Brothers day - last push

So as those that follow us in Twitter probably know already, Brothers day is nearly finished now. As ever, we depend on the time people can dedicate us in between paid projects, so we cannot give a date yet, but we hope we'll be able to show the film in some way this year.

Making a film is a lot of work on a lot of different fronts, here's a brief summary of the progress at the moment:

Done since the last update:
- Edit: we locked the edit soon after that. Done and dusted, yes!
- Digital corrections: reframing some shots, stabilizing others, duplicating extras (what!? :), making day into night and a bit of everything else. The magic and time-consuming joys of digital post-production. It took a lot of work, but sure makes the film a lot better.
- Music tracks: such as this recently released track. Remi has now finished the last one of his many contributions to the film. Well done, Remi!
- Titles: we have a fantastic design, can't wait for you guys to see them. We also have a cool poster matching the titles that we'll be sharing publicly shortly.

Working on now:
- Grading: I've been working hard with Luca, the DOP on making the film look as cool as possible. Here's the proof:

- Sound post: Foley, atmospheres and the rest of sound design (those sounds that have to be created or improved) are well under way thanks to the wonderful guys at SSR. So is dialogue editing (making them sound as good as possible!).

- Additional score: all the incidental music for all the other parts of the film that need it.

Left to do:
- ADR: we have some ADR to schedule. This is those bits of sounds that have to be re-recorded because -for whatever reason- they weren't clear enough.
- Final mix (putting all the sounds, music and dialogues together!)

So that's it for now, you know exactly where we are now. You can follow the more frequent updates in Twitter and Facebook, if you so wish!

Brothers day - The long edit

"Where are you with the editing for Brothers day?" -some people keep asking me. Not surprisingly, since it's been about a year since we released the trailer for (if you haven’t seen it, you can do here). So I thought I'd give a quick update on what’s happening.

So why so slow!?

The reason things take so long, as some of you know already, is still the same as explained then. Everyone working in this film is taking time out of their daily busy lives and not getting paid for it, and there's a limit to the speed we can pick up with this system. That means we still need some more patience from all of you lovely people who are waiting to see it.

So where are we specifically?

Although we've had a number of other assistant editors helping along the way, so far the bulk of the cutting has been done by editor Terence Johnson and yours truly. That is, 1) an assembly edit we have already left way behind, and -what we're currently working on and hope to have finished by the end of this month- 2) the rough cut. A big and important step for the film, but one that, sadly, we'll not be able to share with the world.

The rough what?

For those who don't know what all these terms mean, (while the assembly is more of a working guide of what happens and when), the rough cut is cut of the film that already contains all the scenes that will be in the film, plus a choice of shots, plus temporary sound and music tracks. It still requires a lot of trimming and polishing, and it’s usually longer than the finished film will be, but it is at this point a lot closer and, if the job is done right, it should “feel” like it. Digital effects and fixes need to be added still, and audio treated so that it sounds great, and of course actual sound design and music done too. We do have some music tracks actually, like the one of Remi’s we used for the trailer, but still need a lot more done. I can’t wait to fully get into all this but hey, step by step.

So there you go, things are happening at a slow, yet steady pace, and we are hoping for a 2014 release. Thanks so much everyone who is waiting for this, you're all so incredibly nice people :)

Oh, for those who don't know, we publish behind-the-scenes pictures in Facebook every week, plus an occasional update like this. Head over there and like it/subscribe if you want to stay in the loop!

 

Surviving Alba promo!

These last few months, we've been busy building a set for our 'Surviving Alba' promotional teaser. Finally, we got to film some amazing-looking footage last week, through a very long yet exciting weekend. Thanks so much to cast and crew for such a fantastic work!!!

Building stuff

Busy times! And another interesting day today transforming industrial waste into sci-fi epicness.

Nothing else to say right now, except the madness is linked to our next feature. More info to come...

