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CALVERTFILM Diary Page
12th Aug 2008 - The holiday period with my kids has distracted me slightly from making 'Attack of the Vortagons'. On top of that I am gearing up to enjoy 'The Clone Wars' animation feature film out on the 15th Aug, new from Lucasfilm. My mind is pleasantly distracted with that too. Plus I am thinking of getting a second (donor) XR3. So the 'Vortagons' movie has not had anything done to it for a while. Having said that it is about 2/3rds complete. The Big Gig festival of the 18-19th (see 29th April entry) apparently went well. I couldn't afford to go, which was a shame.
23rd July 2008 - YouTube hits for my 103 movies reaches over 1/4 million.
12th July 2008 - I have a 3 page article published in Model Collector magazine, Sept 2008 issue. The 2,000 words are about my Ford Escort XR3's history. Starts page 28. Cool.
9th July 2008 - Last Saturday (5th) I started working on my next CG short movie, 'Attack of the Vortagons'. It is about several troll-like creatures (I call Vortagons) attacking a Dragon over a lava-field landscape. The Vortagon is the same model I used in 'Celeste' and is a model from Daz3D.com. No dialogue (except lots of roaring). Should be fun.
4th July 2008 - MOTI is still available on the shelve in a HMV shop in Southend. Still available online. Coming up for a first year anniversary of release in 3 days time.
2nd July 2008 - I have an article on Pg 6 of Film & Video Maker magazine about the (over) 100 Calvertfilm movies I have on YouTube.
30th June 2008 - Calvertfilm makes its first Surround sound film. This is a version of 'Celeste'.
25th June 2008 - 'Celeste' is finished. It is on YouTube - search 'Calvertfilm' and 'Celeste'. I am really happy with it. This is my 200th movie.
9th June 2008 - I have made a slightly gory version of the film. This features very quick frames of blood and guts as zombies get shot but this version will not be readily available, as it will be an extra on the DVD. I have made a trailer which is on YouTube. I have rendered the monochrome version with scratches and flicker to make it look like an old film. I am also making an 'ambient' version which may be surround sound but will definitely have an unusual look to it as I will pass a silk & fog effect over it plus alter a couple of other parameters. There will be 4:3 and 16:9 ratio versions (normal and widescreen). There will also be a subtitled version for this 5 minute movie. YouTube reached 200,000 hits.
4th June 2008 - 'Celeste' is nearing completion. I just need the female voice over now from Marsha Crenshaw who has kindly agreed to add her talents to this production. She'll sound great! The movie is complete in all other regards. A subtitled version already exists. I plan to make a black and white version, a stereo version, and another sound version. Should be on YouTube soon.
17th May 2008 - 'Film & Video Maker' magazine asked if I had anything to write about, so I've submitted another article, this time about YouTube. Also I was invited to write an article for 'Model Collector' magazine. I have written a 2,000 word piece on my XR3 and the times Corgi and Sunstar came to measure it up for models. The Corgi one comes out Oct 2008 at 1/43rd scale. I have written it with some humour. Lots of pictures. Check out the Sept 2008 issue, probably out in Aug. Meanwhile 'Celeste' is coming on great.
12th May 2008 - Some more shots from 'Celeste'. The story is about a girl who is hunting zombies to avenge the death of her family. She has been especially trained by local Mystic Wizards and therefore she now has a secret weapon to use against the zombies - a huge creature locked away in a secret building. Celeste leads them into her trap!
8th May 2008 - 'Celeste' is over 2 minutes long. I have made the first scary shot and it made one of my kids visibly jump out of his skin - sorry Jon. Also my wife Pauline said it made her jump even though she knew something was coming. So I'm pleased it is working to plan. Progress is slow now due to the fast cutting shots. Still, I am just enjoying making this one. No pressures to get it done. 102 vids on YouTube now.
2nd May 2008 - 'Celeste' is coming along now. The Daz3D models arrived, one of which is called Celeste and is where this movie title comes from. I also bought the Troll figure. I am using the Urban City and Zombie models that I used for 'Monsters of the Id' as well. On another note, I have made two 'making of' shorts from Monster Vamp, and they are on going on YouTube very soon. Calvertfilm YouTube hits over 150,000. 92 vids and more uploading to get to around 100.
29th April 2008 - The Big Gig festival this year is on 18th and 19th July 2008 in Thurso, and 27th July in Wick. 12 of the 15 films are from Calvertfilm (numbers 2,4 and 11 are not), plus 'Monsters of the Id' will be shown. Yippee! Click on the link below in the note from the organiser for more cool info.
Hello,
1) War Of The Starfighters (trailer)
2) "The Big Gig" 2009 (teaser trailer)
3) My Mate Rex
4) Most Haunted
5) The Intrepid Finale
6) Starfighters Attack
7) The Force Of The Starfighters
8) Johnny Lightspeed
9) The Lone Starfighter
10) X-Wing
11) The Assasination
12) Going To Extremes
13) Duke Starkiller
14) The Brave And The Valiant
15) Creatures of Hate
This programme is sci-fi based content including CGI animation and special effects with
live-action as well.
"Monsters Of The Id" will be in Programme B and F as it will be shown in Thurso
and Wick. If you have any more films you'ld like to have included in our 2009 event, we
are now accepting entries. You can also join our group at www.bebo.com/THEBIGGIG where regular updates are
posted.
kindest regards
Darren
20th April 2008 - Calvertfilm web site reaches 100,000th hit since set up March 2000.
Took a little longer than YouTube which took just 8 months. In fact YouTube has gone up to 142,000 hits today, 42,000 in 40 days. Had an idea for a horror CGI movie called 'Celeste'. This five minute film is about a girl seeking revenge against Zombies for the death of her family. She has a surprise up her sleeve as she searches for them within a ruined city. I've already pieced together the music from 'Walking with Beasts' and 'The Mummy'.
12th April 2008 - Uploading lots of rocketry videos to YouTube.
10th April 2008 - 'Monsters of the Id' is still on an HMV shop shelve, which is nice to see in such a competitive market. It came out 7.7.07. It is still available online of course is just about all the online stores. It came down in price on the Amazon.co.uk one.
8th April 2008 - Final nights shooting on Monster Vamp in a village hall. It went very well. I didn't get to bed until 2am the next day though. Lots of fun.
6th April 2008 - 'Acting' in a film called Monster Vamp. I am also taking stills, filming the making of, and producing a few special effects. My main role is to film it being made. More at www.monstervamp.com
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