Updates on a Delicate Question

Joe McKay (Garett Maggart) wakes from a Nightmare

The last blog raised an interesting question about whether there will be nudity in the Demonspawn web series. I can't say (spoiler) for certain. There are many opportunities and we do have a very cute cast. I can tell you that there will be none seen on Youtube. If there is any, it will only be seen by the donors on the exclusive DVD for a while. We are in talks to get it distributed on some webtv channels where a bit skin and gore isn't an issue. Not that we have a lot of either (keeping it tasteful), but there is blood(vampires). After the initial run on Youtube is over, the full cut version of the webseries will be available to everyone.

Oh, and many thanks who have written me about my cancer tests. I am feeling fine and fully expect that all of the tests will reflect that. However, no matter what happens, we'll be shooting the webseries. The cast has been remarkably supportive of me during this. I could probably do without the serenading, but I do appreciate it. I and I really admire their commitment to this project. We've become a film family of sorts over the years. that's why we try to share how much fun this process is, so you can enjoy it as well. The whole family thing goes a long way on those 17 hour shoots. But that is for another day.

Wacky Questions with Wackier Responses

It takes a lot for a film related question to make me blink. Last week, I was asked if I knew anyone that could give them a price on a cow milking machine rental. I barely raised an eyebrow. All I wanted to know was whether there were insurance issues (that would be who and/or what they planned on hooking to the machine). I never got any specifics on that question. Someone else found the answer. When these Q&A exchanges occur ringside on social media, I can almost feel the questions coming from family and friends back east. There is much in the way of incredulity and confusion. It's not the questions in and of themselves that cause those states. The lack of reaction confused them.

Filmmaking is full of questions. Three quarters of them are mundane – maybe even 80 percent. But much of filmmaking is telling stories of the out of the ordinary. That sort of task is bound to produce some really strange questions.

“Do current model cars have releases inside the trunk?” Jon asked me over dinner a couple of weeks ago. My life has been really dull of late. My kidnappings had dwindled down to nothing, so I had no idea. I was also puzzled about why Simon would need an escape latch to get out of the trunk. If Joe couldn't open it for him, something had gone terribly awry that would course Simon to burst from the trunk, sending it high in the air. He had something else in mind, it turned out. I asked one of our more mechanically inclined friends and occasional set elf, Randy. I was informed that recent makes of cars do have a release latch built inside the trunk. That caused me to wonder just how many kidnappings and/or really goofy accidents had been happening worldwide to cause such feature to be built into autos.

While Jon adjusted the script for the physically realities of current car trunks, I had questions I need to ask our insurance company and members of the cast. No matter how safe the car companies believe the release mechanisms are, insurance companies may still not like the idea of closing an actor in side a real trunk without a big premium to cover any problems. There weren't any. Next, I had to ask the actors if they minded us locking them in a car trunk. I ask actors lots of questions in the run up to a shoot. Those questions generally focus on the logistics of traveling to the location or whether or not they have food allergies or strongly held food preferences. There is nothing that will ruin morale on the set than getting the food wrong! Strangely, the question of whether an actor will go for nudity is decided long before any of these kinds of questions. I nudity is a problem that is not something a production needs to learn once pre-production or production has begun. Have we asked the nudity question in regard to Demonspawn? That would be a big spoiler, wouldn't it?

At any rate, I realized that I needed to ask that question of our current actors and for any ones we cast in major speaking roles. It was one fun email to write as I had to include assurances that none of this was for our own personal entertainment. It has been implied that some directors and producers enjoy doing things like hanging actors upside down and putting their heads in casts just because they can. We never do anything that isn't for the film. Fun is purely a coincidence.

The next set of questions I had to research was could we build a camera rigging that could move it through the car past the back seat back into the trunk. The rigging would have to be sturdy enough to keep the camera safe, have smooth movement and still be cheap. A few questions on the frugal filmmakers network of websites and youtube channels soon gave me a few PVC pipe related options. Those guys are awesome. Naturally, we will document the rig as we build it.

If you have any questions that you want to ask us, let us know!

Recreating the Past and Casting Update

Read Carefully!

