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

Well it feels like the end of an era and we’re going into a new age. The script has been locked, and now the focus is on production rather than the script. We have most of our actors for the key roles, except our female lead who we will look to audition in a few weeks. I won’t give out all the names of the actors just yet, as there might be some shuffling in the next week or so, but the people we have we are happy with. The only name I can post is Gareth David-Lloyd (Torchwood’s Ianto) who will be playing our male lead, Dr. Robert Cameron.

After the workshop sessions this weeks, we are all confident this will be an engaging story. Most of the tough scenes have been worked out and the changes were mostly action based, to give the scenes more impact. We have some footage from this workshop and I hope to get it edited into a video diary in the next week or so, then you can see some of the work.  Gareth has also come on board and an Executive Producer, to help us find funding, crew and for other elements of publicity.

We have a number of exclusive items we will be auctioning off, so watch this space. Some of these include limited print illustrations from Comic-Con 2009, these feature Ianto and Captain Jack, they are signed by Gareth and John Barrowman, as well as the artist. We will also have ‘Torchwood: Children of Earth’ Blu-Ray signed by all the cast and crew we can find in the next few months. This will probably be one of a few discs to have a full set of signatures, so come back often. We have a number of other ideas, including a day on the set, photo shoot with Gareth, lunch with Gareth, exclusive Blue Gillespie and S.J. Tucker songs, and limited edition prints to be given away at the fund raiser and one exclusive print only available online. After the fund raiser is over all remaining unsold or claimed prints will be destroyed to keep these items in the collector’s arena, and something special for those who are willing to support us.

Back to reality, we have the script to take to pieces, we have started it and need to get it finished in the next week or so, then we can send lists to each department of what is needed for props, CGI, costume and Set dressing. This is where Philum Scheduling comes into its own as it enable me to keep track of what status every item is in. Rather than hoping and praying everything is ready, I’ll know what isn’t and what to give priority to. I hope I get the chance to finish the software by Christmas so we can get the schedule fully planned.

We should have our own piece of the web up soon, where much of this will be transferred to, we will keep these site up-to-date, but our site will have a lot more content to offer. We will also have a sponsorship section, which will have all of our auctions, and items for sale.

Anyway time to get back to the script breakdown and my cuppa tea.

Well this month has been spent tweaking and reworking the script. The third draft saw a scene lock the next draft will be what we take to the next stage. This will mean the end of Stage One (Script Development), and we moving to a phase of meeting talks deconstruction and problem solving we affectionately call pre-production, it’s a lovely and very important monster that is 80% of the film.

The script at the moment is sitting to my left, and it looks at me occasionally, demanding to be picked up and read. The feedback of this draft of the script has been fantastic I would say its better than expected, but we aimed high with this so the feedback is what we were expecting. We have reworked the action, giving it a better pace and more immediacy. It’s now less prescriptive, giving creativity to the actors, director and crew, allowing their creative talents to shine through. That’s the key to a good script, telling the story, not telling the director, actors or crew how to be creative. Were happy with the script, but still realise we need to get to the final draft, and that requires actors and read-troughs, as hearing it will make the world of difference. It’s our first chance to allow others to play in our sand box.

On the other fronts we have a named actor interested in the male lead, he loves the script and we are meeting with him tomorrow to discuss things further. I hope we can get him to sign soon as I want to send out our next press release. We are also looking at other local talent and starting to contact actors and crew about working on our film. This is a tense and exciting time, as we know what we want from and actor but can we find that mojo is the question. There is local talent that would be fantastic to get on board, but can they be the characters. Were not after acting, were after living and being the character, we want the performances to be genuine, so the actors will be asked to dig deep and find the emotions, find the part of themselves and their life which reflects the characters state of mind moment to moment.

It’s been a week or so longer to get here than planned, but then we did have four days in Prague, chilling and relaxing. It was much needed.

Anyway now were getting back on track fast the script is down to 38 page (our goal). We have gotten the script to third draft, it’s been tough and intense the last week, working solidly on each scene working on the themes motives and actions of each character in detail. Were there now and every scene is needed and important, every action has a reason, and every bit of dialogue is needed. It’s quite slick now. Also the structure has come together; all our plot points happen at the right time in the right order and the pacing is good. The only thing left to do is read-through with actors to see how it sounds and works in actuality.

We have also started to compile the directors notebook, this will be a weighty tome, were already at 59 pages. I’m expecting a ream or so to carry on set. This is the intense part, as this is what everything means, motivations ideas themes, background, stuff that is vital to getting the best performance out of the actors. I would say starting it this early has helped a lot on getting the third draft as tight as it is. It’s also unlocked hidden themes helped clarify character stories, and bring the main themes out. There is still a long way to go on the notebook, but it is the most vital thing we will write for the film after the script.

I have been in takes with a chap for our lead male role Dr. Robert Cameron, I cannot say who it is yet, but I know some of you girls out there will be happy, and some of you men. I hope to have everything in place in a few weeks for him and then I can drop a press release out and spill the beans. Some of you who are working on this project already know who I’m talking about but I hope you keep it as a surprise for everyone else.

Anyway time to chill for a bit, Lydia is going through the script one last time, then she is going to give the directors notebook a grilling.

The first draft script is done; it’s a little long, by about 40 pages. So I can say I have more than enough material to condense to about 20 pages. However I’m thinking I will cut and rewrite as much as possible and leave it as long as it needs to be, I’m not fix on a 20 min film, so 30-35 min is a possibility, as the story needs room to breathe.

I’m very happy with many of the scenes, the conflict between the characters is spot on, other will need a bit of work, but the core of them is set up. I cannot wait to get to read-through’s as I want to hear it read properly by actors. As you can guess I’m chuffed.

Tomorrow is another long day, as I’ll be chopping chunks of script out, and sacrificing parts of the baby. But in the end product should be a lean and concise beast, with the pep and zing of a ripping yarn.

I also need to start thinking about the directors note book, though Lydia will probably start that, then we will chew the fat over each scene taking it to pieces and rebuilding it from the ground up.

I have had lots of good feedback from the crew, that have helped me tighten the story, and there is still a long way to go so I hope they keep good solid feedback all the way through. So thanks, Vaia Ikonomou, Chantal Lee-Gan, Mark Berge, Dale Jordan Johnson and William Charles.