Halloween Launch for 'Championship Hunt' Facebook Page

Yikes, that was scary..!

Halloween you say?

Nooo! Tonight I pushed the 'GO' button on the 'Championship Hunt' Facebook page that I've spent the last week building; it makes you feel quite naked, putting everything you have out there for the world to see and hoping that it's enough!

As a launch package I'm very satisfied with what I have; plenty of artwork and photographs, all with notes to explain what you're looking at and help someone utterly fresh to the world to understand what I'm attempting to turn into a film.

Here's a link:

http://www.facebook.com/ChampionshipHunt

And here's the teaser poster:-



In other news this week, I had a fantastic session at film school last night when a scene from Championship Hunt was filmed by two groups of students, with little-to-no input from myself. The results really helped me get a feel for the scenes and will allow me to add more action notes to the script.

This group wanted to use strong shadows to add character

 This group kept one character in shadow

The actor in shadow was playing the part as though he was Satan himself!

 

 



With all the social networking fuss behind me, I can concentrate on further script revisions and get back to prop making, costume and set design!

But first some pumpkin carving and light a few candles to celebrate the turning of the wheel once more.

Social Network Expanding

I've been 'off' social network pages for a while; I feared that they were a distraction away from the cause of making the best short film I can, but I always knew that one day I would return...

This week, I began to compile a Facebook page, dedicated to 'Championship Hunt', but I'm holding off on going fully public until it's a lilttle more developed.

I've worked with quite a few film makers over the past year, all of whom use Facebook to a greater or lesser degree and I do find that the regular updates really make the projects come alive - here's an example:

http://www.facebook.com/groups/104155326383237/

This is the Hydra-X films page; they recently shot a short film called The Bad Samaritain Must Die and at one point, were posting two or three times a day to update the production.

I will follow a similar template, by rolling out exclusive behind the scenes photos and news, design artwork, music links and opening up group discussions about the project.

I'll post a link when there's more content..!

VERY Early Screen Tests - A Modest Success!

There's nothing like time constraints to motivate a person and the onset of Autumn has certainly done that for me!

A few weeks ago we filmed James running through the countryside, lush and green - you know how it is; then Autumn hits and the trees start to turn orange, red and brown - well that's gonna wreck my continutiy!?!

With a script still being tweaked, extablishing shots to capture while there's still a little green on the trees and character development work to do, time is tight. This weekend I drove down to Nottingham to work with Luke on facial hair creation and script improvements. Luke is currently sporting a seven-stitch scar on his forehead thanks to a fight scene he filmed a week previous - he was a trooper though and allowed me to glue a fake eyebrow over the wound!A scriptwriter himself, Luke offered suggestions to enrich the characters' backstories which sent me away buzzing - I will try and write these additions into the script tonight - so much for cropping it down - or my other film school homework!

My time in Nottingham was cut short due to family business but this afforded me the opportunity to film some landscape plates in and around North Yorkshire and Teesside, to use in the montage sequences.

I was using the Panasonic P2 camera on my own and, for the second time running, forgot to check every single switch for every single shot; top tip everyone: check that the ND Filter is where you need it to be for each shot - these things can get knocked and your images may end up a little darker than you want them... very rich colours in the clouds mind!

I am in a good position this week to sculpt a stage #1 and #2 fox makeup on the bust I made of James but obviously the way I draw Jonny Fox allows me to distort the proportions of a man - with James I might need to adapt the mask or employ a little computer trickery - or a combination of both!

Jimmy Hagri contacted me with script feedback earlier in the week too, his suggestion was that Lord P and Sebastian Delaval ought to be drinking fine old whiskey; Luke would like to see a gamne of chess being played as well - I think both are great details and both shall be included!

One big piece of news from mid-week - we now have a producer onboard: Sophie Crawford, CCAD graduate from 2011. Sophie will make sure locations and cast and crew all function correctly, leaving me to concentrate on creative... on a different day I might need to employ a production designer and model shop manager too!

Here's a look at Sophies work:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DTSdcBOEfr8


And here's a few photos from the past week:-

Roseberry Topping Sunset - with the ND filter set quite high!

Building facial hair

Add more layers and comb through

Trim the hair to a little longer than necessary so that it can be fine-tuned with the actor

I have a couple of copies of James' face with which to make prosthetic appliances

Getting a Head Start

Here's a sneaky look at the early stages of, what I hope will become, the Jonny Fox mask!

Thus far I have a cast of James Kent's head, some concept art and a lot of good intentions. My usual barrier is myself - I want to do a Hollywood-standard animatronic fox-man costume but time and budget says I should simply aim for a very basic mask, without snarling lips, moving eyebrows and snapping jaw...  Boring!

 

This is what I want - and here's how I'm going to get it..!

 

 

Removing the plaster head from the alginate/modrok cast

The plaster cast was cleaned up using drills, sanders and knives

Holes were filled with polyfiller and the head sealed with shellack

A latex coating has been painted on which will eventually become part of the mask

 

Overlaying the artwork to the actor - it's going to take a little 'tweaking'!

 

 

Many thanks to my model, James, and my 'right-hand-men' Rachel Lee and Simon Burgon who assisted me during the three-hour casting session.

The Championship Hunt is On!

This is the big one folks; my final major project at film school and the next stage in the ongoing history of Jonny Fox - Championship Hunt has started pre-production! So far I have a script, actors, concept art, musicians and a tight film crew - now what I need is the time, fortune and energy to pull it all together for an April deadline. Championship Hunt will feature make-up effects, puppets, digital composites, all in the service of telling the story of when Lord P met John foster...

MThere's loads more concept art, makeup tests, script previews and news to follow over the next few months, stay tuned to this channel: Foxhunter TV..!