3rd O.M.G. film - 'Out of this World'

[DarkElastic]

Here is the Synopsis for our next Production, which starts filming 18/10/05:

The boundaries of the room are dark, but spotlights light the centre. Two scientists work quickly on a being unlike anything from our planet. They remove certain sections of its innards and take them away for preparation. Why? What purpose does this serve?


We decided that having the cinema for an hour to premiere Trepidation, and charging £1 entry fee, was not right seen as though it only runs for 15 minutes. So, we decided to hammer-out an idea that an associate had - Out of this World. It will be shorter than Trepidation - how much we do not know yet - but at least it is something else for the public to enjoy on the same night.

Tell me what you think of the title and synopsis. Thanks.

This production will be filmed quickly, so I will keep a diary like Trepidation.

[DarkElastic]

Pre-production, 17th October 2005

To date what we have bought/acquired for props:

2x Boiler suits – for Scientists
2x Protective goggles
2x Dust masks
1x Packet of blue latex gloves
2x Packet of white latex gloves – working with sealant and liquid latex
1x Alien mask
1x long length of rope – has been cut into sections for tentacles.
1x White tube of sealant
3x grey tube of sealant – cover for tentacles
2x latex internal organs – Bottle of Liquid latex & make-up
1x bottle of alien blood – syrup, water & food colouring
1x tube of KY jelly

[DarkElastic]

Filming on the 18th October 2005

Paul – my Director of Cinematography on Trepidation – is Directing ‘Out of this World’, so I am doing the on set effects, make-up, and acting. Paul is also a character film.

I arrived at Paul’s home at 7:30pm ready to film scene 3. Sean and Mike (the other actors) were already there. My self and Sean climbed into our boiler suits, dust masks, protective goggles and blue latex gloves. In one scene Paul had to don our mask for the after shots of the transformation. This is the mask we bought for a very reasonable amount: http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll? ... %3AIT&rd=1

While Paul was filming the latter parts of the scene Mike stood in for him as his feet double. All went well without too many problems. The only real problems were; some shots had to be filmed free hand because I did not bring the steady cam, and, Paul’s wife was not happy at her house being a studio for the length of time it was – but he was not relegated to the settee.

[Truggy]

cant wait to see it.

[DarkElastic]

Filming on the 24th October 2005

When we had a meeting with the centre about using their cinema for premiering our movies, we also discussed using one of their rooms, and the café area, for filming. They have bent over backwards for us in the ‘Pickaquoy Centre’, so filming in the treatment room – the longest section of filming in Scene 1 – began on Monday evening, around 7pm.

It took us quite a while to set everything up – lighting, props, tools, etc. – but once there, the room looked the business. I was acting in this scene with Sean, so all directing and filming was left to Paul, while Peter and his daughter – Hannah – crewed.

There is some removing of certain organs in this film, and for this Paul managed to get hold of the spinal column of a sheep, with attached Lungs, Heart and Liver. In the scenes I cut the organs out while Sean receives them from me on a tray. Hannah could not take the sight, and the smell of blood, so she fainted. Filming went on for an extra two minutes to get the shots, before Peter managed to get her out.

I think the Filming went well. We will have to wait for what Paul has to say when he has taken the footage off the camera. We left the room as we found it. Many Precautions were taken to prevent any contamination. Removing the equipment from the centre was a struggle as it was closing and the weather was awful – wind and rain.

[DarkElastic]

Filming on the 27th October 2005

On the Thursday previous, we had been given permission to use the Café area of the Centre for filming. We had about two hours to get all the shots that were required for Scene 2. Filming went very well, and the shots that we got were fine, apart from the sound. We thought we could get away with a fridge running in the background, but when the camera was filming on the serving side of the counter this sound forced the camera’s built-in Mic to attempt to compensate for this constant humming. Thus, the sound was un-usable, and we will now have to go back and re-shoot the talking sections of Scene 2. This is a minor problem, and should only take an hour. But, our Premiere date is slowly creeping up on us.

[Truggy]

hope all is going well

[DarkElastic]

hope all is going well

Yes, all is going very well. Thursday 27th October, we had a small section in 'The Orcadian' paper about the premiere as a preliminary piece, with the promise of a larger piece in a week or so, and, we were on the 'BBC Orkney' radio station for a piece about the group, and about our upcoming Premiere. Then on Friday 28th October, I had a phone interview for 'Orkney Today' newspaper on the same subject, which will be in the paper with the 'Pickaquoy centre' promotion (this is where the cinema is) this Thursday.

It is all go, and very hectic. Especially when attempting to film 'Out of this World' at the same time. But, I have posters up all over the place and fliers in the Video shop. I am looking forward to it, but can see my Partner going into Labour on the night!!!

