Dick Ikon and the Petulant Princess

[MrFluffy]

Now showing in HD on OpenFilm
Click here (http://www.openfilm.com/videos/dick_ikon_and_the_petulant_princess/)



http://www.freekstorm.com/blogimages/diapp_poster.jpg



Starring
Richard Bang as Dick Ikon
Michael Bang as Coppertop
and
Maria Bang as the Petulant Princess


Written by
Lin and Richard Bang


Directed By
Richard Bang


Follow us on Twitter
http://twitter.com/freekstorment

[MrFluffy]

29 June 2009


Uploded:

This little film has certainly been a steep learning curve for all of us. Whoever thought that a six minute movie short would take four intense months to create and would absorb so much time and energy? Not only was this our first movie, but it was our first experience with acting, script-writing, directing, producing, green-screening, compositing, editing, sound-recording, mixing and production.

I hope you enjoy it.

[MrFluffy]

reseved

[MrFluffy]

reserved

[Chris_Keaton]

Cool Monster!

[MrFluffy]

Thanks

[Chris_Keaton]

its not!

Yes, it is. :smile:

[dsto]

Welcome,good luck! Interesting title.

[stinkpot]

Welcome to the fest!

:beer:

[MrFluffy]

Thanks for the warm welcome guys. Its my first film longer than a minute!

[KTOOFRESH]

cool i can probably relate... it sounds like the princess is like my girlfriend.... hahaha

lots of luck to you in this fest:beer:

[SMarston]

sounds entertaining. love the title

[Rodney V. Smith]

nice title dude

[Robert Eldon]

Aren't all princesses petulant? :)

Welcome to the fest. Will this be have a medieval tone or is it modern day?

Looking forward to this.

[MrFluffy]

Its more of a fantasy theme :)

[MrFluffy]

nice title dude
Thanks.

[RodThompson]

No tag or log!? Give us something to pine for, man!

[MrFluffy]

Added the poster

[MrFluffy]

Follow us on twitter: http://twitter.com/freekstorment

[Chad_from_Chad]

Creature effects.... show off. JK, can't wait, and congrats on breaking that 1 minute glass ceiling.

[MrFluffy]

Creature effects.... show off. JK, can't wait, and congrats on breaking that 1 minute glass ceiling.
:dankk2:

[sschedra]

Richard,
Visited the blog, cool stuff. And I love the fact that you are a family owned and run studio (yea!!). The Dick Icon idea promises to be exciting visually and I can't wait to see the story line.

Stephen

http://macjams.com/artist/studio_e

[MrFluffy]

Richard,
Visited the blog, cool stuff. And I love the fact that you are a family owned and run studio (yea!!). The Dick Icon idea promises to be exciting visually and I can't wait to see the story line.

Stephen

Hi Stephen,

Thanks for dropping by, glad you liked it. The site needs a facelift which I'll get round to after I've finished filming this.

Currently I'm re-writing scene 3 as the original scene was not feasable in the small studio we have.

Richard.

[Bro. Stephen]

Wow. Looks good. Can't wait to see it.

[MrFluffy]

You can follow progress on twitter!
http://twitter.com/FreekstormEnt

[MrFluffy]

Made some progress. Updates on the blog :
http://www.freekstorm.com/blog/2009/05/talent-headshots.html

http://www.freekstorm.com/blogimages/troll_face.jpg

http://www.freekstorm.com/blogimages/troll_2.jpg

[kurtmo]

Getting good matchmoving results from syntheyes? I dabble a little using pfhoe.

[MrFluffy]

Getting good matchmoving results from syntheyes? I dabble a little using pfhoe.
Syntheyes is pretty cool. It can get a bit confused when green screening and auto-tracking, which is how I've been using it, but if you do all the tracking manually you can get rock solid results. It also exports directly to .xsi format allowing me to pull it directly into XSI.

So far I've been getting great results.

I cant post footage at the moment, but I'll make sure I have some examples for when I can.

[MrFluffy]

Progress. Scenes 3,4 & 5 have finished green screening, now on to post with those.