First, this is something one of our fans sent to me. A little vampire joke, if you will. This was because of one of the funnier images from the original film – Simon getting an eye exam. Jon and I always liked the dentist scene more. This was partly because we adored the actor playing the dentist (David Wiesenberg) and partly because he acted like a dentist It brings up one of the questions we've had a lot of recently. I wrote earlier about the possibility of flashbacks of scenes from the original film to establish Owen Szabo as Simon Molinar. There were plans to reconstruct the 'demon box' and other plans that meant reconstructing the isolation tank in CG. We still want to do that, but it will have to wait until the next season of the web series. Meanwhile, we will do images from the montage of medical tests. The eye chart will be one of the images. We'll also do the dentist and maybe the burn tests to balance out the humor. We don't want to try to recreate the entire film. We were happy with the final result and see no need for improvement. However, we do have firmly establish Owen as Simon in fans' minds. The best way would be some duplication mixed with some scenes we would have liked to have had in the original film. This way, we don't have to worry about finding a large number of the original actors. We can pretend that those characters were on break during these scenes. We'll also plan to do some casual shots of Simon and Joe of their time on the run together. There will be natural places in the narrative that call for flashbacks. I want to have all of the cast have their own flashbacks over time. It's something actors like doing – their character but from a different time in that character's life.

Casting

We've had some solid suggestions from our cast about who to cast for the open parts. I am told that there will be more once they've read the character breakdown and the script. This is good news. We hate doing casting sessions. Also, our cast is talented. They would not pick people to work with who weren't as talented. That makes for a very, very long day. Our cast is also really mellow. They are most likely to suggest actors who are of similar temperament. That suits us just fine as well. This will not be an easy shoot. We would rather have laid back and funny actors during those long hours. We're hoping to set a date for table reads of the script in a couple of weeks. We really appreciate the continuing interest and patience everyone has been showing.

To see some of the scenes that we plan on recreating, just click on this link: http://demonspawntales.blogspot.com/p/blog-page.html

Hairy Terrors and Location Updates

There is a fear that producers have once a role has been cast. It's a worry that during the weeks of pre-production something will happen to prevent the actor from working on the project or that they won't be the same as when you cast them. For example, the rail thin starlet you've cast as a femme fatale turns up for rehearsals visibly pregnant. Or your pretty boy lead gets his face shredded in a motorcycle accident. It's terrifying. Even with insurance covering the loss and the cost of re-casting, it's a nightmare. When it's a low budget production, producers have no say over what an actor does to his person or what they may be doing in their personal life that could impact a shoot. Heck, the big budget shoots have problems dealing with that. Of course, we always ask if an actor is planning on remaining in the state we found him for the duration of the time we're filming. And we ask that they give a really good effort at trying to remain the same as when we cast them. Our experiences have been good as far as that is concerned. However, there are times when things happen. Jon was filming his thesis film over two weekends. The first weekend, the lead was clean shaven. The second weekend, he showed up with a fabulous moustache he needed to have for a play. Jon had to wait 8 weeks to finish his shoot so that the shots would match.

This brings me to the scare with our vampire. He has lovely, shoulder length hair that makes him look like a romantic figure in caught in the wrong time. The hair certainly work for the flashback scenes to other time. Imagine my surprise when I looked on Facebook and found a lovely photo of our Simon with very short hair. I swallowed hard, thinking about when I would begin a search for a wig that might work while I complimented the photo. I wasn't fibbing. He looked good in the haircut. I thought for a moment that an acting job had come up that required him to cut his hair. After putting on a brave face, I was about to ask if a cool part had come up. Then, I got word on my Facebook page that the photo was a prank on his friends! My heart stopped racing frantically and I got on with my day. We would have been fine as your vampire would be adorable with a green mohawk. I'm just glad that he doesn't have one.

However, we have had to make some adjustments to accommodate our casts. It is pilot season, and to give our guys the best chance at landing one, we're going to hold off on everything until about mid-March. One actor is already in a different part of the country perusing a gig. The others are going out and having call backs. This new start date makes allowances for any pilot shoot that may occur. We figure that it just makes our cast more famous when we get to the web series.

Location Updates

Jon and I have been doing experiments with green screens and footage of street scenes. They worked very well. No one could tell that we weren't live. This will solve a huge location issue and save us hundreds of dollars! We will not reveal those tests right now. If no one knows what scenes are a special effect, no one may even notice. And I have negotiated the use of two excellent locations for the price of some appetizers and baked goods. I feel like a dragon hoarding the gold that is our budget. I will not let a coin go unless I absolutely must!

