At the start of the unit, we just had the idea that we wanted to create a monster movie for the SyFy Network and there wasn't much more than that at the time. It is great to see that how far we have come with the project and see everything come together.
Some of the things which could be improved are the time management of the entire project, because of poor timing, we were unable to get as many drafts of the script done as we would like, this meant that the book was delayed for print more than we wanted as we had to change the synopsis and the character profiles to coincide with the script.
Another negative which we had was the issue with collaborators, although some worked with us perfectly to create costume designs and the titles, our biggest issue was the creation of the monster. All of the collaborators who we did have lined up dropped out on us, leaving us with no one to design anything. This meant we had to hire someone to do this, which cost us quite a bit of money.
Regardless of these negatives, there are huge positive that come with it. Although we had to pay someone to design the monster for us, the designs look fantastic and extremely professional, which we are happy with. This is the first time me or Sam have written such a large script and although we had trouble along the way, if feels like a great accomplishment to have written something of this size, which is another thing we are happy with. And Finally we are glad to see how the project all turned out, the whole package in general looks great and to a professional standard in my opinion and some of the things we have created look great.
So in conclusion of this task, I've had an amazing time creating everything in the package, from the poster to the script and everything else, I have learnt a lot from doing this unit and it is amazing how far it's come along in these last few months. From a small idea about a monster to a chest full of great production material. Myself and the rest of the group are pretty proud of our small creation!
Sunday, 11 May 2014
Production Concept: Scripting Changes and final draft
As we prepared the script as much as possible before being printed, we had to make some drastic changes to the story and dialogue. These are the main changes we have made since the last update:
- Legrasse's breakdown is played upon a lot more now which puts his and Fiber's relationship to the test
- Legrasse and Fiber's relationship is shown a lot more at the start of the script, it shows how they deal an average case
- Characters have been cut: Beaumont and Sarah Michaels have been cut from the script, as there was not much point them being there
- Gustaf hasn't been taken over straight away, instead he is taken over a lot later and becomes an antagonist towards the end of the film
- Rachel and Tommy are taken a lot earlier to make the film move a bit faster
- Cthulhu comes in contact with the main group a lot more
These are the main changes we have made to the script and the final draft is now in the package.
Unfortunately we didn't hand in as many drafts as we wanted to, which was due to bad time management, however myself and Sam are pretty proud of it, and it is an accomplishment for us both to have written a full length movie script.
Production Concept: The Box
One of the harder tasks for this unit was finding a box to keep all of our production material in. Though it may seem simple, it was hard to find the right container we were looking for, we searched ebay, gumtree and amazon all to which most products were out of our price range, too small or were collect only.
As luck may have it, one day whilst walking through Maidstone in the local 2nd hand vintage shop, we found an old, rusted, medical tin which looked just the right size to hold all of our items and was being sold for a fair price. After buying it, we gave it a wipe over before, spray painting the whole thing black to match with the rest of the materials in our package. The paint has dried and the tin looks really good and matches the tone of the movie.
One thing that appealed most to us about the tin chest is the fact that it was rusted, as it felt like it fit with the story on an iconographic level.
As luck may have it, one day whilst walking through Maidstone in the local 2nd hand vintage shop, we found an old, rusted, medical tin which looked just the right size to hold all of our items and was being sold for a fair price. After buying it, we gave it a wipe over before, spray painting the whole thing black to match with the rest of the materials in our package. The paint has dried and the tin looks really good and matches the tone of the movie.
One thing that appealed most to us about the tin chest is the fact that it was rusted, as it felt like it fit with the story on an iconographic level.
Production Concept: Putting together the book
At the start of the unit we were prepared to have a lot of our information in a leather bound book which would include the script and other information about what we have done in this unit. Unfortunately that wasn't the case, due to lack of preparation and the script becoming a bit longer to actually finish, we were not able to have all of the components for the leather bound book ready in time. However we decide that we would have the script bound separately, and the book would be made through different means.
To create the book we uploaded all of our work into in-design and had it professionally printed at the campus in the form of a large booklet printed on A3 glossy paper. With this we created our own cover which featured a small red pentagram and the Cthulhu title not too far above it, this was to give the book a sense of demonic iconography, whilst the small Cthulhu title at the top made it look a bit more professional and branded. After being printed this was, stapled, cut down and trimmed and has turned out beautifully.
I am slightly disappointed that we couldn't actually get the book printed with a hard back cover in time but that is due to myself and the group being slightly under prepared. On the other hand the book has come out really well and I am pretty proud of it as well as the information inside!
