News
The Green Meadow
Crane building
Crane building
Meeting in the night before
We are using state-of-the-art technology …
… the mighty RED EPIC (and some lightsabers)
Next morning: Green light
Next morning: Green light
Final assembling
Final assembling
Opening the gateway
Outside: preparations on the costume
Outside: preparations on the costume
Inside: Last checks and tests
Inside: Last checks and tests
Inside: Last checks and tests
Director Huan Vu looking forward…
… to his first …
… crane shot
Upstairs a library
Downstairs a gate to another world
Medienwerkstatt Stuttgart-Neugereut is a municipal media studio for local youths and schools
Makeup work starting
Makeup work starting
Makeup work starting
Balancing
Starting position
Checking the distance
Arcane markings
Do cameras dream of sheep in 5K?
Cleaning the green meadow
Discussing changes to a costume part
Discussing changes to a costume part
The Dreamlands Crew
Daylight workshop
The other green meadow
Colors and… other stuff
Cooking lunch?
Cooking lunch?
Good signal
Final lighting touches
Final lighting touches
Building reflections
Golden light from the left
Golden light from the right
All ready and done for the shooting
Filling the void
Shooting
Shooting
Watchers from beyond the wall
After a couple of hours: It’s a wrap!
After a couple of hours: It’s a wrap!
That’s it! Now it’s all up to the post-production team
The Doom that Came to Neugereut
Yesterday we gathered in a studio in Stuttgart-Neugereut to shoot the final scene for our preview. It’s a scene we initially planned to create as full CG animation, but we decided to opt for a greenscreen shoot with an actor in full costume instead, since the result could be much better in terms of quality and believability. And it turned out to be true: It’s just a small scene, but it was worth all the effort! Behind the scenes pictures will follow soon!
First look
We made it back to reality – just in time! Today was the deadline for the H.P. Lovecraft Film Festival Los Angeles that will take place this weekend. Among many Lovecraftian short films and movies, that will be screened there, attendees will be able to watch a very first look on our project in form of an excerpt of the full preview that we’re currently working on. Most VFX shots are still unfinished so it’s a rather refrained but also very moody sequence that will have its premiere in San Pedro in a few days.
The same teaser will also be screened in Stockholm in October at the third H.P. Lovecraft Festival and in Portland, Oregon at Best of the H.P. Lovecraft Film Fest. We’re very curious about the feedback by Lovecraft fans and hope they will support us on this journey!
CthulhuCon
Last weekend director Huan Vu hosted a film night at German Cthulhu Convention 2013 taking place on Castle Rieneck. After “The Thing on the Doorstep” by Will Severin, the centerpiece of the evening, a short preview sequence of the full Dreamlands trailer was shown to the audience. Ungraded footage, no visual effects, layout sound and temp music only – but it received very positive feedback. And if a small crowd of die-hard Lovecraft fans is loving it, you can really be sure to be on the right path, I guess…
Dreamscapes
We’re proud to present you a new member of our post-production team: Chris Reinfels is a matte painter and has worked at Pixomondo in Stuttgart on “Game of Thrones” (winning an Emmy for Visual Effects) and the big Tom Cruise sci-fi epic “Oblivion”, where he has created the ice canyon together with other artists.
As you probably have guessed, I cannot show you the painting he is contributing to our teaser trailer, but I can tell you it looks amazing. Stay tuned!
Kaleidoscope
Props in the appartment
Playing Tetris
Fits like a glove
Our shooting location
Cleaning couldn’t be avoided
Testing a construction
This ain’t no candle light diner
Brighter boxes
Patience is a virtue
Schedules
White is the new black
Also a good place for a horror film
First shooting day
Godspeed!
Position is everything – Director Huan Vu
Image control – Director of Photography Martin Vincent Kolbert
Supervision – Producer and Lead 3d artist Jan Roth
Pulling all levers – Camera assistant Christian Mario Löhr
Daring to dream – Lead actor Scott Chambers
Back to the Dreamlands – Lead actor Ben Sternberg
Dressing up – Costume designer Hannah Deuss
Putting the finishing touches – Makeup artist Kristina Pankova
If it doesn’t fit, ask him – Production assistant Peter ‘Pit’ Tillisch
Beaming – Gaffer Kevin Wohlmannstetter
Levelling and shaking – Production design assistant Denise Kerll
Witnessing a false sunrise – Gaffer Christopher Caldwell
Hearing voices – Sound editor Christian Wiechers
Indispensable – Production assistants Ephraim Wörner (left) and Andreas Pagel (right)
Preparations
Preparations
First shot done!
Shooting with the RED camera …
… his baby
Fitting windows
Let the sunlight in
Breaking glass
On the dark side
Finding the right angle
New for old
Additional lights
Don’t try this at home
Blackout
Searching for electricity
84 and still looking for adventures
‘Well Mr. Vu, could you please repeat and pronounce the name of the god you are supposedly trying to summon?’
That’s a wind machine
And that’s happening if a wind machine is on the set
Here be VFX
Opening the gate
Seeking warmth
Even death may die
Ready for the final spurt
Change of colour
Last adjustments
Observing progress
Getting wet for the camera
Storyteller
Final moments
Final moments
Rich harvest
Shortly before waking up
Without sleep but not without dreams – It’s a wrap!
