This post first appeared on Ren’s Patreon page.
It’s already a month since we wrapped Season Two and I’ve realised I haven’t updated you since then!
The shoot was immediately followed by three intense days of striking the set, cleaning and returning the equipment, and organising and packing the props and costumes. Some parts of the set were burnt, a few were kept, and a lot was disassembled and returned to Mark, the farmer, for him to use on another project. He kindly let us leave a lot of the props and set dressing in storage at the farm, where we plan to return for Season Three. After a farewell dinner for Richard Zeman (Commander Othon) on the third day, it was back to normal life for everyone – a difficult adjustment!
There are two editors now working on the series, Cat and Arthur, and my first priority was to collate and deliver the rushes to them so that they could start work. Currently I’m staying out of the editing process to allow the directors to assemble their episodes as they see fit. All I’ve seen is a rough version of 202 and a single scene from 203. Like all of you, I’m sure, I’m very eager to see it all!
Once I knew that the actual series editing was underway, I turned my attention to the teaser trailer. Now that’s done I’m concentrating on building the social media and Patreon followings. You’ve probably seen the goal we’ve set and the poll about Patreon benefits. If the series is going to continue in the long term it’s essential to grow this community, so there are some exciting new developments coming down the pipe. Not to mention that there is plenty of behind-the-scenes footage which we’ll be editing and sharing with you over the coming months.
Speaking of the future, we held a debrief a couple of weeks ago to discuss what the production could do better next season. Although things went very smoothly for the most part, there’s always room to improve. Several of the key crew attended, and it was followed by a little screening of the teaser and then board games!
Finally, it’s really lovely to see some of the kind words that people have been saying about their experience of working on Ren. “If all projects and art were made with a team so dedicated to their craft, we’d have a media renaissance. A true blessing to be around so many people that genuinely give their all to what they love,” said Dan Prendergast on Instagram.
One of our supporting artists and prop-makers even sent us a handmade card thanking us for “an amazing experience that I’m so lucky and proud to have been a part of.” She adds, “I have known for a while that I would like to be an actor, but working on set and specifically seeing Orianna and Alex work their magic has made me sure that I want to act in more things.”
And our casting assistant Olha Havrina posted on Instagram just the other day: “If you get to know the creators of Ren, you understand how passionate they are about their project and how much time and effort they invest in their work every single day. Goal-oriented, friendly, brave and creative – that’s how I can describe the team behind Ren: The Girl with the Mark.”
Thank you to all those people, and especially to our patrons for enabling us to do what we love!