(1st Post) Lots of pieces coming together quickly now.
Welcome to the website for Crossing Darkness - Since this is the first post, it needs some kind of welcome blurb: We'll be using this website and blog to post updates to the production and other aspects of the project as it evolves and develops. And since this post is already gonna be long, I'm just gonna jump right in:
So over the last couple months we've been seriously prepping for the this next stage of development.
In late April, I went out to the NAB convention in Las Vegas, and saw a bunch of cool gear, some of which I hope to use on this project at some point. But, while on the plane I drafted a short piece based on an earlier conversation... let me back up a bit:
In March and April we'd been talking about things we need to do as we prep our pitch and get ready for crowdfunding. We as a group decided that we needed a piece that we could shoot for zero money, and give us the opportunity to play with the storytelling style, while we still have time to make any changes, if we realize we need to after seeing something shot in format we're planning. (Through the eyes of the ship's AI with narrative asides shot in a more cinematic way)
So anyway, I was on the plane that late April evening and this idea just came to me, I pulled out my ipad and drafted the first copy of this script between Houston and Oklahoma (where I had a stopover and could jump back on internet briefly enough to send a PDF) - shot the file back to Houston and continued on to Las Vegas.
As a group we all loved the script, and we set to work on polishing it. Clinton, Robert and I bounced drafts back and forth, refining it until we got the copy of the script we've got today, that we're shooting next week, something between a proof of concept and a camera test. More on that in the weeks to come.
Recently, I've also drafted the overlay for the ship's AI, HR/LE, which will mostly remain under wraps until we have a proof of concept video we're happy with sharing, but we all love the ring I made using Video Copilot's "Saber" plug-in that we decided that HR/LE needed to be our profile picture for social media. And using VC's element 3D, I've got a working draft of the title animation.
Robert meanwhile has been collaborating with a friend of his in New York to come up with a musical theme for the show. Again, that'll stay under wraps for a little while (at least until we release our teaser trailer!) but I have to say, its really cool and I got really excited hearing it alongside the animation I was working on.
Clinton has been working on props and set pieces, we've got a model of the mars lander (check out the work in progress shot on our instagram!) that we'll be using for the astronaut portraits we'll be shooting of our lead cast members (and it'll probably see some other use beyond that). As well as working on the beginnings of the actual ship set with what resources we have available now. Expect to hear about that more from him.
And Cheramie has been helping keep us all on task, while also getting costume pieces together. We've been posting snippets of those coming together this week as well.
All in all its a very exciting time for all of us, and we're very excited to start bringing this project to life, we hope you'll be as excited to see it as we are to make it.
Don't forget to follow us on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram for more regular updates to the project:
Crossing Darkness on facebook: www.facebook.com/XingDarkness
on Twitter: @XingDarkness
on Instagram: @CrossingDarkness
Thomas Meek on Twitter and Intsagram: @tomameek
