Ask Director Daniel Knight About Filming Terry Pratchett's "Troll Bridge" 35
Daniel Knight, besides being an actor, D&D fanatic, and collector of He-Man figurines, is the director of a film version of Terry Pratchett's Discworld story Troll Bridge that's been enabled by a massive Kickstarter campaign. Filming has finished (you can see some of the raw and intermediate footage linked from that story) and now all the rest of the work that goes into the finishing and releasing the movie is underway. Why this film? Knight says he "ended up acting a small role in a short film called Star Wars: Broken Allegiance. My performance was terrible. But that introduced me to the world of fan films, and I started wondering if it would be possible to do a Discworld one." The project is clearly a labor of love — it's a massive undertaking on a shoestring budget, with a tough goal: "Troll Bridge aims to be the largest scale short film in history. Using resources garnered over eight solid years of dedication, love, sweat, and tears – Troll Bridge has already begun exceeding expectations as to what should be anticipated from a short form production." The cast and crew (even the caterers) are all volunteers, but it still takes money to construct sets, create costumes, and buy time with needed equipment. Daniel has graciously agreed to answer your questions about the process; as with other Slashdot interviews, you're invited to ask as many questions as you'd like, but please ask them in separate posts.
Best and Worst Parts About Kickstarting? (Score:5, Interesting)
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BZZT
That was two questions.
Melbourne Vs Hollywood? (Score:5, Interesting)
Re: (Score:2)
> At Slashdot we have a love/hate relationship with Hollywood.
What he said, but mostly hate.
> As an (apparent) outsider to that who also wants to make films, how do you view Hollywood? Inspiration? Repressive? Hostile? A future paycheck?
Or, the oldest, creakiest, most inbred empire in the world, about to collapse under it's own fetid weight?
Just sayin....
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You are wrong. Hollywood produces remarkable movies every year, just like it always has. It' also puts out a bunch of stuff you aren't interested, like it always has, and it puts out a bunch of crap, like it has always done.
It has some pretty good turn over of talent.
Yeah, MPAA is out of hand, but that's a different discussion.
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Two words: John Carter.
Exemplifying everything that's wrong with old school film producing, and why we need a different way. Check out the L5 project, or ... Troll Bridge.
Why Troll Bridge? (Score:5, Interesting)
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Why Troll Bridge? Why not another Discworld novel [wikipedia.org] or short story [wikipedia.org]? Perfect length? Was it the easiest to envision? Requires the least special effects? Your favorite of the Discworld stories? The only one you could secure the rights to?
I think small budgets have not done justice to any of the Discworld films I've seen so far. They're good, but nothing like they should be. I understand Pterry is wary of Hollywood doing a number on his books and has thus shied from their money and producers.
Geek Hate (Score:2)
No matter how good or poor you do the movie, you will get a slew of people who just hate it and said you have ruin the story for them.
Why do you think there is such a large group of these people?
Are? (Score:1)
Are you sitting comfortably?
Have to wait until I'm a home.. (Score:2)
But of the Discworld films I've seen done so far, I really feel they've been hurt by working under small budgets (TV movie, rather than cinematic) Going Postal was a bit painful to watch, set in a couple of derelict old buildings with a small square between. Hope to see some better films as the books are great.
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Anyone wondering about the quality of this endeavor should check out the silly Discworld short that Snowgum Films did without a budget: Run Rincewind Run! [snowgumfilms.com]
There's also the behind-the-scenes [kickstarter.com] pictures [flickr.com].
Post Processing: Color Correction (Score:3)
I'm starting to learn to do some 'home films', using a HDDSLR, and have recently discovered DaVinci Resolve 9 Lite (free version). I was wondering if you used this tool (Resolve) in particular, and could describe the process with it...details of the process greatly appreciated.
Equipment: What Cameras were you using? (Score:5, Interesting)
Post Production: What tool(s) did you use to edit? (Score:4, Interesting)
I'm wondering what tool(s) you were using? Final Cut Pro X, Avid, Adobe Tool Suite? Why did you use what you did? Can you give some details of your workflow processes with these tools?
More information needed! (Score:4, Funny)
What is your favorite item in your He-Man figurine collection?
Alzheimer's (Score:3)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=slZnfC-V1SY [youtube.com]
I found it quite depressing and wouldn't recommend it to those similarly inclined. It is pretty powerful, or so I think.
Previz as an aid to direction (Score:2)
wow (Score:2)
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They end up talking and complaining and thinking we are on opposite sides but of the same position, while other people have other positions we don't like a bit from a get-off-my-lawn POV, and it does not just end but is quite coherent.
If you know and like how the main charact
Seeing it in Europe (Score:1)
I know you present some of the material at various cons, are there any planes for going to Europe? We would be happy to see you and talk to you in Poland ;)
Any more plans for the Discworld movies? (Score:1)
Are there any more planes for the Discworld movies? I would be surprised if you've finished with just 1 success like this ;)