Blog

 

29th July 2001

I  have been involved in Doctor Who Fan Fiction videos for the past ten years (http://www.thetardisviewscreen.co.uk)  and I have been mulling over doing another fan fiction video for quite some time but had neither the resources nor the drive. What started out as a bit of a joke at work when it was mentioned one of my colleagues bears a strange resemblance to Rimmer (Chris Barrie) has turned into my next fan fiction production. This will be a ten minute (approximately) Red Dwarf spoof. With possible interest from Channel 4/E4 and a provisional slot at DJ 2002 this project is gathering momentum into what you see before you; Red Dwarf - The Other Movie.

Currently we are in pre-production. I am aiming to plan everything out prior to location filming which will be at Teleware House, the home of Teleware (see locations page for more info). I have received permission from one of the Directors of Teleware plus the blessing of one of the company founders to film there which I can`t thank enough ! The basic story and a first draft script have been produced. Initial casting has been considered although I am not sure they know what they are letting themselves in for ! My current major problem is finding a Kryten mask and a set of teeth for the Cat. For the next two weeks I intend to do further planning, a casting call and also scout/video locations to get a better feel of where I want to film. All this and I`m moving house on the 4th August ! The first session of filming will involve everyone's favourite senile computer and should be one day during the week commencing 13th August. Hopefully I will have more pictures by then to grace the site with. Stay tuned !

31st July 2001

The main cast is now complete. The script is going through fine tuning. Principal photography begins on 2nd August and the first "studio" filming begins on 14th August involving the Holly character - Red Dwarfs Computer. I can do all her lines seperately from the main cast. Still got major problems with a Kryten Mask (ie ain`t got one !). The main studio day has yet to be planned but hopefully this will be on Saturday in September !

8th August 2001

Sneaked in some more pictures of the cast "unmasked" so to speak so check out that page. Still on schedule to start the filming next Tuesday. Script is now in 2nd draft, and possibly a scene needs changing. Still struggling with the Kryten mask but I know my brother will come through in the end. Short delay whilst moving house and taking part in "It's a Knockout!" competition - see cast and crew page for a picture of Andy Milne in mid foaming ! The first studio day has been pencilled in for the 22nd September and will just involve the four main characters with just the green screen work. Sorted out one of the cast's costume and going for "The Matrix" look. Next update should see picture(s) of the Red Dwarf Computer...........

16th August 2001

The read through today went very well  loads of suggestions and the guys getting into their characters. It was really superb to see it starting to come together. One particular scene has been dropped and is going to be rewritten with loads of good ideas been thrown about to replace it. Rav (cat) has come up with a good addition to one scene which requires Simon (Rimmer) to do a stunt. Well maybe, it's onto a hard tiled floor and it will be without the aid of a safety net ! The read through was also filmed so some of that may weedle it's way onto the multimedia section. Although I only had a 45 minute tape so missed some of it.

Still on course for the initial filming day on 22nd September. Loads more planning to do. Costumes to produce. Gee up my brother to do the Kryten costume.

Stay tuned smegheads as hopefully there will be a teaser trailer available next week using some of the (rough test footage) video shot from last Tuesday to wet your appetites with !

 

26th August 2001

Another read through/rehearsel was performed last Tuesday which went rather well. Final casting has been completed by our Casting Director. Camera angle development was on the agenda and as well as developing the Freezer Cam(tm) we will also be developing the Cummings Cam(tm) which you see in action if you download the rehearsal footage from the multimedia section. These two photographic techniques have never been done before and I firmly believe they will be seen as a major step forward in cinematic excellence alongside the T2 morphing technique and Bullet Time !

(Warning Saracastic Paragraph above)

Current estimated running time is 20 minutes for the spoof which is twice as long as I originally wanted. A lift scene has already been cut and another effects intensive scene has been cut in favour of a more visually comical scene. The credit sequence will also be worth watching as we are not having the normal scrolly up the screen affair.

The script is currently in it's third and probably final draft. Steve Collins is looking at story boarding certain scenes so I can plan the camera angles easier. On 28th August I commence on the proper filming of the Red Dwarf Computer which will be better than the last time. We are still on schedule for the first filming day on 22nd September at Teleware house. Costume ideas are coming along and also received some good news from my brother today (Kryten). We are going to have a go at producing a proper Kryten mask as per Robert LLewllyn's who plays the original Kryten. My brother had sourced the materials to do such a thing and the results are unsure but we are going to have a damn fine darn good attempt at it.

