As the title states we started Monday morning with nothing booked in this week which means we haven’t stopped since then. First order of the week was get our First Assistant Director sorted, then locations, then insurance. Things mostly went to plan.
Firstly
Monday marks three weeks to go before filming and it’s all systems go. I’ll be getting the last bits of everything sorted this week. However each week we will add a new desktop wallpaper, and we will try to offer something special each week to, if we can think of something. Read on for next weeks offerings.
The First AD
Well we contacted a few people over the last few months, and most of them had other things they were doing, it’s a shame as they were all good people who would have been perfect for the role. Then we remembered Lucy a recent producing graduate who is a good people person on set and she gets the job done, which is the most important thing for a First AD. Anyway she is going to run through the schedule and double check everything we have sorted, it looks good so far so the changes won’t be big. So I’ll be sending out mails to all the Set Visit winners confirming their days and times, so expect something soon.
Locations
We have running negotiations with most of our locations now, our main one is confident they will be able to come in under our location budget giving us something to play with for the other locations were still locking down. The guy we spoke to at the Coal Exchange is an ex-actor and worked in the creative industry struggling to get things going so he knows exactly where we are coming from and is confident everything will be good.
The Senedd is also fairly sure what we want to do will be possible. This is good news we should have this sorted out by the end of next week. The people we spoke to cannot foresee a problem in final approval but still need a few fingers crossed.
Insurance
Spoke to several insurance companies now waiting for them to get quotes back to me. This should be reasonable as were a low budget production we estimated about £1,000 for insurance, and it looks like it will be just over half that. So the remaining money will be shunted to art, food for the cast & crew and the wrap party.
Lighting / Gaffer
The chap we were in negotiations with dropped a bombshell on us this week and he wanted far more than we could afford. If we had the cash that wouldn’t be a problem, but as it stands we don’t. So were looking at another chap tomorrow, well not looking at him, meeting with him and sharing our interest in good ale. So now were going Guerrilla on the lighting using practical’s and what lights we can buy, borrow and hire.
Art Department
They’re coming along nicely; we are going around the prop houses in the coming week and making bookings for what we need. The other good news is the Art Department is coming together with enough assistants and people onboard now. The props maker is happy to cannibalise his workshop and most of the building if he can get away with it, he says we will only have to buy the paint. BARGAIN!
Costume
We have most of the mock-ups now, and things are looking good. We had a fitting for Cromwell Jackson suit and it looks fantastic. I might be able to get a sneak peak at a part of it, I don’t want to give it all away, we had a bonus here as Neil has a nice pair of Italian handmade shoes that work so well with the suit. Also when the film is out there look at the shoes and watches, Zoe spent a lot of time on those.
Music
Well I have the final version of the theme song, and have spent most of the time I can listening to it. It’s good, catchy and has a timeless quality to it. I’ll spend a few more days listening to it, so far it hasn’t annoyed me even though I have had it on repeat, this is a good thing. A good rule of thumb for key themes, is they have to be catchy, timeless and not annoying. This hits all of those perfectly, so thanks to Nina Barnfather and S. J. Tucker for their hard work if it wasn’t for them we wouldn’t have such a fantastic song. If by Monday were still humming it and loving it we will get it on the store.
Festivals and Conventions
We’re planning a lot of them, and will get details up and ways people can help out, from flyering, crash space and helping out at the festivals. Berlin film festival is happening at the moment and if everything goes to plan, as most of it has done we will be in Berlin 2 years from now as the last Festival on our circuit. We’re aiming for this year to do Wales Comic-Con, Fed Con and will have a presence at Supernova, so keep your eyes peeled.
Well it’s been another hectic week in the Casimir Effect production hole, and this week is shaping up to be nonstop. I have insurance to get sorted, eBay auctions and locations and crew to start finalising.
Cromwell Jackson suit has arrived, the much awaited Valentino Milan suit, all I can say it it’s very nice all of the costume department were there to open it and see. It was like a birthday. All I can say is Cromwell Jackson will look damn good, and hopefully in the next week or so we will have some pictures of Neil in costume.
The meeting with the Cinematographer went well we got through most of the script and rough out some shots and scenes. Visited some of the locations again and got some more shots of Mir Steel and the Coal Exchange.
It’s all coming together now, we have our schedule it’s still a work in progress but we have a week to get everything firmed up more before I let it loose for the crew to tear to bits. Most of it is location dependant, followed by makeup needs. Because we don’t have a massive budget we need to priorities the schedule to low cost and minimise lighting setups, so we may have to suffer some grumpy crew one day to shave an hour off filming, I’m sure they won’t mind as they can get to bed earlier (I’ll provide good ketchup for them).
The Senedd in Cardiff might be Cromwell Jackson office, if we can arrange it for the day we need. However as it is a public place we will need to ensure people are safe and we don’t cause a hindrance.
