I got the flyers round Hereford on Wednesday, at such locations as the cinema, the skaters’ shop, the Software Store, some music shops and a whole heap of chip shops. Odeon Worcester and a couple of other locations in Oliver Cromwell’s favourite city got the flyer treatement this afternoon. Malvern will have to wait till next week. In spite of all this foot-blistering effort, sales are still slow, though I hope a general awareness will lead to word-of-mouth snowballing eventually. A lot of people seem to be waiting for the DVD. On that front, I got the storyboard and stills galleries together this week. I decided to put on storyboards for scenes that were cut before the final draft of the script – more interesting than looking at shots that are in the film, although there are three storyboard comparison scenes for your delectation. The stills gallery contains 100 photos, a mixture of in-character stills which I took, and previously unseen behind-the-scenes photos by Simon Ball.
Author: neiloseman
The Beacon: February 8th 2002
So largely positive reviews in the local press, then. The Hereford Times’ praise-singing included: “The audience was gripped… The Beacon is an entertaining film… Several of the key players gave impressive performances – none more so than the hero of the day, Lorna-Jane Hamer… The music score by Hereford musician Alan Jones is in a class above what you would anticipate on this budget and Oseman’s technical skills are remarkable.” DVD-wise, I’ve so far completed a featurette on the window smash effect, some multi-angle scenes, storyboard comparisons, and the deleted scenes, plus of course the director’s commentary. Later I’m going to do commentaries for the deleted scenes, then I’m going to start work on a featurette about the cinema FX sequence. The flyers haven’t been done, so no-one’s actually going to know about the official VHS release on Monday. Hello, poverty…
The Beacon: February 6th 2002
I cut another trailer – come on, I had to do one with some 3D FX in. I don’t have enough webspace to put it up on this site, but you can view it on BT’s Get Out There website. I’m currently laying the sound effects on the deleted scenes – yes, I decided to go down the Star Wars: Episode I route and finish them, rather than just leaving them in rough cut form. And tonight I record the director’s commentary.
The Beacon: February 3rd 2002
Thanks to everyone who came to the premiere yesterday, and apologies to any random members of the public who were misled by the newspaper articles into thinking they could come and had to be turned away. It was a pretty nerve-racking morning for me – I had to do a live radio interview at 7:45am on BBC Hereford & Worcester. The screening itself went very well. I guess there were about 100, 150 people there. Laughter occurred in the right places, even a couple of bouts of applause. (See, AJ, that clapperboard line was worth it.) I’m already bored senseless of having no films to make, so I’ve started work on the deleted scenes and other DVD material. Dave Abbott’s going to do the animated menus, and his behind-the-scenes documentary is just a few weeks from completion. Next week I’m getting some flyers printed up to blitz Hereford, Worcester and Malvern with. (Blitz, Neil?) To pepper Hereford, Worcester and Malvern with.
The Beacon: January 30th 2002
Kerrrrunch time. Mike couldn’t get everything rendered for last night, so he showed up in Hairy Ford at about 8am this morning. He’d had to drop a few shots, having run out of time. James came round with d’oh nuts and other items which will only increase the frequency of my scary heart palpitations. I’d asked him to watch the final film with me, to make sure there weren’t any technical errors I’d become blind to from seeing it too much. It was actually 12:30 before we were able to hold this little viewing, as the compositing work on the remaining FX took time, and I had to create a couple of shots myself. As time ticked melodramatically away, I made executive decisions to drop a couple of Mike’s shots which weren’t working for one reason or another. On the whole they’re pretty impressive though, particularly the cinema scene, which utterly rocks. After the viewing with Jimminy O’Clarke, there were a few little tweaks to make before I could finally master it. For the record, The Beaconwas completed at 5pm. As I write, I have one eye on the master, which I’m playing to check for drop-out, and my dad’s on his way over to courier it to the dupes house. I guess this is where I bid you all officially adieu, but in the same way that the shoot “officially” ended on August 13th. I’ll be starting a new journal page simply called News which will be updated from time to time with news of the premiere, promotion and the progress of the DVD edition. Thanks for tuning in. And don’t forget to order.
The Beacon: Janaury 29th 2002
I feel like crap, having been up till 4:30am last night compositing the FX Mike delivered yesterday, then getting up at 7:30am to go work on a paying edit. Now back home, and supposedly destined for a meeting with some fellow film-makers about doing another feature (aarrrrgggghhh!), I’m also waiting for Mike to call to tell me he’s on his way with the last of the FX shots, which I will then stay up till the small hours compositing, before getting up bright and early tomorrow to master it, check those masters, then get one couriered (by my dad) to the dupes house in Malvern. But at least then I can go to bed for two days. The on-line ordering system is now up and running, allowing you to pre-order VHS or even DVD copies.
The Beacon: January 28th 2002
Slightly distracted… half watching The Simpsons… Just what are the bugs and why are they coming? But on a less surreal note, Mike delivered most of the FX this morning and I’m now compositing them into the fillum. The movie’s complete in every other respect, so when Mike delivers the last bunch tomorrow night, I should be able to master it and get it to the dupes house first thing Wednesday morning.
The Beacon: January 27th 2002
I just spoke to Mike. He’s done. He’s coming over tomorrow with the remaining FX and now I can sleep at night.
The Beacon: January 24th 2002
You’ll notice these entries have got pretty short lately. Almost as if all I can think about is finishing some kind of film or other. These are the facts: last night I did the final sound mix; this morning I took the covers to the printers; this afternoon I started the grading; don’t talk to me about 3D FX. On a more trivial note, I spotted a spelling mistake in the credits roll, so that’s got to be re-rendered. It’s a nice, slow, small text, multiple column credit scroll. Like a proper film. Which is what it is. For several months it’s been a collection of somewhat dodgy shots. Now it’s a movie. With 42 FX shots missing. And by the end of Wednesday next week, it has to be mastered. Or we’re all screwed. I’m off to check in the mirror for grey hairs.
The Beacon: January 20th 2002
Having nothing else to do, I’ve started putting sound effects on the as yet non-existent 3D shots. I’ve also put the end titles on, which are kind of epic. All I have left to do is a little compositing on the 3D shots when they come in, then the final sound mix and grading. Easy, huh?