The Swordsman’s voice has finally been cast and we’ll be recording him next week. Stay tuned for more information.
The Dark Side of the Earth: December 19th, 2009
Carl and I are planning to take the pilot to Cannes in May. Impetus, in the form of a looming deadline, will be good for the project at this stage. The pilot will have to be finished early in 2010 to allow time for the requisite pre-Cannes meetings.
Merry Christmas!
The Dark Side of the Earth Podcast #12: Mini Mech
Model-maker Chiok-Sing Li talks about building the fifth scale miniature ceiling mechanism.
The Dark Side of the Earth: November 25th, 2009
FX work continues on the pilot. It will be next year before it’s all finished. That’s almost as long as Soul Searcher was in post.
Meanwhile, some casting has been persistently not happening. And I took a read of some professional feedback on the screenplay and started to think about the next draft. But that’s about all that’s happened of late. I saw the neighbour’s cat peering at a squirrel over the fence. Does that count?
The Dark Side of the Earth: November 4th, 2009
Welcome to the new Dark Side of the Earth website. You’ll find plenty of new photos in the gallery, and a brand new cast and crew section. Apologies to those crew members I couldn’t fit in.
P.S. If the site runs sluggishly, it may be due to a lack of memory. Try relaunching your browser and making sure you have no other web pages open.
The Dark Side of the Earth Podcast #10: Cumbersome
Actor Benedict Cumberbatch (Max) talks about his character and what it was like to act from inside a sealed bio-suit.
The Dark Side of the Earth: September 27th, 2009
Carl and I met with Henning last week to go through the new layers of sound design which the latter has created. There are many great new touches which would never have crossed my mind. Henning has really blurred the line between the Swordsman and his mechanism and the ship itself, which adds a nice bit of extra magic and ambiguity to the wooden robot. Subtle vocalisations in the mix bring the puppet to life further – even animal noises, like a rattlesnake blended into the steam hiss of the mechanisms.
The Dark Side of the Earth Podcast #11: Direct Action
I discuss the challenges of directing the pilot, featuring swordfighting, a huge puppet and a man in a sealed suit.
The Dark Side of the Earth: September 13th, 2009
Film & Festivals magazine have printed an eight page article consisting of an abridged version of this journal in their August issue. You can view it online or order a print-on-demand copy. Thanks to Chris Patmore for this excellent coverage.
The Dark Side of the Earth: August 21st, 2009
Aidan and Joe are still slaving away at the FX, Henning is busy with the audio track-laying, and Carl is making enquiries about a certain actor for the voice of the Swordsman. As for me, I’m working on a new Flash website (following a failed attempt at the same earlier in the year) and starting to think about writing a new draft of the script.