The Save Ianto Jones community has raised £435 in the Valentines campaign, we would like to thank them for their help and anyone who has donated. This money will help greatly in reaching our goals. It looking like we will hit our budget, however it would be fantastic if we went over it as this would make our lives a bit easier during filming.
Interviews
We have two interviews we are working on at the moment, these should be out soon and I will let everyone know which magazines and journals we are in. It’s good to see that there is some international and industry based interest in what we are doing and as We always say were open for any interviews or questions.
After Filming
It’s been pretty much decided we have 2 months post filming to sell off all the props, costumes and set dressing we can, these will come with a certificate of authenticity. This should cover expenses and any outstanding invoices, and start out marketing and festivals fund. So get ready for April and pick up a costume, prop or set piece.
Any wish list items bought for the film will be posted back to the buyer with a certificate of authenticity, unless the buyer wants us to auction off the items for the festivals fund. So if there is anything on the wishlist you want and don’t mind us using it a great chance to support the film.
Our Amazon Wishlist, for anyone who wants to get us some props or other things. However it seems to not work for market place items, so if there is something and it won’t ship to Casimir Productions. Feel free to paypal us the money with instruction of what you want to buy for Casimir Effect.
It’s been a busy day, not to stressful. Mostly going back and forth getting things arranged and moved. Most of today was taken up with arranging and signing for a storage area. Now we have one it’s all coming together. It’s going to cost us £90 a month compared to some places wanting to charge over £800 a month. At least when the wish list stuff starts to arrive we have somewhere to store it.
I got exited today I thought another major costume had arrived, but when I picked it up it was the acceptance letters from Algonquin College in Ottawa. Well at least we have our Screenwriting post-grad places secured, we may have to defer entrance for a year.
Our costume department is just about solidified now, and our art department is growing we have about 20 student from the Atrium, who are willing to do anything to help out. And we have a few professionals that want to come on board to help out where they can.
We have been offer a slot to talk about the film in a Masterclass about using old buildings and new ways of film funding. This will be held a week after filming in Cardiff’s Coal Exchange (our main location), they want us to keep some of our sets up so they can look around them. The main gist of the Masterclass, is the re-purposing of old and derelict buildings, and how we have used crowd funding and the way in which everyone has come together to help make Casimir Effect.
We have done a stock take so hopefully by the end of today we will have everything up on the site this means we will have a lot stuff we can get out to people fast.
Also we have pretty much decided that in the next few weeks each department will have an account on the site so they can update and post out what they are up to. Also they will be able to tweet stuff for you to. As were hoping you will keep following closely as we build up to filming and keep track of each days set reports.
Wishlist
We have also created an Amazon Wishlist, for anyone who wants to get us some props or other things. However it seems to not work for market place items, so if there is something and it won’t ship to Casimir Productions. Feel free to paypal us the money with instruction of what you want to buy for Casimir Effect.
Anything bought direct for the film will be offered to whoever has purchased it for us, once we have done with it, or auctioned on request. We will create certificates of authenticity for each item.
Well it’s been a few weeks since our last update, and a busy few weeks it’s been, I haven’t had time to do anything much. This weekend was the first time I had a few evenings off. So I’ll put a lot of things in this post to get you back up to speed with where we are at the moment.
The Clobber
Our costume department is and running, we should have photos soon of the costumes as we get them done we get our publicity shots for each character. I have added them to the gallery for costumes. The Major’s uniform is now complete and I’m heading out tomorrow to collect Cromwell Jackson’s costume. As these will probably be the first to be complete expect them to be some of the first shots on the site.
Art Department
Our art department is coming together we have found just about everyone we need locally, and will be working with the University of Glamorgan’s Production Design course offering some of the students a chance to get there first professional credit.
We have also started to put our props together and building and painting many of the smaller items. I’ll get some pictures together in the coming week so you can see what we have been up to, also thanks to those who have bought some items for us. Anything that is bought for us will be sent back to the buyer after the film with a certificate of authenticity, or auctioned off if requested to raise funds for marketing.
Locations
We have our bay location sorted and signed up, also the steel works is all signed up so that’s 2 down. We are currently looking at Cardiff Coal Exchange as our major location, were now to the point where we need to get a price sorted and book it with them. They seem quite happy to have us go wild and get what we want, so hopefully they can be good for a price, as we will hold our marketing fundraiser there with a special preview of some of the scenes. I’m going to have a word with them about costs for getting local bands in to see if I can get a discount.
There are a few photos of the Coal Exchange and Atrium in the gallery, were still working with the Atrium but as were using most of their students as our art department we should get a good deal.
Fundraising
Everything is going well on the fund raising angle at the moment; I haven’t had time to do the accounts, so the total is a little out of date. A rough estimate we expect we’re well on our way to £8000. I’ll get to the accounts on Monday and update the fundraising section.