 


30th September 2001

First day filming occurred on 23rd September. We started with the green screen stuff after messing about with lighting for what seemed an age. However I suspect we have used the wrong green background. I did search high and low for the right material but budgetary restraints (ie we ain`t got one) meant I could not get the right colour. This may have to be shot again. The actual acting etc of these scenes went really well except Simon (Hologram) was a bit wooden (he was having a bad day). We also attempted our first stunt which ended in oneself cracking up laughing and Rav (Cat creature) banging his knee. Pity if I have to scrap all these scenes and do them again as they were brilliantly acted.

Next scene to be filmed was a small one involving a plot device. Unsure as to the lighting on this one too but at least I don`t have to worry about the green screen, more concerned about sound. Included our first cameo appearance and was watched by an audience including a very very young spectator who slept peacefully through all the debacle. Also filmed the first bit of our musical number, will not say more about this but it will be funny.

Final set of scenes moved the cast and crew (all five of us) outside the front door of Teleware House. It was quite cold and Simon was feeling the weather. Unfortunately the digital camera I am using has no external mic so I am having to use an anagolue camera and portable video recorder to record the main sound, hopefully I can match this to the digital footage in post production. Apart from a couple of puzzled onlookers and the cold these were in the can. The wind got up a bit and the mic was picking this up so we put the furry buzby (the one our dog  had a go at - but don`t tell Martin) on the mic and that cured it.

The next filming day has been scheduled for the 14th October and is 90% certain at the moment. During first day of filming managed to get the extra shots done for the proper trailer so will be putting together a rough cut and passing this to our Musical Score producer for him to work his magic. Hopefully expect to have the trailer finished in the next two weeks. So things are going okayish, the Actors performed better than the Director and we ended up with a brilliant Kryten costume considering !



14th October 2001

The concerns I had over the green screen shooting we did was quickly alleviated when I did a small amount of test editing and the results are better than I could ever dreamed of. Made me think this could be something rather special. Another location shoot was completed today with more than 2/3's of the total filming complete. Excellent work was produced today and I can`t thank the people involved today enough. Cast list has grown a bit and also yours truly has made an appearance. Oh dear. The trailer is more or less complete and I just need the music.

 

5th December 2001

Movie trailer is now available for download.

26th December 2001

Merry Christmas everyone. Well for the past two months I have been toiling away in post production hell. I'm having a rest for a few days as I have seen the movie that many times now I can recite the script off by heart.

The editing went rather well and I am very pleased with the outcome. A few of the cast/crew who have seen a preview have thought it fantastic considering we have no budget and no trained actors etc. I still have to alter one scene which Steve (Captain Hollister) and myself do not like so may just need to alter the dub on that bit. Also a small bit of dialogue was snipped because it ruined the flow of one scene. I still need to do two small CGI/Live action shots on the first scene and a bit later to break it up slightly. The title sequence is finished and I love it. None of which has been pinched from the Red Dwarf show and is similiar in style to the series six titles apart from mine having visual outtakes instead of snippets of the actual episode. The credit sequence has been completed and is excellent (a few have commented the titles and credits are better than the actual movie, but er hum there you go !) complete with musical number. I originally wanted to include outtakes in the credits like the Jackie Chan movies but I do not think there is enough outtakes (although there are some very funny ones) and these will be kept seperate from the actual movie. I also need to do an intro sequence similiar to Red Dwarf Series Two that Holly does to bolt on the front end.

The part of the Red Dwarf computer was recast so this is now played by Mark Carman (Steve's brother in law) and he is very funny and has some good facial expressions. I also had a slight disaster with one scene where I lost all the sound. The digital camera I was using did not have an external mic out so I had to use the mic from my analogue camera and unfortunately after we rehearsed the scene, checked the sound was okay, I could see on video I had captured Andy bending down and moving the microphone slightly so at that point the sound went off. So I have had to get the cast to redo their lines and dub it over the original. It does not look too bad and suffers a bit from "Japanese Lip Sync"  but I will tinker with it a bit more. There have also been comments over Simon (Krytens) accent and that he did not quite capture Krytens voice. This he himself also admits and it is too late to do anything about it now but it is not bad. I still have to go back and redo some of the sound as in my attempt to clear it up I have gone too far and now some of it sounds rather tinny. Sound or should I say the verbal talky bits are my weakness. Special Sound FX no problem, speech, oh dear !

I have made myself a deadline for the 3rd week in January 2002 for it all to be finished. I shall then send a tape off to Grant Naylor Productions and The Official Red Dwarf Fan Club so they can vet the movie and hopefully, (all fingers, arms and legs crossed) they will show it as part of DJ:TV during the Dimension Jump 2002 convention. Here's hoping.......

 

23rd January 2002

It's finished............. I am now going to lie down in a darkened room........... Watch this space.......... Watch my dreams............

