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LOOKOUTS Film based on Penny Arcade's Comic
RedGate
San Francisco, CARegistered User new member
San Francisco, CARegistered User new member
**This post has been pre-approved by the moderators**
Fellow LOOKOUTS FANS, the short film is live and online! Which is basically saying the same thing, but whatever. It EXISTS! Check out the film’s site at: www.lookoutsshortfilm.com or watch the movie below.
Introductions are always so awkward in these posts but let me try. Kristin (producer, casting director) and I (David, director and cinematographer) have been waiting two years, since we started this project, to share this short film with you guys and now we finally can! If you saw it at PAX West last weekend, awesome. If you came to the panel or caught it on Twitch, awesome-er. If you have no idea what I’m talking about, awesome-EST! Because that means you get to watch it for the first time, and I truly hope that you do. The film was created for you, the fans, because we’re one of you. And we love the Lookouts!
We got a great conversation going at the PAX panel that I’d love to revive here in the forum. Kristin and I are gonna keep an eye on this post so if you have any questions about the making of the short film or about filmmaking in general, please ask. We put together a “making-of” book that you can view on the film’s website at: www.lookoutsshortfilm.com/the-book/ , but obviously that can’t answer every question. High fives all around for being such an incredible fanbase, and our deepest thanks for all the kind words and support so many of you have already shared.
If you like the film, please help us get the word out. Word of mouth, social media, etc. This is a completely not-for-profit project, we just want it to get seen. I’ve heard a lot of “this should be a feature” comments (which are FANTASTIC to hear) and the best way of moving in that direction is to rally the fanbase around this short!
Thanks guys. We’re looking forward to talking shop!
David Bousquet
This LOOKOUTS™ short film was created by RedGate Films Inc. and is based on Penny Arcade, Inc.'s "Lookouts™" © 2009, which was written and illustrated by Jerry Holkins and Mike Krahulik. This film was produced with the express written consent of and with a limited license from Penny Arcade Inc.
Fellow LOOKOUTS FANS, the short film is live and online! Which is basically saying the same thing, but whatever. It EXISTS! Check out the film’s site at: www.lookoutsshortfilm.com or watch the movie below.
Introductions are always so awkward in these posts but let me try. Kristin (producer, casting director) and I (David, director and cinematographer) have been waiting two years, since we started this project, to share this short film with you guys and now we finally can! If you saw it at PAX West last weekend, awesome. If you came to the panel or caught it on Twitch, awesome-er. If you have no idea what I’m talking about, awesome-EST! Because that means you get to watch it for the first time, and I truly hope that you do. The film was created for you, the fans, because we’re one of you. And we love the Lookouts!
We got a great conversation going at the PAX panel that I’d love to revive here in the forum. Kristin and I are gonna keep an eye on this post so if you have any questions about the making of the short film or about filmmaking in general, please ask. We put together a “making-of” book that you can view on the film’s website at: www.lookoutsshortfilm.com/the-book/ , but obviously that can’t answer every question. High fives all around for being such an incredible fanbase, and our deepest thanks for all the kind words and support so many of you have already shared.
If you like the film, please help us get the word out. Word of mouth, social media, etc. This is a completely not-for-profit project, we just want it to get seen. I’ve heard a lot of “this should be a feature” comments (which are FANTASTIC to hear) and the best way of moving in that direction is to rally the fanbase around this short!
Thanks guys. We’re looking forward to talking shop!
David Bousquet
This LOOKOUTS™ short film was created by RedGate Films Inc. and is based on Penny Arcade, Inc.'s "Lookouts™" © 2009, which was written and illustrated by Jerry Holkins and Mike Krahulik. This film was produced with the express written consent of and with a limited license from Penny Arcade Inc.
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Posts
Surely it was timed.... Khoo taught them well.
My only complaints are
edit: realized that should all be in a spoiler in case someone skims before watching.
That was outstanding, but now I want a Lookouts short film festival. The format suits the shit out of it.
Really great job.
Re: Why I want a festival. Great example right up there
I don't even recognize Obi's interpretation Lookouts, but I'd line up to see it.
No god dammit! Why did it end??
but not really I need some to buy food and heat for this winter
I mean I am mainly just going off the comic we got from PA a while back. In it, they face a Basilisk and while its dangerous and they fail, their leader protects them and shows them how its done. The kids make it out, get a badge, and have learned/grown as a result. Of course not all Lookout expeditions would go that well, so it makes sense that this darker look isn't necessarily out of place. But from both The Tithe and the Lookout comics we've gotten on this site, the kids have always made it through the danger because they harnessed their inner strength combined with being taught and led by the experienced adults who have made it through what the kids are going through.
I could be way off and missing some source material that would change my mind, but that's been my view of the Lookout/Eyrewood stuff I've been exposed to so far.
Less Pan 2015, more survivorman (if that makes sense). Also, I felt the woods used were too sunny and open vs. the cavernous forests displayed in the comic. It's also about the wonder of the forests, which you started to pull on with the glowing flower and the teaching, but that may just be for trailer purposes.