Back to reality
Images © Elisabeth Mochner or © Huan Vu, see filename
Beyond the Wall of Sleep
It’s a wrap! The storm is over, sunlight’s crashing through…
It has been an exhausting three-days-shoot, but also very rewarding. Loved every minute of it and our thanks go to our awesome crew and our talented cast for embarking on this ship and trusting her captain. Our short journey to the other side went pretty well considering the fact we haven’t shot anything since “Die Farbe” exactly five years ago and that we had to antedate.
On our first shooting day it didn’t look that well, since we started with a delay of more than three hours due to necessary changes to the production design. Many props came out much too dark in front of the white walls, and since we didn’t expect the contrast to be that strong and unpleasant, we had to re-arrange everything, paint some props and use white cloths to create the mood we were aiming for. In the end our first shooting day took much longer than planned and we couldn’t realize two shots, but since they weren’t that important, we could live with that and were happy to get at least a couple of hours of sleep.
Unfortunately our second shooting day didn’t start much better. Again we had to face a delay, this time over one hour, due to production design issues. Windows with intact glass were discovered in the house and our production design assistants tried to put them into the window frame of the room we shot in. They had to be fitted and it took some time, but again the outcome was worth it. It looked more natural, no additional VFX work was needed and the actor could touch the glass in one particular shot. Despite the delay we managed to shoot all scheduled shots but one, a complex bluescreen shot, though we managed to go back to one of the two shots from the day before. that had to be omitted. It would have even been possible to reach planned target if there wouldn’t have been a special event that very evening… an event called Champion’s League Final…
Thus, we had to get that bluescreen shot on our third and last shooting day and the scheduled rest in the remaining time – and we succeeded! One could see that crew and cast grew stronger together from day to day. It’s a pity that everything had to end just when we started to really get to that level. Hope we can continue to push beyond the Wall of Sleep again someday soon!
Future Dreamers
Tomorrow we will start! We will bring all props and our equipment to the shooting location and prepare the set for the first shooting day on Friday. Our two actors from London, UK, will fly in on the same day:
BEN STERNBERG (to the left)
In 1945 at age 16, Ben was chosen to play in the British premiere of Morning Star by American playwright Sylvia Reagan, at the Alhambra Theatre, Glasgow. A wise old actor he met shortly afterwards advised him not to embark on an acting career until he was older with some experience of real life, before attempting to ‘mirror’ it. He took his advice and embarked on multi-faceted business activities.
Aged 45, the ‘Theatre Bug’ started biting hard, so he did a refresher course at LAMDA and achieved their Silver Medal, but Actors Equity (the actors union) was a closed shop at that time and refused to admit him as they had lots of unemployed members. And without an Equity card it was impossible to find work. So back to the commercial grindstone…
Two years ago when Ben closed his last business, he decided he’d experienced enough ‘living’ and was ready – at 82 years old – to launch his acting career.
He has participated in six short films since then and has been short-listed for a cameo part in a feature film.
SCOTT CHAMBERS (to the right)
Scott Studied a BTEC Diploma in Acting, became a member of the National Youth Theatre in 2009 and then in 2011-2012 Scott trained with various acting coaches including Mel Churcher as well as training at The Actors Centre, London. Scott is now signed to Curtis Brown, one of London’s top agencies for actors.
Scott’s recent theatre credits include: Chicken (Southwark Playhouse, London), Siamese Twins (Theatro Technis, London), Dick Whittington (West Midlands Children’s Theatre/UK&Ireland Tour). Scott begins performing his new play “The Precariat” in July 2013 (Finborough Theatre).
Scott’s recent film credits include; UWantMe2KillHim? (Andrew Douglas/Bad Hat Harry Productions), Ticking (Chris New), A Place For Us (Tom Hunter). Soon Scott will begin filming for the feature film screen adaption of “Chicken” reprising his role as ‘Richard’, filming begins summer 2013.
SCOTT CHAMBERS will take over our hero character ROLAND, a young orphan struggling with his destiny, and BEN STERNBERG will impersonate THE TERRIBLE OLD MAN, an old sailor living in solitary, feared by the other villagers. In the scene we are going to shoot, you will see both embarking on an unbelievable fantastic journey – a journey to the DREAMLANDS!
Filling the Void
Only five days till shooting begins! In the last three weeks more and more props started to fill my appartment. But it wasn’t until last week, when a beautiful auctioned model ship arrived and when we discovered a fantastic old door by chance, that the pieces really began to come together.
I was struck by the strong symbolic power of a ship next to the idols and artifacts that we have gathered: It suggests and hints that they all have come from for away. It links everything together and it all starts to make more sense now.
Our old house door is a heaven’s gift: We got permission by Freilandmuseum Wackershofen, where we have shot a big part of “Die Farbe”, to have a look into their archive of museum objects to find a suiting table, bed and door for our purposes. Inside a huge hall that Dr. Henry Walton Jones, jr. would be proud of (somewhere there in a dusty corner, you might stumble upon the Ark of the Covenant) we found a unique door at the end of a dark hallway. We went out to get a normal wooden door, but this surpassed our expectations, it looks really interesting and fits nicely into our planned colour scheme.
In the next blog article I will present you our two actors that will fly over from London to join us on our trip to the Dreamlands.
Artifacts
Shooting preparation has begun. We were forced to move up the date to end of May, meaning that there is less time available for organization than expected. We are casting our actors now and began looking for props. If you’re from Germany, please switch to the German version if this article, where we provide a list of things we would like to use as part of our production design.