 

10th February 2002

I have received excellent news from Helen Norman, General Manager at Grant Naylor Productions. They have given us permission to show Red Dwarf - The Other Movie at Dimension Jump 2002 in March 22nd/23rd/24th. The only place you can see this movie is at Dimension Jump 2002 so if you are not going, then why not, pop along ! Apparently  Doug Naylor and Rob Grant saw the film and loved it, they thought it was quite funny and really well produced!

 

10th March 2002

Two weeks to go till Dimension Jump 2002, can not wait. We have been told it will probably be shown on the Sunday afternoon, not sure whether this is a good or bad thing but hey, at least it is being shown. I have also been asked to do a short talk/intro beforehand. Yeah baby yeah ! My brother is entering the fancy dress too, not as Kryten I might add, but as something rather special that has not been done before. We are having some T-Shirts made up so you will probably spot us wearing these.

Big thanks go out to TORDFC and GNP for all they have done so far.

 

25th March 2002

Just got back from DJ 2002. It was fantastic. I gave a copy of our video to all the cast that was there. It got a good reaction when it was shown. More pictures and information when I have recovered.

Helen Norman from GNP has said they would love to put part of the movie on Series 7 Bonus DVD out 2005.

The Dimension Jump 2002 convention was excellent. Our little spoof was shown late on Sunday around 5pm and I did a cringingly bad short talk/Q&A just before it was shown to about 125 people who were left. It was a shame the film was not shown on the Friday evening and also that the full credit sequence was not seen but you can not have everything. At least it was shown. So that was mission one completed. (by the way I also fixed the main screen projector for Den on the Sunday morning as it was not working properly !)

All the cast who were there, Chris Barrie (Rimmer), Robert LLewlyn (Kryten), Danny John Jules (Cat, and shares the same birthday as me, 16th Sept), Chloe Anette (Kochanki), Mac McDonald (Captain Hollister), Lee Cornes (Paranoia), Graham McTavish (Mr Ackerman Series VIII) received a copy of our video and we also have video footage showing me giving them a copy of our video ! In fact we met Mac in the bar straight after his Q&A to personally give him the video. At the same time I got my video sleeve of Tongue Tied signed by all, including personal remarks. DJJ also took about five minutes to read the acknowledgement on the back that he had written over ten years ago. Apparently he has not got a copy of the video himself. I also got my 7" Single of Tongue Tied signed by all and found out it was actually quite rare, so not sure how much that is worth. All the cast have a copy, mission two completed. The video distributed contained the trailer, the movie and the outtakes.

On the Sunday afternoon Helen Norman, General Manager of Grant Naylor Productions introduced herself to my brother and I then she reiterated her thoughts on how excellent the production is. Then Helen proceeded to tell us that it may be included on a future DVD and/or video release, either as a short clip or whatever so we shall wait and see if anything develops. Bonus !

The spoof is not being widely distributed due to a copyright agreement I had to sign. It was the only way they would allow this to be shown. I have let our cast/friends have a copy which consists of trailer, convention footage, The Other Movie and the outtakes. I own a DVD Writer so have made my own DVD version which is pretty cool.

 To conclude check out the screenshots of the spoof so at least you can see what it looks like. Also check out the screen grabs from the video I made of the convention. Just like to thank Helen Norman, GNP, TORDFC especially Den. Paul Gannon (dont ask me why just thought he deserved a thanks !?), and the cast and crew of Red Dwarf - The Other Movie and of course yourselves for dropping by. If you need any information or have any questions then feel free to email me

info@red-dwarf.net

                         -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

 
Finally GNP decided to run a Fan Film competition inspired by our own effort. I was asked to submit our film but the condition of the competition was it had to be ten minutes long. So I edited it down from twenty two minutes to just ten. I chopped out scenes that were more relevant to TeleWare staff who would have found it funny. I also removed the Indian takeaway scene which I was never happy with anyway as I was intending to film internally but never got round to it. The finished new edit increased the pace of the film too and came in at ten minutes plus the credits.

Sometime later I received a letter from GNP saying that I had been given an honourable mention in the competition and was issued with a complimentary certificate. Not quite what I was hoping for. Originally I was told the whole film would be shown on Series 7 DVD. The eventual outcome was about 10-15 seconds was shown on the Series 7 Bonus DVD to prelude the actual competition winners efforts. I was slightly miffed at this as I thought the actual winners videos were pretty poor, in my opinion of course. Perhaps our film was discounted as it looked too “professional” ?? (hee hee).

Also dust off your Red Dwarf Series 7 Bonus DVD and check out the Fan Film Competition section for a snippet of our production.