# Off-topic Rants

Once again, apologies for the lack of communication since my last post. It’s been a very, very busy time! Not only have I been flat out with everything Sakooz related, but I’ve also been working non-stop on other students third year films. I’ve had a pleasure of working on some really AMAZING student films the last month or so. One of the most recent films I worked on, was filmed on a breathtaking farmland location out past Ballarat, and had Adam Arkapaw behind the camera (shot on Super 16mm). Having just seen the rushes – I must say, the footage looks INCREDIBLE! Congradualtions to Tim, Bec, Cec, and Jordy – you have done an amazing job pulling together such a fantastic crew, and I can’t wait to see the finished result. It’s going to be one very beautiful and moving short film. Congradulations! I really can’t wait for the 2nd of December, which is the Swinburne Graduation Film Screening at ACMI. There really is going to be some amazing work up there on the big screen.

Here is a quick little video of the snow that decided to invade us whilst we were building the Sakooz spaceship set. It was freezing! We’ll be posting lots more videos and photos over the coming days and weeks, so make sure you keep an eye out on this blog!

As promised, here are a few snap shots of Pinky’s head and the spaceship construction in no particular order. Enjoy! David is working away on Pinky's head. David is working away on Pinky's head. This is Pinky's skull before skin is applied. This is Pinky's skull before skin is applied.

Firstly, for those that actually made it through the last blog entry – I’m amazed! It was a bit of an epic, so a massive thank you to those that took the time to go through it all! Sorry for all the spelling and grammar mistakes! Also, a big thank you to Mike Seymour who left a comment letting me know that he was quoting Ed Catmull, co-founder of Pixar. I’ve since updated the entry. I really hope that it was of some interest and help to other film-makers out there – as I’m sure there’s some lessons to be learnt from our mistakes. As ALWAYS feel free to e-mail me or leave a comment if you have any questions!

Ok, I’ll warn you in advance. This is going to be a BIG blog entry. Quite possibly the biggest blog entry known to man. And yes, I’ve read all the “how to write blogs” articles on the Internet, and know that blogs are unlike books and newspaper – you need to keep them short and straight to the point. Blog readers have a short attention span, bla, bla, bla. But you know what – stuff it! The whole point of this blog is to help other film-makers learn from our mistakes, so I think the more information we jam into this, the better for everyone. Besides, no one is forcing you to read this anyway! And so, with that said, lets bring you up to speed with what’s been happening over the last few weeks. Hold onto your office chairs!

I know, I know… we’ve been really slack in terms of updating this blog! But I’ll tell you what, boy, oh boy, have we got some news to tell you! So many dramatic things have been happening since my last entry. So stay tuned! Once things settle down a little bit here, I will fill you in with all the details… It’s coming – I promise! And what you read what’s been happening, I’m sure you’ll understand while we’ve been a little bit preoccupied with other things…

Yikes! We begin principle photography in tweleve days! That’s only 288 hours away (give or take)! Oh dear! So much to do, so very little time. What’s been happening since I last wrote? Lots and lots. We’ve been doing some more camera and lighting tests on location, organising all the additional paperwork that needs to be done, finialising locations, building sets, costumes and props, tinkering with animatronics, blowing things up (pyro tests!), doing special effects tests – so much stuff! We’ve literally been jamming as much stuff as we possibly can into each day, and we’re making amazing progress! But despite this, the to-do list is still very long. Some time soon we’ll post some photos of Pinky’s head being put together, and once we’ve got shooting out of the way, we might even write up some proper posts on how we went about making it. Unfortunately that’s all I’ve got time for tonight. I’ve got to get back to work organising actors and crew! Speak to you again soon!

Bang! Another two weeks gone! Just like that. The closer we get to shooting the more problems we solve, the more problems we discover, and the more things we try to jam into a day. When I pressed “Publish” on my last post, we only had one cast member to find. This then increased to two, but luckily, thanks to another few days of long auditions we have now OFFICIALLY cast our complete film! We even ended up creating two new characters, which is a little scary, but we honestly feel it’s for the best. That’s the beautiful thing about independent film making – you can make this kind of decisions on the spot. Casting has taken up a lot of our time over the last few weeks – just trying to lock down the very best people we can. I’m VERY happy to say, that we have an amazing cast lined up – every member is truly fantastic. We also spent a lot of time meeting up with potential crew members, and sussing out more locations, writing countless e-mails, making countless phone calls, and most challenging of all – just trying to get some kind of a schedule together. It’s so unbelievably hard to get everyone (i.e. cast) in the same place at the same time – especially when you’re not paying anyone! It really is a logistical nightmare. If one thing doesn’t go to plan (i.e. a vital cast or crew member can’t work on a specific day, or a piece of gear or location is only available at a certain time), then it really stuffs up the whole “grand plan”, and some of the time you just need to re-think everyone from scratch. It’s not a job for the light hearted!

It’s July already. How crazy is that. The last two weeks just flew by. It’s scary. Seriously. I’ve just looked through my diary, trying to remember what we’ve been doing since I last wrote on this blog, and to be honest – I have no idea. It’s been chaotic. I wish I had some exact stats – we’ve driven so many km’s, wrote thousands of e-mails, made hundreds of phone calls, seen hundreds of people, drank so much coffee, watched no TV, ate very little food, seen many fantastic locations, begged countless times, etc. over the last few weeks. I know I say this every single blog entry – but it’s true. Everything is getting rapidly more intense with every day.

Once again another two weeks has just mysteriously ran away from us. It’s really scary to think that we’re pretty much in the middle of the year now. I’m a little bit scared that if I blink it will suddenly be September, and if I blink again it will be January 2009! So as a way to combat that I’ve gaffer taped my eye lids open. It doesn’t seem to be working – time literally is zooming past my eyes!