If you can believe it, we’re still trying to find somewhere to grade. Earlier this year it seemed like we had that all set up, but it didn’t quite come off. Part of the problem is that a particular company has very kindly offered us a free shoot-out back to 35mm, but in order to take them up on this we need to have graded at a place that is calibrated for this company’s recorders, which limits our options.
In other news, if you thought Dark Side is the only Henson-inspired fantasy film being developed independently in the UK, you’re wrong. Raven Waiting is in pre-production right now, and looks set to be pretty amazing if the concept art and the director’s dedication are anything to go by. Check it out.

I’ve been digging through the archives, the 20+ hours of behind-the-scenes material we accumulated while making the pilot, most of it shot by Mr. Gerard Giorgi-Coll. And I’ve put some more of it to good use, as you’ll see on the video page.
There’s a tour of the art department workshop, providing a snapshot of the set as it was just over two weeks into the build. It even includes a rare interview with the elusive production designer, Ian Tomlinson.
And “The Dark Side Guide to Building a Set” is a ten minute featurette covering the issues surrounding making and shooting a set. Building a set was new experience for me (with the exception of a few basic flats and dodgy consoles for Cow Trek way back in 2000) and since a lot of low budget filmmakers will have shot only on location, I thought a rundown of the considerations and costs of set construction would be useful to some of you out there. Or you might just want to hear my cheesy narrator voice; that’s also a valid reason for watching it.
The aim to is produce at least one more “Dark Side Guide”, maybe two, covering the issues around making the leap from video to film, both in production and post-production. And if you have any suggestions or requests for subjects, feel free to contact me.

With the last FX tweak successfully, er, tweaked, we’re now looking for a place to grade. The Dolby documents have been signed and counter-signed, so all that remains for the audio is to transfer it onto MO disc, from whence it can be transferred to the film print – when we get to that stage with the picture, which is still a little way off.
The new deadline that we’re working to is October, when the Production Finance Market is held. Carl has applied to this sort of Cannes-on-acid, speed-pitching event, which may help us secure producing partners.

We successfully got through the “Expression of Interest” stage for Screen West Midlands funding, and have thus been invited to submit a full application.
Elsewhere, we’re navigating the foggy, monopolistic waters of theatrical Dolby certification for the pilot. When the 35mm print is finally done, I plan to share everything I’ve learnt about the Digital Intermediate process – i.e. shooting on film, post-producing digitally, then finishing to film – in some sort of vlog/podcast/moving-image fact fest.

Earlier this week I went to Londinium for some meetings which Carl had set up. One of them was with a novelist, Tess Berry-Hart. We realised in Cannes that a cross-media approach is the order of the day, encompassing a tie-in novel, a video game and so on. Proposals for these would form part of the movie’s package.
Between meetings, me and Carl pounded the streets of London, which were paved neither with gold nor the solutions which we were seeking to some script issues. Simplification is what’s required; that has also become clear of late. But how to make the story simpler without throwing the baby out with the bath water, that’s the poser.

Since getting back from Cannes, we’ve written and submitted a development funding application to Screen West Midlands. Most of the work was done very kindly by Nigel Quinn, a former assistant of Carl’s. It’s been a few years since I last applied, and the project is in much better shape now, so here’s hoping something comes off this one.
Meanwhile, with most people having recovered from Cannes now, we’re aiming to have some meetings in London in the coming weeks. The grading and shoot-out of the pilot still needs doing, but we’re just waiting for Joe to make one last tweak to one of the FX shots before we take those final steps.