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.

Casimir Effect Novella

About 5 years ago the director wrote a shot story as part of a science fiction convention competition, the story was never finished but the core of it was developed. The story of the first time traveller, as woman as yet unnamed who tried to travel into her own past to give herself advice to stop her life going to hell, she was similar to Alice, but was originally married to Bob and the time travel experiment failed. Rather than travelling through time, the plot revolved around alternate universes and ended up with several different Alice’s? A great story, but possibly not a great movie, I won’t give too much away as not to spoil the better bits which we kept.

We took some of the core elements of the story, and reworked them to make them more filmic and visually interesting. We also brought in other character from the NeuroSys setting, characters we knew well and loved who would add an element of intrigue and subtle hints to clandestine events and activates. This would also bring Casimir Effect into a bigger and more vibrant world which could be used to add depth and substance to the story. This also offers us a bigger world to use should we get the chance to expand or redevelop Casimir Effect for television.

In December 2008 we planned the core plot points or each character using index cards, we shuffled them around until we had a structure and plot development that was interesting and offered an air of mystery.  The cards sat on our wall for about 2 months each few days we looked it over added or move something to make the story as interesting as possible. We then told the cards down and left it for a few more months, to give us time to detach ourselves from it so we could come back with fresh ideas.

April 2009 we began the first draft of the treatment, however we realised that to get the most out of the story we had to write it as prose rather than a condensed treatment. This enabled us to dig deeper into the characters and the subtext of the story. So we batted the Novell back and forth until we reached the fourth draft, then we let it out to people we knew and trusted to give us solid feedback about what is wrong and what is right. We then worked hard on the fifth draft to make it tight and keep the characterisation consistent.

By this time it was June and we started to look at turning the story into a script, we know we would have to change things and loose some elements but this is how things go when adapting a story.

In the next instalment, script development, revisions and read throughs.

<< Read Casimir Effect Origins part I

Casimir Effect is still talking up most of my life, as early casting has started and hopefully we will have contracts signed and big announcements soon. Read-through’s will take place the second week of September, to iron out the last bits of the script.

I am so, so happy with the work on the theme song so far by the lovely Nina Barnfather! Been humming the song for several weeks now, can’t wait to get the final recording done. We have another band doing a song for us, but not much can be said about that yet! But I am very happy with how things are moving along.

Render tests and art department stuff is looking good, colour palettes and a few props are being worked on. I think the footage from the 4D camera we will be using is more convincing than the AVATAR preview, plus no one has to wear silly glasses!

We have several options for multi award winning Cinematographers and a sound studio with engineers for the final mix arranged.

For the next few weeks I will be organising and writing for what I am provisionally calling ‘Iolanthus Online’, which will be a multiplatform interactive blog/social networking ARG (Artificial Reality Game). We are currently recruiting actors/writers; the story will be the lead up to Casimir Effect.

Full on pre-production is now on the event horizon and down the wormhole we go!

It’s been a busy week, so not much time to spend on Casimir Effect, but things have by no means stalled. We’re starting to get feedback through on the Novella, hopefully next week I’ll be working on the first draft script, and getting the editors on the Novella.

After our production meeting we have a new Concept and Storyboard Artist, William Charles, he has come on board to help out in the art department where he can.

We’re also looking at other actors for the film, we have a number of viable contacts for high profile actors, and we feel obliged to give them a chance to say no. Who knows things might go really well, anyway nothing ventured nothing gained.

Another thing on our list is to get the Lyrics written in the next month, so once we have implemented the feedback on the Novella it’s off to our lyricist. Then on to finding a singer to perform the song, so time to tap all our contacts again. The person I have in mind can bring heart and soul to the song, which I think is better to have than a sound.

We have also started to look for locations around Cardiff. As we don’t want to have to move a whole unit more than 20 mins drive this does limit our options. We have a number of smaller scenes which can be filmed with a minimal crew, but the main locations have to be local, to save time and any costs we have to cover.

Also thanks Dale for getting a placement logo for the film to us despite your hectic schedule, and good luck on ‘Crash.’

Mr. Abershaw’s Happening Day, our previous short film will be screened at Fantasy Con UK in September. http://www.fantasycon.org.uk/ This is the first public screening to be announced, but probably not the first screening, were waiting to hear back from a few other festivals.

This is good news for all involved, as it’s going to get us some recognition in the fantasy and science fiction scene’s in the UK. It might help us drum up some more funding for Casimir Effect. Fingers Crossed.