Here's the second installment my Twitch live stream where I edit a scene from The Quantum Terror. Maybe, mild spoilers. I'll be back tomorrow with yet another one. Look for me to go live at around 10:30 AM PST.
Well, I hope everyone had a very nice Easter or if you're not of a mind for chocolate eggs, a nice month so far. I've made a new video update for you all, giving a rundown of what's been happening with our movie, as well as some other exciting news, but if you don't feel like watching then just check out the notes below.
Editing The Quantum Terror is coming along well, although it is probably the most labor intensive task for me, when it comes to making a film. That's probably because I don't have my cast and crew with me at this point in the process, backing me up and making me look good.
I do have a some great help, though. Composer Derek J. Hunt is not only creating amazing music for our film but is also managing sound design, bringing the quality of our production up to a whole new level.
In addition to that, I'm am very excited to announce that Make-Up Effects Group co-founder Paul Katte has joined in to bring his own brand of artistry to the VFX team. He and his partner Nick Nicolaou (pictured above on another project) are better known for their practical effects work, but true talent knows no bounds and I am truly overwhelmed that Paul has agreed to take part in this production. I mean, just check out their show reel!
The Matrix? The Hobbit? Childhood's End? Wolverine? How did I get the combined talent of both MEG, on top of studioADI on our little film? I honestly don't know, but I feel super lucky. I've also had the pleasure of interviewing them in the past on my practical effects podcast show The Practical People...
...which brings me to my next announcement. If you didn't know I have an entire first season of The Practical People under my belt, filled with interviews with some of the best PFX artists in the business, that you can listen to by clicking HERE on You Tube or HERE on Vid.me. After a long hiatus I will be "soft starting" season 2 in the coming weeks, and then slowly rolling out more through the summer, when the film is finished and I have more time. MEG will be our first guest and then I will bring you fresh interviews from both new and return guests.
Please, be sure to also find my show on Facebook by clicking HERE.
It is my intention after the release of The Quantum Terror to continue to produce content in the form of more interviews, tutorials, feature films, and other artistic content. If the demand keeps up I will finance this endeavor via Patrion or some other subscription service. I'm still researching the possibilities and trying to figure out if the demand will be there.
That's why I want to hear from you. Do you want this kind of content? If I do start a Patreon account, what kind of products would entice you to subscribe? Would you like to see more in depth video tutorials? How about one of a kind hand made miniature creatures? Are you interested in original artwork or limited addition prints? Maybe, there's something I'm not thinking of that you'd like to see me provide. Please, let me know through this blog or my other social media, provided in the links below. I'd love your input.
Last but not least, I want to address another Lovecraftian, Indiegogo funded, horror movie called The Void that just came out via VOD. It's a cool little low budget flick and bears a lot of similarities to our movie. Indeed if you watch it before The Quantum Terror you can see that we drew from very similar sources. I'm not worried about this. You can't do a Lovecraftian film and not hit Lovecraftian notes. I've been working on this movie for over two years now and can say with confidence that although some imagery will be strikingly similar, The Quantum Terror takes things in an entirely different direction. Besides, the movie has been in the can for a while now. There's no going back to change it. I think the two movies can exist side by side as a testament to how differently people can react to an individual idea or ideology.
It's (past) update time again. It has been non stop over here at The Quantum Terror movie, post production headquarters, but you deserve an update. There's not really much to tell. We are deep into editing right now with sound and VFX work about to begin, too. Again, we'd like to have the movie out in the month of May, but as far as when in May or even if we'll make that deadline, we can't be sure.
The thing is, we want this movie to be the best quality it can be. That means that I don't just slap together an edit and call it done. As of now, the first half of the movie is edited and has been sent off to our executive producer James Hudnell and producer Doug Mayfield of Mesmer Films for critique. We're also getting notes from director of photography Anthony Gutierrez, head of effects Jenna Green, and of course our master of sound and music Derek J. Hunt.
I personally want to say to all who supported this film, that my deepest desire is for all involved to feel good about having contributed to it. That means that when the movie comes out it will be the best it can possibly be, everyone has received their pledge rewards, and no one feels like they were slighted, ignored, or let down.
A few notes on pledge rewards. Again, scripts, downloads, and credits can of course not be given out until after the movie's release. I am still missing a couple of "Voice Of Evil" recordings. If you have not recorded yours for any reason or are having difficulty getting it to me, please let me know. It's been a long time coming but we are finally about to integrate your work into our film. We've had a little trouble with shipping with our T-shirt printer. Please, bear with us. If you have one coming as a reward they will be on their way soon. Very sorry for the extended wait, but thank you so much for being so gracious and patient.
Here's a few things to keep you tied over while you wait. Kristin Cochell was recently interviewed for IdolFeatures.com. You can read it by CLICKING HERE.
I had a fun moment where Quantum Terror actor Val Mayerik, who also happens to be an amazing artist and co-creator of Howard The Duck, drew a rather crazed looking portrait of yours truly.