[MrFluffy]

Cast and crew bios now online.
http://www.freekstorm.com

[MrFluffy]

New blogpost - Sort of a Tutorial - crossing the line
http://www.freekstorm.com/blog/2009/06/crossing-line.html

[MrFluffy]

I've just uploaded the final cut.

This little film has certainly been a steep learning curve for all of us. Whoever thought that a six minute movie short would take four intense months to create and would absorb so much time and energy? Not only was this our first movie, but it was our first experience with acting, script-writing, directing, producing, green-screening, compositing, editing, sound-recording, mixing and production.

I hope you enjoy it.

[ZazaCast]

WOW... how'd I miss this one? Congrats on finishing the film...can't wait to see it!

[Noel Evans]

I've just uploaded the final cut.

Well done. Look forward to checking it out.

[MrFluffy]

Thanks guys.

[MrFluffy]

Yay, Approved.

[Girgej]

Hey, Good luck ... I'm a newcomer too, Movie sounds nice...

[Mattykins]

Just watched.

It was a cute story. The CGI was impressive for the timeline, but did look CG and didn't sell. I almost wish there was some more atmospherics in the sets to help sell it. And that would kill your render time. Though, keeping the timeline in mind, it was still an impressive effort.

I thought it was clever. It was a cute. I enjoyed it.

[Rodney V. Smith]

Dude, you kind of over reached here. You had a cute story, but weak actors. And then you threw the CG work on top of it. Getting good CG is hard enough, especially without a budget, and in this case the CG could have worked for you. It would have added a little to the effect if the actors and yourself had treated it as not altogether REAL. But they were stiff and moving without motivation or urgency and that's what killed it in the end.

You can take this same story and retell it with a voiceover, as if the father were reading the story to the little girl. Substitute him doing voices for the 2 characters, and it would actually have had more of an effect instead of trying to sell it as a real movie. it would have been cuter and engaged us as the audience even further, so no matter what you threw at us, we were already prepared. It's when we are told to believe that this is a real environment and it doesnt even look anything real... that's the point our brains shut off.

Be proud of yourself for gettign it done. It must have been a lot of work. Sometimes you just have to go past what you intended, to get what the story wants to be.

[ramsaur]

This one had some good animation and compositing. There was a few things in the compositing I caught but all not too bad. Some of the sound when they were in the dungeon still sounded like they were in a regular room. It would have more of an echo too it and I would imagine some sound effects would be down there. Interesting film.

[Zak Forsman]

I bet your kids got a real thrill watching this.

[Noel Evans]

I bet your kids got a real thrill watching this.

I totally agree and in addition for me I could relate to two quests in this. First the obvious quest within the story and also as a father of two young girls, the quest to want to thrill them with adventure. I applaud you. Cant wait to show this to my eldest daughter tomorrow.

[MrFluffy]

I totally agree and in addition for me I could relate to two quests in this. First the obvious quest within the story and also as a father of two young girls, the quest to want to thrill them with adventure. I applaud you. Cant wait to show this to my eldest daughter tomorrow.
I'm glad you liked it and that you really got the point of why I did it, its for children. My daughter is the princess and she loves to watch it.

I hope you daughter loves it too.

[ZazaCast]

I have to agree (also being the father of two daughters) this is a a great little family
adventure! Very enjoyable. Cute story concept. You did a great job with the VFX too.
I'm sure your kids will love this one for years to come. Great job.

...and may I say, you really know how to get "BANG" for your buck!

Congrats on a job well done.

[MrFluffy]

I have to agree (also being the father of two daughters) this is a a great little family
adventure! Very enjoyable. Cute story concept. You did a great job with the VFX too.
I'm sure your kids will love this one for years to come. Great job.

...and may I say, you really know how to get "BANG" for your buck!

Congrats on a job well done.
Thanks. Your comments are much appreciated.

[Jack Daniel Stanley]

Yeah I agree with others. There's so much heart on the screen/the motivations in making it are so clear, that the film can't help but be enjoyable.

[MrFluffy]

Yeah I agree with others. There's so much heart on the screen/the motivations in making it are so clear, that the film can't help but be enjoyable.
There were so many firsts for us (everything) that I didnt know if it would be well received. All your kind comments are really appreciated. Thank you.

