Payne & Redemption – An Independent Film Inspired By The Works Of Sam Lake

Archive for the ‘News’ Category

I’m going to be starting a new podcast with Ben Dean, from visualfizzle.com, within the next couple months (but you know how we are at keeping time…), which we will be airing on the Payne & Redemption and Visual Fizzle website every fortnight or so.

We will be talking candidly about the film world, including advances in cinematic technology, the latest short films that grab our attention, our own projects and project-related experiences, and much, much more.

So, if that type of thing grabs you where it feels good, then stay tooned!

… As well as frosty, of course.

Fergle “Larry David” Gibson,
Writer, Director & Executive Producer.

For every plan, you must have at least one contingency plan. In my case, I have more than I can count on both hands. ONE of my many plans for Payne & Redemption, is to turn it into a narrative music video, because, like I said before, it’ll be the cheapest, easiest, and quickest way to release the project in a completed state, as it’ll bypass the need for most of the expenses required to finish the production as a narrative movie. But let me be a little more specific on that…

It’ll only “bypass the need for most of the expenses required to finish the production as a narrative movie” if I was still striving to complete the film as I’d originally envisaged.

If, however, I were to create a new and different story around select portions of the footage we’ve already shot, I could still utilize parts (if not most) of the original footage, yet take the film in any direction I wanted, and still end up with a narrative movie, but a narrative movie that’d cost about the same as turning it into a music video, which, for the most part, is just time.

So, in no particular order of preference, the two plans I’m making public are as follows…

1) Turn P&R into a music video.

2) Turn P&R into a different narrative movie than planned, utilizing select cuts of the original footage.

In terms of workload required for both of the ideas, there is very little difference between the two. Both require the original tapes to be transferred so that the footage from ’06 can be used in the end result, and both require additional footage to be shot. The only difference is, the music video requires a band and band footage, and the narrative movie requires more actors and scenes. So as you can see, it’s very much of a muchness. One just requires a different approach to the other.

My priority is to finish Payne & Redemption in any way that does the production justice, and I am working on both ideas at the same time, fleshing them out at every spare opportunity I get. I think we all know which one we’d prefer, but which will come to fruition first, and will it be the most feasible?

Fergle “Larry David” Gibson,
Writer, Director & Executive Producer.

Merry Christmas / Happy Holidays to all!

Apologies for the lack of posts as of late – It’s been very hectic this past month. Things *will* pick up again very soon, though – I can assure you.

Anyway, I hope you all enjoy the festive season, share in the Christmas spirit, and have a fantastic week!

I now have to get on with some last minute vacuum cleaning, or else I’ll probably be told to join the dogs for dinner.

Be safe, have fun, and stay frosty.

All the best, guys!

Fergle “Larry David” Gibson,
Writer, Director & Executive Producer.

OK, so it’s only been 134 days since I last posted here…

If you’ve been following the Payne & Redemption fanpage on Facebook, you’ll know I’ve just started a fundraising pitch at indiegogo.com, in an attempt to raise enough funds to transfer the tapes we originally shot on in ’06, to hard-drive. This is so that I can personally access the film’s RAW HD footage (which I have not yet been able to do) and edit together a concept music video for pitching to various record companies… One, of which, is already mildly interested with the idea.

I’ve officially stopped accepting funds through our “Donate” page, but everyone who has already donated will still, of course, receive their righfully earned titles in the credits. To anyone else who wants to donate to P&R and help clear the first, major hurdle, please go here. Also, don’t forget to tell ABSOLUTELY EVERYONE YOU KNOW about this campaign – The more people hear about it, the more chance it has of being a success.

Let’s get these tapes transferred, guys. We need to move on, move forward, and get Payne & Redemption RELEASED!

Only YOU will make that possible.

Fergle “Larry David” Gibson,
Writer, Director & Executive Producer.

… Just not in the way you may be expecting.

Alright, here’s the deal:

I plan to use the footage we shot for Payne & Redemption in 2006 and turn it into a narrative music video, intercut with band footage shot either by myself, or another DP, in keeping with the film’s theme. My reason? It’ll be the cheapest, easiest, and quickest way to release the project in a completed state, as it’ll bypass the need for most of the expenses required to finish the production as a narrative movie.

