FEATURE: ARCHER KNOX UNDEAD - Action/Horror - Kholi's $10,000 challenge - WATCH THIS THREAD!

October Black

October Black

Well-known member
Time to put up or shut up! After spending the last decade honing my craft.....I'm ready.

I'm taking the challenge offered up by Mr. Kholi Hicks in the Cafe: See it Here.

I've saved $10,000 to make my film "ARCHER KNOX UNDEAD". I offer it up to the film making gods...in hopes that the force may be with me...

Tech Note: This film will be shot on green-screen in a 50x25 building I have available to me. I will document everything as I move forward, including the construction of the sound stage. I'm number 8 in line for the new Black Magic Cinema Camera....crossing my fingers that it's available soon. Lots of testing to come.

A trailer will be shot first to help with distribution and create buzz.

IMAGE: Meet Rex.....a taste of the visual standard I will shoot for when making this film...
archer_knox_undead_web.jpg
 
Posted in the other thread, but looks cool man.

How long do you expect it'll take?

Cant' wait to get my Magic Cam, as well.
 
Hey nice work on that image, though I know people are going to tell you that looks like a cross between a facehugger and an adult Alien.

Shooting a feature is hard work I'll tell you and I wish you the best. Shooting a trailer for said feature before hand is even harder.
I mean, exactly how do you say to the actors, OK we're only going to use ten seconds of this particular scene but we will shoot the whole thing anyway.
I tried that, and found I just shot whole movie instead.

Shooting the whole thing on green screen would be too much stress for me to handle. I hate, hate it when a corporate client even mentions the words green screen!

Keep it up and do whatever it takes to FINISH it!
 
Kholi said:
Posted in the other thread, but looks cool man.

How long do you expect it'll take?

Cant' wait to get my Magic Cam, as well.
Click to expand...

I have a plan to help speed up post production, which should account for the majority of time spent.

Schedule:


  • [*=left]July-Sept: Pre-Production and Trailer
    [*=left]Oct-Nov: Production
    [*=left]Dec-May: Post-Production

​
 
Screenforme said:
Hey nice work on that image, though I know people are going to tell you that looks like a cross between a facehugger and an adult Alien.

Shooting a feature is hard work I'll tell you and I wish you the best. Shooting a trailer for said feature before hand is even harder.
I mean, exactly how do you say to the actors, OK we're only going to use ten seconds of this particular scene but we will shoot the whole thing anyway.
I tried that, and found I just shot whole movie instead.

Shooting the whole thing on green screen would be too much stress for me to handle. I hate, hate it when a corporate client even mentions the words green screen!

Keep it up and do whatever it takes to FINISH it!
Click to expand...

I'ed be lying if I said the Alien movies haven't influenced my work. I'm a huge fan, so that is criticism I'll gladly take.

I'm shooting the trailer as its own project...sort of a mini test movie.

I'm a greenscreenaholic.....so no worries there.

Thanks for checking in.
 
October Black said:
I'ed be lying if I said the Alien movies haven't influenced my work. I'm a huge fan, so that is criticism I'll gladly take.

I'm shooting the trailer as its own project...sort of a mini test movie.

I'm a greenscreenaholic.....so no worries there.

Thanks for checking in.
Click to expand...

looks great , but if I was you Id redesign it- originality doesn't cost any money. No shame in doing a cheesy B rip off, but you're 30 years late(!) B-movies have been ripping off Alien, since, well...Alien.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jnww9vGHPyU

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vt2BKDm-VkU

I'm struggling to learn and remember this myself, but indie movies thrive on the unexpected, the daring, and the original- it's what you use in place of money. Base it on an alien from a 50's sci fi movie (or mix of them), base it on an animal (or mix of animals), base it on a creature from a Bosch painting, you have all of film and art history to take ideas from.

anyways good luck sounds like you're gonna make things happen!!
 
nycineaste said:
looks great , but if I was you Id redesign it- originality doesn't cost any money. No shame in doing a cheesy B rip off, but you're 30 years late(!) B-movies have been ripping off Alien, since, well...Alien.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jnww9vGHPyU

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vt2BKDm-VkU

I'm struggling to learn and remember this myself, but indie movies thrive on the unexpected, the daring, and the original- it's what you use in place of money. Base it on an alien from a 50's sci fi movie (or mix of them), base it on an animal (or mix of animals), base it on a creature from a Bosch painting, you have all of film and art history to take ideas from.

anyways good luck sounds like you're gonna make things happen!!
Click to expand...

30 years to late? Maybe I'm going for that awesome retro look. Seriously though, everything that is created is a rip in one way or another, you said it yourself...so I'm not worried about it...in fact I love this design and am proud of it.

Thanks for the good wishes.
 
It's great to see you're going for it. I wish you much luck.

One thing i'm curious about though (and this could be ignorance on my part). The genre is action horror, which usually means lots of shadows and dark areas. How do you make that work with a green screen? I was always under the impression that you have to light green screens intensely, which is why a lot of green screen work has a very bright and flat look. Are you going to use flags to create shadows on the actors faces and then do the rest in post? Please tell!
 
jghenderson said:
It's great to see you're going for it. I wish you much luck.

One thing i'm curious about though (and this could be ignorance on my part). The genre is action horror, which usually means lots of shadows and dark areas. How do you make that work with a green screen? I was always under the impression that you have to light green screens intensely, which is why a lot of green screen work has a very bright and flat look. Are you going to use flags to create shadows on the actors faces and then do the rest in post? Please tell!
Click to expand...

I would say you have way more control over lighting and shadows in a green-screen environment. Take a look at Sin City for an example of this....very dark and moody.

I'll light the screen separate from the talent...and as you said..use tricks like flagging to create the look on my actors. I'll also have a laptop setup with a live key running through lensfeed in After Effects to match lighting to the backgrounds.

Thanks for the extra bit of luck.
 
So I'm sitting at my desk working out story beats in Google docs...(awesome for taking notes) and it hits me! I love doing this...more than anything else. I work in production, so I see cameras every day, but it's not this. Film making is something different, personal...a piece of me. And it's scary...but that's part of the thrill. Not knowing how you will be received by an audience can mess with your head and stop you from acting on dreams, for fear of failure.

So I stopped in here to tell you that it's okay...we all go through it and it's part of the ride. Learn to love the fear...it will help you to work hard and the best you can be.

Fight hard and if you go down....go down swinging!
 
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I've cast the Actor who will play Archer Knox.

I also found a local guy to help me do the effects work...casting, foam latex and such.

We'll be doing a heavy prosthetic make-up for Archer. Tom, the actor playing him is stoked and can't wait to be transformed. Time to make the molds...photos to come.
 
Okay, so there is big a possibility of more money coming to the table. If this happens it will ruin the $10,000 experiment, but I'd be a fool not to take the money. Details to come.
 
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