I like it.
You may also like having a look at this title card, which I can't say what it's for just yet, created by our logo designer David Paul. David is also a very talented writer for his own brand Bad Halo Comix.
Meanwhile, in between editing sessions I've been doing some fun sketches of the creatures that may or may not (due to budget restrictions) be appearing in The Quantum Terror. (at least two of them do)
“If you were to hand Jimi Hendrix a $100 thrift shop guitar, that guy is still
going to shred on it….”
It was an honor and privilege to have been asked by FilmCourage.com to talk about how we're shooting The Quantum Terror on a Canon 7D. You can see the full article that goes along with the video by clicking HERE. I talk about the camera, lenses, and how planning with your team makes all the difference.
I know I say this a thousand times a month, but I want you all to know that the other team that makes all the difference is you guys, the people who have supported us through pledges, input, and sharing our links & posts. I always have you in mind while I'm doing all of this work. I'm very grateful to you and am so looking forward to showing you the finished film.
Well, we're nearing the end of the principle photography phase of things, anyway. Boy has it been a ride, so far, and we of course want to say thank you, once again, to all who have supported us. It's been since mid April since our last update, so I thought we were past due for another one.
So, what have we been doing during all of this time? Filming of course, and taking a weekend trip up to Dallas for the Texas Frightmare Weekend, horror convention. That was a blast. We got to meet a lot of great horror fans who were either delighted to receive one of our new postcards, letting them know that The Quantum Terror is coming, or (to our great surprise and our own delight) had already heard of our film, and told us how great they thought it looked. True story.
Quantum Terror star Jordan Micheal Brinkman chills out with friends at Texas Frightmare!
Another treat was going to see one of the stars of Aliens and Harbinger Down, Lance Henriksen, speak. What a fun guy.
Lance "Bishop" / "Captain Graff" Henriksen
But before all of that we were hard at work shooting the movie, in what had to be some of the most intense days of work, so far. Kristin Cochell, Paula Marcenaro Solinger, Matt Blackwell,
Jordan Michael Brinkman, and Val Mayerik have all been phenomenal in their performances, and we're very much looking forward to working with Dimitrius Pulido, who is waiting in the wings while the weather takes its time, getting back to the sunny days that we need for our shots to match.
A few notes:
1: Not long ago, I said there would be a new trailer for The Quantum Terror. It's still in the works, but we've had to push it back a little, because we felt that it needed some effects shots, including some of Heather Lowe's genius miniature work, to really drive home the quality of this film.
2: We'd like congratulate our supporting star Paula on the release of another movie which she stars in, Blood Sombrero. You can order it VOD or get the DVD at Walmart, right now.
3: If you're interested in my thoughts on writing a script, you may enjoy my breakdown of James Cameron's Aliens.
4: I've been working on a little side project with studioADI's own Alec Gillis and Harbinger Down star Camille Balsamo. It's a behind the scenes ebook called Harbinger Down: A Pictorial Journey Through The Production Of A Practical Effects Film... or maybe just "The Making of Harbinger Down" will do?
If you haven't seen Harbinger Down yet, I highly recommend that you do. It was made for under a million dollars, funded through both Kickstarter and privet investors, and was a major factor in making me decide to go forward with producing The Quantum Terror. I consider it a shining example of how wonderful practical effects and the spirit of low budget, independent film making, can be. It's available on DVD and Netflix streaming.
Here's the trailer...
...and a really cool behind the scenes video...
When the ebook is released for sale, my share of the proceeds will go to finishing funds for The Quantum Terror. I'll let you know when it becomes available for purchase on the studioADI Store.
And that's it! I'll be back with more news of our final shoots, upcoming interviews, and more thoughts on what creates a good movie. Have a question? Want to see a blog post address a related subject that interests you? Drop me a line at thequantumterror@gmail.com
For starters, I'd like to say thank you all, to those who have supported this film, whether it be through your pledges of money to our Indiegogo, or just by reposting our updates, tweets, Instagram pics, and You Tube videos. The reason there's been such a stretch of time between updates is that we've been really busy shooting the movie, so I'd like to get this one going with a "first look" video of what's been going on behind the scenes.
Please, be sure to watch if from our You Tube channel, give it a thumbs up, leave a comment, and share it with your friends.
A lot has happened, since the last update. We sadly had to say goodby to the amazing Mike Gassaway, due to scheduling conflicts. No, this isn't one of those "difficult actors" situations where we got into a fist fight onset or something. (and I wouldn't be able to type this if it was. Mike is a marshal arts master.) Mike is a true professional, an amazing talent, and a joy to have onset. He's also in very high demand, and our low budget indie schedual means that he was often on other shoots when we were ready to roll. We both agreed it was in the best interest of the movie to recast his role. I fully intend to cast him in future films.
So, filling in the role of Detective Ritchie in a major way is non other than Val Mayerik.