[Susanne G.]

Very enjoyable film, fantastic idea with much phantasy. Only the acting of the father I found a little bit rigid. It really took me by surprise when they went in the cellar and the video game started. I love the title - it sounds like a ironic fairytale.

Thank you for have gave it in the fest.

Susanne

[AmyO]

What a fun ride! Kind of reminds me of the exaggerated effects style of Robert Rodriguez's "Spy Kids" movies. I'll definitely show this one to my kids. Though, they may get ideas for a CGI heavy film that I can't quite pull off. I might try sets, but those trolls were awesome, and out of my league.

I am curious about your green screen setup. Where did you shoot? How large was your background?

[Erik Olson]

What a fun ride! Kind of reminds me of the exaggerated effects style of Robert Rodriguez's "Spy Kids" movies. I'll definitely show this one to my kids. Though, they may get ideas for a CGI heavy film that I can't quite pull off. I might try sets, but those trolls were awesome, and out of my league.

I am curious about your green screen setup. Where did you shoot? How large was your background?

I too was thinking a lot about the Spy Kids pictures as I watched this. Considering what the budget must've been, you did a great job. As an homage to adventure movies, it certainly does the job. Fun.

[Horncastle]

This was a fun short. I didn't have a problem with the quality of the CGI at all - it was supposed to look like a video game and it did! The acting is probably the main area to work on, although I understand that with all that greenscreen and all of you breaking a lot of new ground it can't have been easy either for the actors or for you directing them. I do think Puckthemad made a valid suggestion about having the father continue to tell the story to his daughter as a voiceover while having the adventure with his son.

I've just looked back through your thread and also had a look at your site - blimey, you're a complete family production!!! And it's your first film over a minute!!! Really well done and you must have had a great time making it.

[MrFluffy]

I am curious about your green screen setup. Where did you shoot? How large was your background?

The whole thing was shot in a large spare room we have which is set up as a small studio. We had 2 green muslines, one on the floor, the other clipped to the roof.

You can see it here:
http://www.freekstorm.com/blogimages/diapp/greenscreen.jpg


and a composited version here:
http://www.freekstorm.com/blogimages/diapp/scene7-split1.jpg

[MrFluffy]

This was a fun short. I didn't have a problem with the quality of the CGI at all - it was supposed to look like a video game and it did! The acting is probably the main area to work on, although I understand that with all that greenscreen and all of you breaking a lot of new ground it can't have been easy either for the actors or for you directing them. I do think Puckthemad made a valid suggestion about having the father continue to tell the story to his daughter as a voiceover while having the adventure with his son.

I've just looked back through your thread and also had a look at your site - blimey, you're a complete family production!!! And it's your first film over a minute!!! Really well done and you must have had a great time making it.

I'm really glad you enjoyed it.

It was pretty tough trying to act, direct, keep and eye on the shooting and remember I was supposed to be playing a part. For my next short I'm going to stay behind the camera :dankk2:

[hoz]

awesome job! the trolls looked great, glad you gave em some facial expressions too. looks like a ton of work there. the dad has a terrific voice for reading a story, the ending was cool. it was a neat story. acting was so so but it still worked here because the story is imaginary too so that i could see the daughter playing this sort of story along in her head. maybe flash back to her before she falls asleep with some back and forth with the dad, like ," my brother would never jump over the hole, he's afraid of heights!" dad = " oh, yeah, you're right, so then, dick icon then told him to ' don't look down!'" the dad had a good sense of dry humor, play it up even more - in my humble opinion.

great work!

[MrFluffy]

awesome job! the trolls looked great, glad you gave em some facial expressions too. looks like a ton of work there. the dad has a terrific voice for reading a story, the ending was cool. it was a neat story. acting was so so but it still worked here because the story is imaginary too so that i could see the daughter playing this sort of story along in her head. maybe flash back to her before she falls asleep with some back and forth with the dad, like ," my brother would never jump over the hole, he's afraid of heights!" dad = " oh, yeah, you're right, so then, dick icon then told him to ' don't look down!'" the dad had a good sense of dry humor, play it up even more - in my humble opinion.

great work!

