Fly birdy, fly!

Rendered the computer generated seagull (see previous post) in Vue 7 and have dropped it into some of our green screen footage from Sunset Studios.

It's pretty unpolished, but looks like it may be fine for some of the more distant birdy shots - especially once we throw in a bit of dust and grade the sucka. Nice!

Seagull test from Damon Keen on Vimeo.

First flight for this puppy...

Experimenting with 3D seagulls in Vue... Looks like they might work for some of the long shots of seagulls flying in the distance. I'll post some tests up shortly.

Happy New Year, crew!

Well the holidays are drawing to a close, so I better get on with it!

The plan for 2010 is:

1. Film seagull shots
2. Complete rough edit and test on audience
3. Complete final edit
4. Sound and music
5. Special effects work - CG, grading and animation
6. Last Flight Complete!

And finally, it'll be time for our premier, marketing and festivals.

Wow...

Some beautiful work by Jeremy Geddes I stumbled across. it reminded me of Last Flight.

Snip snip!

Last weekend we wrapped up filming at Sunset Studios. This week I'm editing up a storm. The footage is looking fantastic, though I have to admit I can't want to see it graded and finished either. This project has taken a lot longer than I imagined.

I expect we'll slow down over Christmas and then launch into the special effects shots with a vengeance in the new year, so stay posted!

IT'S A WRAP!

We've finished filming folks. It is done. I'm very happy.

Some more shots from Port Waikato...

Pics by Lance.

We came, we saw, we got it in the bag!

WHEW! We did it! Saturday was a huge success! We ended up shooting at our B site, Port Waikato, instead of Bethells, but even this turned to our advantage, the dunes staying much drier, with fewer spectators and even better weather.

And the footage we got looks fantastic!

On the downside, the spray we used to simulate a leak in the suit managed to burn Kassie, and even temporarily blind our cameraman - but both of them soldiered on above and beyond the call of duty! Throughout the day everyone kept their sense of humour and resolve. It was a wonderful shoot and a fun day! A huge thanks to everyone involved! YAY!

Progress!

Well, it wasn't our penultimate and long-awaited Bethells shoot, but a few of us popped out in the weekend to mop up some over-shoulder shots and CUs of the transmitter. Not very exciting, you might imagine, but actually it was great to get some more footage finally, and the thrill level was heightened by sneaking onto a construction site in hi-vis gear to get the shots!

In the end, no one was arrested, and we got some good material.

Big thanks to Astrid, who stood in at the last moment to body double the suit - and Zane, David and Adam, who decided a last-moment filming expedition would be a gas! Go team!

Some recent work in Vue 7...