Warping ahead to "Stargazer"

Those of you who have been anxiously awaiting the completion of "Adversity Conquered!" will be pleased to learn that I have decided to jump ahead and complete the epilogue "Stargazer"!

When I take on a project I don't fool around. "Adversity Conquered!" is the most technically complex film I have yet undertaken. In the real world, a film of this type would include a sizable post-production staff. But when one of the goals is to create the ultimate showcase for yourself, you want it to be clear who's work is on the screen.

If you haven't yet seen the "Behind the Scenes" update from March 2010, please take a look before reading on (or not):


"Adversity Conquered" - March 2010 Update, Behind the Scenes from Bruce Bertrand on Vimeo.


For those of you able to enter my mind and see the backlog of film ideas, you will note one prevalent signature of mine as a writer-director; a nighttime siege followed by a colorful sunrise wiping away the last remnants of evil. Hmmm - the Early Films logo is a sunrise. Are you all in my head now?

Shortly after Steve came to me with the concept of "Adversity Conquered!", he composed "Stargazer" and everything fell into place.

Technically speaking, "Stargazer" is infinitely simpler than "Adversity Conquered!" The entire setting is a computer generated landscape with a lake and waterfall, one shot tracking live footage to the CG "camera", and one shot tracking the CG background to the real camera . The remaining CG effects consist of starfields, galaxies, intergalactic tunnels and a whopper of a meteor explosion! Easy stuff.

"Adversity Conquered!" includes the aforementioned CG landscape with the addition of bat demons, little dragons, tree monsters, hell-hounds, a fire-breathing water monster (one is enough), various furry things, other miscellaneous underworld critters, Mr. Grim coming to reap, an enormous demon (one is enough), and what may be the Prince of Darkness himself (not necessarily the one you're thinking of)!

On top of all that are effects that include tracking several hand-held daytime shots to insert a CG night sky, tracking guitar movements to add the "weapon" elements, along with blowing up and burning a lot of stuff! Oh yes, then there is the complex soundtrack and editing rhythm.

Wait.....let me catch my breath.

So there you have it.

When "Stargazer" is completed, it will be posted for a limited time ONLY to Facebook and YouTube friends, Vimeo contacts, and LinkedIn connections.

I will post some snippets publicly, including 3D anaglyphs of a few starfield effects.

At one point, I began rendering all of the CG effects stereoscopically. When 2D to 3D conversion becomes affordable, I would like to stereo-fy the entire video. It would have been great to shoot in 3D from the start, as I've been years ahead of the curve with regard to the 3D thing. This time it simply wasn't an option due to the lack of access to a second pro camera identical to mine and the difficult shooting conditions.

However, using two small consumer camcorders and the makeshift 3D tripod head I had whipped up for Super 8 years ago, I have shot one of Steve's recent rehearsal sessions in 3D just for the fun of it:


Steve Yank - "Monsterworld" Demo in 3D from Bruce Bertrand on Vimeo.


BTW, despite being a big fan of 3D, I do think Hollywood has gone overboard - especially with the overabundance of 2D to 3D conversions. But that is a blog post yet to come.

I am looking to complete "Stargazer" by sometime in January. So pitch your tents and set up your lawn chairs on the virtual sidewalk!