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Diary for 'Monsters of the Id' (MOTI) scroll down.

'The hardest part is not the computer graphics but rather having the will to complete a project this massive'   - Laurie Calvert, UK.

To www.monstersmovie.com Home on

Monsters of the Id web site

          See various free clips on YouTube: http://uk.youtube.com/results?search_query=calvertfilm 

Download movie from http://www.digitalnewage.com/ (due early 2010).

MySpace at www.myspace.com/lauriecalvert 

Some music track examples at http://homepage.ntlworld.com/calvertfilm/MOTIMusic.htm

9th February 2010 - Digital New Age (DNA) are in discussion with me regarding video streaming 'Monsters of the Id'. Should soon be available to download from http://www.digitalnewage.com/ soon.

14th July 2009 - The 7th was MOTI's 2nd birthday of the release. I haven't heard much from Film 2000 but the actual distribution company is Sony Distribution. Film 2000 is my link to them. The movie is still available online.

26th Jan 2009 - Put nine tracks of music samples online at this link: http://homepage.ntlworld.com/calvertfilm/

9th Jan 2009 - DVD sales of many videos are generally very low. The world-wide credit crunch of the past few months is taking effect. Film 2000 is still going and hopefully their web site will be alive again soon. But the loss of Woolworths and Savvi is making it hard for the independent films to get shelf space. There is only shelf room for the major titles in the remaining retail outlets. Online sites are great but how can the smaller films get spotted there? Tough times. MOTI is still being distributed via Film 2000 and Sony distribution. At least it is still 'out there'.

9th July 2008 - MOTI had a 1st birthday two days ago. It is still available to buy and on release online and I also saw a copy still in the shop HMV. All sing along now....

22nd June 2008 - Lovefilm has a review of MOTI on there which states that the ideas within the storyline of the film have helped a child overcome their nightmares: '....and through the suggestion of this film he has developed a strategy to cope with his nightmares and the fear of the dark that caused. Anything that can do that gets my vote.' The story involves someone using dreaming that they are a superhero to fight their nightmares. That's cool.

29th April 2008 - 'MOTI' gets shown at a film festival: 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.

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.

16th March 2008 - Working on a short time travel story called 'Time to Tell'.

11th March 2008 - 'Racer' was finished on 10th March 2008 and was 74 mins 51 seconds long. It gets a first viewing today. YouTube hits reach 100,000.

9th March 2008 - 'Racer' went feature-length in the edit yesterday and is almost finished. I just need to edit the end titles. I know it will have a 75 minute running time. I've used some images from the game and elsewhere and blended them together for still sequences. This sped up the process. This is just for my home use and not for release. I just made it for fun and no financial gain. I also used Poser 4. Another Machinima type film to see just how quick a movie can be made. This was about 40 hours work this way.

Also my YouTube hits are currently at 97,600 for 77 movies.

6th March 2008 - My latest movie is now called 'Racer' nice and simple. I hope to upload a trailer to YouTube very soon, within the next few hours. So far I have made the first 6 minutes and edited the front titles fully. Plus I have made a trailer and developed Mark Storm, my lead Poser character. This movie I intend to make all with subtitles overlaying music and sound effects, so no voices needed. This movie will be suitable for deaf people completely. The racing scenes generated by Gran Tourismo 3 will be interspersed with Poser 4 stills of the characters with words coming up a bit like comics.

5th March 2008 - I'm working on a 3rd feature length movie made from video game captures (Machinima). This will be my 3rd such film (feature length) and my 5th feature (MOTI was my 2nd). This new movie is based on Gran Tourismo 3 and has the working title 'Vette Dreams'. It features Corvettes, racing Corvettes, and Skylines racing, set to some pretty exciting music, with a storyline with characters in between. It is just for fun/home use, not for release of course as material is copyrighted from the game manufacturers. Good fun though. I like making films this way for a change. The film making comes in the editing. You can't keep a good film maker down! I just love making films (movies, videos, whatever you want to call them) any way I can.

15th Feb 2008 - Got a cheque through for MOTI which was well timed. YouTube hits are 76,000. Current rate is 800 per day. I've added lots more Calvertfilm material. Remember that Darren Manson has selected MOTI to be shown at a Film Festival he is organising. This festival will be in Thurso, Caithness with the current date set at 18-19th July 2008.

3rd Feb 2008 - The Lost Wars is completed yesterday and details finished today such as web site and cover. A feature length movie made in 12 hours over 5 separate days.

23rd Jan - YouTube hits reach 60,000. Current rate is: 14 days = 10,000 hits. This is 714 hits per day. Calvertfilm is on 95,000 hits too, so hopefully just a few weeks to 100K. MOTI is still available online. I am thinking of selling it at Cheshunt UK Toy Fair sometime. First one of these fairs is on 27th Jan at Grundy Park Leisure Centre. Four more planned for the year. I won't stall out on the first date but may on future ones with MOTI. Meanwhile I am looking into making a couple more feature length Machinimas using PS2 games - one called 'Lost Wars' which is based around Star Wars and some lost battles that are recovered as recordings on a lone Seeker Droid.

I am also planning another film around the Gran Tourismo game, which is about car racing. Working title is 'Vette Dreams' since it is a fantasy about Corvette racing. These are for fun, not to sell.

15th Jan - Added YouTube videos throughout the site.

9th Jan 2008 - YouTube hits reach 50,000. Current rate is: 17 days = 10,000 hits.

25th Dec 2007 - The last five days have seen myself and the kids playing Playstation Robot Wars fights featuring a CGI (Computer Generated Imagery) version of Lightning. We have made over 20 fights that will come together to form our own CGI feature length movie made in as simple a way as possible. This is called Machinima style, in its simplest form. Poser software will be used to make the team characters of myself, and sons Laurie and Jon. This will be my third feature movie in a way but it is not a conventional movie, just being made in a fun way, and it is not for release of course. I have used some of the dialogue from the real Lightning footage on the real Robot Wars. In this movie Lightning flips opponents, pits them, throws them out of the arena, and does demos in special locations available in the game such as a Scrapyard and Oil Rig. I have used the CG Lightning to win the UK and World Championships and the Assault Rounds. Film/movie is called 'The Lightning Wars'. YouTube hits on 40,000.

9th Dec 2007 - YouTube hits on 32,000 - a further 9,000 in 17 days. MOTI price may be dropping soon.

I'm working over a live action horror idea called 'The Windmiller Man' (working title) about a wizened old grey-skinned creature that lives in a disused windmill. Anyway, I'll probably never make it, and it needs more development but 'The Windmiller Man' story now exists. I am also working on a simpler version called 'Freaky'.

18th Nov 2007 - YouTube hits on 23,000 - a further 9,000 in 25 days approx. 'Going to Extremes'  - my model rocket movie, is the most viewed currently. MOTI has been out 3 months now, so expecting first royalty payment soon. The Calvertfilm movie 'Rap Raptor' has been archived in the IAC (Institute of Amateur Cinematographers) film library which is nice. You can see it on YouTube. MOTI price may be dropping soon to about £4 approx.

I am working on a short story idea about time travel. The premise is that people in the future do indeed come back and visit us. But so as not to change the timeline they cannot interact in a way that we are conscious of. They exist around us in another dimension. In fact, in the future you can book a type of 'holiday' to travel back anytime and observe events in history. Where would you go to? I like to think this may be happening and the upbeat moral of the story is that nobody ever dies therefore as we can all live again in this way. 'Forever Alive' is the title.

24th Oct 2007 - 14,000 hits on YouTube in 3 months. I have about 50 clips and films on there now. I am adding another 6 MOTI clips which include most of the actors voices. The 'Heroes' clip will contain the voices of Garrick Hagon, Phil Delancy, Eileen Daly, Rosie Jenkins, and Marsha Crenshaw. The 'Ice Robot' clip will contain Claire Spence. The 'Shark' clip will contain Samantha Pilley. Ed Bishop is in the 'Volcano' scene. Warrick Davis's laugh is on the 'Ruins' clip. The clips will show scenes with a shark, volcano, action, talking, Robot battles on an ice field, fighting and all sorts of stuff. This brings the total clips up to 14 for MOTI. Enjoy. The movie has been out 3 months now.