Dance Moves, Vampire Noir and Updates

Yes, that was our very own Jack Donner aka Dr. Richard Bassett in that hilarious Taco Bell ad during the Super Bowl. He's been holding out on us, it seems. We did not know he had any dance moves! We're now trying to figure out how to incorporate this knowledge into something fun for the web series. For those of you who missed it, here it is: http://youtu.be/KvxZcULxfKw

Naturally, we got very little done because it was Super Bowl weekend. That is, we didn't get together with the actors. Jon and I were working even during that Sunday. We're at the stage in the re-write where we talk through dialog to each other. The new treatment is done. Next we go episode by episode and scene by scene constructing the dialog between the characters. We're having a bit of a squabble over a new character and how far to take him during the story arc. Jon has a tendency to go over the top where I tend to like my drama to be more subtle. In this case, it's a dispute over whether a new character should be as powerful as the Terminator in Terminator 2 or he should be more like Jason Bourne – dangerous but killable. I'm getting ahead of myself though. I have to set up a little background for the new script. Don't worry. There are no spoilers. Those were just metaphorical examples.

Some of the great things that have happened as a result of the fund raiser is that we had to come up with script solutions for the budget that resulted in a longer web series by a few episodes. We also created a new character that has long been desired by those who followed Demon Under Glass. The drama had to be more character driven than action driven. We needed to cut down on the number of smaller parts. This solution is really logical and it is a great source of humor and terror. I love writing parallel characters to show how one decision can dramatically alter the course of a life. We have two sets of parallel lives in this web series. I really loved what we had originally planned for a young woman we called 'the Twilight girl.' We are keeping some of those scenes, but I'm really enjoying what we've come up with in its stead. It is very easy to mock the romance in the Twilight Series. We still plan to do that. This girl's timing is almost tragically comedic at times. However, rather than just going for the laugh, we want to hold a mirror up to this poor girl and how terribly sad and dangerous her life choices have become. The Company Man and the Twilight Girl are completely new characters to the Demon Under Glass universe. Casting them will be an interesting process. We do plan to publish a character breakdown on this blog. Please, feel free to make suggestions.

Practical Updates

Since we have a new treatment and a firm idea of our locations, I'm going to make appointments to discuss the permit and insurance costs and application process with the proper authorities. Our budget is so low, that there aren't actual cost categories that cover our web series. It looks like everything will have to be a custom deal.

Donor Bonus

If any donor wishes, we are willing to share the scripts once they are written. We will require that a the signing of a non-dislcosure agreement before sending it.

Questions Answered and Updates

I promise that this will not have spoilers. I will mention a number of things that we have in mind, but there is no way that anyone could see into the twisted minds of the writers and actors and figure out exactly where this story will go. So, read on with confidence and enjoy the ride.

Q & A

First, let me get to the questions from fans.

Yes, you can still donate to the production. It can be done one of two ways. You can donate directly to the production company or to one of the vendors supplying goods and services for the web series. For instance, you could help pay for extra prosthetic make-up directly with the vendor. That could free up our committed resources for something else that would be nice to have. You could help pay for a location or for catering. The level of contribution will be awarded the same kind of perks we did on the Indiegogo campaign. Just email me privately, and I can set it up anyway you like. My email address is deborahlwarner@gmail.com. We are keeping copious records of everything and are willing to open the books to any contributor at the end of the production.

No, thankfully, the lower budget will not mean that the series will lose its sense of humor. I believe that the series has gotten even funnier in a macabre kind of way or in the 'that's so wrong' kind of humor that came from our actors. But there won't be silliness. The characters take what's happening in their lives very seriously. It's just that some of the things happening are seriously screwed up. It's like if Buffy the Vampire Slayer met film noir. As I've said, I don't there is a way to stop Garett Maggart from being funny. We've just found some really different ways for that humor to show itself while keeping the tension and sometimes the horror.

