San Diego Comicon 2012

Photo 1: It's the biggest and the best, and this year, San Diego Comicon one again lived up to it's reputation as the largest and most exciting comic convention in the world. 

Photo 2: And I came fully prepared! Red 5 and I drove a truck full of merchandise, promos, posters, props, supplies, and a metric ton of Star Wars t-shirts so we could spread the word about all of the shows we did this year, and promote my new company, Floppets!

Photo 3: Floppets had lots of new items to promote, but we were also excited to bring one of our original products to the con for the first time this year. The Guild Floppets are a fan favorite, and we could barely keep full sets in stock once all the Guildies found us!

Photo 4: Our big announcement this con was the premier of Star Trek Floppets! They are so new, even the first time my partner Rich saw them was at the booth! We made these exclusively for Roddenberry Entertainment, so we were honored to be able to promote them at the Roddenberry booth, which has been a staple of Comicon for years. 

Photo 5: I know there is a ton of Trek merchandise for you to chose from, so I thought I would sweeten the deal with a show special! I designed this blue command symbol as a premium only available at the conventions, and only as a bonus if you buy a full set of the standard nine designs. We sold a ton on Preview Night, which was a good sign of what was to come for the weekend ahead.

Photo 6: Thursday morning started early for me, but not as early as it did for Rod Roddenberry! He was up, at the beach, and prepping to dive by 5:30! Luckily, I got to meet up with him around 7:30. I did some press for our film, White Room: 02B3, which premiered later that evening, then supervised a small beach cleanup in conjunction with the Roddenberry Art Project I am doing. Rod's dive team is sponsoring a contest called Trashy Diver, which promotes waterway cleanups and awards prizes to participants. I gather up all the trash, and am turning it into a sculpture to create awareness for the damage we do to our water sources. thank you to everyone that came to help out on the beach!

Photo 7: After the cleanup, I went with the Roddenberry Dive Team to the Birch Aquarium, where Rod was the guest diver in kelp tank. It was quite the sight to see, and Rod's underwater speech about how the ocean was as alien to us as outer space was so moving it teared me up! 

Photo 8: I couldn't stay for the whole event, as Comicon had already opened and I needed to get back there, but I did manage to sneak in a private behind-the-scenes tour of the aquarium, including the usually off limits seahorse nursery! Spending a few moments with those adorable baby creatures only fortified my passion for using my art to inspire people to help save the seas. 

Photo 9: I made it back onto the floor just in time for my first signing with the stars of my film, White Room: 02B3. It was shot in 360 degrees, and at the Roddenberry panel, we officially announced that not only will you be able to watch the film at a dome theater near you, but also on your iphone or ipad, where you can move the screen around to view anywhere in the room. That way you can watch Milynn Sarley as she paces the room, ready to strike at any moment! (photo courtesy of Beau Ryan)

Photo 10: After a full day of comicon, I headed to the Birch Theater to watch the director's cut of WR:02B3, and Rod's documentary about his father, Trek Nation. It was awesome to see both films on the big screen, and afterwards writer Tory Mell, actors Milynn, Tony Janning, and myself Joined Rod on stage for a Q&A.

 Photo 11: Friday started out with a live version of Felicia Day's Flog, filmed on the YouTube stage. I was thrilled that Felicia asked me to appear with her in the segment, and even more so with the turnout! We came up with the crazy idea of making masks so that Felicia can move about Comicon more freely, as it is hard for her to get from place to place without being bombarded with fans. By all means, that's a good thing, but because her schedule is so tight, she ends up feeling bad that she has to deny people autographs and photos in order to not be late to appearances. I thought it might be easier for her if she was in Comiconito!

 Photo 11: Felicia and I met up with the rest of the Guild cast for a signing at the Roddenberry booth. It was only an hour, as the whole gang had a packed schedule, but it was the ONLY signing on the convention floor for the whole weekend, so we had a huge turnout. It was awesome seeing celebrities from other huge shows wait in line to say hi, and express their love for THE GUILD and how much of an inspiration it was to them.

 Photo 12: It was also great to see so many custom made Avatar weapons! I always love seeing Codex with her staff, but I am constantly blown away by all of the other characters that show up, like this Tink. The detail and accuracy of her costume and bow prove how much she loves the show. Great job!

