use in the final film. It's pretty cool to be able to get some of this work done without actually having to be in the studio (remember kids, I come from the old days of tape the size of 30-inch rims so this is awesome to me) I'm impressed with both the iSequence app and the iPad; looking forward to exploring more possibilities for creating usable content on the iPad - if I find a decent stylus, I just might snap up one of THESE and become a beach bum.

Everyone have an awesome weekend. Make sure you catch up with all the SF7 voice actors on Twitter and show your support! Follow 'em, hit their web sites, and find out about their projects. Some VERY talented and awesome folks. I'm proud and blessed to work with all of them! You can find them at this Twitter list.

Peace + <3,
--DC

Aug 12, 2010

Announcing Brad McCarty as Devian Blackstar

The search took a while, but we have our lead - everyone welcome Brad McCarty (aka Spinn12 on Twitter) in the lead role of Devian Blackstar in the Star Force 7 movie, A Chill of Distant Eyes, in production now! In developing the voice of Devian, we were inspired by contemporary characters as Lord of the Rings' Haldir, but imagine if Haldir were a little more alien.

Brad hit the mark with a dark and brooding final audition, and I'm interested to see how the character is going to evolve these next few months - very exciting times! An accomplished broadcast talent, Brad (who thankfully survived my rigorous audition process for Devian) can be found at www.170bpm.net. He's also a drum and bass DJ with bassdrive.com. Show Brad your support and welcome him to the cast!

Jun 21, 2010

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