To create the book we uploaded all of our work into in-design and had it professionally printed at the campus in the form of a large booklet printed on A3 glossy paper. With this we created our own cover which featured a small red pentagram and the Cthulhu title not too far above it, this was to give the book a sense of demonic iconography, whilst the small Cthulhu title at the top made it look a bit more professional and branded. After being printed this was, stapled, cut down and trimmed and has turned out beautifully.
I am slightly disappointed that we couldn't actually get the book printed with a hard back cover in time but that is due to myself and the group being slightly under prepared. On the other hand the book has come out really well and I am pretty proud of it as well as the information inside!
Production Concept: Broadcaster Information
For the Broadcaster information I had to find out some information about the SyFy Network in america. This meant I had to look into the channel itself, what kind of programmes they broadcast, how much profit they make, the history of the network and why they would broadcast our movie.
The website itself was quite useful itself for listing what kind of programmes are aired, and the history of the network but for other information I had to hunt around, luckily for their profit I found a good article on how much SyFy of america take in per month and by using simple maths rounded up how much they would make through subscription services, minus the advertising. Most other info was found on smaller websites.
Below is the Broadcaster information which is also available in the package.
The American SyFy Network
The website itself was quite useful itself for listing what kind of programmes are aired, and the history of the network but for other information I had to hunt around, luckily for their profit I found a good article on how much SyFy of america take in per month and by using simple maths rounded up how much they would make through subscription services, minus the advertising. Most other info was found on smaller websites.
Below is the Broadcaster information which is also available in the package.
The American SyFy Network
SyFy is an American channel owned by the NBC Universal as of
2004. The channel launched in 1992 and broadcast many “made for cable” movies
along with big hit sci-fi programmes which it still does to this day but since
then its range of material has expanded. The channel broadcasts a variety of
programmes and specialises in not just science-fiction programming but also
horror, fantasy, supernatural, wrestling, drama, reality and many more.
The channel is mainly available to Americans who have cable
and satellite (subscription); however the channel isn’t just broadcasting in
America. The SyFy Channel is broadcast all over the globe, and is available in
ten other countries besides the US including parts of Europe and Asia. As part
of The NBC Universal group the channel shows content with huge demand that not
just broadcast on any channel. The channel broadcasts science-fiction
programmes like Stargate and Battlestar Galactica which is a given considering
it’s a science-fiction channel, however by broadcasting other content such as
reality shows and wrestling it is able to bring in different audiences and
expresses the fact that it is not just a one genre channel.
As mentioned before SyFy is available to Americans through
cable and satellite, joint with advertising this is where most of its money
comes from. Back in 2009 SyFy estimated that their channel reached around 96
million American homes and that they gain $0.21 per customer monthly;
suggesting that SyFy gains over $20million a month through subscription fees.
What has made SyFy popular over the years are its Original
Movies. The SyFy Original Movies are some of the channel’s main selling points.
Most SyFy Original Movies tend to be monster orientated, with around a
$1-2million budget, contain mostly unknown actors and are extremely over the
top. This “unique” way of styling the movies is what attracts viewers and are
hugely popular online and receive huge reactions from the viral community.
Why
have we chosen for Cthulhu to be broadcast here?
We believe that Syfy’s American channel is the best place
for Cthulhu. SyFy’s original movies are all monster based meaning that Cthulhu
would fit in perfectly amongst the rest of the films that they have produced.
Cthulhu is a mythical monster who has almost next to no full length movies
about him, this means that there is a huge gap in the market with something
like this and if anything fans of the original monster that was created by HP
Lovecraft will be intrigued to see SyFy’s take on their favourite monster. To
create a movie like Cthulhu is accessible within the budget of a SyFy movie,
considering costs for location permits, actors, crew and advertising which is
another huge plus.
It is quite common for SyFy Original movies to include an
over the top storyline which is what we as scriptwriters wanted to aim for from
the start. The over the top storyline is what attract most viewers to watch the
movie, thus making the movie “so bad it’s good” and with word of mouth and
sharing on social media this is how these types of films get popular. SyFy is
the home of these over the top movies; it is the channel’s unique selling point
so it would be fitting to have this kind of movie broadcast here and nowhere
else.
Production Concept: Poster and DVD Cover
Jordan sent us some more images for the Poster and DVD cover design. For this Jamie Shaw described to him what we had in mind, and Jordan again got back pretty quickly with this, which we all approved of.
