Pre-Prod 1

Pre-prod 1.1
Sept 18, 2008
Starbucks, ELJ

VISUAL EFFECTS
Met with Karr and Cedric in a spur of the moment decision. I came from a terrible docu presentation at DSWD and decided I had some free time in the afternoon. Cedric confirmed for 7pm which gave me enough time to finalize the script. Everyone was supposed to meet on Friday, but since Cedric clarified that he really can't be part of the production, it was a good idea to meet him separately for consultation.

A lot of important points were brought up.

1. the need for miniatures
2. the need for a post-prod partner
3. the design of the domed city (frosted glass and a honey-comb texture will save on money buy not having the need to do scaled-buildings, etc.)
4. the logical look of the place (a short discussion on the colonization process and the cliche fake-utopia which supposedly follows after a superpower takes over a weaker race)
5. the truth that the search for a visual effects supervisor for this project can be likened to the search for the holy grail.

And a lot more, considering that the meeting ran for a little less than an hour.
I think the project was enticing enough for Cedric, and that if he really wasn't tied up, he'd take it. Eventually he volunteered to design the domed city and possibly composite it later in the year if and when he has the time. I'll take that.

MONEY MATTERS
Karr turned out to be an ex-deal guru, which the film badly needs, because with an ultra-tight itemized budget, we are still around 80K over budget. She suggested that letters could be sent out to get several little sponsorships for food and tokens (in lieu of some tf).

But the big thing we need to get is a Post-Prod house willing to co-produce (and of course shoulder the post and visual effects). The group that produced Xenoa came up and the goal this week is to set up a meeting with them and charm them into saying yes.

Karr and I managed to set deadlines and a rough calendar of the things we need to have done.


Pre-prod 1.2
Sept 19, 2008
Baang Coffee, Tomas Morato

PRODUCTION DESIGN
Prior to the meeting, I had an issue of getting the right production designer for the LK. I ended up choosing the one who expressed interest and confirmed first. It also turns out that Bambi had a partner to join him in the project-- Bianca . Bianca Gonzales-Dadivas happens to be the wife of my former Sound teacher in UP, Sir Nonoy Dadivas. I know they'll never forget me because eons ago, when I was editing my friends' TVC for her thesis, I accidentally plugged their cd player into a 220v socket. Of course the thing blew up beyond repair.

At the meeting, there were talk about the ideas for the design of the interiors in the domed city, the Wastelands, etc. I showed them some visual pegs and I think they got it. More cold ultra modern minimalist for the interiors, rough junkyard-y for the wastelands.

The big problem is aquiring the latex for Nara, the mud-girl's prosthetics. Turns out only Cecille Baun has it in large quantities (and we're talking whole body coverage) but she isn't re-selling. Karr and I need to find a way to talk her into letting us buy from her (because there's no way we can afford her services).

I need to break for lunch... more later....