Photo 13: Friday night ended with the Roddenberry/Geek Nation party. It was a blast. So many Sci-Fi faces. Of course, Claire Kramer's face stands out in any crowd! You loved her on Buffy, now follow her as she leads Geek Nation on a never dull journey through all things geek. A stellar example would be her podcast, 5x5, which I guest starred on last week! She got me to tell stories I have never told a soul before...

 Photo 14: You know a Star trek party is a success when face huggers start impregnating assimilated federation officers! This is what I love the most about Comicon. It has opened up to so many genres, it literally is it's OWN genre! It has become a melting pot of everything that everybody loves, and it is the one place you can go where you are not judged for your specific allegiance. Star Wars and Star Trek fans share equal admiration for each other's universes, DC and Marvel diehards help each other in line for panels, Twilight and True Blood fans camp together all night to share the best seats in the house. It's its own universe, where everything we think is cool, is actually cool!

Photo 15: Saturday was very surreal for me. When I was 10 years old, fighting to stay awake late enough to watch re-runs of Star Trek, I never imagined I would be a guest at the world's largest comic convention, hanging out in the back of the official Roddenberry booth, applying Vulcan ears to a beautiful unicorn while being interviewed by a sci-fi magazine, while Brent Spiner, star of Star Trek: Next Generation, checks in on me to see if I'm ready to sit in with him for a signing promoting a new Star Trek product I created. It was a little chaotic, but I wouldn't have it any other way. I dream of the day when every moment of my life could be as magical as that opening to the biggest day of Comicon.

Photo 16: Brent and I have crossed paths many times, including the approval sessions for this Legends in 3 Dimensions bust I sculpted years ago. Most recently, I designed Brent's web-series, Fresh Hell, and we thought it would be a good idea to do a joint push for the show, and my new Star Trek Floppets.

Photo 17: If you haven't seen the show, definitely check it out. It's hilarious, and the cast is amazing. That's the lovely Kat Steel sitting next to me. She co-stars as Dakota, Brent's neighbor who helps him on his journey to restore his Hollywood career. Brent was kind enough to join me for free signatures to anyone who bought Trek Floppets, and if you bought a full set, he gave away Fresh Hell t-shirts that exclaimed, "At least I'm not Brent Spiner!". Trek fans know it's rare to access the main cast for free, so we had a massive crowd. I can't thank Brent enough for helping me spread the word on Floppets.

Photo 18: Brent wasn't the only Next Gen alum to get Floppetized! Luvar Burton dropped by to say hi and the fans went crazy. After I talked to him for a few minutes, the girl who was next in line burst into tears and said, "that was the most amazing thing to ever happen in my life!" It's amazing how much these guys have affected us all. Even after all these years, Star Trek still inspires.

Photo 19: After a while, we had a few members of White Room: 02B3 join in to sign some posters to promote the film. I've had a crush on Tamlyn Tomita since I saw Karate Kid II, and her kindness and beauty never let that die. We first met on the pilot of Babylon 5, and although we have been friends ever since, WR:02B3 was the first project I ever directed Tamlyn in. It was great to have her at Comicon. Especially for the Glee fans! David Blue also sat in to sign for a while, and gave some awesome interviews about the 360 experience. I'm very proud to have worked with such a stellar cast, and I think you will be blown away when you finally see the new form of entertainment we created!

 Photo 20: Wait...is that...? Yeah, I think it is! I think that's a Figment from Epcot that she's holding...

Photo 21: Saturday was full of signing, panels, interviews, and pitching Floppets, but when the show floor finally closed at 7pm, it seemed like the day had only just begun! All the big parties are on Saturday night, and we hopped from one to the other, ultimately ending up at Zack Levi's private Nerd HQ till around 4:30am!

 Photo 22: It used to be the rule of thumb that Sunday was the quite day. And this was always a good thing, usually having been out till all hours of the night, and often being trapped in a booth or a table, the slower day allowed you to get out and see the floor. But now that the show is so popular, tickets sell out so fast that Sunday is the only day available for many hardcore fans. So this year, Sunday felt as energetic and packed as Friday and Saturday. Luckily, we still had plent of events to share with the crowd. Sandeep Parikh and the gang joined me for a combo Legend of Neil/ Save the Supers signing. We gave away a bunch of the LON DVD cover posters that I illustrated, as well as more WR:02B3 posters!

