This is going to be a bit of a "meet the cast & crew" post, so if that does not appeal at all, keep movin'
Well, we had a 5 hour production meeting today, with myself, Lesley, our actors Greg, Flynn (who is doubling as our lead makeup artist), and Luc; our cinematographer Amber, and our AD/script supervisor Bonnie. Missing but not forgotten were our grips, including Chris, our lead lighting guy, and our sound guy/boom mic operator.
Spectacularly successful, although some technical malfunctions means that we might not have photos, which is too bad. Our shot list is finally done, rehearsals were great, Luc is totally into being a product of the system. Greg's as-yet-unnamed character is going be be
badass. He's really getting into his character, right down to emulating body language and posture. And Flynn is just the hotness. Period. She's going to make a great program, and while she's never seen Tron of any kind, chose makeup exactly like Gem's for her character. Imagine Gem, but more obviously one of the bad guys, and a redheaded Aussie.
Also managed to get a test of Lesley's prosthetic makeup done today, although it wasn't quite as definitive as I'd hoped--we'll need to do another makeup test, with proper footage, on her between now and the shoot. The prosthetics I made for her were rush jobs, although they worked well enough for what they were. Not to mention I need makeup tests done on me as well. Even with a browner base skin tone than the others, I will still need some of the pink leeched out of it using makeup so that the glow effects work properly. You can see some glow artifacting on my fingertips in the effects test video; some white base will add the pallour that I need for the character and also prevent that from happening.
I tell ya, I am never doing a project without an AD ever again. Bonnie is just making my life. She's so on the ball, keeps us crazy artists (especially those of us who were partying until 4 AM the night before *sheepish cough*) on the straight and narrow. And she not only speaks the language of efficiency but manages to also communicate on an artistic level. Pure. Genius.
Amber works as a semi-professional cinematographer, which means that she brings a level of professionalism and technical ability to the production we otherwise wouldn't have had. Watching her manipulate the camera and set up shots is brilliant, and I can't wait to shoot so I can see her capture the stuff. She's never done so much green-screen work on one production, though, and has never had the benefit of someone who can do a decent matchmove, or a worked with a VFX artist who doesn't do CGI sets like a half-baked Photoshop job, so she and I are butting heads occasionally on just how dynamic some shots can be. Fortunately, I think we've come to an understanding on it and the shot list and storyboards are really reflecting how we're starting to communicate.
I spent part of the day taking measurements and doing preliminary costume fittings. They were all champs about being groped by a dude with a measuring tape, and their full helmets have been built up in skeletal form awaiting their finish. The rest of the costumes are now coming along nicely, and Flynn's costume has taken on a small degree of complexity that makes it more visually interesting on its own rather than just being interesting because it's on her.
There'll be more on the blog later, but that's what we're up to for now
Oh, and by the way:
June 18 is our confirmed shoot date. If you're interested, I tweet a fair bit about the project and will undoubtedly be live-tweeting the shoot on the day of, so you can follow me at @trevor_ccw.