Val is a long time veteran of the screen and stage, but makes his living nowadays as a graphic and comic book artist. You may also know him as the co-creator of Marvel's Howard The Duck. We just finished shooting with him and he did a beyond amazing job.
Val Mayerik with our leading lady, Kristin Cochell (and some color correction, before and after)
Here's a pic of Val with Indiegogo pledge reward holder Curry Parker, who took one of our product placement pledge reward levels.
Before that, we had a great time shooting two days worth of footage with Matt Blackwell, who plays Jacob Colt. Matt gives a chilling low key performance and has no problem handling any number of creepy, crawly, tentacled, practical effects horrors that we throw his way.
As you can see, Curry has been hanging out with us a lot, and we were also thrilled to have Matt's girlfriend, model Briana Dija Palacios come lend a hand, too.
On Saturday, we had a day of shooting with Jordan Michael Brinkman, who killed it with a big scene that we're choosing to keep under wraps until the film is released, if it's all the same to you.
Going farther back in time, here are a few photos from our earlier shoots.
Kristin Cochell and then Kristin Cochell with Paula Solinger
There's loads more I could talk about, but there's plenty of work to yet be done. I'll be posting more of these photos to our Facebook photo album, very soon.
It's just a non eventful, unedited clip, but we wanted you to see how we're using post production to bring our humble little sets to life. We've gotten a lot of footage shot so far, and while we take a break from filming over the holidays, we thought we'd start editing and adding VFX to what we have so far.
No, no! Not that. That's from Harbinger Down, but I thought I'd do a gag gif for studioADI while I was at it, because they've been so nice to our production, providing us with animatronic tentacles, and all. (I thought it was funny.)
"So, what's coming in the new year?" you ask! Well, I personally have been taking some art commissions to subsidies funding for the film, therefor we do have more money to continue shooting our next round of scenes. After that, I have an idea that I'd like to run by you. I'm thinking of bringing the Indiegogo to a close and doing one last Kickstarter for finishing funds.
...
...
Wait. Why would I want to do that, when I'm still able to collect funds from our successful Indiegogo? Well, the reason really comes down to public perception. I've been told by many people that at a glance, our campaign looks like a successfully funded one, that doesn't need or even isn't open to more contributions. Of course, if you spend a little time on our page or any of our social media, you can tell that neither of those things are the case, but I can't blame people for not spending more than a few seconds looking at what amounts to one in a sea of crowdfunding pages.
I think that a new Kickstarter campaign along with a brand new trailer (maybe even an "leaked" scene) with new footage and improved FX could be just the thing to generate new excitement for our movie. What do you think?
One final note before I go. I've been told by one of our contributors that the messages I've been sending them through Indiegogo's messenger service have not been reaching them. If you have pledged and not received a personal message from me, please accept my apologies and let me know by contacting me through thequantumterror (at) gmail (dot) com because I want you to be able to communicate with me at all times and know that I am grateful to each and every one of you.
So, from all of us to you, we want to say Merry Christmas, Happy (belated) Hanukkah, whatever else you might celebrate, and a happy new year.
Obviously, this isn't the only location we'll be shooting in, but
once you see the movie, you'll be amazed at just how big we can make
these little tunnels look, between trick photography, and miniatures.
We've also got some amazing behind the scenes video about our practical effects & storyboard work.
Our
other good news is that I've gotten some art commissions, which I'll be
putting most of the money from towards this film, which will take us
that much closer to the finish line. Yes, in case you missed it, I'm
also a working artist. Check out this sketch I did as a warm up, for one
of my upcoming works for a client.
Interested in commissioning your own drawing or painting? Interested
in our film investor options? Email me at thequantumterror@gmail.com
We're so near to having enough to complete this film. All of these
things can help. Also remember, if we reach our 6K stretch goal EVERYONE who has contributed to this project will get a free "Art Of The Quantum Terror" ebook that they can download.
Ah, the life
of an independent filmmaker is a many varied thing, boy does it keep me
busy. Aside from being the writer, director, and producer of The Quantum Terror, I'm also accountant, publicist, miniature FX department,
PR, head of fundraising, and a lot of other departments that you'd
never even think of. Sometimes that means things go a little slower than
they need to, but hang in there, because it's not as bad as it sounds. There
are definitely signs that we're on the right track and people are
taking notice. Once example is a wonderful visit we received from Harbinger Down director Alec Gillis, and the star of his film Camille Balsamo.
We were also really glad to welcome the Zombie Life Podcast crew to our set for a tour.
They had a really good time with us, and you should be seeing some video about it from them, really soon.
FlickSided.com has also published one of my earlier interview which I thought went rather well, which you can read by clicking HERE.
We've got more BTS video on the way and our next shoots are happening in the next weeks, so thank you everyone for hanging in there. We still need to keep raising those funds, so don't forget to tell your friends about http://igg.me/at/quantumterror