Also the #barrowpants campaign is going well. Yes these are John Barrowman’s boxershorts, yes really, the one he wore for his number on Children in Need. The original winner has kindly donated them to help raise funds. They are on eBay now and ready for your bidding.
We have also created an Amazon Wishlist, for anyone who wants to get us some props or other things. However it seems to not work for market place items, so if there is something and it won’t ship to Casimir Productions. Feel free to paypal us the money with instruction of what you want to buy for Casimir Effect.
Anything bought direct for the film will be offered to whoever has purchased it for us, once we have done with it, or auctioned on request. We will create certificates of authenticity for each item.
We have the support of Torchwood Australia who are doing a but around there group to help out, we thank you for your help and hope to make it over there one day fr a film festival. And Save Ianto Jones have put one of there fundrasing planing into full swing, for the few weeks over Valentines Day. It good to see that Gareth’s fanbase is coming together and and showing there support. It’s going to be a fun an exciting ride over the next few months and we hope that we can give something back to those who are supporting us. With set photo’s regular blog updates during filming and post-production.
SFX Weekender
What we got up to this weekend, well…
We met many new faces and found we had sent them stuff, it’s nice to put a face to a name. Thanks to all those that came over to our chalet and wasted much of the night chatting about life the universe and everything; big hugs to you all. We spent most of our time at in the signing area selling our wares and handing out flyers and generally saying hi a lot.
Well we arrived Friday evening with the #barrowpants, and had a few people coming knocking just to see them. I think it was around midnight we heard Sarah, Tess, Giorgia, and someone whose name escapes me (comment here so I can make a mental note) and dragged them in. I think we had Carol-Anne and Fee turn up at one point and a number of other people who came to say hi and have their photo taken with the #barrowpants.
The next day was not so much hectic, but we wish we had a bit more of an idea of the structure of the day. Sitting behind a table selling is harder than you think. We did well though and the remaining stock will be added to the website in the next few days along with a new print of Dr. Bob from Eloise Moffat. I overheard a lot of Cosplay people talking about Dr. Bob’s outfit, Well hopefully we will be getting the Dr. Bob publicity shots up soon. If anyone wants outfit tips we can do a breakdown of each costume and where we got each part from and what was created for the film. It would be good to see a lot of Casimir Effect Cosplay at future events.
The awards were interesting and fun, Robert Rankin made it and the random Tennant Cosplayer made the show. After that it was back to the chalet, were we had more people come over for a natter and a few drinks. Nicki, Fee, Carol-Anne and a few others turned up to escape the music of Pat Sharpe, and Neil Buchannan.
The weekend had its problems but they were all managed well and for the first event it went very well and I hope next year is better. At the moment were hoping to be there next year, with a few exclusive clips from the film, lots of Merch, costumes and props. Hey if they want us to do a talk about how we did it then were up for it. So start poking SFX to get us up there on the stage, this also might mean we can get the cast there if they have no work commitments. If we can get something off the ground, we will sponsor an outside party, something low key no loud music, a row of BBQs, marquee and heaters and hopefully a good time for anyone who wants to have the Saturday night chilling and chatting about sci-fi. So let’s start looking at putting together an outside BBQ event and chill out zone. Either way we plan on having a massive chalet party in one of the areas.
Anyway it was a good weekend and we wish we had more time to drink, sleep and party.
As the title states we started Monday morning with nothing booked in this week which means we haven’t stopped since then. First order of the week was get our First Assistant Director sorted, then locations, then insurance. Things mostly went to plan. Firstly Monday marks three weeks to go before filming and it’s all systems go. I’ll be getting the last bits of everything sorted this week. However each week we will add a new desktop wallpaper, and we will try to offer something special each week to, if we can think of something. Read on for next weeks offerings….
Well it’s been another hectic week in the Casimir Effect production hole, and this week is shaping up to be nonstop. I have insurance to get sorted, eBay auctions and locations and crew to start finalising. Cromwell Jackson suit has arrived, the much awaited Valentino Milan suit, all I can say it it’s very nice all of the costume department were there to open it and see. It was like a birthday. All I can say is Cromwell Jackson will look damn good, and hopefully in the next week or so we will have some pictures of Neil in costume….
It’s been a busy day, not to stressful. Mostly going back and forth getting things arranged and moved. Most of today was taken up with arranging and signing for a storage area. Now we have one it’s all coming together. It’s going to cost us £90 a month compared to some places wanting to charge over £800 a month. At least when the wish list stuff starts to arrive we have somewhere to store it. I got exited today I thought another major costume had arrived, but when I picked it up it was the acceptance letters from Algonquin College…
Well it’s been a few weeks since our last update, and a busy few weeks it’s been, I haven’t had time to do anything much. This weekend was the first time I had a few evenings off. So I’ll put a lot of things in this post to get you back up to speed with where we are at the moment. The Clobber Our costume department is and running, we should have photos soon of the costumes as we get them done we get our publicity shots for each character. I have added them to the gallery for costumes. The…