Photo 23: For the final signing of the weekend, we went out with a bang! Team Unicorn took over the booth to sign posters and give out the last of the TU logo floppets. The crowd was so dissapointed when the ran out, we decided to let them give away a bunch of Pets and Munchin monsters! Michele Boyd started a frenzy by tossing dozens of Floppets into the crowd, and so many people gathered around to get some, the rest of the girls had to join in to keep up with the demand!

 Photo 24: It was perfect wrapping up the con with team Unicorn, especially since these girls got the whole thing started this year! They were some of the first runners in Chris Hardwick's Course of the Force, and they promoted the Star Wars themed event by appearing in full costume as The Night Sisters from the Clone Wars. They got a lot of attention from the press, and it was exciting to see them wielding the weapons i made for them last year.

Photo 25: Actually, many of the costumes I helped make last year got massive attention THIS year! Brian Kameoka's Nien Nunb ended up on StarWars.com's best Star Wars cosplay list, and Kenny Mittleider's Hobbit was featured on the Weta homepage! Honors like rthat were worth the 12 month wait!

Photo 26: When I finally got to walk around for a bit, I ran into a few people who knew who i was! mostly because they studied the "Making Codex's Staff" video I did with Felicia. I had to stop for a picture, because nothing makes me happier than to see everybody's interpretation of the work.

 Photo 27: And the more of them I see, the happier I am! If you cosplayed as Codex and made your own staff, but I didn't run into you at the con, send me a picture! I want to make a coffee table book or something to show all of your great work!

Photo 28: There is so much great cosplay at Comicon, but there is no simpler joy for me than seeing actual StormTroopers cruising around. I may be bias, but there is something about the design that just seems so real. More so than any other character costume, they just never seem out of place in our real world. Even when they join in to help San Diego's finest with crown control!

 Photo 29: I'll admit, though, it was refreshing to finally see some Cylons join the mix. Having only trailed Star Wars by a year in the 70's, it was about time a legion of these sword wielding robots infiltrated the con circuit!

Photo 30: I'm certain there were a million other things that happened over the week that I have neglected to mention, but hopefully you get the idea of what Comicon was like for me this year. I'm already planning and scheming for new things to premier next year, so stay tuned! Too soon, you say? Not really! Even with a whole year ahead, Comicon has a way of sneaking up on you, despite it's massive size!

San Diego Comicon 2012 Schedule

It's that time of year again! Comicon is a week away, and I have a full schedule this year. I thought I'd post the events I will be part of so you can join me and we can celebrate our love of all things geek together!

Comicon is starting early this year, and it's starting with a bang! The Nerdist Chris Hardwick with helming a relay race from the Santa Monica pier to the San Diego Convention center to officially open this year's festivities. And he's doing it Star Wars style! The Course of the Force starts Saturday, July 7th, but Chris has already started his journey. I gave him a hand, literally, to help him on his way. Check it out...



Learn more about this exciting charity event here.

Check out more of my blog for the other events I will be part of at this year's Comicon. I'll be updating this list as things are added and shifted, so keep an eye on it. Hope to see you in San Diego!

THURSDAY, JULY 12TH:

I am creating a sculpture from all of the trash the Roddenberry dive team pulls from the beaches and ocean in order to help create awareness for the conditions of our sea life. I would really appreciate if you could join us on the clean-up. Every bag of trash collected helps so much!

Comic-Con Dive & Cleanup

“Come Boldly Explore the Underwater Universe at La Jolla Shores!”

WHERE: La Jolla Shores 

DATE: July 12th, 2012 (First Day of Comic-Con) 

TIME: 5:30am Early Bird Gathering. 7:30am & 9am Dives. 9am-10:45am Beach Cleanup.

NOTE: A Comic-Con Pass is not required to attend this event.

COST: FREE 

RSVP REQUIRED: Click Here to RSVP! 

