Episodes
SATblog:Episode 07: May the Slates be with you
May 09, 2008 10:00Two days ago I came to visit the blog, and realized that it's been almost three months since our last post*, bad, really bad!!! I decided it was time to post something. But something good. So, I came up with this very special video: SATblog Episode 07: May the slates be with you from Juan Falla on Vimeo. I say "special" because for the first time you will be able to see actual footage from the movie. I admit it's not a very proper way to see footage like this, but that doesn't change the f...
Pencil Man Scene: Background
February 12, 2008 15:37Here we have an example of one of the visual effects we're doing for SAT. As you can see in the original footage (the one in the left), there aren't enough CD's on the shelfs. Plus, on the left side, the 'square shelves' are rectangular, and not square as in the rest of the background. You can even see some binders and books in them. Click here to see a bigger picture We could look for another location, but we really liked the CD background. So, because there weren't more CDs, we decided t...
Post-Production: 3D Cleaver
December 16, 2007 22:22With this post, I want to take the opportunity to present to all of you, Antoine Tadros. Antoine is a 3D model artist, and he's been making several 3D elements we need for SAT. One of these elements is a "cleaver". At some point in the story, a person throws a cleaver to the main character. Obviously, for security reasons we didn't throw the real cleaver at him; I mean, we can't afford to have any accidents, specially when it's being thrown at the main character... we need him for the other...
December... Low activity
December 07, 2007 05:01Hello to all, December has arrived, and post-production is... not as fast as we had hoped for. We've been very busy with our professional commitments (i.e.: our jobs), so I suspect this month we won't have updates or videos. Hopefully, by January things will cool down, and we'll be able to press the accelerator in the effects and music departments!!! Making something as "low budget" has it's 'issues'. One of them: that things take longer to be completed. It's just part of the process. It's...
Check list
November 15, 2007 03:50Pre-production... CHECK! That means: finishing the script, finding locations, finding actors, getting/building props, organizing everything for "the shoot", etc. Production... CHECK! That means, the actual shoot. Post-Production.... (?) Last Monday we finished shooting everything needed for SAT. I can finally say that we have everything "in the can", or in our case: "in the tapes". Now it's time for the Post Production to begin! For those of you who have no idea what Post-production is, ...
Stills of the Restaurant Scene
November 08, 2007 05:27Its' been a while since our last post. We've been very busy with our daily jobs, but we're finally back. Although busy, we -somehow- managed to shoot the Restaurant scene. This was last Friday. We were allowed to shoot at the restaurant AFTER it closes, which is at midnight; and we had to be done BEFORE it opens, at 8:00am. So, it was a very 'interesting shoot' as we had to do everything from midnight to 8:00am. Here are a few pictures of that day, or should I say "morning'? Here Damion a...
Episode 06: The $14 Steadycam
October 26, 2007 01:04Click To Play Here's a technical episode!!! In this video, the steadycam is built. The instructions to build it are from this great website: http://www.steadycam.org If you want to build one yourself, please be VERY CAREFUL, look for professional assistance. I am not a professional, so I had to ask for help to my good friend Joe, who knows about this stuff. Although the Steadycam is supposed to cost $14 dollars. In our case, it was $16.54. And that doesn't include the spray black paint, a...
Episode 05: The Guns Arrive!
October 23, 2007 00:20Click To Play On this occasion, the boys receive the guns for the production. These guns are NOT REAL GUNS. They DO NOT FIRE BULLETS. One of the objectives of making SAT, is making fake guns look like real guns. So, we decided to buy BB guns, which look like real guns, but aren't. Next Week Episode 06: The $14 Steadycam
The SAT logo is made!
October 12, 2007 17:50Finally, here is the official presentation of the SAT logo: We needed a logo that's going to be printed and seen in several parts of the story. So, Robert made this really cool design. For those of you geeks out there: the three symbols inside the corners of the triangle are from an ancient language from another world. The first person who leaves the answer as a comment with the name of the language, or the origin of it, will receive a copy of SAT on DVD.
Episode 04: Storyboards
October 11, 2007 23:29Click To Play On this episode we talk and show part of the storyboard process. Next Week Episode 05: The guns arrive!!!!
Stills of The Parking Structure Scene!!!!!
