I'm Attempting To Make A TV Series
Discussion
Morning All,
Seeing as Sky has ruined the opportunity of watching any F1 before 2pm I figured I'd come on here and tell you of my plight to write and produce a TV series... especially as the inspiration for it started on this site.
About 12 months ago in the 'Youtube' section somebody posted a link to this http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eELH0ivexKA - Professor Elemental 'Cup of Brown Joy', I haven't written any comedy or anything for about 3 years prior to that but that character inspired me, so I tracked down Mr Elemental and we agreed that we would shoot a pilot.
The show is called The Chronicles of Professor Elemental and is a comedy which tips it's hat (Or pith helmet) to Sherlock Holmes/Doctor Who but has a resemblence to Flight of The Conchords in terms of layout. We're making 3x10min Episodes which we can use as a 30 minute Pilot to show to prospective broadcasters and commissioners. As with all projects we've created a Faecesbook Page https://www.facebook.com/TheChroniclesOfProfessorE... where we're uploading pictures and competitions etc. Thinking about it I've not uploaded any pictures there but I'm sure one day I will do...
The pilot is being fan funded (as he has quite a few) and I'm amazed to say we've raised over £6000 in just over 2 weeks. Whilst I am the first to agree that £6k is not a huge budget for a TV Pilot it's a damn sight more than I was expecting! If you fancied donating the plight have a search for Crowdfunder on Google and you'll find us on there, not linking to it as that's not the reason for the post.
So we start shooting on the 26th April in Brighton and we're trying to get it all done in a week - including a fairly Epic battle sequence. If you fancy helping in anyway feel free to get in touch, we're doing an awful lot of this on the good will of others! Actually, It has genuinely just occured to me I do need an exotic looking 'British' car to shoot with - if anyone has one going spare that they'd like to donate for a day
Anyway, I'll keep you updated and tell myself that you're all really really interested...
Seeing as Sky has ruined the opportunity of watching any F1 before 2pm I figured I'd come on here and tell you of my plight to write and produce a TV series... especially as the inspiration for it started on this site.
About 12 months ago in the 'Youtube' section somebody posted a link to this http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eELH0ivexKA - Professor Elemental 'Cup of Brown Joy', I haven't written any comedy or anything for about 3 years prior to that but that character inspired me, so I tracked down Mr Elemental and we agreed that we would shoot a pilot.
The show is called The Chronicles of Professor Elemental and is a comedy which tips it's hat (Or pith helmet) to Sherlock Holmes/Doctor Who but has a resemblence to Flight of The Conchords in terms of layout. We're making 3x10min Episodes which we can use as a 30 minute Pilot to show to prospective broadcasters and commissioners. As with all projects we've created a Faecesbook Page https://www.facebook.com/TheChroniclesOfProfessorE... where we're uploading pictures and competitions etc. Thinking about it I've not uploaded any pictures there but I'm sure one day I will do...
The pilot is being fan funded (as he has quite a few) and I'm amazed to say we've raised over £6000 in just over 2 weeks. Whilst I am the first to agree that £6k is not a huge budget for a TV Pilot it's a damn sight more than I was expecting! If you fancied donating the plight have a search for Crowdfunder on Google and you'll find us on there, not linking to it as that's not the reason for the post.
So we start shooting on the 26th April in Brighton and we're trying to get it all done in a week - including a fairly Epic battle sequence. If you fancy helping in anyway feel free to get in touch, we're doing an awful lot of this on the good will of others! Actually, It has genuinely just occured to me I do need an exotic looking 'British' car to shoot with - if anyone has one going spare that they'd like to donate for a day
Anyway, I'll keep you updated and tell myself that you're all really really interested...
Oh brilliant, thanks chaps - In terms of helps etc to be honest I'm actually short on the catering side of things (Breakfast & Lunch for Cast and crew for a week - probably about 25 people per day - we can cover cost of products, we need someone to actually come and make it!) and also reprographics. Our Crowdfunder page says that people who donate will get signed copies of scripts and CDs etc. I think so far I've got 90 scripts to send out at least. The script is about 45 pages, not going to be all that cheap if I do it myself! It also probably needs to be packaged nicely etc.