10th Oct 2007 - MOTI has been selected by Darren Manson to be shown at a Film Festival he is organising along with several of my other short movies such as 'X-Wing', 'The Intrepid Finale' and 'Starfighters Attack'. This festival will be in Thurso, Caithness with the current date set at 18-19th July 2008, and possibly an earlier date too in April 2008. Meanwhile the DVD is still available on the HMV shelves, which is nice to see.

15th Sept 2007 - 4,000 viewings of Calvertfilm clips on YouTube (link above) in about the first month. Also the combined counts for Calvertfilm web site www.calvertfilm.fsnet.co.uk and MOTI web site www.monstersmovie.com are just a few days from reaching 100,000. Uploading a lot more Calvertfilm videos to YouTube over the next few days. Search 'Calvertfilm at www.youtube.com for details. 3D World Magazine issue 96, has published an article I've written about releasing MOTI in their 'Business End' section. Available world-wide. I got mine from WH Smiths in the UK. Lovely stuff.

28th Aug 2007 - 3D World Magazine issue 95, has printed a letter of mine about the movie. In next month's issue 96, they are running an article on it. 3D World has a circulation of 15,000 (readership of over 20,000) people world-wide and it is about computer graphics, so an ideal place for my story. I am grateful to the editor Jim Thacker. Also MOTI is featured in 'Film & Video Maker' the IAC magazine on pg 4.

24th Aug 2007 - Spoke to Film 2000 today and we discussed USA release, sales and advertising in the media. Had a good chat. First months sales figures are good and about the same as another release of Film 2000's from that period. The other film has a fan following though, so that is good news for my film.

23rd Aug 2007 - MOTI has sold a few copies (I haven't got the sales figures as yet though) and has had an article in OneHMRC magazine, a national publication for a 100,000 personnel section of the Civil Service. The web site has hit some real highs with as many as 264 hits on one particular day after posting in the CG (Computer Generated) forums. YouTube clips are doing very well too http://uk.youtube.com/results?search_query=calvertfilm 

1st Aug 2007 - MOTI is on some HMV shelves and at London stores. I've seen it at HMV London in the Children's section, and HMV Southend in the Anime section. It can be ordered from any UK HMV store too. Also a nice article about the Premiere in the Southend Echo pg 9 - thanks Lindsey. The IAC magazine, Film & Video Maker, is running an article on MOTI too starting on pg 4 of the next issue. P.S. Web site hit 264 hits on 2nd Aug (that day).

29th July 2007 - Premiere event at the Southend Odeon went extremely well. Thanks to friends and family that attended plus the actors present, Eileen, Phil and Samantha. Film started at 10.43am and ran to 11.58am. I did a little 2 minute speech beforehand too. Took some video and lots of pictures. Even sold a few copies, and several people got autographs of the stars. Was a fantastic day.

24th July 2007 - The IAC has done a great article on MOTI: http://www.fvi.org.uk/resources/distributing_a_feature.html An article I've written is due to be in issue 96 of 3D World magazine too, available worldwide. Had a really nice email from someone that sums up this movie and why it was made. It said: Hey Man, I just wanted to say, I dig your fighting spirit, and I hope you do more ! Its guys like you who spur on innovation!

23rd July 2007 - Official release date for 'Monsters of the Id' is today. Peter Barrett got his 2 copies through the door this morning. Digital Premiere for the film is Sunday (morning) July 29th 2007 at the Southend Odeon. I've have contacted Essex FM regarding the Premiere and plan to contact Anglia TV too. Laurie Calvert (Director) and Samantha Pilley (Actress) are appearing at HMV Southend at 5pm on 30th July to meet and greet people, so come and meet us if you wish. I've posted on lots of CGI forums today such as Renderosity, Daz3D, and Planit3D. Also another Southend Echo article online at http://www.echo-news.co.uk/search/display.var.1541755.0.making_monsters_in_my_spare_time.php Thanks Rebecca.

20th July 2007 - MOTI is now on the International Movie Database IMDB at www.imdb.com Also I have been asked to attend a festival with this film (and others) at Thurso at http://thursopicturehouse.piczo.com

16th July 2007 - Going to be doing something for 3D World magazine, issue 96. Should have an article in the Havering Gazette July 18th.

15th July 2007 - Met with Garrick and Warwick today at Celebration Europe, the Star Wars event.

12th July 2007 - Noticed today that the Southend Echo oh July 11th had another page on me (pg20). This article covered 'The War of the Starfighters' and my interest in Star Wars, plus it also had a picture of Laurie and Jon, Warrick too. Thanks Rebecca. Also Matt from the Havering Gazette called me today to do an interview tomorrow for publication next Wednesday 18th. IAC web site will soon publish an article too.

Also I'm am adding a profile to MySpace. www.myspace.com/lauriecalvert

11th July 2007 - Should be doing some sort of promotion/signing at the Southend HMV store just after the Premiere/Screening. Aiming for the 30th at 4 or 5pm. Come and meet me to ask questions on the production. Samantha Pilley will be there too. I know of two copies of the film that have been pre-ordered at least before the release on 23rd. The film is available to pre-order and then it is shipped out a.s.a.p. after the 23rd.

9th July 2007 - Uploading to YouTube various MOTI clips. http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=xeImECz3rB0&mode=related&search=   Or search 'Calvertfilm' for more.

7th July 2007 - MOTI is available on various sites - Play.com, Amazon.co.uk, HMV, Virgin, Tesco, and Woolworths and all good outlets. Thanks to Film 2000 for their help. Sony Distribution involved too. Wonderful news! Ambition complete. Phew!

The Point of all of this: This movie cost just £700 to make and a further £2,100 to get released. I think this must be one of the lowest priced feature films ever. I could have self-distributed but I wanted the 'rubber stamp' from another organisation that it was good enough for them to release. I wasn't worried about a cinema release because these days the big Studios/Distributors have got the theatrical space sown up plus I'd have my own showing in an Odeon (that cinema name means a lot to me). Same situation with shelve space in the shops, so selling online will be the order of the day mostly. That's alright since the ambition was to make a feature film and get it available in a professional way. Plus this is a one-man made film essentially. I had 100% creative control too. My first feature was made for my kids for the love of my kids. This one is made for everyone else to enjoy too and for me to release. It shows this can be done in a very modest way. I can now rest on my laurels. Feels nice you know.

5th July 2007 - Rebecca from the Southend Echo interviewed me today for well over an hour about my film and my other interests, from Star Wars and rockets, to robots and cars. She is planning to do a big piece on me on the Fri 27th issue of the entertainment and leisure section of the Southend Echo, covering more of the details of this film, and how others can make a similar thing. It was a nice way to do an interview, sipping coffee whilst sitting outside in the High Street. Today I also started making a couple of cardboard standees for the Premiere/Screening on the 29th at the Odeon. Plus yesterday the Odeon said they may be able to sell a few copies of MOTI in their own DVD display/sales area. I really hope they can.

29th June 2007 - Today's Romford Recorder has a massive centre page spread on the film plus a front page banner. Thanks so much Eden. I saw the article for the first time in the Southend Echo today - it had a mention on the front page, and then completely filled page 3 with a couple of pictures and some wonderful text.

http://www.echo-news.co.uk/search/display.var.1500892.0.lauries_monster_dreams.php

Thanks to Lindsey and David for such a wonderful article. I have been in contact with Anglia TV regarding the Premiere. Also I am sending the movie to the Sci-Fi Channel as a screener. On another note, I saw Rosie Jenkins yesterday in a play called Blonde Bombshells of 1943 at the Palace Theatre, Southend, Essex. She was wonderful in the play and we even had time for a drink afterwards. A charming and talented lady. Rosie plays Tsunami in MOTI (see 23rd Sept 05 entry).