To all Scuba divers, ocean lovers and Comic-Con attendees, come join Rod Roddenberry and the Roddenberry Dive Team for a morning of adventure as we dive La Jolla’s Underwater Ecological Preserve and cleanup the beach. We have joined forces to provide our out-of-town aquatic brethren an unforgettable dive and beach cleanup opportunity. Prizes will be awarded for our above and below water “Trashy Diver” winners. Divers and non-divers are welcome! 

Special effects and art director Greg Aronowitz will be on hand to oversee the cleanup for the “Roddenberry Art Project”, and an Aquarist from the world famous Birch Aquarium at Scrippsto talk about the local marine life. 

Donuts & Coffee: 

For the early birds; a few of us will be arriving at La Jolla Shores (next to “Kellog Park”) around 5:30am to enjoy the sights and sounds of the ocean as the sun pours onto the pacific (Sunrise = 5:50 am). Coffee, juice, yogurt, donuts and muffins will be available to the first 50 (approx) people that arrive. We plan on gathering at one of the beach-side fire-pits for a bit of warmth and camaraderie. 

Diving & Discovery: 

Around 7:00/7:30 am Scuba divers will begin suiting up for our adventure to the La Jolla Underwater Canyon. Another group of divers will go out around 9:00am. Once geared-up and ready, we’ll do a surface-swim out about 100 yards to where the depth is approximately 40+ feet. After a final buddy/gear check, we’ll descend to bottom where we’ll continue west to a maximum depth of 100’. From there, each buddy team, while monitoring their depth, time and air, will explore this magnificent underwater realm and gradually work their way east back to the shore. 

Trashy Diver Underwater & Beach Cleanup:

We encourage you to be a "Trashy Diver" and join us for an underwater cleanup and a shore cleanup to keep our beach and ocean healthy and safe. The Beach Cleanup will take place from 9:00am - 10:45am. Comic Con Trashy Diver Awards will be given for trash "Most likely found on the USS Enterprise" and the "Most Amount of Trash" for both the underwater and shore cleanups. 

RDT has commissioned famed special effects and art director Greg Aronowitz to create a life-sized sculpture made from trash collected by RDT members and volunteers at underwater, beach and river cleanup events. Greg will be on hand to coordinate the cleanup. The trash collected will be used in the “Roddenberry Art Project” sculpture.

La Jolla Shores Parking: 

La Jolla Shores has an extremely convenient parking lot located next to the beach and only a few yards from where we’ll be gathering and doing our dives. The cross-streets are “Calle Frescota” & “Camino del Oro”. Click HERE to see a map of the dive site and parking lot.

CLICK HERE TO RSVP!

11:45-12:45 The most action packed hour of the weekend, Stan Lee's World of Heroes announces a new line up of shows, and lets you meet legendary talent like Mark Hamill of Star Wars, Adrianne Curry of America's Next Top Model, My favorite craftsperson, Bonnie Burton, and Monster High's America Young. Jeff Lewis and Sean Becker of The Guild will be in attendance to debut a trailer for a brand new show I helped them put together, filmed right here at the BarnYard. you won't want to miss it!

I will be at booth #2543, promoting my new company, Floppets. I will be having all of my coolest friends joining me throughout the weekend so you can meet them, get autographs, and of course, get a hold of all the new Floppets! We will be premiering tons of new product, like our Munchkin Monsters, so make sure you come by!

Thursday, July 12th:

2:00-3:00 Meet the cast of White Room:02B3, including Tony Janning and Milynn Sarley.

3:15-5:00 Meet the cast of Legend of Neil, with director/co-creator Sandeep Parikh. Get your hands on an exclusive poster featuring the new DVD cover art I created!

I directed a film for Roddenberry Entertainment called White Room: 02B3. It is making it's US premiere at Comicon this year. Please come see the film, and meet the amazing cast. Plus learn all about the new and exciting 360 technology we used to film it!

TREK NATION & WHITE ROOM SCREENING

WHERE: The Birch Theater in North Park, San Diego, CA

                   2891 University Avenue, San Diego, CA 92101

DATE: Thursday, July 12, 2012  

TIME: 7:00pm

Friday, July 13th:


10:00-Noon Geek and Sundry hosts duel panels for two shows I designed, The Jeff Lewis 5-minute Comedy Hour, and Save the Supers. This is sure to be the most halirious panel of the entire weekend!