Simpo - TVR would be bloody spot on if we could arrange it!?
Simpo - TVR would be bloody spot on if we could arrange it!?
johnfm said:
Re: catering.
If on a budget, you should be on the black. Short film producers are brillinat at this sort of thing. PGTips and places like that will give you tea/coffee supplies if you write to them. Try writing to Pret or Greggs or similar to get some free food. It all adds up.
Though the biggest costs will probably be kit (lighting & sound) and post production - though it depends how you shoot and cut it. Given current camera tech, you need to probably spend more effort on sound recording than lighting tbh. Sound is always the thing that gives away a low budget production.
Good luck!
RE: The PG tips etc I would think that's a very good idea, getting the time to organise it all is the tricksy bit! I'm getting through most of it but will certainly take you up on those ideas. If on a budget, you should be on the black. Short film producers are brillinat at this sort of thing. PGTips and places like that will give you tea/coffee supplies if you write to them. Try writing to Pret or Greggs or similar to get some free food. It all adds up.
Though the biggest costs will probably be kit (lighting & sound) and post production - though it depends how you shoot and cut it. Given current camera tech, you need to probably spend more effort on sound recording than lighting tbh. Sound is always the thing that gives away a low budget production.
Good luck!
Regarding sound - you are spot on, it's the bit that is always a major give away, but so tricky to find a decent sound op, especially one to work on pilots/low budget stuff.
We've got all the kit we want for next to nothing - shooting on EX1s, recording on to a Samurai to get the MBps up to a broadcast standard, as we have had some interest to run the pilot. The olny bit of kit that I'd love to have but haven't managed yet is a Jib and a jib operator. The production values just look so much better with stuff like that. Fortunately I've got an Orbit dolly so that will stack things up a bit.
Hopefully should have all the locations sorted fairly soon aswell, not that they are proving to be that cheap!
Hit a bit of a snag today that generated this post a couple of minutes ago http://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&a...
Due to a mix up on an email all the locations we had selected are now not affordable and with 4 weeks til we begin to shoot I'm a little bit nervous...
Due to a mix up on an email all the locations we had selected are now not affordable and with 4 weeks til we begin to shoot I'm a little bit nervous...
andrewrob said:
What's the budget for the locations? If nothing I know of one free country mansion that gets used a lot for filming but it doesn't have a roof.
We've got a total budget of about a grand if the locations don't require massive amounts of set dressing. Where's the mansion with no roof??parakitaMol. said:
Have you got enough material to submit a short film entry to this?: http://www.youtube.com/user/yourfilmfestival
Only 2 days left though
Would have loved to but I think it may be a bit short notice I'm afriad. Only 2 days left though
The house with no roof is lovely, but unfortunately I need to do internal shots aswell and they would require an awful lot of dressing - but lovely looking building.
Just wanted to come on and say thanks to all of you who got in touch to help me out. There is a couple of really strong possibilities. Simpo, I know I owe you an email - sorry the weekend has escaped me a little and I need to hear back from a venue on Monday who may be able to offer me all the location I need within about 3 minutes of each other. if that comes to nothing then I will jump immediately on the search for individual locations. Fingers crossed!
One peculiar twist to the last few days is that we may *possibly* have Mitch Benn (The Now Show - Radio 4) guest starring, which would be nice. I'll let you know how it goes.
Hope you're all enjoying your weekends!
Afternoon All!
We believe the Location crisis is over, though it hasn't been 100% confirmed, we have been offered Sponsorship by the National Trust to the tune of 3 NT sites. I won't name them just yet but I can say they are bloomin' marvellous. So thank you to all the people who got involved to help me out, amazing effort thanks!
