Archive for June 2011

Basis Weekly Update 6/24/2011

One day of filming this week. Just one. But it was a big one. Nearly all our actors and actresses were on location for the evening as we filmed scenes set in the Spirit Realm. Not that the Spirit Realm looks any different than the real realm, at least not until we’ve done some visual effects work with it.

All the actors worked very well with the loose camerawork that was being done. We went handheld for the scene and the camera was everywhere, darting around the heads of actors as they said their lines, feet splashing in the shallow creek. Thanks for not complaining about the water, I know some of you didn’t have waterproof shoes (myself included), but the images were worth it.

Unfortunately we don’t have any production photos to show you, we were too busy filming that we forgot to take pictures (non-moving ones, at least). Suffice to say it was a beautiful location. Water is seemingly everywhere in this movie. Three sequences have been shot in creeks thus far, and there’s still one more to come.

Tomorrow we film the penultimate scene, and we’re looking forward to it. The Secluded Wood is a mysterious place, a perfect location for a showdown with the villain.

Our final word for tonight is the video that is the inspiration for our next project, tentatively titled, “A Trip to the Moon.”

Basis Weekly Update 6/17/2011

It was a quiet week for us, a brief period of rest before we hit the second half of shooting. Both of our filming dates this week were canceled due to weather, and we’re hoping that next week won’t be a repeat.

There isn’t any other news worth mentioning today, so we’ll leave you with a brief shot from our shoot at the beginning of the month. You can see a photo of the scene being shot as well.

Basis Weekly Update 6/10/2011

We have been busy this past week, filming on three days since our last update. We’ve shot just over 40% of the script and are well on our way to finishing principal photography by the end of the month.

On Saturday and Sunday we filmed at Kingsdale Farm, a lovely little farm out in the middle of the Missouri countryside.* We filmed in the forest, in a creek, in a wheat field, in another forest, and in another field (though that was just a grassy field). Production on Sunday was harried because of a last minute rewrite brought on due to difficulty in filming what we had planned. Sometimes we’re just too ambitious for our own good. In the end the footage turned out incredibly good. It’s very difficult to ruin a golden field of grass at sunset. The heat was unbearable at times, St. Louis broke some heat records over those couple of days, and our hikes were lengthy and tough. At least we got some exercise!

Tonight we filmed at Cliff Cave County Park in a beautiful location just downstream from the entrance to the cave. The cool wind blowing from the cave prevented things from getting too hot despite the heat and humidity of the summer evening. Storms threatened to cancel our shoot just as they did when we last attempted to film at Cliff Cave. A severe thunderstorm watch popped up about an hour before we were supposed to start but we decided to press on. Rumbles of thunder could be heard occasionally as we filmed one scene, yet the clouds passed and we ended up with a beautiful evening.

Editing is really coming along. Everything we shot prior to tonight – 6 scenes – has been edited into a rough cut. So far it’s looking really good. Seeing footage on a computer screen is much different than seeing it through a small viewfinder. Sometimes things pop up in the background that you couldn’t see when the image was only an inch wide, and sometimes you realize that things weren’t quite in focus. Fortunately for this film we’ve honed our skills so that those mistakes aren’t happening as often as they used to, but when it does happen it gets a little frustrating. At least we’re using digital, if we were going the old school route and using basic film cameras we wouldn’t be able to see the image until the film had been processed!

If anyone is interested we are in need of some child extras for our upcoming shoot on Sunday. Contact us at basisproductions@gmail.com for more details. This is assuming it doesn’t rain, because at the moment they are forecast a 50% chance of storms. If it isn’t hot then it’s storming. Ain’t summer grand?

For those of you who can’t be with us on our long hikes should try out the Mohican Master 2000. That’ll whip you into shape so that you can join our next expedition.

*Please note that our opinion of Kingsdale Farm is biased as it is owned by two of our producers who also happen to be related to the director.

Extra, Extra!

Basis Productions is in need of some young extras for an upcoming scene to be filmed on Sunday June 12th. We are looking for boys and girls between the ages of 5 and 10 to play some mischievous Pucas who tail our hero as she makes her way through a mysterious forest. Filming will take place from 5:45-8pm at a St. Louis area park. If you are in possession of some young’uns who would be interested in participating then you should email us at basisproductions@gmail.com. Get in touch with us quickly, we only need 5 extras and spots could fill up quickly!

Basis Weekly Update 6/3/2011

Principal photography finally began on Tuesday with the filming of scenes set in the Anicauas Hills, where wind was the theme of the day. We shot almost 30 minutes of footage over the course of an hour for two relatively short scenes that won’t last more than 3 minutes in the final cut. That’s how it normally goes, though it might also have something to do with Peter’s tendency to forget to stop recording. Sometimes the most interesting things are shot after cut has been shouted but the camera hasn’t stopped rolling.

Both of our actresses, Aster and Haley, were wonderful and gave great performances. Being at the top of a large cliff overlooking the gorgeous scenery didn’t seem to distract them, though it did distract our cameraman as he was concerned on a couple of occasions about being in the danger zone and falling off the edge. Haley, playing the role of the Musician, especially impressed us with her performance of a song composed our very own Jonathan Peros. If you’re reading this, Jon (and you probably aren’t), you did a fantastic job with the music.

While we don’t have any footage from the shoot that we can upload without spoiling anything, we do have pictures available for your consumption, taken by our production assistant Sam. What would we do without our Samwise? For one thing we wouldn’t have anyone with whom we could share the load…of carrying all the equipment. Seriously, the camera case alone weighs at least 25 pounds.

This weekend we will be filming several scenes out in the country at Kingsdale Farm. We expect it to be hectic but fun, especially because we’re filming the final scene on Sunday. Expect a lot more news in our next weekly update.

Until then, we’d better get out of the danger zone.