I received a draft version of the DVD cover last week. It uses the same image that’s on the front page of this site, plus other photos montaged in the background. It needs some work, but it’s cool to see the proper BBFC, DVD and Dolby logos on there, even though they’re just placeholders at the moment. (If you believe the draft cover, the film’s an 18 and the sound’s in mono.)
The Dark Side of the Earth: April 29th, 2006
Recently I’ve been lecturing in visual effects at the SAE Institute in Islington. Towards the end of the module, where we are now, we look at the FX requirements of Dark Side of the Earth and the students have to come up with ways of achieving them. This week one guy went all Tim Burton on a wooden robot character – nothing wrong with that – and suggested it was controlled by a legion of woodworms that lived inside it. Not appropriate for my film, but a fascinating idea.
The Dark Side of the Earth: April 23rd, 2006
Getting there… It’s falling into place… Just a few more loose ends to tie up…
Mike Tucker’s been nominated for a Bafta. If you’re on the panel and you’re reading this (yeah, right!) then vote for him. Or else.
Soul Searcher: April 23rd 2006
A little aside for any of you that followed the journal for my previous film, The Beacon (which, incidentally, will one day be on-line again for nostalgic purposes). Josh Green (aka Conrad, one of The Beacon‘s lead characters) was the stand-in werewolf in last night’s Doctor Who, “Tooth and Claw”. They’ve misheard his name and called him Jeff, which partly explains how I sat through Doctor Who: Confidential last night without recognising him. But there’s no mistaking him on the web featurette.
Soul Searcher: April 20th 2006
So what’s going on? It’s all the BBFC’s fault, apparently. They’ve recently switched to accepting DVD screeners instead of just VHS and for some reason this has increased their workload. Coupled with some technical issues with the disc Wysiwyg sent them, delays have resulted. Until the certificate is known, marketing cannot begin and the release date cannot be set. So we wait. It’s quite odd for the film’s fate to be completely out of my hands, though I’ve now moved on, my head filled with Shadowland.
Mention was made of a Soul Searcher TV series, not for the first time in the film’s history. Black Horse, the wholesaler that will actually be putting the DVD on the shelves, is very keen on the idea. I’m of the opinion that the response to the movie peaked with the whole “Spielberg of Hereford” thing back in March last year, but you never know – maybe there are greater heights for it to reach.
The Dark Side of the Earth: April 19th, 2006
Lots of cogs grinding in my head. I want to make a major change to the first act of the script to give the film greater momentum, but it would cause some issues with character motivations. If I can just work out new motivations that won’t ruin the second and third acts, which on the whole I’m pretty pleased with, then I’ll be sorted.
The Dark Side of the Earth: April 6th, 2006
Working on the third draft of the script. My friend Elisabeth gave me some really good notes which have helped me to cut eight pages of dialogue. I’ve been told off by several people for being too long-winded and descriptive in my stage directions, so currently I’m whittling those down. I’m still struggling with some major issues too.
The Dark Side of the Earth: March 28th, 2006
Still contacting people’s agents. I tried a certain Danish Director of Photography whose work I admire, but as usual his LA agent didn’t want to know until I have money. Still waiting to hear if a certain English actor’s agent has read the script, and have just contacted a particular Scottish actor’s agent to see if I might be able to send the script. A small part of me hopes they’ll all say no because if they say yes and then I can’t raise the money to actually make the film and work with them it would be incredibly frustrating.
Soul Searcher: March 27th 2006
This journal is four years old today and to celebrate, I shall eat some pizza, as per the first sentence of the very first entry. Oh, actually I had pizza last night, so maybe I won’t bother.
Still no confirmation of the release date, but it will not be in May.
The Dark Side of the Earth: March 24th, 2006
Today I met up with Mike Tucker and he still doesn’t think I’m crazy, which is very reassuring. The Model Unit have a workshop at Ealing Film Studios; today it was full of Viking longboats and other Celtic miscellany which they are building for a children’s TV show.
Mike led me into the office area, which is dominated by a Dalek. (And let’s face it, how many rooms could you put a Dalek in and not have it dominate?) Red Dwarf artefacts adorned the tops of bookshelves – a large-scale Starbug model, the Emohawk from Polymorph II. After looking at the company’s impressive showreels and portfolio, I showed Mike the concept art which Ian Tomlinson and David Ayling have been producing for the last year. Mike had already seen some of the key images and had read the script, and was extremely enthusiastic about the whole thing. He was particularly pleased to hear that I wanted to completely exclude CGI from the movie, unlike most producers these days, who want precisely the opposite.
A couple of other modelmakers paused in their Celtic constructions to peruse the concept art, and were equally excited about it.
So Mike and his team are on board the good ship Shadowland. They can’t wait for me to get the film financed so they can start work on it.