Spent the last two days making and playing with smoke bombs. The film opens with a huge explosion (which will be CG) and the survivors come running out of the smoke. Contrary to what people think I do prefer doing things practically when possible. I got on YouTube and found some great smoke bomb instructions and have been trying them out. The biggest issues I can see is that this scene takes place in the mountains, and the smoke bombs produce a lot of fire. I’ll need a way to shield the ground from all the flames. On the plus side, I spent just under 8 dollars on some supplies from the local hardware and grocery stores and that provides enough stuff to make four smoke bombs. At that kind of price, I can’t complain.
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All posts for the month January, 2015
Sunday, January 11, 2015
Let the new year begin. God willing, we’ll shoot Leap 3 this summer. I took another pass at the script recently and realized there were still a few things that needed to be changed to make the film what God wants it to be. It’s weird to think about, but this summer will mark five years since we started shooting Rise of the Beast and three years since I finished the first draft of the script, though the story has been around since I started writing Leap 2. Some people are confused, so let me clear it up: The Leap trilogy was always planned to be a trilogy. It was to start off in present day with Leap, and end with the second coming of Jesus at the end of part three. Initially, I just focused on the first movie. Once we had finished Leap, I wrote a story for both two and three simultaneously. So even as I wrote the script for part two, I had an idea where it was going to go in part three.
What we’re trying to do right now with this third movie is a huge undertaking. To keep costs down, I’m having to expand on my VFX skills so that I can remain a one man band for the whole of post-production. The irony is that when I was in high school, my initial interest in film was in VFX, and now here I am doing them for the movie. The software and computer power we have available today is incredibly insane. I have all the tools needed to make this movie, now I just have to harness it. The only thing working against me is time.
Because of what I’ll be able to do in post, I’m not too worried about that aspect. My biggest hurdle at the moment is just getting the movie shot. This time around, that’s going to cost some money. I absolutely must be able to pay the actors, it’s the only way I can reasonably expect them to take two to three weeks off from their normal jobs. When I did Rise of the Beast, I started to move forward 8 months before production. I proceeded in faith that God would give us exactly what we needed. I’ve been too afraid the past four years to do that again. But now, I have faith that the time is right to proceed. I’ve slowly been acquiring gear over the past year and thus far I’ve spent $600 on it. That’s three times the budget of Leap, and exactly the same budget as my first feature back in 2007.
Please continue to keep the movie your prayers. I’ve just finished the breakdowns based on the new script and will schedule the movie this week. Once that’s done, I’ll know how much I need to raise to cover the day rates for all the actors. I’ve seen God work miracles before, and now I’m trusting that He’ll do it again.