26th June 2007 - Newspaper articles being done by the Southend Echo (Wed 27th) and Romford Recorder (Fri 29th). Pictures taken yesterday in the Southend Odeon Screen 4 and today at my home. The thrust of the articles is quite different.

23rd June 2007 - Visited the LOTNA group and gave out the first printed up Premiere tickets. They made me feel very welcome and a couple of the tickets they even asked to be signed, which was a clever idea on their part. Tickets will mostly be sent out in a couple of weeks time, two weeks prior to the Premiere itself.

21st June 2007 - Premiere date confirmed - Sunday July 29th at the Odeon Southend Screen 3. Ticket invitation only, which allows free entry for as many guests as my family and friends would like to bring. I had a test screening of parts of the movie today using an LCD digital projection system, and it works great. This is the one I will use although the 2K DLP system looked great too. The sound was formidable and sounded so rich, plus the Pro-logic was giving it depth. The seats were shaking. It was one of those special moments too when I caught a glimpse of my name on screen through the projection portal. Tickets to go out soon, as Tony has made them already. I can't wait to see the film this way.

12th June 2007 - I am in the process of booking the Odeon Cinema Southend Screen One for the Premiere showing of 'Monsters of the Id' on Sunday 29th July. My friend Tony is helping my put together invites based on the tan ticket design, that I can send out to people. I hope to be sending these out soon, once the cinema is confirmed. Also a local newspaper is set to cover the movie. Sending out some promo DVDs.

8th June 2007 - MOTI has a release date of July 23rd.

24th May 2007 - The BFI film archive now has a copy of MOTI, as do my actors and crew. Hoping for a promotional release perhaps in June before the main one in July. Talked with Albert recently too regarding funding. On June 2nd sent Ami a DVD via Philip.

16th May 2007 - I got my 50 promo copies of the replicated DVD sent through today. They look great and the DVD quality is exactly the same as the master one I made. The cover art looks fantastic, and now it has the bar code on it too. Myself, Laurie Jnr and Jon watched it through tonight - the first screening of a replicated DVD. Ed informed me today that it might be July 2007 now before the film becomes available to buy online.

11th May 2007 - Copies of MOTI are winging their way to me as I write this. Should have promo copies by next week to send to the actors and others. Meanwhile I have been gearing up for the promotion and writing articles and producing free DVDs that show the trailers, clips and stars reading their lines. Film itself should now be available this month, or at worst June. Thanks for hanging in there, and thanks to the people that email their support. It is appreciated.

8 May 2007 - I talked with Ed at Film 2000 today and it looks as if I'll be getting a few promotional copies of 'Monsters of the Id' (MOTI) sent to me soon. He hopes to have it available within the next few days or weeks only. Also the musician Philip Guyler is now at http://www.myspace.com/philipguyler

10 April 2007 - I have asked for 50 DVDs to be sent to me for promotional purposes. Film 2000 should get these next week, so hopefully I get my 50 copies shortly after that. Release date will now be in May or June 2007, a year after the film was actually completed (3rd June '06), so it just shows how much work is involved. Meanwhile I have been organising and writing promotional items. I plan to contact film making and CGI magazines, web sites and forums, film archives, local and national newspapers, actors I know, and friends and family. I also plan to have a Premiere at either an Odeon or Vue cinema by hiring out the screen.

20 March 2007 - Bluecrest are still in the process of replicating the PAL (UK and Eire) DVDs. They have a big order to get through. Hopefully a release date for my film will be set in April. Not too long to wait now.

24th Feb 2007 - Master DVD has been sent off for replication at Bluecrest. Should take about 2 weeks. Artwork has been sent off too. So the film will then be put online and should be available in about 3-4 weeks time from now on hopefully Play.com and Amazon.com web sites. Nearly there.

14th Feb 2007 - DVD Body Art and DVD Cover Art are almost complete by Chris Charlson of Eeso. He's doing a great job with a very striking design. Hopefully DVD replication can being within the next week or two.

1st Feb 2007 - 'Monsters of the Id' has received the BBFC classification of '12' with the notation 'Contains moderate sexualised nudity'. This is the same rating as such films as 'King Kong', 'Pirates of the Caribbean', 'Stealth', and 'Tokyo Drift'. www.bbfc.co.uk Next stage is artwork completion for the DVD cover and disc artwork, and then replicating the DVDs. I have added more information to the 'Buy' page. It now contains details of the 33 mins of extras on the DVD. Hopefully the DVD will be out in March or April on Play.com and Amazon.com. Also, I have just seen a promo copy of 'Race' the movie. This is an American Indy CG feature and I thoroughly recommend it when it comes out. www.racethemovie.net

24th Jan 2007 - Had a nice chat with Mark from Southend College today. They are running a Film Festival in the summer and he has asked me to do an hour long talk on my film making over the years. Also it could be (if I wish) another showing for 'Monsters of the Id' in their state-of-the-art cinema. Sounds like a lot of fun and it would be refreshing to meet young eager film makers. I'm not around many of those these days. Having said that, I filmed something for Samantha Pilley yesterday for her own film project. Good to work with new fresh talent. I'm none of that!

12th Jan 2007 - I am able to submit the film to the BBFC (British Board of Film Classification) myself as a 'composite' piece of work. This means the film and extras can be viewed as one piece and not submitted in fragments (i.e trailer as a separate piece). So I will send the film off next week. Current turn-around time is 3 weeks. I have a 75 minute film plus 33 minutes of extras to be viewed. They charge £6 per minute plus a £75 handling fee and then tax is added on top. DVD cover artwork is being started and then they just need to be replicated. Then they can go 'out there' on Play and Amazon.

4th Jan 2007 - A time-coded version of the film will be sent to the BBFC (British Board of Film Classification) for classification. This will tell potential viewers the recommended age for viewing. This time-coded version is being produced now, and it will take about a month or so for the result. Meanwhile other jobs can be started such as the artwork. Also, I am seeing Samantha again tomorrow with a view to helping her film a project of her own. I can update her with the latest 'Id' news too.

20th Dec 2006 - Chatted at length with Ed from Film 2000. The results of the screenings are in and we now have a direction. The film is about to go forward for film classification at the BBFC to give it a rating. After that replicated DVDs will be made and the new cover artwork produced. Then it gets released. Sounds easy but a lot of work involved, cost, and time to promote it all. Hopefully by the end of January we might have it classified.

4th Dec 2006 - I've been trying to get in touch with Film 2000 but it is proving difficult to find a time when they are free to chat at length. Hopefully soon we can talk as it is getting a bit frustrating - I really want to get the film out there. Thanks to all of you hanging in, waiting for news. Something should happen soon as the test screenings are now over. Ed and Film 2000 are supportive of the project.

18th Nov 2006 - The test screenings should be over by now. I should get a report from Film 2000 soon. The idea is to see which types of audience the film appeals to most. I already know of some things the audience liked and some things they didn't. They liked some of the Hero characters and the mixture of Philip's music and AKM music went down well too. Mind you every film has people that like it and people that don't. I'll be looking for a consensus of opinion on particular parts before I get too worried. I have also been looking at other features, for example 'Battlestar Galactica', and one of my sons said the effects looked rubbish. It is a cut throat world out there. Hitting the right audience is what counts. If we can hit the audience that will appreciate it, then we will do better than if we don't. With a business, location is everything. With a film, hitting the right market is.

1st Nov 2006 - Film 2000 are busy (abroad I believe) and so haven't been in touch recently. 'Id' was having several test screenings to get an idea of the best market to tackle with it. So hopefully soon I will chat to them again and see what the next stage is. Hopefully a first quarter release might be possible for 2007. I'll keep you posted as soon as I know anything definite.

