Mission to Mars

Here's a very interesting article on the shooting of the movie, Mission to Mars. More interesting than the movie itself, actually!

It discusses reflections on helmets, locations (int and ext) and lighting. All rather pertinent stuff I think!

It's a sketch-up!

Whew! It was hard work, but we're all done; the storyboard (5 megs) is complete! From here on, planning our next steps will be a lot more clear cut. Let me know if you need a hard copy sent out to you and I will do my best to arrange. And feel free to point out any problems, or for that matter anything you really like! Enjoy...

DOP Storyboard...

Here's the link to Lance's storyboard. He completed this a while ago, and I'm just now completing the integration between his storyboard and mine. The new definitive version should be up soon!

LF Update

NEWSFLASH: We will be shooting over February. Possibly the end of Jan and early March as well, but we’ll harden those dates out shortly.

The script has undergone a few more changes, to simplify and improve the story. This obviously impacts the storyboard, which I’m revising currently.

The spacesuit is now with Chris and he’s predicting to have it largely completed in another week or so - exciting!

Adam has continued working on the wrist unit graphics (below). Dig that International Auxiliary language! And our DOP, Lance is off to Malaysia this weekend for work and a bit of a break. 

Colour test 2

Take 2! Here's another experiment in recolouring our recent White Island footage to look like Mars, but this time using different techniques: more selective colouring and less wash to preserve some of the landscape's natural colours. I don't think I'm anywhere close to the final look yet however, still playing!


Mars test 02 from Damon Keen on Vimeo.

Colour test

Here's a quick attempt at recolouring some White Island footage to look a bit more like Mars. I also experimented with keying out the sky, but it looks pretty nasty at this stage! ...Still, you've got to love that landscape!

Mars Test 01 from Damon Keen on Vimeo.

One word - wow

Our trip to White Island was a huge success - the landscape is perfect, and as Lance and I discovered after examining the test footage, it looks even better on tape! 

We had beautiful weather, the people from White Island Tours were extremely friendly and generous, and Lance even spotted a whale and some sunfish on the way over. The landscape itself offered a wealth of possible locations and there wasn't a plant in site - it really looked just like Mars - better than any of us expected actually. It was very exciting!

I'll post some test footage shortly, after I experiment a little with some rough colour-correction and keying out the sky.

With a little bit of luck we'll tramp up the Tongariro Crossing this weekend... but the weather isn't looking too good just at the moment. Fingers crossed!

Flight update

Things are proceeding slowly - but steadily, folks!

First up - the SIPF money has gone into Last Flight's coffers, so we're no longer running the show on the smell of an oily rag, thankfully! Even so, it's still not gonna be easy. Fees for shooting in the parks, not to mention accommodation and transport are going to make this a real penny pincher. 

Lance, Sarah and I are all off to White Island this weekend, weather permitting, to take a look at locations, and figure out how to get over there with the equipment come shooting. Next weekend we hope to try a scout to Tongariro, assuming DOC will let us film there at all!

Oh, and just for the record, out of 70 odd applications, we were one of just 16 that received a grant!

Costumes extraordinaire...

Coming up... the AUT Costume Exhibition, starring our very own Meghan Visser! If our spacesuit is anything to go by, this will definitely be worth a peek! Come along, have a drink and see some fabulous designs...

The evolving spacesuit...

Here's the latest shots of the spacesuit... and it's looking cool! Meghan has now handed the bulk of it onto Chris, who is building the helmet, backpack and other hardware for it. After that we'll start artificially aging it, adding dirt, rips and repairs... and then we'll be ready to take it to Mars! ...Or White Island, anyway.

Awesome work, Meghan!!