What’s a “narrative music video”?

Basically just as it says. A narrative music video is a music video that follows a story, with the odd snippet of live-action dialogue here and there. The only dialogue I will be using in the music video is a line or two from Nigel’s voice-over, which I will be re-recording for the purpose of the music video, and a few lines from John’s on-set dialogue. In terms of the length of this narrative music video, I will be aiming for a runtime of 10+ minutes. Opening and rear title crawl credits will remain, so everyone who has donated and continues to donate to the production will still have their name included, as promised, in the credits.

So why this decision?

Back in 2006, on the advice and recommendation of various professionals, we allotted four nights in which to shoot the entire short. In retrospect, this was an extremely bad decision, as it gave us little time to think, let alone actually film anything. But back then, we were young, inexperienced, and extremely ignorant, so we listened and learned the hard way. To cut down the already-limited-time even more, there were various technical problems, such as the camera not working for a good part of the first night, which ate up around three-to-five hours of very precious could-be filming time. And if that wasn’t enough, the genny ran out of fuel mid-shoot, as the amount of fuel needed for the four nights had been underestimated. Without a generator, we had no power for the lighting, and without any lighting, we couldn’t film a damn thing. Because extra fuel hadn’t been budgeted for, the money for the additional fuel had to be pulled out of thin air at a moment’s notice. This not only cost even more time, but a shed load of cash that no one had to spare. To top that off, at some point during the shoot, the audio failed to record for a good thirty minutes or more. Unfortunately, this was only discovered during post-production, as we didn’t have enough time to view the rushes at the end of each day. These factors meant that in order for the film to be an acceptable standard of quality for release, certain parts of it would need to be re-filmed, have pick-ups shot, and large amounts of dialogue dubbed, but it wasn’t going to be that easy.

The location we used was a derelict warehouse, in the middle of nowhere, which, due to its rather large size and the fact that we were shooting in the dead of the night, needed a ridiculous amount of lighting. Unfortunately, after going WAY over budget and running out of cash, I had to face the very real possibility that it was going to be highly unlikely for us to go back to the original location, re-light it, and rent the original camera, for what would have been a large portion of the additional work that needed to be done to complete the film. Because of this, I had to come up with a contingency plan, but a PRACTICAL contingency plan that could utilize what we already had, without adding much else and making a rod for my own back.

Now, although we started a donations programme, and are extremely grateful for the love and support you guys have shown us, we’re not going to reach that target any time soon. Let’s face it, Payne & Redemption isn’t the hugely popular project it once was, with its eighty-four-plus-million audience! Some people think it’s dead, or not going anywhere, and then you’ve got that other group of people whose enthusiasm for a similar main character died after watching a film that was supposedly based on a really AWESOME character written by Sam Lake. So this is why it’s important for us to do what we can do, with the money we have and continue to be donated, and deliver a production-piece worthy of everything that will have lead up to its release.

And that, my friends, is why I want to take the footage we already have and turn it into a narrative music video. The only question now is, what artist(s) do I choose, and how do I get them on board? I know who I WANT, but whether or not I’m going to be able to GET them, is another thing entirely.

So what’s happening with the actual film?

I’m going to start from a clean slate with Payne & Redemption. That means starting with a new script, and working my way up from there. I’ve no idea when this will be done, as I’ve only just begun writing the treatment, but I can tell you that this time, I will be working within the confines of my abilities, not relying on anyone else but myself, and taking full advantage of what I already have available to me. The production will be a next-to-no-budget, but professionally made short film, incorporating many of the aspects that everyone loves about Film Noir, as well as tributes and nods to films, characters and video-games that have influenced and inspired me over the years. I have also decided upon the lead character’s name, but I’m not dropping the ball on that just yet. Cast & crew will be confirmed at a MUCH later date.

In the meantime, keep your eyes peeled for more info on the narrative music video.

Stay frosty,

Fergle “Larry David” Gibson,
Writer, Director & Executive Producer.