Haven't Given Up...Still In Pre-Production!

Well, pre-production is still moving along at a snails pace. So, what's the hold up!?

Basically, it’s taking me a little longer to finish up casting. Up to this point, I’ve been working on test FX for the movie. I thought that would take the most time since I am doing all the principle shooting in my house… or so I thought.

When I sat down to write the script I decided not to let things like not being a professional film maker slow down the story. I decided to write a script that represented the movie I wanted to make, with no limitations of any kind. Things like budget and FX and actors were not limited to the script. Consequentially, when I finished the script I was left with something that I think is pretty good but very difficult for a guy with a camcorder and free editing software to film.

One of the things giving me trouble in pre-production is actors. 99% of the cast are animals and one very small part that plays a very large role in the movie is a dog named Jacko. The problem: I don’t have an animal to play Jacko. Don’t ask about Mitch the Turtle. His part has been completely removed from the final draft.

Well, after some time, I found the dog who will play Jacko, literally under my nose. Jacko the Terrier will be played by my brother’s (actually his wife’s) dog, Heidi! Don’t worry about the specifics of the gender. Everyone knows that Lassie was played by a female dog.
Finally, after a couple of weeks, Heidi’s hair has grown out enough for her to pass for a dog who lives in an alley. So, this weekend, I’ll be taking my blue screen and camcorder over to my brother’s to film what will actually be the first scenes that are meant to be used in the movie. This has to be done first because Heidi is really, really, really needing a hair cut!

Once I get Heidi’s (Jacko’s) scenes filmed I will then start focusing on preliminary filming and will officially move from pre-production to just plain production.

Wish me luck!