In the last few weeks things have been on the hectic side in preparation for Christmas and being able to take a few days off and doing nothing much other than watching TV and playing games. So this is more of a consolidation post covering the odds and ends of what we have been up to.

Teaser Trailer

One of the main things we managed to get out of the door is our teaser trailer, it took a few days to put together and animate but were happy with the end result. Over the last week it has had a good number of hits on Youtube and its coming up well in searches.

This is the extended version of the trailer; there is also a shorter version, both can be used embedded and spread around the internet if people want to help promote Casimir Effect.

Fundraising

We have been doing well with our fundraising, were close to our goal for the end of 2009. The eBay auctions we have currently listed will help bring us closer to that goal. We also have our product page open as a way you can help us reach our goals, and any donations even small ones will help us hit our target.

First Budget Goal £5,000 GBP / £5,000 GBP 31st December 2009 (On Schedule)

Though our funding model is not wholly unique, we have taken ideas from any different models for lo-budget films. But in doing this our model has become something different. It shows the power of the internet and how it can be used for small or large scale production, helping it develop and find an audience that has some vested interested in the production either through an actor, story, genre, original work or just the tenacity of the people involved. With the current film industry obsessed with event films of little substance or derivative works taking from an already existing franchise, a hand full of people are looking for something different and it has become easier to find with site such as Facebook, Youtube and MySpace.

Not only can this model of film making offer something to the audience, it makes the audience part of the film making process, by bringing them in to help market the film, and raise funds. I would like to take this opportunity to thank all those who have helped us so far and for the continued support, and lets make a difference in 2010.

Doctor Who

Like most people this holiday season we watch Doctor Who – The End of Time pt1 and even though it suffers in places from being too fast paced and everything goes whizzing by. Overall it was enjoyable entertaining television, and everything a TV show should be. I have no doubt it will have its detractors, but the TV ratings show that it achieved what it was supposed to and entertain the masses. There was so much going on the two parter probably should have been a mini-series with at least five parts, where every loose end could have had time to be tied up and the return of the time lords could have been done with more suspense.

Also as a Cardiff based film we found that some of the locations might be useful in Casimir Effect. So this week is going to be digging and ringing around to get contacts and arranging visits.  Alpha Steelworks in Newport will be our fist port of call, and I will see if I can cut a deal at Tredegar House, as there basement levels would be ideal for parts of the film; however the cost of Tredegar might be prohibitive.

Questions

I’m looking to expand the FAQs section, so it would be good if some of our readers can comment here and offer some questions and expand the FAQ. One new question that will be added as an example:

Why did you choose the Casimir Effect?

One of the fundamental theories of time requires vast amounts of energy and exotic matter. Using the Casimir Effect unlimited free energy can be generated, and currently science is looking into the application of the effect in power generation, anti gravity and other strange an interesting things. So with the energy situation sorted, you need to generate exotic matter (exotic matter is matter that defies the current law of physics, such as negative mass), The Casimir Effect can also be manipulated to create such matter, this is then used to open a stable wormhole through space-time and widen it. The main problem is the gravitational forces caused when crossing the event horizon. However a few theories suggest that the Casimir Effect can also be used here to create opposing gravitational forces and counteract the effect of the wormholes gravitational tide.

Casimir Effect is a quantum force even stronger than gravity it represents a level of attraction/repulsion that can be used in a story telling point. With quantum particle A being attracted to quantum particle B and becoming bound in a dance with other quantum particles to create what we know as Atoms, never touching but never being apart. This fits well into a story telling narrative of unrequited love.

This is a very fluffy description of the Casimir Effect, as it is a very complex area of quantum physics that we have only scratched the surface of. We hope that through this film that some of those who find this interesting will take this further and look deeper into quantum physics.