Visual Effects Update

Okay, I confess. I'm not the world's biggest fan of visual effects. I hate the fact that, most of the time, these effects take front and center in a movie instead of the story (looking at you Michael Bay).

However, I love it that filmmakers are able to use visual effects to enhance their films. These effects are often overlooked, because they are integrated so well into the film the audience does not even realize they are seeing an effect (thank you Black Swan).

No matter what my feelings toward visual effects may be, they are here to stay. So I decided to try my hand at making a movie with a few visual effects in the way I feel they should be used. In order to do this, we had to find the very best compositor we could. That's why we asked Pat Longstreth, and thankfully, he agreed to take on the work.

Today, I was able to finally see "Dawn" in the way it was meant to be seen. And it was great! We only had around 13 VFXs, but they were essential to our film, and I'm very excited that they are finished. So excited in fact, that I wanted to share one of them with you. Here's a "before and after" shot for you:





Pretty sweet, huh? Yeah, I know it's not a giant, fighting robot. That's what makes it cool to me, though. The fact that you can't tell it's a visual effects shot is exactly what a film like this should look like, and I can't thank Pat enough. Working with him also reminded me of why I love films so much. It's a collaborative effort. Everyone on the team brings something to the table, and it's makes the film become something more then what the writer, or director, first thought it could be.

Anyways, hope you enjoyed the sneak peek. You'll be able to see the rest of the effects once the film is released...

Or will you?

From Dust to Dust

Alright, so I haven't posted an update in awhile. Sorry. I guess that's the nature of this post-production process. We are busy on all fronts, though.

I was able to get a peek at the visual effects the other day, and am excited to say, they are coming along very well. Can't wait to plug them into the film and see them with the rest of the movie. Very exciting!

Sound and score are currently being worked on as well. As soon as I have a taste of the score for you all, I'll post it.

But now on to what this blog is really about:



Great, right? Yeah, it's great. That was Brett Brooks.... as he told you, already. He was the storyboard artist for "Dawn". He also designed the poster and website for us. I am very excited for this project, and hope you are, too.

So we are asking for your help to get this project off the ground. Please visit the Kickstarter page and check out all the information, and if you find yourself wanting to donate, it would be greatly appreciated. And be sure to read about all the rewards! He has a $25 "pre-order" reward that will get you a signed copy of the finished book! You can't beat that, guys.

Well, thanks for the support you continue to show for "Dawn". Any you can give to "Dust Bunny" will be great!

Press Kit and New Crew Members

What a long night. But a fruitful night. After numerous attempts at a poster using production stills from on set, the decision to try something more representational with graphic art was made. And I think it was the right decision. Allow me to present to you all the final "Dawn" poster (click to embiggen):



Not only was the night spent on perfecting this beauty, but the website was updated in both looks, and functionality. If you click the "Press Kit" link on the homepage, you will get to download the film's electronic press kit. This will be sent to the film festivals we submit to later this Fall. Inside this kit, you'll find information about the film, crew, cast, and other nuggets of information. I think this turned out very nice, and I hope you all enjoy it.

None of this, however, could have been possible without the help of Brett Brooks, who took time out of his busy schedule to undertake this project. Brett also served as the film's storyboard artist.

I'm really appreciative for his time and work, because not only is he busy, but he's busy working on his first graphic novel, Dust Bunny. I encourage you all to check out his progress, and keep up with all the new updates he posts. This is going to be a fantastic novel.

We have also attached new members to the "Dawn" crew. I mentioned in my previous post that we are hard at work on finishing up the last bits of post-production, but I haven't formally introduced the new members.

Patrick Longstreth will be acting as our Visual Effects Compositor. He'll be in charge of making sure that the handful of VFX shots are integrated nicely within our film. I'm looking forward to seeing his work. The last time I worked with him, Pat gave us this. You can check out his personal website here.

In the ways of sound, we have James Scullion as our Sound Design Supervisor. He's taking charge of making sure "Dawn" sounds as if it was filmed in the 1800s. Sound is half the film, and I'm both excited and confident that James will bring something new to the world of "Dawn".

Well, that's it for today. Thanks for supporting us, and I hope you like all the new stuff we're giving you.

Joshua

It's Been Awhile

Yeah, so it's been a long time since I've had the chance to sit down and send you all an update on the film. I'm really sorry about that, so I'll try and catch you all up on what's been going down.

If you're like me, then you must be missing the Vlog updates. Kevin Ray (editor) has done a great job with keeping you all up to date on our progress, and has done it in very creative, and often hilarious, ways. Unfortunately, once we began actually cutting the film, he did not have a lot of time to work on the updates. On the up side of that...we do have a movie.

I still have some behind the scenes videos lying around, so maybe I can get to them. I'll try and do as good as a job as Kevin. But no promises on either of those things. There is still a lot to do in ways of post-production. But before I get into the work to come, I'd like to reflect on the work that's been done, and the process of getting to where we are now.

We arrived in Paintsville, Kentucky on May 14th. That day we unpacked and rested in preparation of the long week of filming. We were welcomed with open arms from the people at Mountain Homeplace, and were often treated to great meals (Thank you BLUE GRASS BAR-B-QUE!) after long days of filming.



We shot at Mountain Homeplace for three nights and four days. Yes in that order. You usually do not want to start filming with nights first, but when working with the crazy logistics we had, it made sense, and worked out in the end. In order to get the harder elements of the script finished early on, the crew had to really work hard, fast. And because of that hard work, we were able to get everything we needed to tell this story. They overcame every obstacle in their way, and exceeded an already high expectation. It was amazing watching them come together as a team, and then as a family. By the end of this shoot, we all were witnesses to something truly special that I don't think any of us expected. I can never thank this team enough.



And the cast. Man, the cast in this film was a true blessing. They made my job incredibly easy. They were always willing to go the extra mile, and do it with a smile. Even when they were getting shot at, falling to the ground with fire, or even lying down in awkward positions for long periods of time in the freezing cold. I could go on and on about each one of them. I am forever gratefully for their hard work, dedication, talent, and great attitudes.

After wrapping and coming back to Savannah, Kevin and I took a day off to recoup. Then we got to it with cutting the film. Well, you know, when we weren't busy playing Angry Birds or stacking things on top of Kevin's cat. The editing went really smooth thanks to Kevin already having a rough cut of the film one hour after wrapping in Kentucky. It's one of the best things about making a movie. Putting the pieces together, and seeing the film take shape is very exciting, and very rewarding.

It took a few weeks, but we have a film now that we are all very happy with. Michael Lloyd (cinematographer) has done a bit of color correction on it, and we are currently having the sound design, special effects, and score worked on. If everything goes as planned, we should have a complete film in August. Then we'll see about getting it in to a festival near you.

Oh, yeah. One more thing:

www.dawn-film.com

There you go. You'll find the trailer, synopsis, a link to this blog, and soon some press kit materials that we'll use at any film festivals we are invited to. Please feel free to share this with your friends, family, and even an enemy or two.



Thanks again for all of your support throughout this film. It means a lot to us all. Seeing the excitement you have for this film is great. I hope you all see it soon, and can share in some of what we all have been feeling for the past few months.

Till next time--

Joshua David Matthews