Freyburg

Recently I’ve posted about getting out of making videos and moving more towards writing. Since then I’ve been doing a bunch of writing (you may have seen a couple of whimsical fanfics) but in the warm-up to the Radio Free Skaro live show at Gallifrey One, I put together this little number:

It got such a good response, with people cheering and laughing in the audience and Doctor Who fans saying such nice things about it online, that it’s encouraged me to rethink my previous trepidation towards filmmaking.

But it’s important to note that filmmaking will not be the dominant thing I do. I think the best approach is to tackle creative work in as many mediums as possible; comics, prose, film and audio. Not only will I learn more but it’ll expose my work, for better or for worse, to a wider array of people.

I would like to thank everyone who emailed or commented on how much they liked the video. It really means a lot.

P.S. I can’t take all the credit. The opening “Thames” ident was the work of Mel Siermaczeski.

That fine piece of work above is Gallifrey Academy, my latest short Doctor Who film. Every year I try to make a short film in advance of Gallifrey One, the biggest Doctor Who convention in North America (more on that later.) This year I was lucky enough to run it ahead of our Radio Free Skaro live show in front of a big crowd, and it got a pretty decent reception. Kyle Anderson, a friend and writer for The Nerdist, also featured the short in his Gallifrey One wrap up.

The film featured the talents of Eric Fell, Joanna Gaskell and Shaun Stewart in front of the camera, as well as a certain Time Lord whose identity I’m not at liberty to disclose. All those named can be seen here in Vancouver at the Critical Hit Show, a hilarious live Dungeons and Dragons improv that happens every month at the Rio Theatre. Laurel Brown, Vanessa Driveness (who also played an apathetic Shobogan) and Mel Siermaczeski also helped out behind the scenes.

And how was Gallifrey One (or Gally, as its know to its many fans)? Simply amazing. I’ve been for five years running now, and the sheer amount of Whocentric content never ceases to amaze me. Shaun Lyon and the other hard-working people who have been putting on the convention for a quarter-century(!) pour their heart and souls into this yearly event, and it shows. Now matter what you’re into in the Whoniverse, there’s someone else at the convention who digs what you dig.

What’s next? Well, it’s a guarantee I’ll be at Gallifrey One next year, and I’ve got a few ideas for the next short film. I try to be more ambitious with each film, so next year, expect ILM quality visuals and a 6 hour running time. No pressure.

Portal is a fantastic series of games, and it’s built up such an interesting world that several fan films have sprung up to expand upon its themes of imprisonment, quantum physics and puzzle solving.

Dan Trachtenberg of Totally Rad Show fame has upped the bar with his Portal fan film, entitled “The Escape,” which you can see below:

Others have also put together Portal fan films. My favorite is this one, which eschews action for something a little more moody and introspective:

I’m sure there are more fine fan films out there, but these, in my opinion, are the true standouts.

Lately I’ve been looking into the web series phenomenon, given my proclivities towards sticking it to the man and/or making cool things with video and computers. Here’s a few good ones to whet your appetite.

First of, here’s the Guild, the gold standard by which all other web series are judged….

and here’s Standard Action, which is filmed right here in Vancouver…

and for something a little less fantasy-oriented, here’s Andy and Chaz Bugger Off to America, a sort of Guy Ritchie meets Entourage tale of two hapless and murderous criminals from the UK who cause trouble in LA…

And finally here’s some sci-fi goodness in the form of the Mercury Men. Unfortunately, you can’t watch the series unless you’re in the US or have a proxy, so here’s the trailer.

Got any more favourites? Tell me about them in the comments!

RED, the creators of the RED ONE camera that’s revolutionized digital filmmaking, recently announced two new cameras, the RED Scarlet and Epic. Essentially these two cameras operate as a modular “brain”, with an almost infinite choice of attachments that extend the camera from a fixed-lens shooter to a IMAX level behemoth capable of shooting 28k pictures.

The only problem with this panacea is that the original Scarlet, announced last year and them shelved, was a planned “3k for 3k” wonder camera that would have taken the prosumer and DV Rebel world by storm. Instead, low end users would have to shell out something on the order of $7,000 or more to build a suitable camera for their needs. That figure simply isn’t in the budget of many indie filmmakers.

Even more mysteriously, RED has announced that even more info will be released on December 3rd. It remains to be seen if lofi auteurs will be elated or disappointed in a few days time.