Noon-1:00 I will be on stage with Felicia Day, crafting something entertaining during her live Flog broadcast for YouTube Live! Come be part of the fun!

2:00-3:00 Come meet Felicia and the cast of the Guild at my booth.

We have Guild Floppets, and I will be signing Team Cawkes posters and Dark Horse covers along with Felicia, Sandeep, Jeff, Amy, Robin, and Vince.

Saturday, July 14th:

12:00-2:00 Brent Spiner is signing with me at booth #2543. Come talk to us about Star Trek Floppets and Fresh Hell!

3:00-4:00 The Roddenberry Panel in room 7AB. I will be joining Rod to talk about White Room:02B3, Trek Floppets, the Dive Team Trash Sculpture, and we will see some awesome behind the scenes footage and learn more about amazing Roddenberry projects like Trek Nation. 

4:30-5:30 Save The Supers panel at YouTube. Come meet the heroes from Super Force, stars of the new web-series, "Save the Supers." I Executive Produced and designed the show with creator/director/genius Sandeep Parikh. Find out more about this incredible show on Facebook. Be sure to like us, and definitely follow us on Twitter to get all the minute by minute details as these Supers take over Comicon!

Sunday, July 15th:
11:00-12:00 Team Unicorn joins me at the booth. Come meet these amazing ladies, get an exclusive TU Floppet and a signed poster I created for them!

More to come...

White Room: 02B3

If you follow me on twitter, you may have noticed a lot of tweeting about my recent project, White Room: 02B3. But being confined to only 140 characters at a time, I was very limited in the amount of information I could divulge. WR:02B3 is a very complicated project, mostly in that it is actually three projects in one! The most intriguing of which is an experimental 360 degree version.

If you follow my blog, you have probably figured out that I am usually pretty tight lipped about current works-in-progress, and usually don't post images or stories until the entire project has been made public. I grew up in the glorious age of Amblin Entertainment and Lucasfilm, where every next project was a secret, a covert operation with code names and fake news leaks to keep fans guessing. There was so much more mystery and magic to that time, as opposed to present day, when you can practically download a rough cut of a film before the director has even seen it! But not all projects need to be kept under wraps, and we decided internally at Roddenberry Entertainment that our experiences creating WR:02B3 should include our audience from as early as possible. So I am blogging about it now, just hours after wrapping the first tier of our shoot.

White Room:02B3 is the story of six strangers that wake up in a, well, white room! The only other thing there is a gun. And there are no windows and no doors. Hahahaha. Which offers this chilling challenge: To find a way out!!!! Oh, sorry, got distracted there for a second...

Tory Mell, one of Roddenberry's producers, wrote the script, and I signed on to design and direct. As always for me, the easiest way to envision the story is to start by creating the environment. I was thrilled to have the advantage of shooting on an actual soundstage for this project, one of Universal's old pick-up stages in North Hollywood. It offered plenty of space, controlled lighting, and silent air conditioning! We started the process by laying out a full scale floor plan using laser levers. So Star Trek! Gene would be proud :)

Mazin created a virtual model in 3D Max based on my quick and crappy pencil sketches, then proceeded to construct the six pillars that would be the cornerstones of the room.

Kirsten resumed her usual roll as Construction Coordinator, and used her master builder skills to put the rest of the set together.

As I am always acquiring pieces from other projects, and constantly trying to build bigger sets on smaller budgets, it is not unusual to find me re-using flats and materials. WR:02B3 was no exception, and many of the elements I pulled in have a little bit of sci-fi history to them.

There are old flats from BladeRunner, new walls from Real Steel, vaccumformed panels from Roger Corman, and plastic grating from James Cameron.

Once there was enough set standing to really understand the space, Social Animal brought in the SA9 360 camera for a test shoot. This custom built camera rig uses nine hi-rez cameras that shoot into angled mirrors to create one continues three hundred and sixty degree frame. That's about as technical as I can get. Usually, I just say it looks like an Imperial probe droid!

When the camera test was successful, and we knew all of the walls were in the right place and all of our math was correct, it was time to paint. Time was running short, and we called in all the help we can get. It was a total honor to have Brooke Lee, a bona fide Miss Universe, jump in and paint a huge portion of the set!

