Production Schedule Link

The production calendar can be found here from now on.

Screenshots from the Last Two Shoots

Uncanny

For those of you who didn't catch the joke in the last post or know who Paul Sorvino is. I was remarking on how much Roger Smith, the guy playing Theodore looks like Paul Sorvino (Goodfellas, etc.)

Shots from Order House Conference (Sweetwater)

The footage came out nicely, now let's hope it cuts together into saomething interesting.

Rodchenko opens the meeting.

Roddy, Kirkendorf and NOT Paul Sorvino

Clintus and Grace

Elliot explains his motives.

Grace fires!

Tighter shot of Grace firing.

Kirkendorf

Elliot activates the Maketish

Big Shoot this Saturday

Things are really starting to gel on this now! I edited together the elevator scene we shot last week and it turned out great! I've got some changes to make to it, then I'll post it for all to see.

This Saturday we are shooting the Order conference room scene in the conference room at Sweetwater Sound. (Big thanks to Sweetwater for supplying this!)

Jeremiah and I are going to start playing with some music (at least for the trailer) on Monday and we have another shoot on Tuesday. Very Nice.

Updates

Script is pretty much there. Two small scenes to rewrite.

Had a shoot last night. Went well. If I can figure out screengrabs, I'll post.

Kari is meeting with someone today about a major location. Good luck, Kari!

This is getting good.

Screenwriting Magic

I've studied a lot about screenwriting over the last month. What's amazing to me is how you can change things with one little line of dialog. A single line can crate or close a plot hole. A single line can create motivation or cognitive dissonance. I've found myself writing lines that are deliberately ambiguous because the characters need to talk about a situation but making that line UNambiguous would steal the thunder from a later place in the script.

For example, Bosch says this line:

"Shinto kills Miko, and just jumps through another loophole."

and it is ambiguous. You naturally think it means:

"Shinto murdered Miko, and just got away with it."

thus setting up Bosch's motivation for revenge and closure early on. Later, when you find out that Miko can die over and over, you realize it really means:

"Every time Shinto kills Miko, he jumps through another loophole."

So you end up with the Sixth Sense feeling of "I could have guessed that if I only knew." If I state the line in either of other two ways you'll either a) feel lied to ["Shinto murdered Miko" but wha-?] or b) are unsurprised to find out the Miko can die multiple times. ["Every time"].

A Single-Line Plot Hole Example (because I couldn't help myself.)

In Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen changing the line:

"the Matrix of Leadership is not found, it is earned."

to something like:

"we hid the real Matrix of Leadership in a different dimension and now we're giving it to you"

...it would have closed a huge plot hole. One line!

Back at it.

Kari made a poster!

SFXers Meeting

Met with the Computer Animation Club (is that the right name?) at IPFW yesterday. It was great to see people excited and with so many ideas. Also it was nice to know what would be cool and what was feasible.

Starting to feel like progress! Thanks guys.

Found this image on my computer...

Allegra White plays Chelsea and she has done a fantastic job. In fact, we've more than once had the camera a mere six inches from her face and she just acts away without regarding the Sony lens invading her personal space!



On a different note...I'm extremely pleased with the work Ric has done with the script. I have not read it yet, but from what he has told me, the story will be much tighter and smoother!

First Steadycam Test

I need to practice. Or I need Nick to practice. :)

Nearer my final script to thee

Well, I've got the script down to 121 pages! However I still need to add a scene.

It does mean that I'm probably done cutting scenes and subplots. But I still have quite a bit of cleanup to do. I need to read through it from top-to-bottom again and see how it flows. I think every character and action has a motivation now. That helps in rewriting the dialog to know each character's true motivations and why things happened or will happen.

It's like now that I know the path I want dominoes to fall down, I can adjust how they are set up so they fall in such a way that all the chain reactions actually happen correctly and the path is followed.

Scriptspotting

I know there's quite a few of you wondering when you'll see a "final" script. The short answer is that this will never be final till the last day of production. Few scripts are--they get rewritten on the set until the end of production.

That being said, I hope to have the script in final-ish form in the next few days.

Keep in mind that I got a 270-page screenplay and the directorship gifted to me a mere 11 days ago. (It seems like a lifetime.) I'm editing it down to 120 pages. I'm working hard, but if you think about it in Hollywood terms, no script goes from 270 pages to a final 120-page shooting script in less than two weeks. Please bear with me.

You may sense that our shooting schedule is light at the moment, and that's absolutely true. We (not the royal we--rather Kari, Allen and I) feel it's best not to shoot scenes we won't use. I'm sure you'll agree.