21st Sept 2006 - Made a test CG of a 'Stunnas' character. Not sure yet what to do with this. This is an offshoot idea of 'Id' based on an old short movie I made years ago www.calvertfilm.fsnet.co.uk for more details. Originally in the mid-nineties I scripted up the idea as 'Stunners' a six-part mini-series about a group of crime-fighting female (mostly) heroes on motorbikes. It was tongue-in-cheek and fun with lots of action but a story that kept you guessing and evolved from sci-fi to sci-fantasy to a strange and unexpected ending. I sent it around, including to comic companies. A few months later Spiderman had a new adversary called 'Stunner' and it looked a remarkably like a combination of my designs but you cannot fight Marvel in court and win, so that was that. It seemed a remarkable coincidence. Someone pointed it out to me and at first I was reluctant to believe it. But then I realised even small details had been copied, as if to rub it in. Do an image search on Stunner and you should find a picture. The design below is a newer design of mine, not one they (perhaps?) copied. But the concept was so much more than the suit design - they missed the point. Hey but then I don't expect they copied it for one moment - I take it all back. Anyway, it will be re-born with a different title, and the bike idea, main storyline which one actor described as 'thorough' and another called 'wonderful' and another said the script has 'the great virtue of being different from the run-of-the-mill'. I will not divulge the evolving clever storyline here but it never lets up in pace. Let's see how gets 'Id' gets on first. I'd really like to make this new film live action but even CG looks good too.

17th Sept 2006 -Various companies and individuals are showing a general interest in the film, and I haven't even started pushing yet.

1st Sept 2006 - A test screening next to work out the finer details. Changes made so far have been approved. Meanwhile a few people have been asking when the film will be available. Should be early next year all being well.

16th Aug 2006 - I have added the Film 2000 logo to the DVD itself. I have also produced a CD of stills so they can produce new artwork for the cover. Many people have said they like the existing cover and artwork but I'd be interested to see what someone else comes up with plus extra details need to be added. I have sent this new material off to Film 2000 for approval.

9th Aug 2006 - Good news indeed. FILM 2000 have said they could release 'Monsters of the Id'. www.film2000.co.uk We have to finalise the DVD, get a British Board of Film Classification (BBFC) rating, get the DVD replicated and then the film will be ready for release early 2007 on the web, in shops or at the Film 2000 web link above. I'll keep you posted as more news comes through. We also need to work out the finer details but today was a good meeting with Ed and Matt seemingly very interested.

2nd Aug 2006 - The potential 'Distributor' is still reviewing my movie. Hope to hear some news soon. Meanwhile I have made a 'Promo' DVD which contains 3 minutes of clips, shots of the cast reading their lines, the director, 2 trailers, and other stuff. This is a free DVD that I can give out to whoever requests it in the hope they end up buying the movie. I will start to make copies for promotion nearer the time of release. If you are reading this and fancy a copy please email me a suitable address and I'll send you one (wherever in the World) as soon as I can.

9th July 2006 - Got a lovely letter yesterday from the East Anglian Film Archive. They called it 'beautifully produced and groundbreaking' and they were 'impressed and enthralled by it'. Groundbreaking because this movie has such limited resources and yet at the end of the day it is a proper little CGI feature film. They continue 'We are very pleased to have your CGI features in the archive collection, and the history and documentation which will make clear its significance in the future'. I thank them for their uplifting comments. After all of the hard work it is nice for them to say this. At the end of the film making process I am feeling a little low at times (where do I go from here?) so the letter really helped lift me.

3rd July 2006 - The film is being reviewed by its first potential 'Distributor'. He has to show it to a few people, so it may take a little time. Meanwhile I have sent a copy to the East Anglian Film Archive already as it is - a preview version. This DVD contains extras such as - Meet the Director, two Trailers, Interviews with the three main Actors, Actors recording lines, Outtakes, Mistakes, Walks, Demo of Poser, a still Gallery, Diary and a Facts and Figures list. So quite a comprehensive little lot. Some of my friends have seen the movie and all have reported back really favourably. No storyline flaws thankfully. Plus I have heard of another Indy CGI feature being made in Hollywood by a company with a few more resources. It looks really good. 'Race' is a sort of cross between Pod-Racing and Formula One. Can't wait to see it. www.racethemovie.net for details. Also I've been editing Eileen Daly's showreel for her too.

12th June 2006 - Making different versions of the DVD. There are Widescreen 16:9 versions, Normal 4:3 versions, and Normal with Extras. Also backing up to DV tape and getting everything in order to present to a Distributor.

3rd June 2006 - Final version of film is finished pending any last minute changes. 864 days, 920 hours work so far. New music has been added and sounds mixed. 493 Gig used. The movie is looking and sounding really good. Had a Premiere to myself of the final version today. Might be a few months away from being available as it needs to get BBFC certification for release in the UK plus the DVDs need to be replicated. Next step is to talk to a Distributor. Fingers crossed. This film has cost just £700 to make.

27th May 2006 - Discussed some music tracks with Philip and he is making a few alterations. Overall though the music is fantastic. I gave Philip AKM music to go by and he has built on these ideas and improved them, made them fit to the visuals better and produced linking themes. AKM music still exists on about nine scenes out of thirty three. But now Philip has given Hurricane a theme as well as the Nemesis. Meanwhile I have improved the whole soundtrack. Still a few days work left to mix all of the sounds completely. Putting the music to CD.

24th May 2006 - Took delivery of Philip's music for the film. Now begins the process of matching the tracks on 28 sections and re-mixing the sound effects and speech, so it will take a few days to complete version two, the final version. AKM music is more varied in style and is very rich in sounds, plus my kids love it (and the 100% AKM music version sounds really good), whilst Philip's music has linking themes and cuts to the visuals better with a theme or mood following the action. Both sound good. The final mix should be a mixture of both.

12th May 2006 - New Trailer made called 'Monsters'. Tells more of the story. Available on download page of www.monstersmovie.com plus Warwick reading lines and a sample scene of the Raptors.

8th May 2006 - Philip Guyler has written music for the 'Power' Trailer, concentrating on action. Now uploaded on the downloads page of www.monstersmovie.com Check it out - 89 secs long. 4:3 ratio trailer although the CGI image looks great stretched to 16:9 Widescreen too.

6th May 2006 - Film Premiere of version one of film to my family. Went down really well. Also now making the 'Making of' DVD. I spent 835 days (888 hours) making the film so far, averaged just over 5 seconds of finished film per day, and drunk over 1200 cups of coffee during its production.

29th April 2006 - Film is finished with 100% AKM music soundtrack.This is version one. Philip Guyler will write his original music for it in key places but at present the AKM Music version is the one that is complete. I did the last shot and end titles today. Two years four months in production. I really sped up towards the end - always the way. I still need to make backups, send off archive versions, make DVD versions, make artwork for cover, contact distributor and various other jobs but the film itself is done and 75 minutes long. It feels fantastic.

23rd April 2006 - The movie went 'feature length' tonight as I completed over 70 minutes of finished footage. Yippee.

17th April 2006 - Over 68 minutes done now. I have a lot of talking/lip-syncing scenes to do but they are going well. Slowing the movie pace down before the big ending. Just three more scenes left or six pages of script. Exciting! Gallery updated too.

7th April 2006 - Over 63 and a half minutes finished now. I have completed a space ship interior scene that is short but works very well. Now moving on to a moon style surface scene. I think the CGI is looking slicker as the film progresses but I have been careful not to vary it too much technically. For example Poser 6 can render up some great looking hair (see 24th July 2005 entry) but the change would be too apparent, so I am sticking with Poser 4's hair. The film is editing together well and I am currently cutting to AKM music. I have sent off the first hour of movie to Philip so he has time to compose his original music too. The light is near the end of the tunnel now. In the last week I have made 90 seconds. To get to a finish time of 75 minutes is just 12 minutes away, so that translates to 8 weeks to finish the visuals perhaps. Meanwhile the 'Id' web site is nearing 5,000 hits too. As many people looking in the USA as the UK. Thanks for looking at it people.

