It may be sunny outside but it’s a grim day on the balance sheets. Looking at what we have to achieve and how we are going to get things done on time and to the highest quality, sadly it all boils down to money. Even though we can do a lot with a small amount of cash, we still need the small amount of cash.
So looking at the bank accounts and the current rate of input, we need to get a swift cash injection over the next few weeks, so we can keep on schedule.
I don’t like posting about negative things but as were being open about how were making Casimir Effect I know one day this blog post would come. It was inevitable that we would need a swift cash injection at a number of points during this process and so far we have managed to get there by the skin of our teeth. So once again we are in a situation here, where things need to happen in the early stages of post production so we can get the film finished on time. However as always these are where the costs are. Such as ADR suite hire, software needed do all the SFX and post work, even software upgrades to keep the editing system up to the current standards so we can deliver the right files to the various people during this process.
We will also be removing the Dr. Bob Apparel design on the 31st of May 2010. If you want one of these now is your chance to put an order in. The printers have finally caught up and we collected all outstanding stock today and will post that out in the week. However after the 31st we will remove the Dr. Bob design and will be printing no more, so we will only have the items in our stock box.
The Crunch
We need cash, anything you can offer or do to help us is welcome, even if it’s only the spare change in a jar every pennies helps and we will be grateful for it, if we could get 100 people donating £10 then that would be a big step in the right direction. We have also compiled a list of other funding options:
Donations: see the buttons at the bottom of this page, any donations from now on will get your name in the credits.
Bid on something on our eBay page, everything that we have left over from the film must go and all items used will come with a certificate of authenticity.
Fundraising around your social networks and groups, you can even tell them they will be helping independent British/European cinema.
If you have anything knocking around taking up space that you think you might want to donate to us so we can sell it we don’t mind doing all the hard work for you. In the past this has worked well with signed posters, scripts and photos.
Just generally be loud about the film, tell people why it’s important and that they can have their name in the credits if they help out. The more visitors and people knowing about Casimir Effect the more chance we will get people who want to help out.
Now the rough edit of Casimir Effect is past the midpoint we’re looking further into the future, everything from music, to the special effects. We have a bunch more meetings before we really get dug in, but we have established our post production and marketing budget goals. We are looking to raise £12,000 to cover post production and marketing. However we have a bit more time to raise these funds. This new goal has been split into two, the first £6,000 needs to be raised by the 1st October 2010 and will be mostly used for post production, the last £6,000 by 1st February 2011 which will be used for the preparation for film festivals.
Third Budget Goal
£743 GBP / £6,000 GBP
1st November 2010
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Forth Budget Goal
£743 GBP / £12,000 GBP
1st February 2011
Like reaching our other goals we will be auctioning off a number of items including more film props, costumes and set dressing, and all those donation that have gotten us this far. We are also putting together a selection of limited edition signed prints that will be put up for auction over the coming months. As always we will be adding more items to our store, including signed versions of our regular prints. I have a bag with some more Torchwood goodies to be signed, and a few of the audio books Gareth did.
We’re also thinking of making some costumes for cosplay if there is interest, CJS ID badges custom made with your picture and name on them. As always we’re open for new ideas and suggestions as to what you would like us to do and we will look into getting them.
Sound and Music
As mentioned before Blue Gillespie’s tracks Paradox and Time Knot are for the film. Once we have the rough edit we will be looking at getting the songs as stems (each instrument in its own track) so we can remix and rework the songs for the sound track. However before that we have ADR (Additional Dialogue Replacement) to get done, once we have the ADR sorted we can start looking at getting the first full trailer out. But before then we hope to get a second teaser out.
Once we have the ADR sorted, our sound guys Espen and Ewoud will be spending the summer collecting sound effect and building banks of sounds. To create everything that is important to the world of the film, everything from a sliding cup to the hums and crackles of the time machine. When they are off doing this we will be working on the music and reworking the songs we have to create all the character themes and incidental music, that will set the mood and tone for each sequence.
