I Shot Jenny Ringo...

Previously published (with pictures) on the blog Writer by Night!! Part 1 & Part 2

On the weekend of 13th/14th of April 2013 I shot Jenny Ringo!
 
Jenny Ringo and the Infinite Spell book to be more specific.
 
Over two days we hoped to bring to life the most ambitious Jenny Ringo film yet. A film with dinosaurs, killer clowns, hellish landscapes, 'Tron' style in game escapades and bizarre monsters from other worlds...and so we did.
 
Director Chris Regan and Producer Andrea Regan had strategically planned everything down to a t so we could fit everything in, so I grabbed my camera, batteries and memory cards and dived into the car to get underway.
 
Day One - 13th April 2013
 
First stop, Under-cliff.
 
There were a number of scenes that took place outside and it looked as though we had been blessed on this bright and sunny Saturday morning in April.
 
This was the first issue I had. Having an inability to see properly I need the use of spectacles to see properly. Also suffering from migraines in bright sun, I had adapted these spectacles to "react" to the harsh UV rays, creating a darker lens protecting my eyes. Had I known that this combined with reflectivity of the LCD screen on the camera, would result in an inability to see what I was filming properly, along with a lot of guess work relating to the focus, I may have re-thought my previous eyeball solution.
 
Anyway, we managed to get through the first few scenes well enough. The bright weather was holding up and we were still on track.
 
We had one final shot to make in Brighton, overlooking Madeira Drive for a giant pizza. Unfortunately it was decided that the best place for me to film was next to a playground. Now I know I was there to film Jenny Ringo. Chris and the cast knew I was there to film Jenny Ringo. However I couldn't shake the feeling that anyone else passing by may have thought I was there to film children playing.
 
Luckily we got the shot we needed and moved down to Madeira Drive for close ups, and to prove to all those questioning onlookers that I was in fact making a Jenny Ringo film.
 
However someone still wasn't happy and the heavens began to open. With the first few drops of rain. Rain that would decide not to stop as originally forecast and later forces the well planned schedule to be reassessed and split into multiple shots.
 
So back to Worthing we went to continue the adventures of Jenny Ringo and to Lime Café to battle the evil clowns.
 
It's always a bit of a struggle on films with few crew members when faced with a room full of extras. You're trying to plan a shot but also make sure everyone knows what’s happening and will be ready when the director calls “Action”.
 
Saying that, on this occasion there wasn't really any major difficulty. Everyone who arrived seemed quite happy chatting until it was time to get transformed into clowny evil-ness.
I don't think I'll be forgetting anytime soon, having to film close up after close up of menacing clowns, especially when it seemed it was me they were after.
 
Unfortunately that was where day one ended. The rain continued to pour, light was beginning to fade and we still had a couple of exteriors left. These would have to be moved to the next day. A day of monsters, babies and sea foxes.
 
 
Day Two- 14th April 2013
 
Day Two began as any normal day on a Jenny Ringo shoot begins. There were bandages, fake blood and lights in tiny cramped spaces.
 
We started with a scene that was eventually cut for time. Time in the film, and lack of time to create the effects needed. However all I remember was sitting on the bathroom floor, squashed up against the wall trying my hardest not to break down into laughter. I failed. How unprofessional of me.
 
Despite my failings, the scene was shot, and after getting the feeling back in my legs we moved on to the monsters outside ready for their close ups.
 
Once again the sun had got his hat on. However lighting a dark, interior corridor when you're outside is a pain in the back side unless you are the proud owner of some massive bright lights. Unfortunately I am not.
 
However we managed to get a happy medium and grab the shots we needed. As soon as the monsters had finished it was time to film the babies.
 
How does one direct babies I hear you ask? Well simply put, you don't. Instead you wave lots of things around, blow bubbles and eventually turn the TV on in a hope to distract them long enough to get the shot we need. It eventually worked and resulted in a 10 minute out-take of pure cute anarchy.
 
The beach was next. Originally the script called for the beach discussion to be at night. However in case this didn't work, a back-up would be required. Day time beach...no issues here. It was sunny, we got the shots, we moved on. We would be back later for the night time which came with a few surprises.
 
No off to space to space for us to crank the F-stop.
 
Space was located in a barn. The result of a friend’s short who still had a set up for a couple of days. Now I'm new to filming things for myself and when told to crank the Fstop to make sure we had a smooth green screen, I couldn't help but stare blankly before nodding in agreement (something I've learned more about with more night shoots). However we managed to get the space we needed. Everything was in focus that needed to be and we packed up and left.
 
