I am working on a new, feature length live action film called My Father is a Tyrannosaurus Rex.based on my previous short film of the same name.
We are in the fundraising stage for the film, and we need YOUR help to make it a reality! We’re offering a number of different pledge incentives, including copies of the film. Check it out!
A portrait of Winnifred T. Otter. A prominent banker, to say nothing of his not unsubstantial reputation as a socialite.
I just completed this third installment in a series of short films I’ve made over the past few years. It was made as part of a 24-hour animation contest, meaning that I completed it from start to finish in under 24 hours.
I’ve completed the casting process for my film and have recorded what should be all of the dialog for the film, now. I was very fortunate to have a talented group of actors willing to lend their voices to the project.
I expect a running time of perhaps 15-18 minutes, and perhaps 10 minutes of that would be dialog. The recordings came out to around 70 minutes total, so currently I’m in the process of listening through all of the recordings and selecting the right takes.
This process is a lot like the process of editing a live action film; while talented actors are crucial to getting a good performance, the performance must also be shaped by the director in the editing room. The way in which the performer does not have final control of the performance is a relevant distinction in film. During recording, I recorded conversations with all the actors involved in the conversation present, so that they could interact realistically, but for technical reasons I did record each actor’s lines in a given scene individually.
As a result, I then have to listen back to the lines after the fact, for each character, and construct a series of takes that result in what I feel is the best, most truthful performance of the scene as a whole. It’s not just about selecting the best individual take; in this film more than most of my past projects this is especially true.
With Cave I am reaching for a level of depth and emotional resonance in some of these dialog scenes that I haven’t really attempted before. This might sound surprising given that it is a fantasy story with a fantastical setting and imaginary creatures, but I believe that with genre stories like this it’s at least as important, perhaps more, to have a sense of truth and realism grounding the work in relevant ways.
Fantasy, or really any fictional story that is intended to be meaningful and relevant, should aim to convey truth of some kind. The fantastical elements of the story shouldn’t obscure this; they should highlight it. The exaggerated nature of the world the story is set in can make the meaning all the more powerful and heightened. In G.K. Chesterton’s words:
Fairy tales do not tell children the dragons exist. Children already know that dragons exist. Fairy tales tell children the dragons can be killed.
I’ve also just begun the process of storyboarding the film. Once storyboards and voice acting editing are completed, I’ll begin putting together a video format version of the storyboard, timed with the voice recordings.
Rainbow Dash from the television show My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic, painted in the style of Czech Art Nouveau painter Alfons Mucha. This was for a My Little Pony t shirt design contest (with legitimate, good cash prizes!); I was a finalist, but unfortunately did not win.
I’m planning to write a little more about my thesis project here soon, but I wanted to post a sampling of the last score I composed, for my short film ‘Matador,’ which is not currently available for viewing online.
With Matador, I aimed for something like Sigur Rós crossed with Ennio Morricone’s scores for old westerns. I wanted to create a clash of ethereal, otherworldly sounds and a Latin flare because of the story of the film. On the whole I was fairly pleased with the score, although I did not have as much time to complete it as I had hoped for. In the future I hope to be able to include more live instruments.