Brothers day: the trailer step

Low-budget indie film making can take forever. Even longer sometimes, for it is done on and off, with cast and crew doing their best to take time from paid projects and general life. So it's great to finally be able to share the trailer of one such films today: BROTHERS DAY, a feature shot over the course of last year  in Manchester, directed by yours truly:

 

BIG THANKS must go to the army of people who collaborated in it: CSV and a collective of dedicated volunteers without whom no filming would have been possible. I hope to bring the finished movie to you all as soon as possible.

In the mean time, hope you enjoy the trailer!

Official Facebook group:

https://www.facebook.com/brothersdayfilm

 ("Like" it, come on :)

New Brothers day artwork

That's right, "Brothers day" has a new face, displaying from today in the official Facebook page. Hope you guys like it!

Trailer is finally coming too. We are aiming at May, so just a few weeks' wait. Finally!

2011 balance

I thought it was time to recap on what went on over the year 2011 in terms of films and other -video or otherwise- exciting projects. Yes, there's a few days left to the end of the year, but I intend not to do much until Christmas, to be honest.

In January and February, I pretty much worked on Brothers day, my first feature film as a director, 24 7. Getting the cast, securing the locations, re-working the script, preparing the shots. Constantly buzzing production office. I slept once too. Great times.

In March, while I was still filming Brothers day, I did the first and last videoblog of the project, for the only reason that I was waiting for the actors and had nothing better to do. I did some VFX work for an American promo with a great pitch. And a time traveller.

In May, I went to the Cannes film festival. Walked around a lot, went to a few parties, watched a few films and saw Hugh Jackman in sunglasses. Got a new phone unsuitable for dirty fingers.

In June, I did a few more shots of Brothers day and I saw myself in the trailer for Captain America, featuring my first ever blockbuster extra role.

In July, I finally and officially wrapped Brothers day, to the surprise of everyone, especially me. Captain america was released. Enjoyed it and I THINK I MAY HAVE SEEN myself. My mother claimed to have seen me more times than I was ever there. Google released Google+ and I got absurdly excited about it. I'm feeling better now.

In August, I watched Rise of the planet of the apes. Got excited again. Longest title and best film I have seen this year in the cinema to date.

In September, I loved my new phone. And immediately started to hate it after that. Filmed some incredible bluescreen.

In October, I filmed in a warehouse and nearly got run over by a forklift, which was mildly entertaining. Filmed some stuff in the woods too.

In November, I forgot I had shown my short film Reaction to practically no one and shared it with the world. Calachurras reached its most exciting issue so far and we tried to explain a few things with a cute annex. As a reward, we finally got a fan we don't know personally. Win.

In December, decorated dozens of Christmas trees in a fake NYC and was involved in a attempt to burn down a hotel. Never toast bread if you are not completely awake.

More stuff this year ends with:  

Newfound Planet, our very own production company, is now born and the next feature film project is on the making, a very exciting Sci-fi. Which is like a Science fiction film, but with less letters. Possible the most amazing news this year.

Calachurras has reached the middle of its story, and still most people haven't got a clue what we mean.

After months of on and off work. The Brothers day trailer is nearly ready to go out. This obviously mean it will be the greatest trailer of all times. Either that or simply the most slowly done one.

Look forward to 2012.

Reaction

After months working on it, I am struggling to stay focus on the script of my next feature film at the moment. Which is why I thought it would be a great moment to share the link to my last science fiction short film, REACTION. That's right. Hope you enjoy it!



For those speaking Spanish, there is also version with Spanish subtitles. For those speaking other languages, well, good for you. And your CV. Probably. If you do understand English but still enjoy subtitles, click on this one.

Actually -if not anything else- the short it is a good, representative example of what I attempt to achieve in terms of genre and style with the next film. So not completely unrelated.

Writing is procrastinating.

The latest joys of technology

Last month I scheduled a text that I needed sent earlier than I was gonna wake up. I uploaded a comic book onto "the cloud" so that I could read it on my mobile on the bus. Sent an online album with pictures of the summer to the family (pics that I had been automatically uploaded from my phone minutes after I took them). And I created a series of formulas on a spreadsheet that now allow my brother and me to manage our work on Calachurras more efficiently. Also, as usual, my texts were regularly backed up onto the internet automatically.