And then we had to wait....
...finally it was dark.  We could now reshoot the earlier beach scene but in darkness.
 
"But if it's dark, how are you going to film anything?"
 
We had a plan. A plan involving plastic folders, LED lights and camping lanterns. A plan that gave us the desired effect or a burning magic flame. A plan that came at a deadly cost. The cost of being attacked by millions of  bugs.
 
Evil beach dwelling creatures that crawled up out of the pebbles to attack their prey. Had I not been tired and grumpy, some of those bugs may have survived to tell the tale of how they saw the filming of Jenny Ringo 3. However, at times I am not a patient man. It was survival of the fittest. I won.
 
However had I had to face the sea fox alone, I'm sure I'd be telling a different tale. It's never a good sign, when your back is to the sea and everyone start looking over your shoulder at a "dog" coming out of the sea. Not a dog my friend, but a fox. A fox that each night rises from the briny depths to wander Worthing looking for easy prey. A Sea fox...I would guess.
 
Anyway, we got through the last location shoot. We each went our separate ways, back to the safety of our houses and beds, to dream of the adventures of sea foxes and beach bugs.
 
We still weren't finished. There was still animation that I had to complete, the construction of a monster and trying twice to get the perfect night time shot of Brighton Pier.
 
This is another tale for next time...

 

So some stuff happened...

...and that's about that.

I felt the need to update the blog since it's been a while and I must has a lot to update. However checking the most recent post (before the Harryhausen obituary), I now realise I'm still pretty much in the same situation. However I do have a couple of updates.

Update No. 1 - Jenny Ringo and the Cabaret from Hell has been released online to those signed up to the mailing list. If you want to see how it goes down, sign up to the list here...

Update No. 2 - Jenny Ringo 3 is nearly complete I spent two very warm evenings staring at a PC monitor watching animation render frame by frame - a far more tedious process than animating itself. Especially when the video starts to drop frames.

However, render was complete and the animation sent off to Brother Chris for approval. Once the film is completed and goes live I will let you all know.

Update No. 3 - Animation complete for One Foot. Looking forward to finishing the film.

And I'm afraid that is all. One Foot is still at the Graders so no further progress. I've started work on the Bonkers Victorian script. I've even started to think what to work on next...depending on whether or not I convince myself that it is all worth it in the end.

But time is up, and back to work I must go.

Next time I hope to have more exciting news!

Cheers.

Some stuff has happenend, a lot of stuff hasn't...

I've not updated on here for quite a while. Sorry about that. I have been busy though.

In terms of One Foot From Hell...I totally finished the trailer. Take a look...



This was also shown at the last Movie Bar we ran, but more on that later, back to One Foot.

The animation is half complete, the grade is with Darren to make it look all creepy and stuff...and that's where we are.

Still a lot to get done.

Our main current set backs include helping Brother Chris on Jenny Ringo 3 and more annoyingly, having to rework the animation doll as some of the latex has started to fall apart. We'll get there though. Hopefully be doing more animation over the next week. Once that's complete then it's full steam ahead getting sound and music sorted.

I've been bogged down with a lot of other things (namely Tomb Raider), but I'm slowly getting back up and running and can see the end. It's still quite a small dot on the horizon, but it's there.

So back to MovieBar, we held the last night on 1st April 2013 - no April fool's prank here. Movie Bar is over...until June 3rd where it continues under new management. It's been fun helping to run the night over the past couple of years but we felt it was time to pass it on to fresh meat. To take it further into it's 7 year run, and hopefully beyond.

So what else has stopped me making One Foot. I only gone and done a podcast. You can check it out on it's very own web page here.

The podcast is called It Was Only a Pound. Brother Chris and I watch films that have only cost £1 and discuss whether it was worth it. It's basically an excuse to go through the massive pile of films I've bought, but never gotten around to watching. We hope to get more social with it but I'll post links when available. At the moment we've only manage 2 episodes but as you can see on here, I've been busy.

So this finally brings us to Jenny Ringo 3. Brother Chris decided to bring Jenny back a third time in a shorter adventure. Once again I was asked to provide some animation, which so far is looking great. However this time, I was also given the opportunity to try my hand at being the DoP.

I'm going to post about this in the future to give a full account of how it went down. In short it was a great experience. For more information check out (and Like) their Facebook page and website.

So there we have it. I've been a busy bunny for the last couple of months. However as we head into the final school term, I'm more focused on what I need to do.

Crazy Feature script is still in my head, and I will start working on it soon. I've also starting thinking of many other projects to spend my time on when the existing projects have been completed. Granted, there's already a long list, but I don't mind making it longer.

