In-World War

NYC pick-ups, introducing our VFX Producer and more

Never a dull moment.

Just a quick update on IWW. There's a lot going on and as usual we're juggling multiple balls in the air. It may seem at times that nothing much is going on because we don't have time to update the blog, but that's far from the truth. We try to keep you posted, but with so much going on, it's not always easy.

Every week we're moving forward on multiple fronts. This film is a huge undertaking, with many moving parts and a tsunami of tasks, so it gets spread out over time (a year has passed since production already?!?). Rest assured, things are happening.

Here's a glimpse into what's going on right now.

Pick-ups - We're reviewing the revised assembly cut and building the list of pick-ups needed and scenes to be reshot. Luckily, the number of scenes needing reshooting is very minimal (maybe two full scenes), so most of our additional shooting will be b-roll, insert shots and establishing shots -- all to flesh out the storytelling.

NYC 2nd unit - This is the focus of much of our time right now. We're cashing in some frequent flyer miles to get tickets to NYC to shoot on location there. There are a number of key NYC scenes, in addition to needed b-roll and getting this right is crucial. Luckily, we have a talented local producer, Ben Rubin (besides being a former student of mine, he's entering Columbia's MFA program for film producers), plus some old friends who are helping out in one way or another. If you're in NYC and want to help somehow, let us know.

VFX Producer - The amazing and talented Gordon Wittmann has joined the team as our VFX Producer. Besides being a great friend, he's one of the most experienced visual effects producers in the Bay Area, having worked at ILM, The Orphanage and is currently at Spy Post. His IMDB listing includes some of the most high-profile FX films in the industry: Iron Man, Star Wars II, Terminator 3, Grindhouse/Planet Terror, Van Helsing and many more. He'll systemize our VFX process as we grow the team and start to knock out concepts, ultimately moving us through production on the effects. With about a hundred FX shots in IWW, this is a crucial role and it's been my dream since day one to work with Gordon. 

Additional pick-up weekends - At this point, our additional shooting is a weekend thing and looking at our preliminary list of pick-ups, it could be between 4 and 6 weekends (including the long weekend in NYC). More on this as we move forward.

Plus, footage is being processed from the recent b-roll shoots and as always, we're trying to reach out to people to grow our team. It's a never-ending process, making a film like this, but we have no choice. It's in the blood and failure is not an option. Onward.

Pick-up shooting has begun for In-World War

Now that we have a revised assembly edit of the film, we're in the process of filling in the gaps and reshooting scenes that need it. We have at least four weekends of pick-up and 2nd unit shoots ahead of us, in the Bay Area, NYC and perhaps Los Angeles (since a few actors are based in LA it might be easier to just go to them).

This past weekend we spent an evening shooting important b-roll for two scenes, at the Oakland docks and at a huge Burning Man-style party. The footage will go a long way toward establishing the backdrop to these scenes and generally giving the audience an opportunity to "look around" at the world of In-World War.

This type of additional shooting is what every film goes through when they see the early cuts and our few weekends of shooting is pretty meager given the overall ambition of the film. After all, we've shot in three different countries (actually four if you count the virtual Baghdad scenes) with a cast of hundreds including both main cast and extras. A few additional weekends of pick-up work is not bad.

However, this means we're heading back in production and though we're extremely tight-fisted, fiscally creative and ultra-low budget (i.e. cheapskate) filmmakers, we still need your financial support to complete this additional filming. We need to rent cameras, lenses, buy food for the crew and more.

If you've thought about donating to the project and getting your name in the credits, now is the time to do it: donate today to support our crazy grassroots indie sci-fi epic.