Special Effects
This is the hardest part of post production and will require a large team working many hours to get everything that is needed. Once we have a rough edit we will be going through each scene deciding what effects are needed and what we would like to do but hadn’t thought of. Then we need to prioritise them so we can create our workflow for the coming months. Also it will tell us which scenes we need to re-edit first and allow us to structure our path to the final edit.
Everything from Rotoscoping (cutting out actors from the background, and replacing markers), to rendering new elements for the time machine and the future. Everything takes time and we need to start the complex things now and leave the easy things till near the end. Of course these special effects are also where most of our post production budget will go.
Trailer
As mentioned above we will be working on a new teaser once we have a rough edit, this will give you a taster for what we have coming. Than after that and we have some of the sounds in and music ready we will do our first full trailer and look to doing a longer trailer later in the year with some of the completed effects.
Sex Wales and Anarchy 3
And finally we will be at Sex Wales and Anarchy 3 this year, hopefully we will have a few scenes close to completion for people to see. However we are also running the film side of SWA, called SWA Film, we’re turning this into a mini film festival, with a prize fund at the end of it. The details will be on the SWA3 site in the next few days and hopefully many of the filmmakers that are following us will submit something. We are still looking for our judges at the moment but we’re hoping we can get some interesting names to help out.
Anyway it proves to be an interesting day with lots of fun and creativity and some good local bands to boot.
So Casimir Effect wrapped last weekend! We got all the scenes filmed and managed to just about stay on schedule! It was hectic, crazy, tiring but altogether fabulous! The cast and crew were all amazing and we could never thank them enough for all their incredible hard work.
We seemed to have somehow picked two of the coldest locations to film in, our main location the Coal Exchange was spectacular and perfect for Casimir Effect as mainly derelict. We took over a whole corridor and set of rooms, half of it painted up as sets, the rest taken over by Art, Costume and Make-up, Lighting, Camera and Grip equipment, as well as a Green room.
Each day up to 40 people came on location to work for us, the days were long, but the footage made it all worth it. Film making can be a very slow process but due to budget and time constraints we had to keep the whole show moving forward at breakneck speed, at times this was impossible but in the end it all got done.
Once again I would like to thank everyone who worked on Casimir Effect and all those who supported us during fundraising, we really wouldn’t have anything without you!
We have uploaded a handful more stills from the film, to keep you all interested, also we have started to auction of a few items of set dressing and Props, each of which comes with a Certificate of Authenticity. We will start putting more items and costume on the site in the next few days.
We are starting the long road of post-production, the editing, special effects and colour grading. So far we are only 4 days into rendering offline versions of the footage the massive (2TB) files down to an editable size! The deadline to get everything done by is December, so we can submit to Cannes.
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.
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.
It may be sunny outside but it’s a grim day on the balance sheets. Looking at what we have to achieve and how we are going to get things done on time and to the highest quality, sadly it all boils down to money. Even though we can do a lot with a small amount of cash, we still need the small amount of cash. So looking at the bank accounts and the current rate of input, we need to get a swift cash injection over the next few weeks, so we can keep on schedule. I don’t like posting…
Now the rough edit of Casimir Effect is past the midpoint we’re looking further into the future, everything from music, to the special effects. We have a bunch more meetings before we really get dug in, but we have established our post production and marketing budget goals. We are looking to raise £12,000 to cover post production and marketing. However we have a bit more time to raise these funds. This new goal has been split into two, the first £6,000 needs to be raised by the 1st October 2010 and will be mostly used for post production, the last…
So Casimir Effect wrapped last weekend! We got all the scenes filmed and managed to just about stay on schedule! It was hectic, crazy, tiring but altogether fabulous! The cast and crew were all amazing and we could never thank them enough for all their incredible hard work. We seemed to have somehow picked two of the coldest locations to film in, our main location the Coal Exchange was spectacular and perfect for Casimir Effect as mainly derelict. We took over a whole corridor and set of rooms, half of it painted up as sets, the rest taken over by…
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….
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…