Almost as amazingly, I was able to find the below drawing -picturing a donkey showing surprise quite convincingly- in nearly no time.

Oh, and through an interesting phone app, I can now know where the ISS is at any time. Probably not as useful as to know where that damn satellite is going to fall, but still good to me :)

It's exciting to be living this age of technology.

Brothers day - Wrap!

So... filming is over for Brothers day!!!

All pick ups have been finished over the last couple of weeks and we even had some pictures taken this week for the promotional campaign. We'll be rolling the promo pics soon, followed by the trailer that is being edited as we write/read this :)

But for now, here are some pictures of these last days in varying quality. Click on them for a slightly-larger-yet-not-too-large version. Hope you enjoy them!

For the die-hard fans that may already be out there, by the way :) here is the Facebook page, that will be issuing the official updates.

Brothers day - Action shots

So as part of what's left to film of Brothers day, I've been out today with a reduced team visiting the locations for a very exciting action sequence. Here's some pics of the day.

On a completely different note, Google started fighting Facebook face-to-face today. It's a difficult battle, this one, but necessary. Go Google!

What's been happening

So I thought I'd take the time to give a bit of an update on what I've been doing in the last few months (that feel like years!!).

End of last year, I was lucky enough to have a job as an extra (background artist :) in the Captain America movie (!!!!!!). If you want to try and see me :P (I'm one of the blurry dockers in the background) I'm in the official trailer, min 1:36 :) Although it may sound very unimpressive to some, for me it was an incredible experience that felt much too-short, and it leaves me out of breath simply to talk about it. Only Google :) can be more exciting than working in a Hollywood movie + seeing one of the characters I've been reading comics about all my life (Captain America in this case) in the flesh + getting paid for it. Incredible.

Then somehow I ended up directing my first feature film, a drama set in Manchester titled BROTHERS DAY. I'd like to blame my insistence in getting in as much trouble as possible for it, but maybe it was just sheer luck. In any case, it was a lot of fun and hard work. Luckily a strong cast and crew came together in the end and we managed to both pull it off and live through the experience! I did have to put other projects on hold, but it was all worth it. I especially enjoyed working on a feature script which wasn't my own, and working with 2 fantastic writers to make the necessary changes to the story to be able to film it with the given constraints. I just finished filming it, still need to edit it all together and such, but the footage is all in the can (well, all but a couple of days). Sadly, there is very little I can show -well, other than pictures of the shoots-, but I'm working on a trailer and I can't wait to show everybody once it's finished! :)

As if it wasn't enough, I got involved in a movie-to-be called TRAVELER ZERO, a time-travel story... based on real events! :) I only got to do some visual effects and grading for it, but it was particularly thrilling to me because the project is America-based. It's currently been pitched in L.A. to producers with important-sounding names :) and hopefully the whole movie will get to be filmed. You can see the full short film promo below.

At the comic-book side of things, my brother and I have recently re-launched the webseries CALACHURRAS. We are excited to get back to work on this after a bit of a break to give the whole thing all the color that rightfully deserved, and can't wait for you people to read the whole story and tell us what you think.

Last but hardly least, I also went to CANNES this year, for the first time. Cannes is not only a film festival, but a way of seeing the film industry from a more practical angle, and an opportunity to meet a lot of like-minded people and move projects forward. It was a fantastic and necessary experience that I recommend to all my filmmaking friends. It is both fun and a lot of work, and absolutely worth it.

And this is all for now in what's been the most exciting months of my life. A lot of exciting things seems to be happening in the near future too, but I shall talk about them in some other post.

Thanks for reading!

Cats in the water. Only, with no cat.

Apart from being more dynamic than the average episode, this month's issue of Calachurras contains one of my favourite moments of the series. It's what scriptwriting "guru" Blake Snyder (one of the most important people in my life :-o even though I never actually met him) calls a "Save the cat" moment. Hope you like it too!

Also, it's been 6 months now since we started! And hey, it will soon be Xmas, so a lot to celebrate! :)

Calachurras character cards

For those of you that are following Calachurras, here is the first instalment of the characters cards that will make it all clear! Maybe.