My friend Milynn Sarley, of Team Unicorn fame, also jumped in to help. Milynn is one of the stars of WR:02B3, so it was exciting to have her join the art department, too. You know, just another day in Hollywood, having the most beautiful women in the world...scratch that...in the universe, painting your set! Tough job, but some body's gotta do it!

The next step was lighting the set, so Director of Photography Chris Darnell brought in his team to highlight all of the textures and facets the WR art department created.

It was very exciting to see it all become reality. It always cool to see any set I design come to life, but it feels different when it's a set I'll be directing on.

Another aspect of the project is showing the 360 version of the film in dome theaters around the country. This is a whole new medium for us, so the team went to visit dome projection experts prior to filming. Here, Chris takes reference photos of a dome grid, used to align the multiple projectors that create a seamless 360 images.

Apparently, it is a commonly known fact about me that I LOVE popcorn. Even more specific, stale popcorn. I simply cannot watch a movie without popcorn, and I make a habit of getting the largest bucket, and bringing everything left over home with me to enjoy for the rest of the week. Roddenberry executive producer Trevor Roth thought that if I needed popcorn to watch a movie, I was going to need a ton of it to make a movie! And so was inspired the coolest first-day-of-shooting gift I have ever gotten. This will probably last me till the premier!!!

Everything was ready, and it was time to bring in the cast.

In the White Room, you're name is replaced with a number. Breckin Meyer plays ONE. Working with Breckin was an amazing experience. He is a solid professional, and he brought a depth to the character that will keep audiences riveted. We were lucky that Breckin was able to make time for us in his busy schedule, as he is currently staring in TNT's "Franklin & Bash". You may also recognize him from staples such as "Clueless" and "Road Trip". If you haven't seen those movies, you need to go to Netflix right now...

My buddy David Blue joined us as SIX. He was perfect for the role, and his strong sci-fi background made him an important part of the "melting pot" I was trying to create under the Roddenberry label. I had drafted David in the past for a cameo in my "Guild Sells Out" faux commercials, but it was such a quick shoot, it was great to actually work with him again in a part he could sink his teeth into.

And of course, Milynn. She was FOUR, and got to play the most action-oriented role. I know Milynn from Team Unicorn adventures, and I was thrilled when she accepted my invitation to be a part of my sci-fi experiment. And this won't be the last you see of this unicorn in the White Room! Her awesome teammates joined us on set for a Star Trek photo shoot, which will be heading your way soon!

That is indeed Rachel True from "The Craft", and the dude pointing at her fake baby belly is none other than Tony Janning, known for a little web project I like to call "Legend of Neil", or "Pure Awesome" for short. This was really my favorite part of the WR project, the dichotomy of huge movie stars from block buster films working side by side with rising internet sensations.

White Room: 02B3 is a sci-fi/drama, with a tinge of thriller, which was no new territory for Rachel. She spun her character's web effortlessly, delivering an intoxicating performance as THREE. But Tony has a strong comedy background, and it took some pressing on my part to get his headshot to the top of the TWO stack. I have to admit it was my proudest moment on set when Tony did his key scene, and I turned to see every one's jaw on the floor. He is a super talent, and I promise you will be seeing a lot more of him on screens everywhere around you.

I have been mesmerized by Tamlyn Tomita's beauty since she first performed the tea ceremony in "The Karate Kid II". I believe meeting her on the set of Babylon 5 was also the first time I was actually star struck. We became good friends during that shoot, probably because we were the two youngest members of the cast/crew. We have so many stories about that production. It only took about 15 years, but it was so satisfying to finally have Tamlyn work on a project of my own. Fittingly, she plays FIVE. Get it? Like Babylon 5? Alrighty then...

The actual shooting schedule was pretty crazy. As I mentioned, we were attempting to shoot three separate versions of the script: a traditional film, an online 360 experience, and a dome theater version. I had to figure out a blocking and timing that would work for them all, but the camera work had to be handled differently for each. Here, I'm talking to my 1st AD, Kate, who is in charge of keeping the set on schedule.