October 10, 2007 19:49Last Sunday (Oct. 07) we shot the Parking Structure scene, which is the last scene of the story. Here are a few stills of that day. Enjoy! Marking the shot with the slate. That's Riko behind me, he is playing "Uzi Man". Here is Robert with our $16 dollar steadycam, doing a 180 degree michael-bay-shot!!! Hahaha. For more information on building a cheap steadycam, click here. Coming back from doing another shot with the steadycam. Here we're shooting a CU (close up) of Uzi Man (Riko), whil...
Stills of The Pencil Man Scene!!!!!
October 10, 2007 18:49Hello to all. Last Saturday (Oct. 06) we shot the Pencil Man scene (which is the second scene of the story). I'm so happy because the material is even better than what I imagined. Plus, I can finally start editing! Here are a few pictures of the first day. Enjoy! On this picture you can see Robert who is playing the Pencil Man. We used three lights, which can be seen here too. That's Damion (with the dark shirt) and me. The white paper with the six rectangular boxes is the storyboard we ha...
Budget Updated #3
October 08, 2007 18:232 MiniDV tapes DVM63AMQ $9.95 each + tax $1.64 = $21.54 Used for the first shoot day. Food/water for 1st day shoot: $18.45 4 MiniDV tapes DVM63AMQ $9.95 each + tax $3.28 = $43.08 Used for the second shoot day, and we still have three tapes left for our third and final shoot day. Budget before: $220.08 The new updated budget is: $303.15 For a complete list, click here.
Budget Updated #2
October 05, 2007 18:35As the first shoot date approaches, we are buying more stuff: Aluminum Foil paper (50 sq. ft.): $3.29 This with the black tape, to make the bullet holes of the car. Black tape: $6.98 Foam Mounting Squares: $2.99 To stick the "bullet holes' to the car. Masking tape: $5.49 You always need masking tape for various purpose. Black Paint: $6.79 Orange Paint: $4.39 This is to paint the orange tips of the BB guns black for the shoot. By law, all BB guns need to have the orange tip at all times....
Episode 03: Location Scout
October 05, 2007 18:28Click To Play Here's our third episode!!! Although we have 4 different locations in the story of SAT, we only had to do a location scout of the Restaurant scene, as I already new which are the other three locations. So this video shows when I when with a good friend to see 4 restaurants. Next Week Episode 04: Storyboards
Budget updated
October 03, 2007 22:18We bought more stuff: Metal Washers: $0.98 cents Although the bag came with 16 washers, we only used two to fix the Uzi we're using in the last scene. Aluminium briefcase: $20.00 This one is where the Student carries the gun and three bullets. Velcro: $3.00 We're using velcro to stick the pencils inside Pencil Man's coat. 3 dozen of My First Ticonderoga pencils: $29.46 1 dozen: $5.70 2-day shipping: $10.95 Tax: $1.41 (for a total of $29.46) The new updated budget is: $186.55 For a compl...
Episode 02: The Script
September 27, 2007 22:01Click To Play Here's the second episode!!! Next Week Episode 03: "Location Scout"
Episode 01: The Beginning
September 14, 2007 22:26Click To Play Okay, finally! Here is our first video. Enjoy! Next Week Episode 02: "The Script"
The Budget of S.A.T.
August 31, 2007 22:36When S.A.T. is finished, we expect it to look like we spend several hundred thousand dollars doing it. But how much money did we really spend? In this page we’re going to list all the things we’re spending money on. Although the idea behind S.A.T. is to do an extremely low budget film, in no way does this means that we’re not going to have to put some of our own money. So here is a list of all the things we’re buying to make S.A.T. Red Binder: $7.79 This binder is our Production Book. If y...
FAQ
August 30, 2007 00:30Welcome to the oficial page of S.A.T.: The Short Film What is S.A.T.? S.A.T. is a short film which is being made by Damion Lewin, Robert Gaston and Juan Falla. When is it coming out? S.A.T. is currently in post-production. The release date has not been determined as of today May 2008. What is the porpouse of this website? This will me a mixture between website, blog and videoblog. Here, you will be able to read articles and watch videos about the making off this short film. Articles wil...
Who is behind S.A.T.?
August 21, 2007 22:52The A Team Damion Lewin: Damion daydreams of being Bruce Lee. Traveling the world in search of all the wisdom of the various martial arts would be his slice of apple pie. He animates, designs, and also surfs. Damion has been a 3D animator/compositor for 13 years. He began his career in cartoons as a Visual EFX Supervisor and later branched out into Creative Director of broadcast motion for television networks. He’s worked overseas in 6 different countries, including China. In SAT, Damion ...