The drawing was brilliant and just what we wanted for the cover and poster. So quickly myself and Jamie opened up the picture in two separate files, on for the poster and one for the DVD cover.
For the DVD cover our inspiration was from one of the maneater series dvd covers.
With this cover we noticed the key points which we wanted to incorporate, which were the border, placing of the title, the tag line and placement of the actors names, and with this we create the Cthulhu DVD cover.
As you can see we've incorporated the key features which we wanted, there is the tagline in the top corner as well as the title, border, and actors names.
Next was the Poster, which is slightly different from the DVD cover, as it has a little bit less detail, but would be printed out on A2 paper and would be available in the package. For this I used inspiration from another SyFy movie poster.
As you can see it is very simplistic, just the title and not much more other than the monster and a woman in a swimsuit.
As said before, the poster is very simplistic, there are no actor names or border, it is just the title and a tagline so the full attention is aimed towards the monster. I have repositioned the title and tagline, in contrast to the DVD Cover to make full use of the empty space around the monster.
The poster has been printed and is available in the package.
The drawing was brilliant and just what we wanted for the cover and poster. So quickly myself and Jamie opened up the picture in two separate files, on for the poster and one for the DVD cover.
For the DVD cover our inspiration was from one of the maneater series dvd covers.
With this cover we noticed the key points which we wanted to incorporate, which were the border, placing of the title, the tag line and placement of the actors names, and with this we create the Cthulhu DVD cover.
As you can see we've incorporated the key features which we wanted, there is the tagline in the top corner as well as the title, border, and actors names.
Next was the Poster, which is slightly different from the DVD cover, as it has a little bit less detail, but would be printed out on A2 paper and would be available in the package. For this I used inspiration from another SyFy movie poster.
As you can see it is very simplistic, just the title and not much more other than the monster and a woman in a swimsuit.
As said before, the poster is very simplistic, there are no actor names or border, it is just the title and a tagline so the full attention is aimed towards the monster. I have repositioned the title and tagline, in contrast to the DVD Cover to make full use of the empty space around the monster.
The poster has been printed and is available in the package.
Production Concept: Jordan Grimmer
After much trouble, we found someone who would be available to draw the monster for our production. His name is Jordan Grimmer and he is a speed artist who usually specialises in scenery, however we decided to ask him as the drawings he had done were of high quality.
After e-mailing back and forth, Jordan decided he would help us, so we sent over some some original designs which we had from Dom which we liked and wanted to carry on with for him to have an idea of what we would like the monster to look like.
Jordan got back to us quickly with a rough sketch, this was to see whether we were on the same wavelength as him design wise.
Above is what Jordan first sent to us which we all loved, we mentioned that we would like him with old rotting wings as we depicted in the script which he took on board and edited for us.
After e-mailing back and forth, Jordan decided he would help us, so we sent over some some original designs which we had from Dom which we liked and wanted to carry on with for him to have an idea of what we would like the monster to look like.
Jordan got back to us quickly with a rough sketch, this was to see whether we were on the same wavelength as him design wise.
Above is what Jordan first sent to us which we all loved, we mentioned that we would like him with old rotting wings as we depicted in the script which he took on board and edited for us.
Production Concept: Edited materical (web page, merch and comic con)
A while ago I edited some images for the promotion aspect of the package. This included how Cthulhu would be represented online and how it would be promoted in other places (in this case comic con). Below are the editing images. There will be two different forms pictures displayed below The First edit and The Final edit which will be seen in the book.
These are some of the edits I made to the original images of the comiccon page and the Syfy page (originals can be found in an earlier blog)
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I also decided that I wanted to make a merch page so I took a screenshot the Syfy store site.
The Cthulhu logo that was made was a quick slapdash one, however with the latest edits I have replaced these, and have made it look entirely professional and coordinated with the rest of the Cthulhu and Syfy brand. I have also made a T-shirt page, and an actual T-shirt which will be available in the package. Below are the edits of how Cthulhu will be represented online:
These are some of the edits I made to the original images of the comiccon page and the Syfy page (originals can be found in an earlier blog)
The Cthulhu logo that was made was a quick slapdash one, however with the latest edits I have replaced these, and have made it look entirely professional and coordinated with the rest of the Cthulhu and Syfy brand. I have also made a T-shirt page, and an actual T-shirt which will be available in the package. Below are the edits of how Cthulhu will be represented online:
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