I'm going to change my credit from Director to Bottleneck, because, yes, all the delays are because of me. Despite some setbacks (holidays, illness, electrical issue in my home office), I have not been idle. When we wrapped principal photography last year, the majority of remaining work to be done were shots that didn't need a full crew to capture. Read on for some specifics.
Travel Sequence
In one scene, a character splits off from the group for a side quest, and needs a quick travel montage, so he doesn't waste a whole 11 minutes on a casino planet. So, back to the airport I go!
I needed a bigger lens
To match the footage of the plane in-flight, I animated a 3D model
Yes, the landing gear will be raised in the final
With interior!
Which character is flying first class?
I also created a planet Earth that I can use for several shots in this sequence. Ah, damn, I just remembered our planet also has casinos on it.
Recognize that coastline?
Outer Space
This planet Earth asset will also be used for our space sequence. That's right:
The one place that hasn't been corrupted by casinos!
Check it out! I can spin the sun!
Eppur si muove
Other Post Production Updates
Both of the composers from the previous episode have had to drop out or move on for various reasons. I've connected with a new person to create the score. All other post vendors remain in place ready to go as soon as we lock.
Preview of Next Update
I'll be showing you how I'm matching some shots captured at home with the ones we got as a full crew. Until then I'll continue grinding away. I can't wait until this is done and ready to send out into the world!
Building SPACE! in Stage 2
That's all for now Gamerinos! I'll check in again soon!
I'm coming to you with an overdue update. It took a little longer than preferred because I wanted to have enough news to share with you.
But first, let's back up a bit, to almost a year ago.
Producer Mike was getting too busy to handle the project. As is standard practice in the indie film world, full-rate commercial work takes priority over garbage-rate movie work. It's understood when people have to take the better paying job. So he asked Producer Meghan to take over.
So I meet Meghan and she is great, and a few meetings in she sat me down and patiently explained, line item by line item, that our current production budget (drawn up during the first attempt to film this show, in the before-times) was complete nonsense and nowhere near enough to make a movie of this scope. Car chases? Explosions? Gunfights? Was I completely out of my mind? She asked, kindly.
I explained how Gamers projects work. It's not Star Wars (yes, she's worked on Star Wars.) It's not a car chase in the traditional sense. Half of all the action takes place with minis on a game table. The gameplay is always a relief valve for the more ambitious scenes. Furthermore, I'm able to do a lot of stuff myself. I did another pass at the script and identified many places where we could replace a full shoot day and a crew of 20-30 people we have to pay and feed, with a one-man-band (me!) grabbing footage solo, unpaid.
So yes, I replied, I am completely nuts, and that's how we're going to pull this off.
3D Printing
One of the things I can do is make stuff. So our game mat gets printed trees and such. Our Cinematographer Doug actually came up with the idea that, in addition to "Game table" and "in-world" scenes, the table itself is a third layer of reality. Every Gamers project tries to bring something new to the table, and this concept does it literally as we supplement those expensive real-world shots with enhanced game table action.
Luna is concerned.
Tacoma Park
Now Producer Meghan is wonderful and this project wouldn't have happened without her. However, one gripe I have with her is she won't let me break the law while she's watching. This is very inconvenient for independent filmmaking. Securing a permit for filming in this park was tricky enough. Lots of insurance requirements and filling out forms and such. On top of all that they required a permit for filming with a drone. I don't remember the exact amount but it was in the thousands of dollars, enough for the whole production team to say no. I conceded, and said I would just have to let go of aerial shots for these scenes.
This past weekend, I drove to the park by myself, early on a weekday morning so nobody would be there.
The secret ingredient is crime.
SeaTac
Another sequence, that I'm building out of my own footage and things I found in the neighbors' trash, is an entire side quest to Washington DC. So, obviously, we need the cliché plane-taking-off shot. I hauled my camera and tripod to good ol' SeaTac international airport.
This, on the other hand, is completely allowed. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
Last Steps
Once I've once I’ve integrated this new material into the edit, we'll move on to the next parts of post production. The downside of doing things this way is we are trading time for money, and unfortunately that slows things down. Once the the fun of principal photography is over, the makeup gets washed off and the lights taken down, the crew goes home, and it's just me sitting at my computer for months. Sometimes other people sit at their computers for a few weeks to help with VFX and audio. But I promise I am dedicated to making this installment of The Gamers as good as I am able.
I'm super grateful to you all for making this happen.
Wow, thank you all for helping us get across the finish line! this campaign was a nail-biter for so many reasons and we're immensely grateful for the trust that you continue to put in us after so many years.
There are a few more minutes left in the campaign -- and the backer train will continue until you all get tired -- but we wanted to make sure that everyone is ready for what to expect next for The Gamers: Attack of the Pwns.
BackerKit will begin charging cards when the campaign ends. If your charge doesn't work, don't worry, we can fix it in the surveys.
We'll receive campaign funds in a few weeks, unlocking all of the pieces of post-production that we couldn't pay for without your help.
Editing will continue and VFX, music, sound mix, color, insert shots, and the rest of the tasks that make up a movie will begin.
The pre-order store will open, allowing late pledges for a limited time.
We're build and release backer surveys, which WILL include add-ons for the ZOE/DG back catalogue (films, books, games, minis, dice, modules, etc).
Backers at $250 and higher will receive messages from us to begin designing your cards.
We'll continue monitoring the tariffs situation. IF that improves, we'll try to unlock a few extra goodies.
There may be some kind of preview screening at Gen Con, although likely not the final, polished edit. Everyone at $10 and higher will get access before that preview, so you're the first to see it.
When the movie is totally finished, we'll send a special watch-it-first link to everyone at $10 and higher.
As soon as the film is finished, we'll start authoring DVDs and Blu-rays. All other rewards should already be in the manufacturing queue by then, including a run of discs in the EU for international backers.
When we have rewards in hand, we'll charge the shipping cost in backer surveys and begin fulfillment.
Some time after all rewards are sent, we'll release Attack of the Pwns to the public and set up a pre-campaign page for our final Gamers film, Revenge of the Myth.
But first, we're going to take well-deserved naps! This was one of our hardest campaigns and it's time for some rest and recovery.
BUT even before that, we'll be livestreaming in just a few minutes, so don't forget to join us on BackerKit or Twitch what is thankfully a celebration, rather than a death march. We did it! Thank you!
