Today, instead of looking at a movie or two, I thought I’d share some behind the scenes stories from my latest project.  Currently, I’ve got several irons in the fire, but the one I’m most interested in is a promotional/educational children’s piece being commissioned by a local bank.  They came to me wanting to promote their Kid’s Club account product and were thinking about doing a short cartoon in the style of my last film, “A Story For Stephanie.”   And since I am a capitalist at heart, I happily accepted!
    The first stage was coming up with a concept.  The bank has used a mascot for years now named Moola Moola, a giant fuzzy purple “coin” and, since they already have a costume, I decided to use him…it?  So Moola Moola would be involved, as would his helpers, the Money Minders (smaller fuzzy coins), but to a lesser extent.  But what we needed was a villain.  I’d seen Wicked in Louisville the week before, so I guess I had witches on the brain when I created Wilhelmina, the Wasteful Witch!  And what witch would be complete without a familiar, so I gave her Spike, the Spending Spider. (I know alliteration is the sign of an unskilled writer, but the kids really dig it!)
    After writing up the script, I needed to have the vocal tracks recorded.  The two actors I used in “Stephanie” were so great and fun to work with that I decided to use them again.  And, as luck would have it, one of them is currently dating a professional voice over recording artist who was interested in playing Mom and Wilhelmina. With a cast in place, it was time to record.
    The four of us got together in Lexington yesterday evening and it was one of the most creatively rewarding days I’ve had in a long while.  We started by working the script a few times, finding who’s voice was best suited to what part.  Next, we worked on polishing up their performances.  As the director, it is my job to help the actors find the characters I need to make the film.  This is especially true for voice over work.  It doesn’t matter how great the cartoon looks if the vocal aspect isn’t working.  Luckily for me, I had three amazingly talented actors working for me. 
    Even during the recording process, we were changing characterizations and trying new things. As a director, I think it’s important to “play” as you work.  That’s not to say that we don’t take it serious, but I want everyone to have the freedom to explore and try new things.  And, after about an hour and three full run’s through, I called a wrap on vocals.  We had all worked very hard, but created some amazing stuff together.
    The next step in making this film is to create the visuals.  For that, I will have another cast here in eastern Kentucky, most likely consisting of bank employees and their kids.  They will be fitted for costumes and in some cases makeup tests will be done.  After this, it’s off to a studio, where lights and a green screen will be set up.  Each actor will be photographed (not video, I only use stills in this process) several times so that I can manipulate them in the computer. Then, it’s all editing and special effects, but I’m too tired to type all of that process out.  It’s enough to say that it’s long and complicated, but the end result is pretty freakin’ cool, if I do say so myself! 
    That’s gonna do it for another Director’s Chair.  Next time, we’ll try and get back to watching movies, if I ever get time away from making them.  If your in desperate need of stuff to watch, check out Repo! The Genetic Opera, American Teen, Bloodline, Eagle Eye and RocknRolla. That’s a pretty mixed bag, so there’ll be something in there for everyone…ok, probably not the kiddies.  But all of you grownups; you’ll be fine.  See y’all next week.