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Old October 29th, 2005, 09:56 AM   #19
spcglider
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Join Date: Nov 2003
Location: Minneapolis
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The first episode of Starship Exeter cost the guys about 20K. But you'd be amazed how easy it is to scrape together 20K a few bucks at a time. As long as you have the time to make it part of your normal spending habits. Sell stuff on ebay, have a bake sale, a garage sale, whatever. Get a seed and keep watering it.

The other thing is to WRITE CHEAP. I've seen some pretty fantastic digital models of the galactica interiors out there. Using a green-screen (available on eBay of all places for a truly fair dollar investment) is a perfect way to keep costs down.

The fact is this: You WILL NOT have a full scale Viper to use in your shots. BUT you CAN manage enough (couple hundred bucks) to build a very nice replica cockpit that can be gimabled and such for close up shots. That sort of thing goes a long way.

Another thing to consider: Apollo and Starbuck aren't the only warriors on board the Galactica. In fact, we never even SAW Red Squadron during the run of the show. What... were they on the "night shift" or something? You could do whole episodes starring the entire "evening crew" of the Galactica. If you really want a tie to the real show, have Commander Adama appear on the screen and give some orders with a voice-over. Or Tigh, or whomever. You could probably get Richard Hatch to do a few lines for you at a convention in front of a small green screen. He could appear on a monitor and even interact with your actors. But keep it VERY breif. And be prepared to pay him a stipend or even a full hour's rate. It would be worth the investment for the realism it would bring to your show. (Remember when George Takei appeared in a fan film of Star Trek back in the late 1970's?)

Oh yeah... and try to keep your cast SMALL. I know everybody wants to get in front of the camera in a fan film and hey... why not? They're free. But the fact is, if someone commits to be in the show, they have to COMMIT. They have to realize they are NEEDED to get the project done. There will be hours of tedium and boredom waiting around for everyone else to get their stuff ready so the camera can roll. Don't let anyone get all excited about being in it and then duck out because they aren't feeling like they are the star.

You will also be having to shoot more than one day. PERIOD. Get that through eveybody's head. They will ALL have to be available on numerous dates for shooting and such. Its a long-term commitment. That means not only the actors, but the camera guy and the lighting guy and the set construction guys and make-up guy and script prompter guy and production assistant guy... you know EVERYBODY. Its really a pisser when everybody shows up except for the camera guy and nobody can get a hold of him because he's sleeping off a bender.
In short: NO, its' not too much to ask people to act professionally even if they are volunteers. But you have to stress that from the very first minute... BEFORE they commit. They have to know what's expected of them.

Blah blah blah. I sure can pontificate, can't I?

-Gordon
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