Since the genesis of the project was the 360 concept, the original schedule focused around that section of the shoot, and we were going to start with the SA9 camera. That meant that the actors had to perform entire multi-page scenes in a single take, almost like live theater, right on the first day. We did several days of rehearsals to prepare, but producer Kim Evey made the decision to reverse the schedule and shoot the 360 versions last. This was probably the best decision of the production, as it allowed me to work individually with each cast member during close-ups for the traditional shoot, and make subtle changes to character and dialog that we wouldn't be able to adjust in the 360 single takes.

After the traditional shoot, Social Animal came in to rig the SA9 360 camera. It's funny to me how often I have used the term "traditional shoot" in the past few months. I don't think such a term even existed a few years back. It would have been just "a shoot". I guess now with 3D, Imax, 360, and who knows what else, just shooting a single camera 2D narrative film can be considered "Traditional".

Since the 3rd day of shooting WR was NOT traditional, there were many extra steps. Measurements, calibrating, all kinds of technical stuff that I really didn't have time to absorb. Luckily, the Social Animal gang had everything under control, and they worked with Darnell to make sure everything looked great. Here, Eric uses a 10th camera to find settings that will balance the nine cameras in the rig. Or something like that...

Matt from Social Animal takes a break from setting up massive amounts of equipment to stand in for focus and skin tone tests. The hardest part of setting up the 360 view for me was figuring out where to put the gun. In the traditional shoot, I had it in the center of the table. But for the 360 version, the center of the table was removed, and the camera was installed there.

You may notice a theme forming: six walls, six chairs, six people, six bullets...

Well, not everything was in groups of six... In order to monitor the 360 takes, I had to watch nine screens all at once. As actors moved around the room, they jumped from one screen to the next. It was very confusing at first. To make sure I didn't miss anyting, since there was no way possible to focus on every monitor at the same time, I had three script supervisors taking constant notes. They divided the monitors into groups of three each, and I followed the main action across all nine. Unlike a....wait for it...traditional shoot, there were also many new rules that had to be followed to determine what was a good take. The actors had "no fly zones" where the camera couldn't see them if the stopped, and boundries they couldn't cross, like the top of frame. If so much as a finger tip grazed the boarder, I had to yell cut and start over.

Which reminds me of another crazy thing. Since I couldn't have an eye on every monitor, the scripties needed to be able to talk to me as they saw questional issues. Talking on set usually ruins sound recording, so we had to set up our video village in a soundproof closet of to one side of the stage. It may have been alright if was just me, or maybe a few people, but ultimately we needed to cram a dozen people in there to operate, monitor, and advise. It definitely got a little toasty in there!

The toughest job for the art department was keeping the White Room white! Keeping with the theme, Red 5 jumped in to do touch ups between scenes. Red wasn't originally scheduled to work on WR, but she was able to free up some time and join in. I'm glad she did, the set would have never been finished without her!

I am always mixing and matching my Star Wars and Star Trek. Shooting WR was no exception. I grabbed my Marc Echo Stormtrooper hoodie on the way out the door, and the joke on set was that if I zipped it up, it was like White Room camoflage. I didn't keep it zipped for too long, though. I think it freaked the cast out when I was giving direction!

One member of the cast that I wish was wearing camo was this damn fly! He made his way onto the set early in the day, and taunted me relentlessly till the wee hours. He will probably cost the production thousands in post fly removal. We shot the traditional version on RED, so I'm sure I will be able to see his wings flapping in the 4K resolution!

I imagine it to look something like this! No, that's not a macro photo of the sci-fly buzzing around the crew cake, that's writer/producer and good friend Tory Mell. Obviously, you can tell, he probably has some insect DNA in him, though.

So that's my intro spiel on White Room: 02B3. There is so much more to tell, but I want to save something for later! I'm sure you will be hearing about this project from me a lot over the next few month, and I have to say that it is refreshing to talk about it at this point instead of another retro-blog with a cryptic intro.

Let me know if you have any questions, and I will keep you up to date as things progress. I want to thank my amazing cast and crew, who made this experience both pleasant and possible! And a special thank you to Rod Roddenberry for allowing me to helm the first original Roddenberry production since Gene left us. It is a huge honor to be a small part of such a massive science fiction legacy. When I was eight years old, hiding my black and white television under the covers so I could sneak in an episode of Star Trek past my bedtime, I never imagined I would someday be part of that universe. It's still hard to believe it now!

White Room: 02B3...coming soon!