Unfortunately Simpo's wonderful offer of lending us his rather lovely TVR has fallen through as we are filming on a day that he has pressing commitments so if anyone can think of anywhere we could 'borrow' (For Petrol Money) a lovely 'British' car that would befit a colonial eccentric (The Character - Not Me) I would definitely appreciate an email.
In other news we have had quite a good week, one of the Ex-Head of Props on Doctor Who has agreed to make a large proportion of the more peculiar requirements we need (His site is here if you want to have a gander http://web.me.com/markcordory/Site/Welcome.html) with the remainder being donated by an Independant Steampunk shop called 'The Hab' - (http://www.facebook.com/The.Haberdash) really amazed by the support and reaction this project is getting, really incredible.
Anyway, back soon and thanks!
We believe the Location crisis is over, though it hasn't been 100% confirmed, we have been offered Sponsorship by the National Trust to the tune of 3 NT sites. I won't name them just yet but I can say they are bloomin' marvellous. So thank you to all the people who got involved to help me out, amazing effort thanks!
Unfortunately Simpo's wonderful offer of lending us his rather lovely TVR has fallen through as we are filming on a day that he has pressing commitments so if anyone can think of anywhere we could 'borrow' (For Petrol Money) a lovely 'British' car that would befit a colonial eccentric (The Character - Not Me) I would definitely appreciate an email.
In other news we have had quite a good week, one of the Ex-Head of Props on Doctor Who has agreed to make a large proportion of the more peculiar requirements we need (His site is here if you want to have a gander http://web.me.com/markcordory/Site/Welcome.html) with the remainder being donated by an Independant Steampunk shop called 'The Hab' - (http://www.facebook.com/The.Haberdash) really amazed by the support and reaction this project is getting, really incredible.
Anyway, back soon and thanks!
Zad said:
All I can say is - Splendid! Professor Elemental deserves to be seen by a wider audience and this sounds absolutely perfect. Even better to have a PHer behind it. I wonder if Garlick might be persuaded to lend you his Chim, in return for doing a blog post.
Ah thank you - very kind of you! It's starting to really come together now - the props are being made by the Ex Head of Doctor Who (Not sure if I mentioned that before) A couple of Pictures attached, (work in progress) Our 'Kontaktatronic Headset'
&
The Statue of The Golden Frog - With 'Needle of Destiny'
4sure said:
Erm.....The needle of destiny looks like a pen of the ballpoint variety.
I keep hearing Mr Jonn McEnroe in my head , is he correct ?
Ha! The Needle of Destiny is unfinished and so would probably be more accurately described as 'The Needle of... errrm... oooh... where did I put my can of spray paint'I keep hearing Mr Jonn McEnroe in my head , is he correct ?
Edited by 4sure on Saturday 7th April 01:03
As for hearing John McEnroe in your head... there are too many obvious jokes to go with but the main point of them all being I have not one clue what you mean? If you could post again explaining it to me (it is Saturday Morning after all...) - sorry if I'm being slow.
I'm hoping it becomes a funny little series to be honest, as there's quite a lot riding on it for me. I direct a lot of tv in Spain but nothing in the UK and this is meant to be a crossover piece for me. In the meantime I'm trying not to think about what it may mean in the longer term and just enjoy working on what is proving out to be a very interesting project.
I didn't post that link up to Youtube because it is all about raising money for the project, which I didn't want people to get the wrong impression about the thread.
However, now it's up you may also be interested to see the behind the scenes one we did, where you can tell a little easier that it was -2 when Paul when in the sea and in fact snowing...
www.youtube.com/watch?v=DHX1rmk9t_s
I didn't post that link up to Youtube because it is all about raising money for the project, which I didn't want people to get the wrong impression about the thread.
However, now it's up you may also be interested to see the behind the scenes one we did, where you can tell a little easier that it was -2 when Paul when in the sea and in fact snowing...
www.youtube.com/watch?v=DHX1rmk9t_s
Ah thank you!