So I'd better get back to it as I need to go and make a human hand (spoilers).

Project 30 threatened by people...or lack thereof.

So I've been in various mood swings over the past week or so. This has been caused by trying to get a short film off the ground. However, it seems, if you haven't already got a small loyal crew set up, it's a bit of a pain getting a new team together. Even in Brighton it seems, where everyone is making some kind of film at some point.

As you've guessed it, this has become a complaint post.

So I was getting a little worried as November was looming, but I reckoned I still had loads of time. I emailed a friend interested in filming and he gave me his rough schedule.

Unfortunately it was discovered that he couldn't help out until 6th October. Great I thought. The weekend  Brother Chris and family are away so I borrow their flat as a location.

However this was the only weekend her could do until November.

So I thought...and thought...and was advised November made more sense. I did fear that Project 30 wouldn't happen though. However I decided, November would give more time for preparation, so I changed my mind. We will shoot in November!

Then I checked a calendar! "Oops!" I thought as I stared at my busy month of birth.

So it turns out, when trying to schedule, make sure you know what your plans are first.

Ok, back to the drawing board and back to October. This was now pretty much the best time I had to film. So I dived in and signed up to Shooting People, Talent Circle, posted on Moviebar and a couple of other places.

So we're off. Putting a crew together. So far, as if you couldn't work this out, responses have been disappointing.

I got a few responses from Shooting People, from some interesting people, it's just they were mainly based in London, and that may be more of an inconvenience. Not just the expenses for train travel, but general time it takes to travel.

From Talent Circle I had exactly 1 response.

From MovieBar, nothing!

From the other website that will remain unnamed, I got a rude comment back. Not sweary bum rude just a not very polite. So I'm not going back there.
Plus, to make matters worse for myself, I have decided they are Mr. Potter to my George Bailey and I need to show that people don't have to go to Mr Potter to get films made.

So, that's pretty much where I'm at. I start filming in 3 weeks tomorrow and I have some lights, a few helpers and a doll.

This film is going to be ace!

This weekend I start casting. Let's hope there are more actors in Brighton than there are DPs.

Here's to independent film making!!


Oh, by the way, if and readers are members of Shooting People, can you vote for Jenny Ringo in the September Film of the Month. We'd like get into the final please.

https://shootingpeople.org/watch/111251/jenny-ringo-and-the-monkey-s-paw

It's all been done...

So I really should have blogged about this whilst it was all going on. I just couldn't find the time.

But I'm still not ready. See it's the end of my long Easter break, and I don't fancy spending my time blogging when I need to really find a distraction from the fact that I now have to go back to work tomorrow. Unfortunately I can access my emails at home, and thinking I could lessen the blow if I check now rather than starting blind tomorrow. This blew up in my face as I now find I have an extremely stupid amount of emails to contend with on the morrow.

So now I'm depressed. So I'm going to play games instead.

I'll blog properly about the Jenny Ringo making of, about the status of Everyday Joe, and about any writing projects I may be working on.

Bye...

I think it's best if I hide...

I've finally started editing the behind the scenes footage of Jenny Ringo. It's cool how it's taking me back to the time spent making the film, and all the memories connected with it. Also how hot it was over those few weeks. Granted, it also helps that it's rather warm outside today. Strange for April.

It's good to see how we all worked together and I was wondering if I am missing out on a lot of experiences by making a animated short, on my own, using my friends for voice cast (a conscious production decision).

I was thinking that, until I see the footage when the camera was turned on me. The uncomfortable mumbles I make when answering questions; the long stares at nothing in particular as I avoid the camera eye contact. Nope, it isn't for me. I'm purely a behind the scenes guy.

And so, with the doubts I had about animation cast aside, I continue to set forth on a journey to finish something I started 6 years ago...that is if I can actually get the cast recording done.

So what was this blog actually about?

Jenny Ringo Needs you...

Well it needed me actually. Here's my account of workignonf Jenny Ringo and the Monkey's Paw.

So there I was minding my own business when Brother Chris suddenly announced it, “I’m making a short film and I need you to do some animation.”

With nothing better to do I jumped at the chance...


...Ok so it didn’t really go exactly like this. Well actually, pretty much. This was before the exact details had all been worked out. You see it started as me filming 20 seconds of Animation, tops. Then it stretched to me becoming half of the art department. This naturally led me onto the Prop handler/wrangler and finally settling on general dogsbody, including a bit of Fake Shempery.