1st April 2006 - Over 62 minutes complete. Has been a lot of work because the scenes are getting more complicated now. More shots per second too. Just completed a scene with urban ruins in it. Below is the Nemesis fighting in the ruins area. Looks wonderful. Got some more figures like this from DAZ3d.com and have spent about $600 so far for this movie alone on that web site. But well worth it. www.daz3d.com

25th March 2005 - Working on a Castle scene.

2nd March 2006 - Made the one hour mark. Over 60 minutes of finished film is now complete. Completed the Robot Ice field scene and the next two scenes. Flying now!

2nd March 2006 - The wonderfully talented Claire Spence recorded a cameo part for me, that of Mzuri being attacked by robots (see 14th Feb below). She played the voice with various accents but I like her normal voice the best actually. Read her blog at http://www.actorsinfo.blogspot.com/ That concludes recording actors voices for this movie. www.monstersmovie.com has also been updated.

26 Feb 2006 - Warwick Davis has recorded some lines for me. He is playing the part of the lead bad character, the Nemesis. Warwick was great and had tons of fun. Only took a few minutes to record his dialogue but he really inputted a lot of ideas and his voice has such range. He really added so much. Plus it was just fun to hear an actor in full flow. The shots below will give you an idea. www.warwickdavis.co.uk

20th Feb 2006 - Well over 55 minutes now complete. At this pace the film will be finished in the summer. The Robot Ice scene is going very well. Into the action part after a spooky start. Plus I've been in discussion with a top actor recently. Hopefully he will play the part of the Nemesis. Seems promising but the film world is full of ups and downs. I'll be honest and keep you posted as to whether my luck is good or bad but I won't disclose names of people who decline of course. I am so happy that I have such a great cast who have helped me along in what is a very difficult adventure to do solo (the visuals). Hopefully I can record with him very soon.

14th Feb 2006 - 54 mins complete. Working on a scene with Robot Walkers I call 'Thunders' marching across the ice fields, doing battle with a 'dreamer' called Mzuri stuck in the middle of it. This should be one of my favourite scenes.

11th Feb 2006 - Calvertfilm web site has hit 50,000 hits today. Also spent 12 hours working and did 75 seconds of the film today to bring it up to well over 53 minutes. Hope to have some good news regarding an actor soon. Keep watching....

9th Feb 2006 - 'Penguins' CGI has won a Bronze award in the BIAFF International competition and will be screened in a months time at the festival. 'Robot Workshop' has also won a Bronze but will not be shown. 'Creatures of Hate' has won a Silver and will be shown. This brings my film award total up to forty over the years. Plus my 'The War of the Starfighters' Illustrated Screenplay has been made by www.antonyrowe.co.uk Also my Calvertfilm web site is nearing 50,000 hits, any day soon  www.calvertfilm.fsnet.co.uk

1st Feb 2006 - In discussion with a potential distributor. Fingers crossed. Also got confirmation again That Albert Schuller is willing to sponsor the project to some degree later this year. Got some possible cameo actor's on board. Hope to film with them soon. Meanwhile working on a cartoon/diner nightmare scene using regular Poser characters. So all good news.

28th Jan 2006 - Trying to find a venue to Premiere the movie once finished. A local Odeon cinema looks good and will cost about £250 to hire for a morning showing. Moving on to my 5th hard drive. So far the project has used 282 Gigs of hard drive space and I've spent 690 hours on the film. The film is nearly 51 minutes complete and the next scene involves cartoon characters, after that a romantic scene and then a robot scene on an ice planet. Not having much luck finding an actor to voice the last main character. Perhaps I'll voice it myself and put lots of Sound Forge distortion on it to make it robotic. 

12th Jan 2006 - Met Philip Guyler for the first time today. Phil is making some bespoke music for the film. Nearly completed 50 minutes now. In the last year I have made 31 minutes of this film, so if I can keep the pace up it looks set to finish this year.

6th Jan 2006 - Phil Delancy (the actor who voices Kade/Tornado in my film) is on Sky channel acting the part of an airline pilot in aircraft 'Landmark 228' in Granada's 'Mid-Air Collision'. Screening in the UK on: Sky One 8 Jan (9pm), Sky One 10 Jan (11pm), Sky Two 11 Jan (9pm), Sky Two 14 Jan (9pm).

4th Jan 2006 - Having completed the WW2 dream scene with a nice little twist, I have now started on a night-club reality scene. The outside shot was 11 layers of visuals to render and that was keeping it simple. You can see a Ford Mustang of a design similar to my friend's car (John and Jacky). That is in there for them. I've also put in a VW Beetle because I loved 'The Love Bug' as a kid. The van is a Future Van design. By mixing the cars I hoped not to date it or assign it a specific place, as the movie is non-committal as to where it is set and the characters voices are a mixture. The club outside itself was built up in Photoshop by cloning the Daz3D Diner model. I airbrushed the roof, made Bryce lighting for the six downlighters, and have bumped the lettering on and off so it flashes simply. The Bouncer guy is from a very old program called Asymetrix 3DFX (as are the vehicles). Other characters are Poser defaults pretty much. Took a couple of hours to do this shot. The interior shot was 14 visual layers. Club model from Daz3D and lights from Particle Illusion. This dancing shot is hilarious because I'm using Poser motion files and the moves are zany to say the least. Adds a touch of humour.

On another note, I am getting the script of my first feature, 'The War of the Starfighters' made into a self-published book. www.antonyrowe.co.uk

4th 24th Dec 2005 - Having fun with a WW2 fighter plane scene. For this I am giving the background a dream-like feel. The scene features a Warhawk and an Me262 jet fighter amongst others. I'm starting to whet your appetite with more stills from the movie these days. This scene is another favourite.

22nd Dec 2005 - Philip Guyler will write music for 'Id' although I will also make an AKM music version as well to edit to and for AKM. My preview audiences liked both versions of the soundtrack but generally gave Philip the edge in their voting because his music matched the visuals better. It also gave a change of mood with some scenes. But I really like the AKM stuff, so it is nice that I will still make a version with that music on. AKM have been very helpful throughout and I can thouroughly recommend them. But the chance for music that fits the movie exactly is too good to miss.

17th Dec 2005 - Met David Graham yesterday. He was the voice of Brains and Parker in Thunderbirds as well as many other things. Although I haven't got a part for him in this movie, which is a shame, he did offer me some good advice plus he is a lovely guy.

Also I have been sent three sample bespoke music pieces for three scenes (see 25th Oct entry). They are working really well, matching the visuals very well and I am currently showing these scenes to preview audiences to gauge their reaction. Both AKMs music and this new guys will work really well. There will be an AKM version of the film made anyway as I need music to edit to, so this is no problem and I have promised them an AKM version. But this new guys stuff sounds very promising too and would match the visuals more closely. I'll let you know more details once I've made a decision on how to progress. Wonderful stuff though from both sources.

6th Dec 2005 - Animating Poser and Asymetrix 3DFX is proving difficult at times. My Nemesis character sometimes moves and other times reports an exception error. The Prowler car wouldn't rotate it's front wheels without the mud flaps going too, so I imported a second Prowler's rear wheels and rotated them. Having problems too getting the P38 Lightning aircraft propellers to spin in Asymetrix 3DFX for my next scene. Basically I can get just about every sub-part to spin which looks very strange, but not the props (below). So I'm thinking of giving the Lightning a cameo role (it'll get blown up) and instead I've ordered a P40 Warhawk from Daz3D.com and that will fight my Me262 jet fighter. It is a tough world being a CGI model. I updated the gallery with a shot of the 262 chasing the Lightning only the other day as well. Meanwhile the car racing scene is still progressing well, even though Hurricane did an outake with his mouth and Jetream with her eyes the other day (below). 46 minutes now completed. Looking good but taking sooo long....got to keep going. Have not done much recently. Got to get motivated again.