Yes we did get our funding target and more! A fantastic response! So ester day we filmed a short thank you -http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=BvKYvwjKqDo
Today we shot our first scene, featuring a guy from Ohio. And when I say 'from' I really do mean it. He set up a green screen studio in his living room and I directed it remotely from our rehearsal venue in East Dulwich, really bizarre way of doing it! We have shot some video of how we set it all up, but we're leaving that o the 'making of' extras...
Yes we did get our funding target and more! A fantastic response! So ester day we filmed a short thank you -http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=BvKYvwjKqDo
Today we shot our first scene, featuring a guy from Ohio. And when I say 'from' I really do mean it. He set up a green screen studio in his living room and I directed it remotely from our rehearsal venue in East Dulwich, really bizarre way of doing it! We have shot some video of how we set it all up, but we're leaving that o the 'making of' extras...
So I have finally returned home after having been away for about a month, my wife remarkably still recognises me!
So the shoot has been and gone and the edit has begun.
It was a bloomin' manic week of filming but I have to say it was incredible.
As some of you may have gathered from other posts we lost our locations about 2 weeks before cameras were due to start rolling, this caused us all sorts of problems. Fortunately the National Trust came to our rescue through the guise of an Events Manager at Petworth House, the largest NT property in the UK. Ian Pearce and his team there are just incredible and if you ever get the chance to have a look around it is well worth a visit. Considering the locations I needed to film I thought we would have to find at least 3 separate properties to shoot, but such is the diversity of Petworth House we could film it all on site! Bloody incredible! The place is remarkable and I implore you to pay them a visit.
The weather was always going to play a part in our week but somehow when we needed it to be dry it became dry! We were, by and large, very lucky!
People who don't work in the industry always assume that Film crews have an easy life, I assure you it isn't and I want to show a huge amount of gratitude and appreciation to anyone who worked as part of my team on Chronicles. The hours were long and they worked for 7 days straight with no breaks or complaining.
One of the guys who came on set with us for a day wrote a blog about his experiences, it actually gives a really succinct insight as to what it's like working on a film set - have a gander here - http://eddsnotdead.blogspot.co.uk/2012/05/elementa...
I have started a rough edit of it all now before handing it over to a proper editor so we can begin properly working on the post production. Hopefully all shall be ready by August - that's the plan at least.
Below are some production stills that I took along the way - in case some of you are interested. I'll keep you updated as we go.
So the shoot has been and gone and the edit has begun.
It was a bloomin' manic week of filming but I have to say it was incredible.
As some of you may have gathered from other posts we lost our locations about 2 weeks before cameras were due to start rolling, this caused us all sorts of problems. Fortunately the National Trust came to our rescue through the guise of an Events Manager at Petworth House, the largest NT property in the UK. Ian Pearce and his team there are just incredible and if you ever get the chance to have a look around it is well worth a visit. Considering the locations I needed to film I thought we would have to find at least 3 separate properties to shoot, but such is the diversity of Petworth House we could film it all on site! Bloody incredible! The place is remarkable and I implore you to pay them a visit.
The weather was always going to play a part in our week but somehow when we needed it to be dry it became dry! We were, by and large, very lucky!
People who don't work in the industry always assume that Film crews have an easy life, I assure you it isn't and I want to show a huge amount of gratitude and appreciation to anyone who worked as part of my team on Chronicles. The hours were long and they worked for 7 days straight with no breaks or complaining.
One of the guys who came on set with us for a day wrote a blog about his experiences, it actually gives a really succinct insight as to what it's like working on a film set - have a gander here - http://eddsnotdead.blogspot.co.uk/2012/05/elementa...
I have started a rough edit of it all now before handing it over to a proper editor so we can begin properly working on the post production. Hopefully all shall be ready by August - that's the plan at least.
Below are some production stills that I took along the way - in case some of you are interested. I'll keep you updated as we go.