If you are a cast actor, please let Kari know your schedule if you haven't already done so.

If you are involved in props or special effects or have volunteered to crew in some way, please, please, please email me at richard.e.johnson@gmail.com I need to get everyone's contact information.

Thank you all so much for hanging in there during the transition.

More details soon.

Twitter and Steadycam

We are now on Twitter as BneathShadows (BeneathShadows was taken).

Also I've completed both the $14 Steadycam and a gimbal mod. Can't wait to try test video. Will post something if I can.

In the process of "outlining" the script. (Not like you're thinking, it's more like a list of scenes on index cards.) Important for visualizing plot flow.

Official Website Semi-launched

You can have a look at the new website and promptly be bored with it at:

beneathshadowsmovie.com

At some point we'll have the regular stuff, plot synopsis, cast and crew, link to blog, stills, wallpaper, etc.

Oh and I've created the new title treatment. There's a whole typeface behind it too. So if you want to create official-looking Beneath Shadows documents, t-shirts, posters, credits (ahem), get the font called Walkway for free here.

You're welcome.

Introductionite and Facebookage

Hello Beneath Shadows fans. This is Ric Johnson (writing, not the picture. That's Legion). I'll be posting here occasionally as well as Allen. If you didn't catch it two posts down, I am also taking as the director role on Beneath Shadows.

Allen and I have been friends since high school. As much as it pains me to say that it's possible, it's been over 25 years since we were spray-painting wads of aluminum foil to hang from thread for asteroids in the Super-8 epic, Journey to Jupiter. (Don't bother with IMDb on that one.)

He's at times been my best man, moral compass, confidant, and worst critic (as all true friends are). Now he's my benefactor in a manner. I love making movies, but my problem has always been one of plot. I've written dozens of cool opens and scenes from movies, but never really got the long plot going.

Allen is different, he's always been full of plots. And now he's handed me a plot driving a screenplay that's a four-and-a-half hour smorgasbord of ideas to choose from, and we're in the process of choosing the juicy bits that add up to the best two hours we can put together.

I'm really looking forward to helming this picture and deeply indebted to him not only for the opportunity, but for the insane groundwork and pre-production that I don't have to do and for finding the gem that is our Producer/Production Manager/Murderer Kari. (Okay, only Murderer in the movie.)

I have serveral internet-related ideas for promotion and marketing as well as for building pre-release buzz. The first thing is in the upper-right corner of this page, a link to become a fan of Beneath Shadows on Facebook. I'll introduce new ones as they come about.

If you are on Facebook, become a fan.

Oh, and I'll always be the one in the Spider-man shirt. And, yes, I do wash it.

And now for something completely different!

Many years ago...before I was married...I was an Emmy Award Winning Wife Abuser...sounds bad I know. Let me explain. I was working with some friends on a commercial for the Women's Shelter - it was Me, John Brune, and Kevin Bassett. I was going to be the gaffer, the grip or some such monkey boy, but at the last minute the lead actor dropped out...John asked if I would step in and do the roll of the abusive husband. I did. And it got ugly - the actress had only been a 'stage' actress and over emoted...it wasn't until Kevin, the DP, suggested that I actually 'tag' the actress ever so gently on the top of her head with my palm and she reacted did the Director - John - say "That's perfect!" She turned to me and said, "I guess you'll have to actually hit me every time!" Still, we won an Emmy but missed the chance to meet Bruce Cambell at the awards because we could not afford to go to the awards!

Click HERE to see my acting debut ant the reason why my wife's relatives were worried about her marrying me...

Well...time for some bad (and finally food good) news for those who have not heard yet...

...I have left Beneath Shadows as director. I am still the creative consultant and I'm going to be very much involved in the final cut and the look of the SPFX, but due to my current employment status at IPFW, I need to find another job and I can not devote the time needed for the production - there are also some personal matters that I need to address as well. We have a new director who has been working as assistant director and DP for several weeks now and he has been catching things that I have been missing - and he just posted on facebook last night that he is officially the director so...he's in the Spiderman shirt in the picture below...say HEY to Ric. Thanks for stepping up and taking over. Obvious things. Film making 101 things. I just have not been able to devote 100% of my brain to the project and it will suffer if I continue as Director. Don't freak! It is still A Work In Progress Production and it is still moving ahead on schedule.

So...hang in there people...this movie is gonna rock!

Thanks to everyone for their hard work and dedication. I know that none of you are being paid and are doing this for love of the craft.

As Tarina would say...sad day...but it's gonna get better!

Check out the new photos...

Click here for some great shot shots...

