The Difficulty Of Developing A Series.
October 11th, 2016
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During the last two months since my last post, Below The Clouds has taken a long time to develop. I was rather idealistic that, by this point in time, the first chapter of Below The Clouds would be available for viewing on my channel. Silly me...I should have realized that a project of this magnitude would take FAR more time...& that sometimes you need to prepare for the worst case scenarios.
The other day, my lead actor informed me that he would not be able to stay onboard the project. I am by no means mad or upset. I totally understand being overcommitted & truly appreciated his honesty. He will be doing some outstanding things this year & I am pumped to see how it all unfolds. The stressful part now is finding a person who can be committed for the ten chapters that make up the first season. This is definitely an experience where I have to place my trust in God as Walker & I hone in on a voice actor who can capture the character of Forysta. This means that we are at somewhat of an impasse until we find someone who can play the part.
That is not to say that no progress has been made. Talented Artist Walker Register (one of my best friends) continues to work on concept art as he prepares to tackle the obstacle of making slides. I cannot express how grateful I am that he is still assisting me on this audiovisual series even though we are 4,838 miles apart. Cole Burris, another one of my closest friends & the composer for the series, has sent in a crazy number of songs that will be utilized throughout the first season. Honestly, every time I play one of his songs, I am transported away from this world & feel as though I am living in the world of my creation.
This long haul to make Below The Clouds reminds me of the insanity during production of my first short film “Poets.”. I was excited at the prospect of having my film on my channel to show to the masses. I thought of how amazing & proud Future Zach would feel when he looked back on the project. He would simply smile & say,”I did it.” A satisfying statement that carries much more meaning when one has created something to be proud of. The beginning of the production ran smoothly with all the audio, cinematography, & acting capturing what I wanted from the script. Unfortunately, we hit a major roadblock. All the footage & audio had been completely wiped from our SD cards somehow. This meant that the producer was forced to schedule reshoots around a time of the year where tests & quizzes were abounding. If this was a race, it seemed that we were slowing down as the finish line was in sight. But the production crew & actors all pulled together & we were able to complete the film while doubling the production & post-production process. Audio was still missing, so I had to use some of the camera audio (NEVER a great option). Some shots were in the wrong folders, which meant I had to scour through countless folders to find the right shots. Editing took many hours at school to complete. But then, somehow, I finished the film & it was something I could still be proud of.
The point of the story is that stuff happens but you have to make the best of the situation & still put in your best effort. Through the endless hours, my crew & I had done what we set out to do. Make a good film. In that same regard, I set out to create an interesting, well-made fantasy series. It seems that, in order to accomplish that, this process will just take a bit more...time.