We learned Rhino 3D, got a crash course in molding and casting, we built a cheap CNC from a kit, took some Stan Winston online courses, and learned when 3D printing is cost effective and when it’s not. YouTube videos from Adam Savage’s shop were constantly playing. "Boscelot Frontiersman" - designed and fabricated by Joseph Han Individual members were often given ownership of certain elements and they would end up volunteering extra time to make their element the best it could be. It’s naturally more fun to build spaceships, but there is a powerful sense of comradery that forms when a group of people are gathered together for a singular objective. There was also a lot of above and beyond personal investment put into the production design. And most important of all, they were willing to put in hundreds of extra hours to figure out how to do it. They were willing to join this scrappy thrill ride for the experience and the opportunity to create something unusual. Looking at a custom bike frame can give you a sense of someone’s ability to make a spaceship. But everyone was ambitious and proved their ability in unconventional ways. We hired a bike builder, a remodeling carpenter, a recent industrial design grad, a motorcycle mechanic, a bunch of cosplayers, a camera assistant who wanted to learn mold making and passionate friends with no relevant resume. The majority of our production design crew had never made a feature film before. The trade off: a lot more work and unpaid overtime and weekends. We had also rented a warehouse for a month to make a bunch of Wes Anderson inspired web commercials for Microsoft - again just hiring our friends - because it was more fun, gave us complete creative control, and was the only way to do it in the budget space. Our pitch to investors was that we would make the feature with the same techniques. The short film that we used to get Prospect funded had a production design budget of $9k (and a lot of donated labor). The techniques we used to set up the Prospect shop were learned over years of doing short films and commercials at much smaller budgets. We rented a retired shipbuilding warehouse sandwiched behind a weed shop and an Episcopal bookstore on a one year lease and immediately started scanning craigslist for used tools. The way we pulled it off was by setting up our own production design shop. That’s not small in the realm of indie film, but that’s a minuscule amount to any Hollywood line producer trying to build a Star-Wars-esque world. Prospect had a production design budget of $840k. Half the creativity in indie production design is how you spend your money. By the time we actually went into pre-production the script was already heavily vetted to be realistic to the resources, we were asking for, helping us avoid painful creative cuts. Budgets were made early on and constantly revised. Individual sets, locations, costumes, and props were debated before their scenes were even written, so we didn’t get attached to ideas we couldn’t afford. We were lucky to have our core production design team involved throughout the entire writing process. While writing, we tried to be aware of the production implications of everything - the difference between someone getting shot in the head versus getting shot in the arm, for example. In the indie space, you need to be conscientious of scope from the very beginning. This is by no means a template for how to do production design for any movie, but rather a breakdown of our unconventional approach, from which you might find a few ideas you can steal for your project. The challenge for us was how to achieve this feeling on an indie budget. They were tactile, rendered in actual physical objects - the props, costumes, and sets. Blade Runner, Alien, and the original Star Wars movies featured deeply rendered worlds that felt alive, sparked the imagination, and left you wondering what else exists in back alleys and corners. Their film Prospect hits theaters everywhere this Friday, tickets can be found at Prospect was conceived with the desire to create an original sci-fi universe with a level of immersion that defined the classic sci-fi films we grew up on. A behind the scenes look at one of this year's most expertly designed films.Įditors note: The following is a guide put together by director Zeek Earl and Production Designer Matt Acosta.
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