Glad you liked it. The troll took the longest time. At the start of this I had not animated anything before, so learning to animate, the walk, run and expressions was pretty intense.

My kids do love my telling stories, I do a wicked Mr Men!

Nice suggestions for the end. I did want to have more interaction at the start and the end but we had to cut it from the script to make it fit. Wish we had 10 minutes :)

[sschedra]

Richard,

Congratulations! What an effort for a first work. Considering that EVERYTHING is done by you and your family (us four and no more) then it becomes even more amazing. I see a lot of promise for future productions from family Bang.

Bravo!
Stephen

[hoz]

you just learned how to animate? holy! i can't wait to see what you come up with next. love the dedication!

[MrFluffy]

Richard,

Congratulations! What an effort for a first work. Considering that EVERYTHING is done by you and your family (us four and no more) then it becomes even more amazing. I see a lot of promise for future productions from family Bang.

Bravo!
Stephen

Thanks Stephen. We going to have a bigger cast in the future, we just need to know what the next fest is going to be so we can get the kids friends interested . My Eldest is going to star in the next one, or maybe die a horrible death. :)

[Michael Anthony Horrigan]

Very cute film. I've done a little bit of work with my 5 year old daughter so I know what that can be like. :)

They must have loved watching this. Funny stuff.

MAH

[Gord.T]

That was quite ambitious.

I enjoyed it and was impressed by how much work was put into it.

The CG perspectives matched up really well with the camera.

One thing I can't help thinking though is, 'if' you wanted to fit the characters in more realistically, I'd try matching the characters color and saturation to the backgrounds a bit better. As it is now they are too bright and colorful against the backing.


That looked like a ton of work but I think it plays well overall.
Nice family film. Congrats man. Your kids must be having a blast.

[MrFluffy]

One thing I can't help thinking though is, 'if' you wanted to fit the characters in more realistically, I'd try matching the characters color and saturation to the backgrounds a bit better. As it is now they are too bright and colorful against the backing.

Thanks Raptor,

I spent ages trying to find a way to do that but my Ae skill set just isnt up to it. The CG element had modulating lights and I had to create a script to modulate the exposure of the footage to match. That with the editing and hand rotoing some of the bad greenscreen shots was just too much and I kind of gave up trying to get it perfect. There was only so much I could get to grips with on the first outing, and I needed to move onto the sound :) I think I need to look at Magic Bullet for the next film so I have more control over the matching process (or I can stick a wash over them both to give them the same pallette).

Next time out I'll be starting from a better place so hopefully I can do a better job, and I wont be modulating the CG lights again for a looong time :)

[MrFluffy]

Very cute film. I've done a little bit of work with my 5 year old daughter so I know what that can be like. :)

They must have loved watching this. Funny stuff.

MAH
Thanks Michael. Much appreciated.

[Brian Parker]

Wow. this was pretty neat. Cute concept and nice execution. I have to say you did a really good job matching the lighting as far as shadows go but like Raptor365 said, if you matched the hues of lighting than things would really blend. That being said, I still think you did a really good job considering how tricky compostiting with 3D can be and trust me, I speak from experience. :) Thanks for sharing!

[MrFluffy]

Wow. this was pretty neat. Cute concept and nice execution. I have to say you did a really good job matching the lighting as far as shadows go but like Raptor365 said, if you matched the hues of lighting than things would really blend. That being said, I still think you did a really good job considering how tricky compostiting with 3D can be and trust me, I speak from experience. :) Thanks for sharing!
Thanks Champloo, glad you enjoyed it. Hopefully my next will be better :)

[DarkElastic]

Hi MrFluffy,

I have to say that I enjoyed that. Really nice attempt at green screening and cgi.

I don't know that much about the graphic process, all I can do is point out glitches i saw and it was mainly when you were both running at camera.

I think you all did a good job acting... just gotta stop yourselves looking at the camera. I have also used my daughter in a movie, so well done for doing something you and your family could be involved in.

Looking forward to your next piece. Well done.

[MrFluffy]

I don't know that much about the graphic process, all I can do is point out glitches i saw and it was mainly when you were both running at camera.

