art dept. pre production

so we start shooting in 5 days.

people have asked me “ so how has art department been so far?”. i have to think about the answer for a split second, cause normally i’d reply with a... “ yeah, been crazy, 6 weeks of pre production, lots of sets and props to build and organize, but we’re almost there, most of the work is done. all is good”

my reply instead is something like this “ well actually i haven't built a single set or prop, it feels kinda weird”. in terms of art department pre production that sounds like the biggest disaster. but the one thing about film making is that for all its meetings, paper work, check lists, rules, guidelines and how to books, there really is no one way of doing things. sometimes a movie dictates how things are done. you may be use to doing things one way, but that was a another film...From Parts Unknown is a completely different film.

procedures are made up on the go, and changed again 15 minutes before execution, that is low budget film making, and that is where the skill of the cast and crew come in.

pre production on From Parts Unknown has effectively been spread into production, and as we shoot, we create. it’s the nature of the project, and it dictates that it be done in this way.

that said. a lot has been done.
the majority of locations have been locked down. some of the locations we have are absolutely amazing and we’re quite fortunate to have them, some are a little less.... amazing. but with the magic of movie making, each and everyone of them will look ‘amazing’ on screen. lots of planning and discussions on how to make each location work best for us. some small script re writes to accommodate any limitations, but we have found that most of the time a re write to accommodate locations doesn't end up being a compromise but rather some exciting new additions.

the costumes are being made as i type. wonderful and stunning designs, all very original and made with great thought. costumes are a big part of this film. references had been taken from all sorts of places. anime, old and new movies, comic books, fashion, and photography. but ultimately the references served as a guide for the director, costume designer and production designer to be on the same page and then allow the costume designer to work her ideas into the film.

the make up and hair has just as an important role to play, and pre production testing has given us great starting points. closer to the completion of the outfits, all make up and hair will be finalised.

sets, props and design. this has proven to be the greatest challenge, design ideas, colour pallets and environments have constantly changed to accommodate every single location we lock down. each time having to re-evaluate and make the previous locations work with the new. we dont have the luxury to build extensive sets, or moderate sets for that matter, so to have a sketch of an office building with large windows, on the 20th floor, high ceilings, art deco architecture and fixtures, with a lift that runs up the middle, that looks menacing, dictatorial and cold, is one thing...to find a location like that, at your budget, and availability is another. so the office location has been found, and compared to the rest of the locations, its the most removed from my initial design ideas. but again, this is where the magic of movies comes in and with some creative thinking, keeping into consideration, budgets, availability and time to setup and strike down, the amount of modifications that are allowed to the existing environments, the needs of the script, the crew available, materials available, we work out a way to turn this office space into the ‘office building with large windows, on the 20th floor, high ceilings, art deco architecture and fixtures, with a lift that runs up the middle, that looks menacing, dictatorial and cold'.
in terms of props, i would have to say that very few are found or bought props that havent been modified or created from scratch. a conscious effort is being made to make each environment and each prop, right down to a small alarm clock, fit the feel of the movie. and if said alarm clock needs to be built, it will. now that may sound like standard stuff of most movies you see on screen, but its a big deal for a film such as FPU with the extreme limitations we have, so buying a small clock off the shelf at some second hand shop and putting it in the background, isn't an option.

we all started off with a simple idea to make a simple movie, i must admit, we have all slightly gone out of control and began to dream bigger dreams...but i believe that is the only way to make something worthwhile.
making films isnt a job for me, otherwise i wouldnt be working on this feature, i’d be attempting to get a 5 month contract on that american series currently in pre production. making films is about art. and yes, even a low budget horror/ sci-fi genre film can be art. its all in the process.

cheers

dante