29 Nov 2005 - Making a car action scene. Having to render fast using Poser display settings. This results in a wire mesh type of effect on some objects but I'll have to live with it. The other option is to render using render settings but it takes too long. I need to keep up my daily rate. How I'd long for a render farm with more processing power. This scene is taking a while to do with many fast cutting shots. Should be one of the best scenes though. I've updated the gallery with some more shots. I may make the movie 4:3 with black bars top and bottom or 16:9. Not sure yet. The image looks good either way.

22 Nov 2005 - Managed to find a motion file for Adobe Premiere 6 (editing software) that stretches a 4:3 ratio movie in the vertical direction. Once rendered up, this file can then be imported into a 16:9 widescreen Premiere project and it is the correct proportions but widescreen. Some pixel data is lost but it still looks great when I use my CGI stuff. The motion (PMT.pmt) file is a tiny 1 Kb download. I got it from the following useful web site: http://www.mykaskin.freeserve.co.uk/myksvideopages/plugins.html I made Penguins into a DVD with a 16:9 version or a 4:3 version available. Today I have 45 and one half minutes completed now. The aircraft scene is finished and one of my favourites. Next comes a car racing scene through an urban landscape. I love CGI film making.

15 Nov 2005 - 44 and one half minutes completed now. I'm making a fighter aircraft scene. Taking a while because the shots are cutting so quickly and there are many elements within each shot. Planes made with Asymetrix 3DFX, sky and cockpit made with Bryce 3D, figures made with Poser 4, explosions and smoke particle effects made with Illusion, lasers made with Photoshop, sounds with Sound Forge, composited and edited in Premiere. Here one character gets hit as three red bolts fire in from the right, one of which connects with the target, a modified F16 Falcon....notice the sparking control panel and aircraft image through the glass. Lots of elements takes a while to do. Still averaging well over 8 seconds of finished CGI per day.

4 Nov 2005 - Remaking Samantha Pilley's scene using a Shark instead of a Frog and the music will be altered too. I was going to cut the scene but just by remaking 8 shots the scene is saved. I wouldn't have cut Samantha though and would have got her back to do another scene. Nearly 44 minutes completed now.

On another note, boy have I encountered some snobbery recently. One corporate music company representative told me that AKM music was rubbish and that theirs is much better. They are entitled to their opinion but the fact that they knew I used AKM also means they are calling my judgement rubbish. So that didn't go down well with me. I won't mention the company name here. Plus I think AKM's is every bit as good as theirs but much more inexpensive to boot. Other people would say that corporate music is rubbish and only music written for a production is best. I have heard that said too. But I've heard music on two of my mates films that have been decidedly plain and lacking in production values when made that way. You need someone talented and with some resources for it to work well. At the end of the day what sounds best is best. 'Id' will have either bespoke or already existing music, whatever is best for the movie. Usually bespoke music is great but editors can work wonders with already existing music. Another example of snobbery is people rubbishing CGI as a simple form of animation. Or it just not looking good enough because they prefer photo-realism. Or them just preferring live action. Again they are entitled to their opinion but when said to me, it makes me think they might be jealous of the achievements I have made - my nine year old son made that observation too. At the end of the day I prefer it if like minded people talked to me and the others butted out. Life's to short to hear what people don't like. Nevertheless when 'Id' goes public I'll have to suffer all of this in forums and the like. Cricky, it even happens to George Lucas! Who'd be a film maker eh? Ignore the knockers I would suggest.

25 Oct 2005 - Finished another CGI short movie called 'Penguins' featuring Marsha's voice. See the link at the bottom of the Calvertfilm Home Page or click HERE. I now have 42 minutes of 'Id' completed. Going at a rate now. Also I have been contacted by someone regarding making some bespoke music for the film. They are doing me some sample scenes. If this is better for the movie then this may be a direction to take but I like the AKM music already on it. I've grown quite used to the music there and have grown with it for nearly two years now. All of the music would have to be one or the other so that a style change wouldn't occur half way through. But bespoke music has a big advantage too rather than cutting to existing music. Plus I do not want to upset people who have helped me out. But then I'm sure AKM would understand since the offer of bespoke music is something special. Plus I've used AKM on other projects anyway. I guess it all comes down to what is the best music for this film rather than picking so that its gives the project more prestige.

24 Oct 2005 - Downloaded Marsha's lines successfully. Very high technical quality and Marsha was fabulous delivering her lines with a slightly deeper voice. Thanks Marsha.

18 Oct 05 - Marsha Crenshaw recorded her lines for Cyclone/Amanda. Took us just under 40 minutes with a phone link. I was listening in the UK and Marsha was recording in the USA. Excellent stuff. Marsha pitched her voice differently whilst playing each character. We also had fun recording her voice as a Penguin but that is another story/film. Over 40 minutes of film completed now too. Got the Guernsey Film Award through too (see 11th August entry).

6 Oct 05 - Got some more DAZ models - Urban Landscape for the finale, Hellfire Walker for a robot battle scene, Prowler car for the race scene, Deco Club for the clubbing scene, and The Study for another film perhaps. www.daz3d.com Also I've put seven new pictures into the gallery. 39 minutes completed.

23 Sept 05 - Rosie Jenkins recorded some lines and we had a bit of fun with that. Didn't take long and she was great, as ever.

20 Sept 05 - Actress Rosie Jenkins from the Acting Associates agency has agreed to play the part of Tsunami/Tameka. She can currently be seen in Theatre in Ipswich in 'Sugar'. She is coming to record her dialogue this Friday. This is the last part to be cast. Towards the end of the film is a part that either I can do or I can cast someone else, so it is a relief to me that so far all the main parts are in place. 36 minutes of animation are now complete too.

8 Sept 05 - Bought some more Daz figures, a Castle, Urban Ruins and Towers. Plus a Toon Penguin perhaps for another film. www.daz3d.com

2 Sept 05 - Completed a massive 100 seconds of finished footage today. A one day record for my CGI films. Total so far is 35 minutes and 28 seconds. Half way there.

18 Aug 05 - Marsha Crenshaw said she would be happy to voice a character in my film. Please take a look at her web site www.marshacrenshaw.com for more details. She is from Atlanta, Georgia and I'm really glad to have her talents on board.

11 Aug 05 - The Short 11 minutes version of 'Monsters of the Id' has just picked up a Highly Commended award at the Guernsey Lily Film Festival 2005. A much better result than on 3rd March this year (see below). Great news!

10 Aug 05 - Having fun with a Raptor scene. Coming together rather well. Lots of action. I reviewed the whole 31 minutes so far the other day and thankfully it is coming along better than expected. It flows well with a good pace. Used 150 Gig of hard drive space so far.

24 Jul 05 - 30 minutes complete with a massive 48 seconds done today alone. Making some more Poser 6 test images, see below. These are not images from my 'Id' movie but I may make a short movie with them.

20 Jul 05 - Almost 29 minutes completed now. I have just made a nice scene introducing a major character. Also I did delete some scenes from my script and made some adjustments. So the film is cracking along at a pace again now. I hope to focus on it more. Had a go of Poser 6. Pretty good I have to say. By using higher render settings great results can be achieved but the render time per frame is a bit prohibitive for me making a feature film length. Also the game would have to be raised with regard to lip-sync and motion. Since I do not have my own motion capture facility, I would be at a distinct disadvantage. So best to keep it stylised and make sure the story and characters are as good as I can make them.

2 Jul 05 - The last two months have seen not very much CGI get made on 'Id' but the last three days I have got the impetus again, having produced 21 seconds today alone. Almost 27 minutes complete now in total. Hopefully the project is moving on again now.

