Friday, July 27, 2007

Heartbreak of the Argos

Wow, I am super excited about the sci-fi film we all are working on called Heart of the Argos! But we have run into some problems... We've been wiring in all the fluorescent bulbs and other tiny lights we are using to light the space ship and the set has really been coming to life! Here are a few pictures.


Peter's eye light while in the cockpit... looks good any way the characters turn!




Peter in the cockpit area.




Amazing art in the cockpit.




Cool cables in the hallway.




Spenser working on the mechanic's bay through the door.




Spenser and Matt working in the mechanic's bay.




Dillon's eye light from the lights in the mechanic's bay.




The layers of the mechanic's bay.


The set looks amazing, I am super proud of all of us for being able to fit all of this in such a small space. I got chills when we realized that we were actually going to have camera moves and shots that litteraly match the concept art drawn by Spenser and Matt from months ago!

The only hard part is that with the amount of light we are dealing with and the small space, we have discovered that the nice new camera that we want is now more of the camera that we need. See, besides it being the perfect size and weight for Spenser to hand hold it through our tiny set(and he'll be hand holding it a lot, the new lenses for this camera will enable us to not have to bring the light level up(which would destroy the lighting ratios we've already established) and we risk what we call "shooting blind" because of the view finder systems in the older cameras(we won't be able to catch the boom mic or even the top of the set if it is in frame because the light level is so low... but it will show up on film!)

But we are so close to getting the money for this camera that we're willing to make sacrafices...

So Spenser and Matt and I talked about all the ways we could shift around funds to find $2,000 more dollars to ensure we get this camera and lenses. What we decided on was we would pull the money from the food budgit(which I know Sam is against) but we'll just have to find a way to get free meals.

So if anyone out there has any ideas on where to get free meals(my parents have generously agreed to BBQ for us one night and Spenser's mom is making us one or two meals) please email me:
pmatarrese@gmail.com

Here is a little taste of how the ship will look in an example of what is basically the opening shot of the film:


PhillM tip-of-the-day:
Always wrap any spiced wire(where you join two wires together) with electrical tape. Also, try and use wire buts whenever possible, they are easier, faster and safer.

1 comment:

taimdala said...

Hello, Phil!

I found your blog site whike browsing Google Image Search (for a mechanic's dolly) and your shots of the mechanics bay came up. The pics looked so intriguing I had to take a closer look and whoa! I thought: Movie set. Fan made. Original fandom. What's the story?

So here I am, a Firefly geek looking to find out more about this project of yours. Are you making your own film? Or is this for another filmaker?

The quality of your work is just jaw-dropping. I hope you finish this set and the movie, and when you do, will you announce it online so we can purchase a copy? ^_^