Yes, this script does have elements from the second half of the novel, Demon Under Glass. But it also has themes from stories that appeared in the Demonspawn: On the Run anthologies. Once the script has been finalized, we'll notify the authors whose works are represented. I'm sure they'll be jazzed about getting credits on IMDB.com. Half of the script, however, is completely original. The discussions we had during the Nosferatu TVpodcast really did open our minds to some possibilities we had not considered. We've spent the last couple of weeks fleshing out the arc with what we have for resources. We'll have a draft to put in front of the actors by next weekend. I hope to finalize the remaining cast shortly after that. I will be sharing the character breakdowns on the blog. We're always looking for casting ideas.

Frugal Film Making

I posted this link on the Demonspawn Facebook Page. I found this Youtube Channel, the Frugal Filmmaker  and blog while looking for options to solve audio recording issues we were having with the teaser, my documentary other shoots we were doing out of pocket. I realized that it was the same site we used to find plans and instructions to make a stabilizing rig for the camera with PVC pipe. You can kind of see it in this photo. This fabulous man puts up a video almost every week that has something useful for a filmmaker with no money. In fact, his motto is basically that poverty is no excuse to not make a film. We did find a few options to solve our sound problems. I even tried them when I recorded a cooking video this week. Jon also decided to wear a wire for most of a day. They are very clear mics with their own digital recorders that are also thumb drives. We have enough for our leads and some spares while spending far less than we would to rent the same equipment. We really don't want to rent any equipment. It was inexpensive enough for us to invest in the equipment on our own like the stabilizing rig. Well, he has dozens of ideas for Demonspawn's equipment needs. He even does a video on craft services that was quite helpful. Most important of all is that he will answer questions on matters not covered in the videos in a very timely manner. That is very refreshing in a city where everyone has a hand out for any little bit of information.

That's it for now. I'll have more next week. Keep the questions coming. And we really appreciate the words of support.

The Campaign and Beyond - Away We Go!

The Indiegogo fundraiser for Demonspawn fell well short of our most best case scenario for filming. However, we did do well enough to shoot what we planned to shoot and do it well. How can this be? Bowfinger. That film was a watershed for us as filmmakers. After arriving in Los Angeles, we had been in an endless litany of meetings and negotiations for various projects that got us no where. For four years, Jon and I and later joined by Ralph and Marguerite Lliteras had gone into a meeting with high hopes and big promises only to be ground down with endless new demands and delays. We've had more than one company raise money for their own projects based on the strength of our pitches. We were beyond frustrated. Then, Jon and I saw Bowfinger. We had Ralph and Marguerite see it. At that same time, we saw an ultra low budget short Joss Whedon shot for Buffy, The VampireSlayer series . That gave us the crazy notion to shoot our own proof of concept. They are now called 'sizzle reels.' The Bowfinger philosophy was that all movies only really cost $2,184 dollars. Fortunately, we raised more than that. When we decided to make The Privateers, Jon and I had absolutely no money beyond our paychecks. It got done. With actual bucks in hand, watch out.

There is a lot of elements on our side. Equipment is much cheaper and actually better. We own a lot of our own rig. We have resources from the city, county and state that are fee-free and we have some really cool and varied locations that are willing to give us a day here or there. The only thing that the money changes is shooting in one straight shot (5 to 7 days). We'll have to do this over a couple of months now. And I will most certainly be doing all the craft services, but the cast actually wants that (especially the baked goods). And then, we have a committed and enthusiastic cast. The work we did in the run up to the teaser shoot and the discussion we had during the podcast shoot produced some amazing insights from our leads. These insights prompted us to re-write the script that emphasizes the interplay between Simon and Joe and Ethan in the present and Bassett in the flashbacks over a lot of action. We've been challenged to find our inner Ron Moore and Jane Espenson and use our FX sparingly. That is a big groovy exercise for a writer and an actor.

So, Jon and I are re-working the treatment. We'll be meeting with the cast and key crew between now and next week to coordinate resources and schedules. I have to find out what we need for permits, insurance and SAG clearance. Then, we will set a shooting schedule. It's going to be a buttload of work. Could it have been easier? Hells yes! We would have loved to have all the bells and whistles and luxuries. I don't think it will be as rough as our first shoot purely because it isn't our first shoot. We know how to do a lot now, including foresee difficulties and fix them on the fly.

Look for a progress report next week. Thanks very much for all of your support. Me, Jon, Garett, Owen, Donal and Jack and our crew really appreciate it! We hope you enjoy the ride.