Oh the places you'll go!

When you are thinking of creating a film, the first steps are all cerebral. The intellectual property and whatnot. But when it all starts becoming "real", you have to take those ideas and make them physical. And the biggest one seems to be the location.

We have updated a lot on our location scouting, given pictures and even videos to show some of the amazing places we have found. But you don't even know the half of it! Allow me to fill you in a bit.

When doing a historical film everyone would LOVE to go to the original locations. Which would be The Netherlands, in our case. However, getting all of our team over there (along with our families) would be cost prohibitive. So, we look to the fascinating wonders tucked in America and find: a small dutch town in Michigan. Who knew?

It also happens that Michigan is very film friendly. Very. Friendly. There are a lot of talented people living there to add to our team, housing for the out of state member of the team (and their families), with the bonus of a mild summer we Texans will relish!

So, here is what we are doing: 1) Using existing buildings for sets (like the windmill). They are authentic and inspiring. 2) Creating sets in a warehouse. These babies are awesome. Seriously, our man Cronk is working some crazy magic for us right now! 3) Traveling for original location shots. Yes, a smaller team will head out to The Netherlands for the real thing. 4) Green screen. Finally, we will add some digital elements to the above sets, creating the kind of scenes we need.

Man, writing it down kind of puts it into perspective. We are doing a LOT of work to make sure this film looks authentic but it is so worth it!

Though building of the warehouse sets just got started this week, I have a picture to whet your appetite (plus, I like to share)!

Tulip Field Plates

Our team was in Holland, MI again last week, shooting plates for the film. Plates are shots that establish the scene and provide us with blank scenes on which to add our actors when/if needed in post. Our tulip fields will be long dead when we do the big filming in July, so we had to plan a quick trip to get our shots. To make things MORE interesting, Michigan has been experiencing warmer than usual weather and the tulips bloomed early!

Many thanks to the team for these shots. They are just little snippets of various scenes so you can see what we are working with, quality and look/feel. I seriously watched it 4 times before posting this. It is that beautiful!

(And no, there isn't any sound!)

It's all in the details

Our very own details guru, Maria, was able to go to the Trinity University Costume Department to look at period based costumes. Maria is our Adviser for Historical Accuracies in the time period and story. She makes sure that the look and feel of the costumes and set are historically consistent. Plus, she has an intimate knowledge of the story we are telling and keeps us all straight on the time line.

And yes, I have a little gift for you. Maria, at the costume department, educating us. Enjoy!

ANIMATION!

Doesn't really roll off the tongue like "Action!", does it? But oh, how useful animatics are! They are a way for the directors to visualize each scene before gathering the masses for the blitz known as "filming". When you film, efficiency is the key! Not only for money purposes but time, as well. You have a plan for when the movie is to be released and with the after affects..... Well, the time budget is just as stingy as the money budget!

So, our team has been producing animatics of scenes. Hammering out simple details and making some artistic decisions before it gets busy. They are rough but the point is to see actor positioning, lighting, set design, etc. I snagged a snippet of one for you!

Hi Ho!

You know, I never really knew how much WORK went into making a movie. Sure, there is a script to write (and check four gillion times), actors to hire and people to make it look pretty but, all this? Totally caught me off guard. The movie stuff has been officially started with a scouting trip to Michigan. There is a little town called Holland and they have some great Dutch stuffs. Like houses, a college with Dutch inspired architecture and tulips. Yep! Fields of tulips! Should be very pretty and I will be sure to YouTube some person flouncing around in the fields, for your entertainment.

One of the locations they scouted, near the tulip fields, was an authentic Dutch windmill. The windmill was the last one allowed to leave The Netherlands, is used to grind flour and is 240 years old. Apparently, a British soldier wrote a letter to the curator of the windmill telling them he found shelter in that very windmill, during World War II. He said his B-12 was shot down and the Dutch Resistance hid him there, from the Nazis. Friends, this is history coming alive!

I will leave you with a little bit of fun from the Director and a shot of the Windmill of Awesomeness. Yeah, we are going to have such an amazing time making this film!



Still not satisfied? Check out our Gallery for the Scouting album. There are lots of pretty architecture pics for your perusing pleasure.