I think you all did a good job acting... just gotta stop yourselves looking at the camera. I have also used my daughter in a movie, so well done for doing something you and your family could be involved in.

Thanks DarkElastic, glad you enjoyed it.

Yea it was a major learning experiance not to run at the camera as the ceiling was not green and the keying just fell apart leaving me trying to roto the bits together. For the next one I'm going to paint the whole room green so it should be a bit easier.

Your right, must stop looking at the camera. It was quite tricky as there were no frames of reference and the eye tends to lock onto anything that it can see. Maybe next time I should add a prop to the side of the camera that the eyes can lock onto.

Thanks for watching.

[~jai~]

For your first film, you certainly decided to go BIG, didn't you?! I applaud your effort sir and thought you did a good job with all the green screening and monster creation. The lighting was really dark at times when you were heading directly towards the camera, the acting was a bit off, and the story wasn't very surprising, but the movie was good fun all in all. It would seem you had a good time making it and it shows. Honestly, I would have liked to see some variation in the monsters they encountered, but I can't imagine what it took to create the one, so I don't know how hard or possible/impossible it would have been to create more. The score was very dramatic which served the piece in the dungeon, but some more lighthearted music might have worked better for the 'Princess' scenes. Overall, I really think you did an admirable job for your first time. I'm sure you will only improve as you continue in your filmmaking career and I hope you don't lose that penchant for pushing yourself to do new and creative things! A great first film! Thanks for sharing!

[Mobie540]

Loved it. Must've spent tons of time in post. One critique, shadows. Shadows would sell the FX better. You had them on the trolls. But I'm sure that would've been another 4 months in post.

[Ben Sliker]

Random thoughts:

Would have liked to have seen a tighter shot for the storytelling parts, perhaps some shot/reverse shot action.

copper top? HA. DONT MAKE FUN OF US GINGER KIDS.

composites look great, this is like one of those saturday morning adventure cartoons ... except for some reason you're in the video game DOOM.

There's something quirky and silly about this whole film that i like, i can't put my finger on what it is though, looks like you had a lot of fun with the family making it.

[Girgej]

Hey ... Nice / Cute story .... and good work with the Green Screen and Graphics ... good job for the first time... now that you had this experience and next time will obviously improve on all the things you found tricky this time, I am really looking forward for your next piece ... keep it up ...

[keaseyb]

Nice job on your first film Mrfluffy, you really went for it. The only thing i would like to add, most others have been spot on, is that you could be a really funny actor. I kept waiting for a sly little remark from your very upright straight arrow character but it never happened. Add a little snark to your attitude and you could be a really funny straight man.

[MrFluffy]

Loved it. Must've spent tons of time in post. One critique, shadows. Shadows would sell the FX better. You had them on the trolls. But I'm sure that would've been another 4 months in post.
Hi Mobie,

Yea shadows, a tough one.

The troll shadows were rendered in the background, so they used the same lights as the walls and floor, hence shadows. The greenscreen was done in the GS studio with different lights and I dont yet know how to fake them in the composite other than simple ones against a flat wall.

Glad you liked it.

[MrFluffy]

For your first film, you certainly decided to go BIG, didn't you?! I applaud your effort sir and thought you did a good job with all the green screening and monster creation. The lighting was really dark at times when you were heading directly towards the camera, the acting was a bit off, and the story wasn't very surprising, but the movie was good fun all in all. It would seem you had a good time making it and it shows. Honestly, I would have liked to see some variation in the monsters they encountered, but I can't imagine what it took to create the one, so I don't know how hard or possible/impossible it would have been to create more. The score was very dramatic which served the piece in the dungeon, but some more lighthearted music might have worked better for the 'Princess' scenes. Overall, I really think you did an admirable job for your first time. I'm sure you will only improve as you continue in your filmmaking career and I hope you don't lose that penchant for pushing yourself to do new and creative things! A great first film! Thanks for sharing!
Hi Jai,

Thanks for watching. The trolls in this one took me 2 months of almost continuous work! I expect they will appear again in the future but with other creatures (depending on the movie themes). I was at the limit of my skills for pretty much every aspect of this one.