At Atzs Ice cream for the second to the last scene in the movie!


Megan gets a little burn...


Frost and Cammie recieve good news from Bosch...



Quite the snazzy dresser...SHINTO!



The new order...


Legion...relaxed...sorta...

Second wave attacks close ups...

Second wave attacks...

Another great day...

Had to miss the first three hours of shooting today. Bummed about that. However, Ric and the team did a great job (just watched some of the footage - it rocks).

Kari (producer) and I discussed Matt (Bosch) and Makenna's (Rachael) reaction to being shot at. Kari felt that The two needed to react with a little more fear and anxiety. I did not, but I relented to her persistance and gave into her idea of shooting at the actors with a paintball gun. Matt and Makenna had to actually dodge the projectiles and looked FANTASTIC doing it. Matt was only hit twice and I got a mouthful of paint when Kari shot one near the tree I was leaning on.


Now, normally I am against the whole 'method acting' thing but Kari was 100% right with her idea to shoot at them and we have some great footage now!

Some fun stuff...











Matt is looking serious here...gotta put a stop to that!

new stuff

Mark tries to cover the field for Bosch...


Tig finds Mark...




Tig tells Mark that only Bosch can kill the demons...


Tig points out the human targets...


Mark tries for a better location...


Mark takes a hit to the leg...





Hello arrives...



Red is bleeding from the shot she took from Jan...

Shinto arrives to tease her...


Red fights back...but Shinto has Claws attack her and the demon slashes her!


Mark finds Red burned and bleeding...


Red tries her best to be strong...


Mark and Red kiss ...but then... Red dies...

What a fantastic shoot!

We had a great evening shooting! Nick and I stood in a foot of cold river water to shoot scenes during a rain storm (and to be honest, Nick did a great job shooting and holding an umbrella) and Ric was all over the place shooting - climbing up the hills, down the banks all over the place - all the while following Kari's storyboards! Kari and Debbie knocked it out of the park and Nick H. (Mark) was fantastic.

And...I have got to send props out to Nick H. for his ability to realize that the last people who used the Sony Camera screwed up the settings and he got the camera rolling in record time!!!

Screen grabs from the river shoot...

Jan is sulking down by the river's edge after hearing from Chelsea that her lover, SPIKE, is with Red...(but Chelsea has been known to lie...so...)...Jan is contemplating killing Red...


Miko arrives to offer Jan a way out...

Miko comforts Jan...

Jan isn't interested in comfort...

Miko vanishes leaving Jan clutching air...

Jan calls after her...

...and follows her...



Jan gives up and leaves...



Miko returns, but Jan is bitter...


Jan has her fate set...she will try to kill Red...Miko leaves...

the next step...

This weekend I am going to cut several scenes together...then on Monday I'll speak with the music department at IPFW and see if they want to have a contest to see who can score the film...

We have a half hour in the can...

...that is scary when you do the math and realize we have shot only 20 pages of 112...

Last night disaster...tonight...sweetness!

Last night around midnight as I was editing the 'hill fight' scene - one of only five scenes I am editing - my computer crashed and I lost 20 hours of work! Tonight I took the boys to see the latest "ICE AGE" movie because my ever-shrinking-wife won free tickets to the movie. After the movie I eased cautiously into my den where I have my editing set up - btw, the latest ICE AGE was the best as Simon Peg stole the show!

As I started editing, it began to rain. Between the satisfaction of seeing a decent movie (in which me and my boys laughed hard throughout) and enjoying my favorite weather, I actually edited the "Hill Fight" sequence quite differently than last night...I am much more excited about the new cut...it means more pickups, but after my talk with Producer Kari today, I'm no longer worried about reshoots and pick ups...

...re: reshoots...we had a few out of focus and over exposed shots that need to be re-shot...I am not happy about that, but the actors are willing so I am okay with it...

Sally Scott has left us...she is going to TEXAS

Here she is dying with Tarina....



Both Sally and her mom brought food to the team...here we are enjoying the snacks!

Props to Kari and Megan...

...as Jan and Red, these two ran up a hill faster than I could follow while in heals! They were in heals, not me...and they both out ran me the first time!

Setting up the scene...

Ted works with the Suits...


Megan and the Goths...


The Goth Crew descends the hill to the lower region...

I explain the scene to the Goth Crew...



Max helps carry the tripod and "small" Sony...


Me and Ted check the ever changing script...


Lilly (Tarina) with (of course) a big gun...

The Maktish created by Jerimiah...


Second unit director Nick and record keeper Amanda size up a scene...


Bosch seems to be bleeding a bit...