Xam and Power Dog Poster/Wallpaper

Hey guys!

I was messing around with photoshop last night trying to come up with a new wallpaper image and this is what I got. I like it so much I thought I'd post it on the blog. Feel free to download the pic for your computer. Then, when people see it, you can say you got it from some guys website who is keeping a log of his attempt to make a movie of a couple of animals that get super powers. Then you both can roll your eyes. :)

Opening Credits!

Hey guys!

Well, I had a blast last weekend working with Heidi the Dog while filming all of Jacko's scenes. Thanks to my brother Mike and his wife Deb it didn't take nearly as long as I thought would.

I wasn't able to do much with the footage though, since Jacko has such a small role in the movie I really need footage of the rest of the cast in order to edit anything coherent. So, with that said, I decided to work on some more test footage.

This time, I decided to work on the opening credits. Now, don't get the opening credits confused with the first scene test I did last month. In the finished movie, that scene would follow the opening credits. I had always known what I wanted to do in the opening credits and this down time gave me an opportunity to work on it.

So, here is the test footage of the opening credits. Enjoy!

Meet Jacko!

This is Jacko (aka: Heidi). Jacko is a terrier from Australia who was brought to America when his owner relocated to New York. Not much is known about Jacko, other than he is a “tell it like it is” bloke who pops up in the alley from time to time. He wasn’t in the alley the night of the meteor and therefore didn’t acquire any powers but that doesn’t stop him from throwing Xam and Power Dog an assist from time to time. Although he has a small part in the movie, look for Jacko to play a larger role in future stories since he is the first “civilian” to figure out the Discrepant Duo’s true identities.

Updated Teaser Trailer!

Well, it’s like I said yesterday. I hate unfinished work.

Last month I accidentally included an unfinished test scene in the test scene trailer. I said I wanted to kick myself for doing that so I went back and added the newly completed test scene to the trailer.

So, here’s the completed teaser trailer. Again, this is a trailer put together with test footage. Some of the scenes are compiled using still footage. Although a lot of these scenes will be in the movie, they will be completely new (and hopefully will look better).

Unfinished Test Explosion!

Man, I hate unfinished work.

I was looking through the old blog entries last night and noticed I never completed my T-Boom test explosion. It was the one with the building blowing up during a thunderstorm at night. I even put the unfinished test in the trailer which makes me want to kick myself.

So, in the spirit of doing that test right, I took a few minutes today to put the final touch on the actual explosion. All in all, I like this version better and it pretty much represents what will be in the film.

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!

Not Much to Report from Pre-Production.

Hey guys!

Well, it seems like it’s been forever since I posted on the blog. Sorry about that. What can I say? The final stages of pre-production are pretty boring.

For the most part, I know how I’m going to film the movie and I’ve got a pretty good idea on how I’m going to do the FX. I am currently testing other video editing software to see if I can make the FX any better without blowing the rest of the budget, which truthfully isn’t very much. That is pretty much the hold up at this point.

About the only newsworthy thing that’s happened, if you can call it newsworthy, is that I was finally able to track down a yellow dog collar to go with Power Dog’s cape. If you look at the earlier photos and test footage you will see Power Dog has been wearing a red collar. This was the best I could do for testing purposes, but for filming the movie I needed a yellow collar. Surprisingly, that’s not as easy to find as you would think. Seriously! Pet stores don't carry yellow collars!

Finally, after a few days of surfing the web, I was able to find a place that sells a yellow collar in Gibson’s size and it is nearly a perfect color match for the cape. The best part, it’s leather and it’s quality is really good!

So, without further ado, here’s Power Dog’s cape complete with yellow collar! Try not to get too caught up in the excitement.