24 Jun 05 - I have talked with Jerome Blake (played several characters in the Star Wars films of the Anakin Trilogy) and he is happy to play a part in 'Id'. I have a part called Jason that I might ask him to do. I saw Jerome at a Star Wars weekend at MGM Disney only 12 days ago. He recognised me in the crowd and we shared a bit of banter which was fun.

18 Jun 05 - Less than 3 months ago Ed Bishop voiced a character for me and now I hear he has tragically passed away. More information at www.fanderson.org.uk in the news section. I was very upset to hear this. I pass on my condolences. I am glad I managed to make and send him the part of 'Id' that he is in. At least he must have seen that. Perhaps his last production. Michael Billington also passed away a few days earlier. Both men were stars of the UFO TV series.

24 May 05 - It has been a hectic time what with Revenge of the Sith coming out. I've seen this movie a few times and stood outside the UK Premiere for this one (went inside to see the movie for Episodes 4,5 and 6). Perfect finish to a perfect saga to my mind. So I have not been doing any of my own film for days. Going on holiday soon too, so I expect to have about a month away from the film in total. But I'll be back. With a vengeance too. Oh, and one other thing - the Calvertfilm web site is registering over 100 hits per day at the moment. The only other times it peaked into three figures was was Starfighters was complete and we were on Robot Wars.

9 May 05 - Finished Samantha's section. Also finished an asteroid sequence. Total complete is now over 26 minutes. At this rate it will be finished December 2007 although I do hope to speed up.

14 Apr 05 - Samantha Pilley came in to record a few lines. A cameo role for a character called Carrie.Samantha is an up and coming actress so if you've got any good roles for her contact me and I'll pass the details on. She did a great job on this movie. Over 24 minutes of the film complete now. I have finished Ed Bishop's scene this week too. Samantha's scene next.

21 Mar 05 - Spent 15 minutes recording Ed Bishop's role as Ben for this film. Ed was a pleasure to work with and his voice will add so much. He also recorded a small piece to camera that will make it into the 'Making of' DVD so people can see the face behind the voice. Thanks Ed. (See also entry of 24.2.05 below).

Ed Bishop

20 Mar 05 - 42 seconds completed yesterday. If only every day was that successful. But then today I completed a record 1 minute and 6 seconds of finished film. Over a page of script. 23 shots. Some lip sync, some motion capture fighting, some hand animated. Lots of skeletons fighting two characters. Several hours worked today on and off from 4pm to midnight.

17 Mar 05 - Albert Schuller from Manhattan Computers has agreed to sponsor this project. That will help me to pay for the certificate and making replica DVDs once I have made the film itself. Thanks Albert. Set to record Ed Bishop on March 21st.

14 Mar 05 - Got a link published on the Edge web site about my first CGI feature film. They promote learning through doing rather than academia http://www.edge.co.uk/case_studies_full.aspx?GroupID=1 Go to 'Select Case Study' and then 'Amateur Film Maker'. So far over 23 minutes is complete.

12 Mar 05 - May be using some ambient music from Midnite Music Productions, a new company local to me. So far they have just one CD for sale. Keep an eye on them. www.midnitemusicproductions.com

4 Mar 05 - Eileen Daly recorded her voice for the character Jenny/Jetstream. Spent an hour recording. I've also been recording short interviews with her and Garrick and Phil this week as well for inclusion of a 'Making of' DVD at some point.

Eileen voicing Jetstream

3 Mar 05 - The 11 minute version won a Bronze Award at the 2005 BIAF IAC competition. Not bad but another film of mine took a Silver this year. Plus a few years ago two of my Starfighter films both took Gold, so although a Bronze is something to be proud of I am a bit upset that it didn't do better. Still it is all down to the judges and if they do not like CGI or sci-fi then I am doomed.

24 Feb 05 - Ed Bishop (Commander Straker in UFO, voice of Capt Blue) has agreed to voice a cameo role in my movie called Ben - a person having a nightmare. Should be recording him on 21st March all being well. An actress called Zsa Zsa B has agreed to record a part. Set to record on 23rd March possibly. I have tightened up the edit and I am very pleased with the movie again. Seeing Tim with his music in a couple of weeks time. It sounds as if his style might not suit this movie but I can always use music on other projects at least.

Ed Bishop

15 Feb 05 - Have been contacted by a guy who runs his own copyright free music company with a view to him donating his music to the project (or other film projects of mine). Hope to meet with him soon. Tim is his name. But AKM music will still form the bulk of the music I use. Met Christopher Adamson today and had a really enthusiastic chat to him about my project. Chris was in a movie with Eileen Daly called Razor Blade Smile. He was an actor I wanted to meet. A charming fella. Don't know yet if I have a part for him to play in this project but wish I did. I have looked over the project recently and decided it needs tightening up in the edit. I am currently working on one of my hero's appearance sequence, which is always a fun part to do.

8 Feb 05 - Have been asked to submit some of my films to 'Worldcon' a big sci-fi event in Glasgow this August. One of the 5 films I have chosen is 'Monsters of the Id'. I have also submitted 'Starfighters Attack', another CGI movie. Re-set the download page on my Calvertfilm web site, so hopefully it'll now work. Set to record Eileen Daly's lines on March 4th all being well in a sound booth in Southend, Essex, as I did for Phil and Garrick. Still looking for people to voice the other two female characters, Tsunami and Cyclone but I have some people in mind. Hopefully by the time the film is made the connotations with the word Tsunami will not be so bad as they are currently after the disaster. I don't really want to change it as it is the perfect name for a Japanese character. The film is progressing well.

26 Jan 05 - Saw Animation Master software for £199 at the Video Forum event in London. Was impressed with it, especially for the money, to enable bespoke designs to be made quickly and easily and at a great price. Will research it further. Got another 10 CDs from AKM music. Also met friends Clem Tello, Ron Ward and Steve Ager there. Great day.

19 Jan 05 - Completed 29 seconds today. One of my best days. In total 19 minutes and 15 seconds are complete so far.

16 Jan 05 - Finished the short version. Very pleased with it. 11 minutes long. At least 'Id' exists in some form now. Entering this into the UK International IAC film festival (see 3.3.05 entry) and the Guernsey Lily festival 2005. Recording Eileen's lines in March all being well. Also starting work on creating a book for 'The War of the Starfighters' as an illustrated screenplay. To be self - published. A bit of fun.

18 Dec 04 - Short 10 minute version is going extremely well. First 9 minutes complete and the last scene is going fast. Hope to make the Jan 14th 2005 deadline for the competition. I have managed to use much of the already made footage but I am creating probably about a minutes worth of new stuff, so this has slowed the feature production of course. So far on the feature I have completed 18 minutes and 20 seconds worth, so going well.

12 Dec 04 - Decided to make a short 10 or 15 minute version to enter into the IAC International competition next year. Closing date is 14th January. I have worked out a simple story that utilises the scenes already made. I just need to make a few new bits that will not be in the final feature length version. Marion at work voiced a few lines for me. Thanks to her for that. This version will contain Garrick's character Nathan/Hurricane but not Phil's. It is basically the start of 'Id' and Phil's character Kade/Tornado won't appear until later on in the feature movie.

25 Oct 04 - Started the film again tonight. Have felt a bit better recently, so it should kick off again. Eileen Daly now has the script courtesy of my friend Ian Hooper and so it is just a matter of recording her. Still about 15 mins complete so far.

21 Sep 04 - Had a bit of a sad personal time recently with a dear friend. I have lost a bit of momentum yet again. But I have managed to work up a new poster which I will one day hang on my wall. 

