Photo by Chris Eller Photography

On New Year’s Day, Russell, Cindy, Chris, Meagan, Bryan and I sat down to watch the rough cut of The Babbling Banshee. Not all of the re-shoots were incorporated back into the rough cut yet and the film still lacks audio/Foley, color correction, and animation; however, it was gratifying to see everything put together. Progress!

In the new year, we push forward with post-production on Banshee. We have set a very ambitious completion date but, as almost everyone is working on this film part-time, we’ve had to admit to ourselves that our projected end date is flexible. Animation will probably be the most time-consuming aspect of post-production. Fortunately, Russell will be able to work more or less full-time on animation. Our editor, Ben, has a number of tweaks on the rough cut to work on before beginning work on color correction. As aforementioned, Nick has already done the majority of the ADR and will be doing some more in the next few weeks. Nick will also be composing the score for Banshee once Ben is done tweaking the rough cut.

Chris will be working on a trailer in the near future and we hope Russell will somehow find some time to do some posters and lobby cards. Once these promo items are ready, we will finally go live with a Banshee Facebook fan page. Fear not, we will post details when we have new content ready for your perusal. Keep an eye on the Starrynight Productions’ Facebook fan page and our Twitter account for future announcements.

Happy New Year!

Post from: Babbling Banshee Blog. Content copyright 2008 Starrynight Productions, Inc.

A Banshee’s First Year

• Locations (all Southern Indiana): town of Gosport, bridge on private property near Johnstown, Rose Hill Cemetery, and Jug Rock in Shoals.
• Some local color happened in front of a bar in the streets of Gosport after filming was done. Otherwise, the residents and town police were very supportive. Thank you, Gosport!
• Roy is acrophobic and wasn’t thrilled about crossing a high metal bridge with open slats on the foot path. However, because it was too dark to really see and the crew put down some ply board, he didn’t have to much trouble with that scene. I did hear that Roy couldn’t move well in his leprechaun costume and that he was asked to jump off of a fallen tree over and over. Poor guy!
• I heard that the Banshee was awesome and that Shani completely nailed it, even if she was virtually blind during most of her scenes (I’m blind without my glasses too, my sympathies, Shani!).
• Austin got stuck in the mud when leaving the bridge for the next location, which got Russell stuck. And then Chris nearly got mud in his face when he pulled up to render assistance.
• Russell and Chris procured top soil for the interns to recreate a simulate a freshly-dug grave at Rose Hill Cemetery.
• Russell was very happy with the work done but was understandably exhausted after being awake for over thirty hours straight (as was probably the rest of the hard working men and women of Banshee).

That’s all I’ve got. Any more rumors? Confirmed stories?

Post from: Babbling Banshee Blog. Content copyright 2008 Starrynight Productions, Inc.

Things Overheard About Yesterday’s Filming

"...when one side of the house was thatched, the horsemen would go and seek more feathers and, when they returned, not a feather was on the roof."

Russell created two models for Banshee, the house with the unthatched roof and the trio of faery wells, both from the Cormack MacArt tale. This entire sequence will eventually be animated and the models were created for reference. They’re quite detailed for something that won’t even appear in the final cut of the film but, then again, Mr. McGee doesn’t do things by halves. In fact, the faery wells really work. The three heads are hollow, the two above funnel water into the one located centrally below. He actually tested the water flow before firing it in the oven. The model could be placed in a base and rigged as a fountain.

Russell wondered aloud where the models would end up once filming was completed. I looked around our tiny apartment- already over-stuffed with props, costumes and hundreds of DVDs- and mused that my philodrendons had finally rooted and needed to be put in dirt soon. I turned to Russell.

“Wouldn’t the faery wells make awesome plant pots?”

Blink. Stare.

Clearly, he was not impressed.

I tweeted the picture of the faery wells @starrynightprod.

Post from: Babbling Banshee Blog. Content copyright 2008 Starrynight Productions, Inc.

How to Repurpose Your Models, or, Green Screen and Philodendrons in the Faery Wells

The tape survived security scans and Russell seemed happy with the footage.

Many thanks to Ryan for doing a little filming for us while he was vacationing in Dublin!

Post from: Babbling Banshee Blog. Content copyright 2008 Starrynight Productions, Inc.

An American in Dublin

I’d like to welcome bloggers Jessie Dyer, Costumes, and Jason Harris, Cinematography, who will hopefully some find time to dazzle us all with their witty insights on the production very soon.

The Case of the Missing Cast List

Erm, yes, I’m aware that an official Banshee film page has yet to appear on the Starrynight website. I have about three-quarters of cast/crew info I need. When the site is updated, you can be sure that it will be announced here.

Castle Aaaaaagh…

Loveland Castle, Ohio. Note the lack of snow. Photo by Jenny McGee.

I had to miss out on filming last week and I will miss out this weekend too due to a long-standing engagement (seeing Spring Awakening in Columbus) but I hope everyone has a good time on location! The castle (and its history) is very cool. And you’ll have it all to yourselves.

The Cormack MacArt tale is probably my favorite of the bunch. I’m looking forward to seeing how Russell integrates animation with the live action filmed at the castle.

Post from: Babbling Banshee Blog. Content copyright 2008 Starrynight Productions, Inc.

Miscellany