[DarkElastic]

Filming on the 31st October 2005

Paul had acquired the keys to use the kitchen and a corridor of his and Sean’s place of Work - Ortak. There was four teenagers using the room when we got there, playing pool and watching football on the television, so a number of times I had to ask them to be quiet while we filmed the scenes that required live sound (we used the microphone so no more sound problems could set us back again). To the lad’s credit they did us the favour and stopped what they were doing. We are very grateful to them. Filming went well, but we were there from 7pm until 11pm.

I don’t want to go into too much detail about the filming, as it is a major section of the film. But the lighting rigs that Paul has constructed did the job well, and the one green light really added some menace to the shots. We can go into future productions knowing we have adequate lighting. Each light plugs into a dimmer so that we can control the level of light.

[DarkElastic]

Filming on the 3rd November 2005

On this Thursday night we had permission to revisit the café area of the Picky Centre, to re-film the live sound sections of the film. Even with the microphone the fridge was making a racket, so, we grabbed the cushions off the lounge chairs and packed them around it, thus jamming the sound. Filming was quick and the results were good.

Seen as though we finished the re-shoot in quick time, we decide to do the last section of filming, which was cut-ins for Scene 3. I had placed the tentacles in my boot just in case, with a tube of KY-Jelly. Doing these cut-ins were more trouble than the re-shoot at the centre. There was a lack of space in the kitchen, finding the best place for the camera proved difficult, and we required lighting in there which really burnt down upon us. The shots we got were well worth the effort, even though my eight-month pregnant partner was not impressed at the time taken. But as I said to here; now all the filming is done and out of the way.

Our Premiere is this coming Sunday – the 13th November 2005 – and preparations are progressing well. The DVD covers are complete, as well as Order Forms and Programmes. I will report on the night, and how many we get through the doors.

[Clarence]

Cool. So will you be selling DVDs at the premiere?
How are the movies going to be projected?

[DarkElastic]

Yes, we will have a table next to the shop where we will sell the Programmes and DVDs. We will only have five of each new film on sale, and three of our first film 'Communication Breakdown' and then order forms just in case we run out.

They will be projected by the cinema projector, as DVDs can be put into it and played on the big screen instead of a reel. I have also created a music CD for before and after the films.

[Clarence]

Oh cool. Should be fun!

[DarkElastic]

Here are some behind the scenes photos:

http://photobucket.com/albums/e316/Dark ... 010006.jpg

We will try to get the movie up soon.

[ctbullet]

looks good,

what have you used for lighting, just light bulbs on poles?

[DarkElastic]

Another member of the group - Paul - put together 3 different frames with holes drilled all along the vertical piece, and then painted them black. On them we can screw horizontal dowels, holding a spot light receptacle on each side. We then use either white or green spotlights. Finally, he wired up dimmer switches, which the lights can be plugged into, so that we can control the light level.

[DarkElastic]

At last, the film is finally on the net for viewing on Undergroundfilm. I hope you all enjoy it. Please leave feedback.

http://www.undergroundfilm.org/films/de ... id=1023244

[DarkElastic]

Is no one going to bother????

[Bodysnatcher]

tried to download but it was having none of it. is it posted anywhere else? (youtube etc), looking forward to seeing this.

[DarkElastic]

I am sorry, it is not posted anywhere else. The good thing about UnderGroundFilm is the quality of the films.

Please make sure you have the up-to-date version of Quicktime, and it should just come down. I can only get 512k internet where I am - on broadband - but they come down fast for me.

I hope you try again and have better luck, thanks.

Please can others watch and give feedback - thanks.

[DarkElastic]

These films have now been on-line for a week and not one person has bothered watching them. I thought we were all on this site to help each other??? The only reason they have been placed on-line is so people on this site can view them - everyone else we wanted to view has seen them on DVD.

If I can view your films at work I do, so please return the favour. Thanks.

[ZombieKrieg2005]

Really enjoyed it, bit angry as my imagination was working overtime creating a backstory in my head, just to have it destroyed by the final scene. Cinematography was good, only real niggle was the background music/sound with the electronic repeating hum, it irritated me a lot has to be said.

[ipon70]

Not bad, I thought the autopsy was a little long. Overall good job on the whole film, lighting was good, music was good..except the unrelenting pulse noise in the background. Liked the angles, liked how you wrap it all up at the end and the viewer realizes this is a big circle.

[Bodysnatcher]

Finally! that was fun! I too, like the way that you made the whole story go 360o, the SFX were very imaginative with vasaline covered ropes etc, the fade of the victims head was entertaining. all in all a very good little short with many points going in its favour, Lighting, angles etc, my only critisum would be a little tighter on the editing, there were quiet a few moments when the editing left pauses that detracted from the flow of dialogue, 9/10! looking forward to seeing more!

[DarkElastic]

looking forward to seeing more!

Well, Trepidation is our other film, which is also on MattHawkins.co.uk with a link to Undergroundfilms.