Time Delay

So it's been a while. There's not much, but I figured I'd post something anyway (though at this point, I'd be surprised if anyone reads this thing anymore). In the down time, we watch through episodes 1-11 in one sitting, and decided there were some common things about it that bothered us. So, in light of that, we're rewriting Episode 12. In essence, it'll probably be mostly the same, but it needs to be tightened up a bit. The dialogue gets a bit chaotic at some points, and some of it is just unnecessary. All in all, the plan is to vastly improve upon the episode and make the wait that much more worth the while. We have no idea when this thing's going to get done, but it'll definitely help that Phil (Shepard) will be home from his Marine stuff pretty soon, giving us an extra hand at things. That's about it.

12 and Starting Over

Ok, so I'll be honest with you right off the bat. At this point. we've made little to no progress on filming episode 12, which is largely due to conflicting schedules, other things taking priority, and the fact that there's some scenes with a lot of people in them, which is only amplified by problem number 1. BUT the good news is that the story outline for season 2 is coming along quite well, all of a sudden. There's going to be 2 parts for a large portion of it, similar to the first six episodes of season 1, though much more separation between the two. We got stuck on the first storyline, and so moved onto the second, and got most of the way through it. Somehow I figured out a large portion of the first storyline just now, so I'd say that part is about 75% done. Granted, we still have to actually write all the episodes, but still. Anyway, that's it for now. Our plan is to get the filming out of the way sometime in the next two weeks (spring break), and if all goes well, things should get done rather quickly after that. Then, it'll be a huge break before season 2 (I'd bet on fall, but I don't really know what I'm talking about). Peace.

Looking For Help

So it's become apparent that Marooned has slowly drifted off of my list of things I have time for, and it's only going to become more so. We've decided that we need to bring on some outside help in order to keep the show running, (i.e. people to take over all the editing and filming); we'll still do all the writing and voicing, but that's about all we'll be able to do. If anyone is interested, e-mail us at BurtTheSkull@Gmail.com for more details. Obviously, we can't pay you because we don't have any money (I'm a freaking musician; musicians don't have money!), but hopefully that's a given. Peace!

Maniacle Exhibition

So it's been a while since I've updated, or really done anything at all as far as Marooned goes. I wrote a new beginning to the episode, and have messed a little with getting that ready for filming. Most of my recent time has been put into prepping songs, i.e. re-recording and relearning some of them (when you've got several dozen songs and don't do a lot with them after finish them, it's pretty easy to forget large portions of them), I've also got this cool little program called Power Tab that let's you tab out the song as well as write out the notation, which will be good for both remembering how to play it (since I can just look at it) and teaching other people how to play them. It's cool, though it's kinda dumb sometimes, but it's free so I can't really complain.

Filming hasn't really been done at all because most of the scenes will require multiple Xboxes, with the exception of a couple. It's the last episode of the season, meaning after this, there will be an official break before you see any new episodes (if I had to guess, I'd say season 2 will start no earlier than September). Once we complete our musical entourage, I plan to go full force into that, so hopefully I'll still be able to find some time for Marooned. I would imagine so, but I can't say at this point. Anyway, this is basically just putting something up for the sake of putting something up. I'll have more time to work on stuff end of March, when I'm laid off and have no job, so hopefully this won't take 3 months to finish, but I can't make any promises.

Gah!

So close! So stinking close! I really wanted to get the whole scoring thing for the battle scene done today, but alas it has yet to be completed. It's close, though. Of course, even after I've completed the core melody\rhythm and such, there's going to be some fine tuning that I might need a bit of help on (ie making it full; I don't have a complete grasp on how some of the instruments are used, mainly the mid-ranged ones). There's about a minute left of scoring of the battle itself, then 30 seconds to a minute of, for lack of a better word, the aftermath. It's not an aftermath at all, but I can't say anything without giving things away, so it's an aftermath. Tyson still has his part to do (and Schmidty, if you're reading this, remember how I put it on your flash drive and all, and how you were going to give it to him next time you were over there? Even if he's not there, you can always give it to Andy or Andrew to give to him just in case). 3 weeks still stands even though we're so close, just because that gives us time in case of those "are you kidding me?" moments. That's it for now. Hopefully, this will be my last update before 11 is released. Hopefully.

Soooooon

It's still "soon" and not "now" at the moment, but we're this close (imagine my fingers being really close together) to that moment! All of the editing should be done at this point. We're gonna have another look at it soon just to make sure. The only thing that isn't finished now is the music. I've got some software on the way that will make that doable, which will hopefully be here within the week, and then Tyson just has to finish his little part, and we're done! Contrary to what I may have said earlier, this episode is going to be longer than I had originally anticipated. My original estimate was 15 minutes, but Episode 11 has reached 20:46, which is practically a half-hour episode with the commercials taken out. Freaking long, that's all I have to say. Unlike our other longer episodes, however, a lot happens in this one. I'd be surprised if anyone was disappointed with this one. Just one more after this and we're home free, until season 2 starts up, which we've already sat down and figured out a basic outline for about half of it. We really want to get everything done for season 2 before we start releasing episodes, that way we don't have 3 month periods without episodes. Anyway, that's about ... it. I'm gonna say 3 weeks, which is a bit longer than I think it's gonna take, but I've been wrong almost every time before, so maybe if I over estimate then I'll actually be right. :-)

Doooo

All is quiet, but going well, over here at the studio (my room). We've pretty much decided that, except for the battle scene and the soundtrack for one scene that Tyson is doing, the episode's done. And as far as the battle scene goes, I might actually have all the footage I need. I'm not completely sure yet, though. I haven't done any editing for the bs (battle scene) yet, but I'll capture what I just cut up, and then we'll see. The only thing that concerns me is a couple of the characters in it don't really have very many interesting moments, which may or may not matter because the focus is around one character in particular.

One thing I've learned is that filming via X-box Live is not the best idea. Halo 3's recordings are a little too accurate, ie every movement was captured as it was from my computer, lag included, meaning some of the vehicles have a tendency to warp around a lot. It's not a huge deal, since the shots are mostly going to be quick moving shots that switch around a lot. We'll see. Either way, we're hoping to have it all done by the end of the month. No promises, though, because I am going to school full time right now, meaning home work will detract from the time I would normally have to spend editing. Anyway, that's that.

-PLAYLIST-

Lower Definition - The Greatest of All Lost Arts
Paramore - Riot
Radiohead - Kid A
As I Lay Dying - An Ocean Between Us
Austrian Death Machine - Total Brutal