I wrote to Steven Spielberg.
Stop laughing. Have you got any better ideas?
Soul Searcher: March 3rd 2006
There is now word on the release date…. but nothing I can reveal yet.
Soul Searcher: March 1st 2006
Still no word on the release date from Wysiwyg. Last I heard, they were waiting on the wholesaler.
The Dark Side of the Earth: February 26th, 2006
Well, Mike Tucker doesn’t think I’m mad, but he wants to meet up, so that could all change…
The Dark Side of the Earth: February 20th, 2006
I know, I know. It’s been an obscenely long time since my last entry. The Soul Searcher DVD had me working flat out throughout January and since then I’ve been taking a well-deserved rest. I did manage to finish the second draft of the Shadowland script a few weeks ago, however. It’s still got at least one major problem in it, but I’ve sorted out all the unanswered questions that the first draft posed. Yesterday I advertised for more concept artists. As expected, some of the original artists have fallen by the wayside, leaving only David Ayling and Ian Tomlinson still working on it at present.
Last week I tracked down Mike Tucker and his company The Model Unit using this new-fangled information superhighway thingy. Mike was one of the main guys behind Red Dwarf’s fantastic model effects and his company now does all the models for Doctor Who – spaceships crashing into Big Ben, the new Daleks, etc. Anyhoo, I wrote to Mike briefly explaining my project and got quite a positive response. I’m now waiting to hear what he makes of the script. I expect he’ll think I’m bonkers.
Soul Searcher: February 9th 2006
Turns out the British Council really is useless after all. The BIFF e-mail is a lie. They send it to everyone to get you to part with the entry fee. Probably pull the names out of the Council’s catalogue of British films. And I’ve already sent the disc off. You guys just made my list. Taking Biff Tannen’s name in vain.
Soul Searcher: February 8th 2006
I got an e-mail from the Brooklyn International Film Festival (or BIFF, as in Tannen) the other day inviting me to submit Soul Searcher. The British Council had recommended it to them. Which was a pleasant surprise, since last time I spoke to the British Council they didn’t seem like they were going to be able to help me. Anyway, being invited to submit and being selected are two very different things.
I strongly recommend you visit the Superman Returns video blogs and watch blog #7: “The Call”. It amused me heartily. I know who I’m going to call next time I’m knackered on set.
Soul Searcher: February 2nd 2006
The DVD replicators called yesterday to say that they had rigorously tested my disc and all was well, but suggested I make a few very minor changes to increase compatibility. I made the changes and sent off a new disc this afternoon. When they get it, they can go ahead and make the glass master.
Soul Searcher: January 29th 2006
The last two days were quite annoying. Every time I thought the DVD was finished, I would find another tiny little error – half a second of sound in the wrong place, a button that links to the wrong place, a blink-and-you’ll-miss-it picture glitch. However, I’m pleased to say that it’s now DONE. Time to chill.
Soul Searcher: January 26th 2006
The DVD still isn’t quite finished, though it’s frustratingly close. On Tuesday morning, having largely recovered from the exhausting weekend, I sat down in front of my brand new Sony home cinema system and watched the movie. It kicked ass.
As the credits rolled, my flatmate JP stuck his head round the door. “Dude, what are you watching?” he asked.
“Soul Searcher,” I replied.
“Dude – that is sick!” he enthused, “sick” being a modern slang term to describe something of particular merit, as I understand. He continued, “I’ve been sitting next door thinking, ‘Whatever that movie is Neil’s watching, it sounds amazing.'”
It wasn’t quite perfect, however, the main problem being that the really BIG moments – namely the explosions – were no louder than anything else. I made some notes, then on Wednesday visited my friend Rob in Ealing and Lara Greenway to hear what some of it sounded like on their systems. The results were the same, so I went on to Neil’s to sort it out.
Neil did the Picard Manoeuvre: he energized the explosion waveforms. Warp factor 500%. Very, very loud.
I slept in the studio again, running off the finished files one by one until seven in the morning. An hour later I got up, came home and tried to incorporate the mix into the DVD, only to discover part of it was a 240th of a second out of sync. Man, I really hope I finish this tomorrow.