We shot on the Sony NEX FS100 - wonderful camera if mounted on sticks but a pain in the backside if you're trying to do it all handheld, there's no servo zoom so everything is a fiddly as can be. Having said that the images that come out of it are incredible! Very filmic, some of the fight sequences we shot in the underground tunnels are quite frankly epic, all credit to our D.O.P and Camera Op for those!
So, a little update then...
The last couple of weeks have proven to be quite busy on the work front, somehow I seem to be writing a speech at the moment for a President of a large country that isnt America, not sure how that came about but still, it seems to have slowed down work on Chronicles... There are other things that have slowed down progress too. Namely, Final Cut Pro X. Billed as the future of editing software it is to editing what K series engines are to the future of Formula 1. Countless people will argue this point but and I will agree that is has it's plus points, it's quite quick etc but if you ever need to share the project with anyone else you'd have more succes asking Vanessa Feltz for Healthy Eating advice... I know because I started working in this program and was forced by everyone else I was working with to do it all over again in a different version of the same program! It's fine... Not annoying at all...
But anywho I am now moving on to the rough edit of Episode 3. Episode 1 left me feeling a little lost if I'm honest, as while I know I'm only doing a rough edit - there is a lot of post production work to be done on Ep1 - so upon finishing it on my end it looked a little way off what I'd hoped for. Episode 2 on the other hand is a different matter. I've literally just finished and watched it back with my wife she actually laughed! Possibly more than once, but it was probably wind the third time.... Joking aside a lot of the gags work, the look of the thing is good and I can see where the improvements need to be made. We've also got a cracking love song in ep2 entitled - 'You Remind Me of a Car', DB9Mark knows all about that!
So I can move into the next week feeling quite positive! I'm actually looking forward to editing ep3. I'll try to upload some screen grabs as I go!
The last couple of weeks have proven to be quite busy on the work front, somehow I seem to be writing a speech at the moment for a President of a large country that isnt America, not sure how that came about but still, it seems to have slowed down work on Chronicles... There are other things that have slowed down progress too. Namely, Final Cut Pro X. Billed as the future of editing software it is to editing what K series engines are to the future of Formula 1. Countless people will argue this point but and I will agree that is has it's plus points, it's quite quick etc but if you ever need to share the project with anyone else you'd have more succes asking Vanessa Feltz for Healthy Eating advice... I know because I started working in this program and was forced by everyone else I was working with to do it all over again in a different version of the same program! It's fine... Not annoying at all...
But anywho I am now moving on to the rough edit of Episode 3. Episode 1 left me feeling a little lost if I'm honest, as while I know I'm only doing a rough edit - there is a lot of post production work to be done on Ep1 - so upon finishing it on my end it looked a little way off what I'd hoped for. Episode 2 on the other hand is a different matter. I've literally just finished and watched it back with my wife she actually laughed! Possibly more than once, but it was probably wind the third time.... Joking aside a lot of the gags work, the look of the thing is good and I can see where the improvements need to be made. We've also got a cracking love song in ep2 entitled - 'You Remind Me of a Car', DB9Mark knows all about that!
So I can move into the next week feeling quite positive! I'm actually looking forward to editing ep3. I'll try to upload some screen grabs as I go!
Morning all!
Just a quick one to say that our teaser trailer gas just gone live if you fancy a gander...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sjFx6ldryJQ
It's starting to feel real...
Just a quick one to say that our teaser trailer gas just gone live if you fancy a gander...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sjFx6ldryJQ
It's starting to feel real...
Thanks guys, very kind of you! Gloriously eccentric is probably the best phrase I've heard about this project so far! It's fair to say it does get a bit bizarre at times - especially the Love Song... "You Remind Me Of A Car".
Premiere Vs FCP - FCP is my choice only because of the speed of the Mac Ive got it on - though I have now downgraded to FCP 7 and done away with X
Premiere Vs FCP - FCP is my choice only because of the speed of the Mac Ive got it on - though I have now downgraded to FCP 7 and done away with X
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