That said, excellent start!
No I think it's a fair take, I just think more of the ruthless brutality of the setting, the ominous oversight of 'the Elders', the horrors that have normalized, and perhaps made necessary, these child soldiers, and the plight of the parents who have to give them up, and even help groom them for this task.
Everything you describe is in there, but in my mind these moments are the high points of an otherwise unforgiving existence. It's a fertile setting, for many stories of all tones; that's why I'd love to see a dozen short films from different perspectives rather than a feature film from one.
(Plus you can get away with being vague about lore in short film, where a feature would force you to establish a more rigid canon)
It was wonderful.
Edit: I get the complaints the forest is too bright, but I always imagined their forest has a lot of sun, that's why the trees are there. Dead underbrush and choking vines with dead wildlife is what they're there to prevent from occurring, and I took the basilisk to be the first lesson in things that shouldn't exist within that forest.
Capturing that idea of "hostile yet appealing" is something that required a fair deal of finesse and a flexible interpretation, and that they managed to make something even watchable is impressive. That they were able to make something look legitimately great, and with a limited budget, is nothing short of amazing.
The story was fine, the acting was solid, but it's the realization of the tone and feel of that world that makes me want to devour more of what these folks are selling.
@ArbitraryDescriptor - Honestly it was partially planned and partially coincidence. Had everything gone as planned, this film would have been finished almost a year ago. As it happens, it was mostly finished by last February when we had our private premiere, but we had to sit on the film and keep it from the public because we got the opportunity to pursue film festivals. (Festivals don’t generally want your film to be available online before they get a chance to premiere it.) That said, sitting on the film was driving us crazy and we didn’t want to release late in the holiday season at the end of the year, so we reached out to PA and asked about PAX. As it happens, they already had Thornwatch ready to announce so it was a win win. Have you played the Thornwatch game? Kristin and I got in to play a full scenario at PAX. We had a great time with it! They’ve got a free download and print version, which is a really cool idea.
@Shadowfire - All things must end, my friend. Bums me out too.
@Trace - Keep your money, food is important. Just share the film!
@ObiFett - I can feel your love of the Eyrewood universe, fantastic! I’m right there with you rooting them on, but admittedly, that’s because i’m a bit of an optimist. We showed you the final impact in the film, not to say that Pehn dies, but rather to make you decide if you care one way or another. I feel like you care, and that’s rad because you get it. Lookouts isn’t a Saturday morning cartoon but it’s also not The Gray. It has to exist in between those ends of the spectrum. It’s always tricky walking that fine line of depicting “overwhelming odds” without crossing over into despair so we left the film open for your interpretation. Would the next shot be of Pehn rising up from the impaled Basilisk, bloodied but alive? Or would the next shot be of the Basilisk, shaking off the impact and flying away with the remains of Pehn’s neckerchief in its beak? Live or die, how full is your glass? (I like to think he lived, but again, I’m an optimist.)
@ElJeffe - You nailed it. That tone is hard as hell to manufacture and the fact that you noticed is a really flattering observation. Nature doesn’t care about your production schedule and it doesn’t cooperate because it’s not a movie buff. Nature is just nature and if the sun wants to come out even though the forecast calls for fog, that sun is coming out. We fought upstream against the elements a lot during principal photography, but I gotta thank mother nature for not slamming us with rain or blowing over our diffusion or the other ten million ways nature can screw with your production. We got treated fairly well, actually, and I’m grateful. But it also took a lot of work and some cleaver framing to get that background to play nice. When it comes to shooting exteriors on location in truly wild environments, you gotta play the cards you’re dealt.
Apologies to anyone I didn’t respond to. You guys have a great conversation going and we're so grateful for all the kind words!
David
edit: I guess the question was kind of answered already. When did this start filming by the way?
edit2: Also my parents are going to love this. I can't wait to share it with them.
To answer your question, yes-sorta. We knew the creature would have to appear more ferocious in a live-action film than the design in the comic, but we also wanted to follow PA’s lead and create a rooster-dragon rather than the snake-like Basilisk from Harry Potter. I think snakes are fairly elegant creatures in their appearance and their physical movements. On the flip side, there’s nothing elegant about a rooster. They move twitchy and aggressively and almost everything about them is awkward and disproportionate. Given the two options, I’d rather be swallowed whole by a servant-dragon than be pecked to pieces by a giant bird-monster. It think the clumsy-ness of the Basilisk’s movements actually adds to the horror. Add on the fact that it may choose to turn you into stone rather than eat you, and the whole ordeal sounds like it’s gonna end messy. Here's another image of the creature build below prior to final paint. You can see the whole profile of what was constructed.
Sir Penguin - Sorry we missed you out there. We ran a fairly small crew and tried to fly under the radar most of the time. Except for the village scene. Had a hell of a time trying to get locals to come out for that, so we could have really used you.
I want one.
I call dibs, that means you have to give it to me.