But I still jumped at the chance. If Chris could pull it off, this film would be mental, and prove that all short films didn’t need to be about two people arguing in the director’s living room.
Here be my experience on Jenny Ringo and the Monkey’s Paw.

I’ll split this into 3 separate sections due to the different jobs I worked on.

Animation

So my initial task was to use my animation skills to animate (obviously). There were two short sections. Now I don’t want to give too much away with any of this so I’ll be brief. I needed to animate a Monkey, which I can say, as monkeys clearly play a large part in the story. This was just a ten second clip to visualise a monkey doing stuff. (I’m good at hiding the spoilers).


For this I used my tried and tested technique:-storyboard the clip, film it to get timing right, start drawing on paper, frame by frame. I then scanned the pictures and composited the whole thing together on the PC. This sounds simple, and relatively is, but takes time. I think the drawing, scanning and compositing only took about three days max. After an evening of tweaking, the first scene was complete.

The next scene once again needed to visualise some stuff. I had a chance to elaborate a little with this though and managed to come up with a cool little scenario for a famed Russian playwright/Star ship navigator. Somehow this one didn’t take as long. Well, I say that, but when I finished this one it was the early hours of the morning. This scene ended up being about 15 seconds long.

There’s nothing too complicated with these scenes. But hopefully they help to take the film that extra level to show what can be done with low budget independent shorts.

Art Department/Props

None of this is chronological by the way. I didn’t animate until after principal photography had finished. Before that I was given the task of Art Department along with Charlotte my girlfriend, and we dived straight in. There were 4 major areas. The living room, kitchen, hallway and one bedroom.


We basically had to make Brother Chris’ flat not look like his flat but like someone else’s flat. With the living room we needed to make it look as though we hadn’t just added a load of cool looking things on the shelves but that someone actually lived there. This was fun to go round and collect what we already owned and buy a few odd looking objects to fill the spaces. Here are some of my favourites:

The Creepy Doll – Strangely I felt safer with this after I bloodied it up.



The Brain – You always need a brain.



With the Kitchen, we were tasked to mess it up. Not just mess it up, it needed to look like it had never been cleaned. As if no one had ever even thought of cleaning it. As if no one would dare clean it. The trick for this is canned goods. Beans, macaroni and cheese and the slightly worrying meal in a can. I think we chose the all day breakfast as we couldn’t find the one with the omelette in.

Messing up a kitchen is easy. Lay a few unwashed dishes around, leftovers from lunch, add more dishes for effect and cover with beans and so on. Please note this will create an unpleasant smell and a sight you hope never to witness in the real world.


Once the scene was complete we got to tidy the Kitchen up. Lucky Us.

The hallway and bedroom was simply a case of dressing doors or walls with stuff that the characters might have decorated with, whilst subtly revealing a bit of their character in the decoration. Jenny was always going to be spooky, gothy and halloweeny. Gavin was never really explored deeply. Just a slacker type so we opted for an assortment of posters torn from music magazines.

Fake Shemp and Everything Else

I also appear in the film in a couple of Fake Shemp roles. 1 looking terribly like the ghost from Carnival of Souls and another, well let’s just say I got the role because apparently I look smarter in a suit.


Further to all the above, I was generally there for most of the filming. Helping out where I could. Whether this was as a drinks wrangler, monkey wrangler, sound wrangler or safety pin wrangler; I was always happy to help out.


Yes the days were long, and there were a couple of occasions where I had to sit in a room on my own until snacks/drinks were needed; but this is all part of the fun; because at the end of the day, I was part of something truly original.

I just hope the curse never catches up with me when I cut of the monkey’s paw in the first place.



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You can see more of Pete's awesome animations on his YouTube channel here and keep up to date with what he's working on next at his blog here (which you should follow to encourage him to update it more often!).

It's like The Wrestler...

...except it isn't at all.

I've stopepd blogging. I know. I had a brief burst of energy and work time to blgo in, then work time got taken up with actual work so I stopped once again.

Just as a taster I've been workign on a short film - Jenny Ringo and the Monkey's Paw for Brother Chris.

See here for great detail -> Jenny Ringo

I've been a set wrangler, a prop wrangler, an animation wrangler, a food wrangler, a sound wrangler, a camera wrangler, and acting wrangle and sometimes a people wrangler.

Based on this wide range of task I've been involved in during the making of the film, in a similar blog to Brother Chris, I plan to write my own behind the scenes experiences of the life of a crew man.

For now, I'm to bed.

PS the final Scott Pilgrim book come out this week. I'll blog about the series as a whole at some point too.