[~jai~]

The trolls in this one took me 2 months of almost continuous work! I expect they will appear again in the future but with other creatures (depending on the movie themes). I was at the limit of my skills for pretty much every aspect of this one.

WOW! That's impressive to have that kind of dedication and follow through on your first foray out! I send you a heartfelt congrats because I really thought the trolls looked very good!

[MrFluffy]

Random thoughts:

Would have liked to have seen a tighter shot for the storytelling parts, perhaps some shot/reverse shot action.

copper top? HA. DONT MAKE FUN OF US GINGER KIDS.

composites look great, this is like one of those saturday morning adventure cartoons ... except for some reason you're in the video game DOOM.

There's something quirky and silly about this whole film that i like, i can't put my finger on what it is though, looks like you had a lot of fun with the family making it.
Ben,

So your another member of the coppertop clan. Of the 5 in the family only 1 is not a redhead, so I can get away with it being one myself :)

We tried to do shot/reverse but my daughter was not having any of it. After we did the master she decided she was done :furious3:

I'm glad you liked it. Thanks for the comments.

[MrFluffy]

Nice job on your first film Mrfluffy, you really went for it. The only thing i would like to add, most others have been spot on, is that you could be a really funny actor. I kept waiting for a sly little remark from your very upright straight arrow character but it never happened. Add a little snark to your attitude and you could be a really funny straight man.
Thanks Keasey,

I'd like to get a sort of John Cleese thing going. I'm told I'm a pretty funny guy off camera but I was completely freeked by being in front of the camera. Maybe when/if I get used to it.

[kurtmo]

Dude, nice score (Note, we had at least two pieces in common, doh!) I thought the CGI was nice. You really bit off a big project and you delivered! I’m impressed!

The acting was a bit forced, but reasonable given the greenscreen work.

Technical things to work on for your next piece: When compositing live and CG, you need to add shadows for your real actors. The flickering lighting needs to be matched on both live and CGI. You might want to just add that separately towards the end of the composite. I know you had a lot of work to composite, maybe you could do a little less next time and focus on the little details that sell the work. The audio was also a bit spotty.

FYI, I also have an HMC. The final scene in Creature Quest had the main actor green screened. I filmed that shot quickly, outside on a cloudy day. It keyed fabulously. As long as the lighting is good, the camera rocks!

Thanks for sharing this piece!

[Chris Messineo]

I really enjoyed this a lot. It had a great tone and feel to it. I even showed it to my 11 year old daughter who liked it as well. This must of been a blast to make. It makes me want to go out and shoot some green screen. Well done.

[Jeff Anderson]

You know I was kind of prepared to not like this since it was geared toward little kids - you found the little kid in me! Really enjoyed watching this. The pace felt a little slow to me at times, but not horribly so.

"its a troll, they've got really good hearing" - ha! Love that line!

Impressive compositing work too.

Looks like this was a fun movie to make with the kids. Bet they enjoyed it! Nice job man!

[MrFluffy]

I really enjoyed this a lot. It had a great tone and feel to it. I even showed it to my 11 year old daughter who liked it as well. This must of been a blast to make. It makes me want to go out and shoot some green screen. Well done.
Hi Chris,

Its great to hear that someone in the target audience liked the movie. I'm glad you did too.

Thanks.

[MrFluffy]

You know I was kind of prepared to not like this since it was geared toward little kids - you found the little kid in me! Really enjoyed watching this. The pace felt a little slow to me at times, but not horribly so.

"its a troll, they've got really good hearing" - ha! Love that line!

Impressive compositing work too.

Looks like this was a fun movie to make with the kids. Bet they enjoyed it! Nice job man!
Thanks Jeff,

We spent ages trying to think of a reason for the troll to chase us. In the end thats what we came up with.

Glad you liked it.

[Fictionfeatures]

Lots of credit for doing this mostly animation. something I do not have the taste for but in this short film contest I think you mixed the video and animation very well. Congrats!

[MrFluffy]

This is now uploaded in HD to OpenFilm with some colour grading corrections.

http://www.openfilm.com/videos/dick_ikon_and_the_petulant_princess/ (http://www.openfilm.com/videos/dick_ikon_and_the_petulant_princess/)