Today is our second to last day of shooting! With the model miniature footage already locked in, we're finishing up with some live action shots of an astronaut making her journey to the space elevator. Speaking of the astronaut, we're proud to announce that stand-up comedian, podcast host, and writer Danielle Radford is our intrepid space explorer! You might have seen her work on Screen Junkies!
The soundstage in Los Angeles is outfitted with sets for a spaceship, space elevator, and space station. Check out the behind-the-scenes shots below.
Post production has been a longer process than we'd hoped, especially since we all have day jobs, but we're so excited to be shooting the last scenes.
It's been far too long since we've sent an update. We're sorry. Full-time jobs and other circumstances tied us up, but we finally (re)planted our collective flag in the filmmaking soil and shot our model miniatures for the special effects footage!
In November, we arrived in Vancouver, Washington to extract our models from deep storage (i.e. a U-Haul Self Storage unit). A family member in the area was keeping the key to our unit safe, but in the midst of a move to a different state, they'd misplaced the key. It felt a little like a nerdy art heist -- we had to enlist the help of a locksmith to free our spacecraft models from their prison.
Picking the lock didn't work, so our locksmith had to drill it open.
Inside the unit were a few unassuming cardboard boxes. We took a quick look inside, then loaded them up in our van -- we only had one day to shoot every model.
Director Ben always remembers to buckle his seatbelt, especially when transporting model miniatures.
We zipped across the border into Oregon and piled into the Airbnb we'd booked. Luckily, the pictures we'd pored over were accurate: there was plenty of space to set up a green screen, lights, and film the models. With spaciousness confirmed, we flung open the back door of our Dodge Caravan and unloaded our gear and models.
Turns out minivans make solid gear transporters.
Once inside, we took stock of the models. After admiring them for a while, we noticed that three trusses used in two components of the space elevator system were warped. The heat in the storage unit over the summer must have caused them to sag. Thinking quick on our feet, we whipped out a hair dryer and blasted the parts with hot air.
Warped model triage... in an Airbnb's bathroom.
After no small amount of heat, elbow grease, and patience, we managed to coax the trusses back into shape.
Please don't be distracted by the army of Pez dispensers in the background. Oh no. We just drew attention to them, didn't we?
We used a motion slider (with parallax) to shoot the miniatures!
After a long day of shooting the models with a Blackmagic URSA Mini (thanks Adam!), we wrapped with all the miniature shots we needed.
In the next few weeks, we have several live action scenes to shoot! We're finalizing a deal with the set builders/art direction folks, and are pulling together the extra funds to make it happen. Stay tuned for behind the scenes pictures! For now, we hope you enjoy the photos from our model shoot (see more below)!
