Roamer - trailer and status update

A distant future where mercenaries protect the borders of civilization from a ravaged, infected outside world: 072 is a tired but tough mercenary who only yearns to be home. When he follows a 'roamer' to his hide out he discovers something that will change his world and the very orders he follows.

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The film is nearly complete (should be ready by Spring '11). I still have to finish the VFX work (3D modeling is a new venture) but so far I am very happy with the film. Enjoy and stay tuned...

ROAMER - teaser poster + update

Here is the teaser poster for the sci-fi short film "Roamer". I will be releasing another poster along with the first trailer very soon. The post process has been relatively smooth and the film is shaping up to be a very strong piece. Thanks again to everyone involved. Enjoy and stay tuned as there are more exciting things to come.

Roamer - progress update 1

I've been getting to work on the sci fi short Roamer since getting some time to focus on my personal projects once again. So far, I am very close to a locked cut. There are a few pickup shots needed to get here and there, and some serious VFX testing to get under way. We already started some ADR and foley work. So far so good; I am very pleased with what we have in our hands and I am grateful to all of those who made Roamer a reality. I will be grabbing some still frames for you to check out soon.

For now, check out some pre-viz work I recently re-encountered. We used these before production began and I figured I'd share them:

This is 072 (Zachary Gossett). A soldier living in his element, hunting and tracking; yearning for the day when he can return home.

This is Oz (Chuck Phelps). An infected, 'roaming' person with secrets to protect and little time remaining.

This is a test of a perspective from our Drone (a hunting machine). There will be more composite and motion graphics work done to the perspective: a militaristic HUD. I can't show you the Drone itself yet, but it was built in 3D space by Mark Jeschke at OogaMedia and it is very menacing.

Here are some storyboards as given life by Aaron Jasper (illustrator and writer). What's funny is that these are almost identical to the shots I used in editing (without even referencing my boards) even though we shot two cameras and got tons of coverage. All the shots were usable and great, but I guess internally I know and feel what I need to see next and it doesn't change.

There's plenty more to come so stay tuned...

Roamer - halfway through shooting

 Vincent Cortez working with Chuck Phelps and Zachary Gossett

I am happy to say that we finished about 60% of the filming for the project.

We ended up focusing on shooting all of the INT. scenes our first weekend of production. The shoot went well, though I was a little over zealous with the scheduling. So we will finish off the rest of the film in two coming shoot days.

I am working with a really solid team of people and I want to make sure that we give everything it's due time. From our cast to our sound team, through FX and Camera/Lighting, everyone brought so much creativity and energy to the project. I thank them for their commitment and time.

Here is some behind the scenes imagery from the film. Thanks to Jesse Dana (Director of Photography), Anthony Lucero (2nd Camera Op) and Phil Velasquez (Special FX Designer and Artist) for taking the photos.

Zachary Gossett is Soldier 072. 

Chuck Phelps is Oz (with FX Makeup by Phil Velasquez).

Stay tuned as there will be plenty to come.

Sci Fi Short: Roamer

 Zachary Gossett and Chuck Phelps star in Roamer, a futuristic tale about survival and humanity.

Some time has passed since I took the full helm of a film project (the Hush was shot in the summer of '08) and while I was a co-Director on one film, a producer/DP on another and a writer/producer/2nd Unit Director on one more film, it feels good to be back in the driver's seat.

We've been hard at work putting this film together. I am working with some very talented and familiar people. We've spent loads of time crafting and designing the world and are very close to shooting. Stay tuned as there is much more to come!

Location Scouting for a new Sci Fi short

I spent a large portion of the day with Zachary (the 'Hush') Gossett doing some location scouting for a short we are working on. We were in my 'backyard' doing some exploration for a story about a futuristic soldier who patrols the borders of an infected shantytown.

If everything goes well, we'll be in for quite the adventurous shoot, braving the elements an tackling a very interesting story. Stay tuned...