15 Aug 04 - During the nice summer evenings I haven't been able to motivate myself and I haven't done a single shot since 29th of last month. It is really hard keeping going, especially since I have already completed my life-long ambition to make a feature length film on my own - I did that with the CGI 'The War of the Starfighters' completed in March 2003. That film was my for my children. This new venture I am going to try to market/sell and that motivation isn't as strong for me. So here I am chilling out in the garden each evening promising myself I'll do a bit the next day. Having said that, today I have done some more. I don't think I'll be doing much tomorrow though but do not despair since the winter evenings will surely see a surge in the project. I met Suresh (music) the other day and he still seemed interested in adding some stuff. I already have AKM Music to use but Suresh is free to do something especially for it if he wishes. That would be really great. I bought another hard drive recently in a mobile rack - now have 680 Gigs worth. The film is still about 1/5th complete and will be about 75 minutes in total. Calvertfilm web site hit 20,000 hits recently, so I'm pleased with that. Thanks to all who visit. That's you!

12 Jul 04 - Recorded all of the dialogue for Kade Lovell/Tornado. Phil Delancy spent three hours with me perfecting his delivery of the lines. Had fun with the part because, like Garrick, he had to speak the lines as two different characters. Good fun for an actor I think. I had a bit of a cold that gave me a coughing fit part way through. Off putting for both of us and I really hope I haven't given Phil a cold. Sorry Phil if I have! On another note I have some more Daz figures. A retro style spaceship, interiors, flight suits and a massive robot called SA Charger. I have a special role lined up for that suit in the movie. Chatted to Screen East a little while ago and they still wish me to come back to them once the movie is complete. Had some good advice from a film maker friend Kenneth D Barker regarding distribution. Check out his web site too at www.wotr.co.uk to see what he is up to.

Phil recording lines.

2 Jul 04 - Completed 26 seconds of finished footage in one day. A record for this particular production. Hoping to record Phil Delancy's lines soon. Meanwhile I have ordered yet more Daz3D models, including a Flash Gorden style rocket ship. So far about 15 minutes completed in total of the film.

22 Jun 04 - Recorded all of the dialogue for Nathan Tenkade/Hurricane. Garrick Hagon spent a couple of hours with me recording what was quite a lot of lines. Garrick managed to give the Hurricane alter ego more of a super hero feel. His input into the project has given me renewed zest again. Cannot wait to make some of the scenes with the dialogue we recorded today.

Garrick in full flow.

18 Jun 04 - Got some more models from Daz3D. They include a Diner, Scientist's Lab, Zombie, Tank Girl type, and some body armour stuff. www.monstersmovie.com has been updated in the gallery section.

14 Jun 04 - www.monstersmovie.com is now up and running fully. It took two days to get the look right and the last five to refine content. I have recently added a short trailer in the downloads section. The film has therefore taken a back seat for a few days but the asteroid sequence is looking great (even though I say so myself). The asteroids are sort of alive with a flowing texture. Hurricane has entered the scene and is looking cool. He is about to rescue a Space Shuttle. Overall the film is about 12 to 13 minutes complete but by this stage I really wanted to have about 16 mins done, so I'm about a month behind, mainly due to waiting for the script to come back from being read. I am still waiting. Plus I am aiming for a massive 6 completed seconds per day (Starfighters was only 4) so I have set myself a high target to aim for. But the completion of the web site has given me new impetus.

7 Jun 04 - I have bought a domain for this movie. It is www.monstersmovie.com and I am building the web site now.

4 Jun 04 - Ordered $145 of models from www.daz3d.com to use in my film.

1 Jun 04 - Got Daz3D models and created the Nemesis out of a Legion figure. Looks really nice and moves well.

30 May 04 - Great article published on the IAC web site about 'Id' and 'The War of the Starfighters' as well as my origins in film making. HERE.

26 May 04 - Anthony at AKM Music seems pleased with the results so far of his music within 'Id' and wishes to use a DVD of sample scenes that I have sent him in future exhibitions. His latest CD 'Cut to the Beat 3' has some fantastic tracks and is bound to feature in my film. Check out his web site. Suresh must be busy as he hasn't sent me any music samples so far, so now I plan to use AKM for all of the soundtrack rather than pester Suresh. AKM will give the movie a great style.

21 May 04 - Converted 'My Mate Rex' scene so it works for 'Id' now. About 12 minutes complete for the whole film.

17 May 04 - Ordering Michael and Sanctum Art Legion models from Daz3D.com. I may use the Legion model as my Nemesis character and use my own Nemesis design as another robot character needed later in the story. I have also made another robot design based around one of the Poser robots.

6 May 04 - Featured on page 10 of May/June 2004 issue of Film & Video Maker magazine. A full page article on me and my professional film animation rostrum cameraman background in the mid eighties and relating this to how different things are nowadays with my amateur CGI animation at home. Several pictures from 'Id' were used.

29 Apr 04 - After visiting the East Anglian Film Archive I was put in contact with someone from Anglia ITV and have since shot some footage of Manningtree Car Show to be used on a programme called 'The Way We Are' to be shown on Anglia ITV on June 7th & 8th. As far as 'Id' goes I have found my script is still waiting to be evaluated by Screen East's people. On another note I am considering financing the movie myself.

12 Apr 04 - I last worked on CGI for this film on the 11th of last month. Now it is time to start again after a month off so to speak as the new version of the script is not yet forthcoming and I must progress with what I have. Script development is just taking a little longer than I expected. So, here we go again. Incidentally a scene from 'Id' film was entered into an amateur competition and has picked up an award. The film is called 'My Mate Rex' and has a Matrix feel to it.

5 Apr 04 - Visit to Screen East and David Cleveland at the East Anglian Film Archive to see my Starfighters films. Also a computer problem means Poser 4 does not work. Finally resolved by removing a recent memory stick to take it back down to 512 DDR.

29 Mar 04 - Starfighters Attack and Starfighters Trailer now available as Whizzvid downloads. Click on 'download' from my home page.

28 Mar 04 - Re-editing the sound on a couple of scenes. This is re-working some stuff to get it even better.

17 Mar 04 - Met with Darren Bender, Head of Production at Screen East, part of the UK Film Council. They have agreed to help me develop the script with a view to making it marketable. Then I make it. Then they have said they can assist in the certification process and help me find a possible distributor. Basically they are helping me get this show on the road and with their advice and professionalism I feel much happier. I am making my first professional feature film! At present all production has ceased whilst the script is being reviewed but most of what I have shot will still be able to be used since these sequences have little or no speech within them.

9 Mar 04 - Getting a Starfighters movie converted for web distribution, so Id has been delayed slightly. Look out for the Whizzvids coming soon.

28 Feb 04 - 9m 11s complete. I am meeting Eileen Daly soon as she is going record the voice of Jetstream. www.eileendaly.com

14 Feb 04 – Computer crash resulted in corrupt project file for Nathan’s Skull part. Had to re-do. Must create project file BU from now on. 8m 21s complete.

12 Feb 04 – Found AKM music for some copyright free stuff to use in addition to Suresh's.31.01.04 - Garrick is interested and liking the script. So is Phil. Scene 1 is now finished.

23&24 Jan 04 – Laurie & Jon recording voices for the first scene. Jon has first voice on film. So far 5m 50s are complete.

23 Jan 04 – Sent Garrick and Phil scripts. Sent Suresh the first three scenes for music style.

17 Jan 04 – Did 40 secs of the child scared scene.

15 Jan 04 – Completed title sequence – 2m 40s. Film itself is started.

9 Jan 04 – First 70 page draft complete.

3 Jan 04 - Synopsis finally worked out.

18 Dec 03 - Script starts.

13 Dec 03 - CGI early tests. First scene started – Jetstream appears. 1m 40s so far.

1 Jun 03 - First idea for dream super hero. Rough synopsis begins. First title ‘Dark Storm’.

Costs:

£700 - Software and hard drives plus actor's travel costs and misc.

£950 - Certification for UK & Eire.

£300 - Artwork.

£500 - Replication.

£410 - Cinema hire.

£2860 Total.

S 079      M225      BE2860      230807

S 101      M446      BE2860      261007 (figures to be confirmed)

S 127      M488      BE2860       121207 (27 returns effect net amount) 105+22 Units (268+220)