The Riley Project: Feature Film Concept Art & Photos

[Daniel Rutter]

Hey guys;

I don't know if anyone here knows, but I'm part way through penning a potential feature film project based extremely loosely off a short film I did last year (THAT SUCKED!). For this film though, I intend to do my absolute best at making it the absolute best I can. Obviously, what I will be showing you here is only shots of the actor and potentially what the film will LOOK like... not what the story will be like or anything like that. And, to be honest... I'm a whore, I like to share my stuff and get people looking at it.

THE STORY (so far):

Riley is a contract killer for an organisation known only as "The Office". He is sent to a small country town in Australia to take out a business man known for dodgy dealings. But, Riley runs into trouble when his past... and his conscience catch up with him. Riley has been running away from past events, and they will finally catch up with him.

THE OTHER STUFF:
Right now, I'd just like to share with you a bunch of photos I took for promotional purposes (and to get an image of the character in my head). I'm extremely proud of these, but as I know the community here... feel free to tear me to shreds if you feel my work is crap.

All I ask is this: If you're going to say its lalalala, have the decency to give criticism that will help me IMPROVE.

Here is a direct link to the Google images album:
https://plus.google.com/photos/10000...24785345370273

And a few select images:


How I'm intending the film to look... gritty, stylized and up close.




I'm not entirely sure why I like this shot... I just know it appeals to my eye.




I had a little fun with this one. If you don't know what this is a rip-off of, you don't like films!




Very early concept "poster" ideas. Attempting some form of folder or file, similar to those that police keep on suspects. I'm still messing with the idea, not too sure of it yet.



WHEN?
The goal is: Next year. BUT, it's still in writing... and I'm not always writing, so it may take longer. I'm not even promising that I will make this film, right now it's just ideas swimming in my head. The long term goal is to make three films, all following employees from "The Office". Riley is just one of many.
Of course, these will likely be low budget films... and I will be making them to my style of filming. I have a very very long term goal of possibly remaking the films with a higher budget sometime in the future, but again... that all depends on if I finish the script.

I'd appreciate any form of criticism, questions or anything in general.

[Gillvane]

The photos look really good.

[Daniel Rutter]

The photos look really good.

Thanks very much Gil.

[Almohada]

Hey Dan, concept posters look good. But... the last one. There's something hidden in there. I didn't catch the "Confidential" stamp on the first or second view. I saw it on the third view after I scrolled back up to look at it. Looks like you do need it to be in RED so I suggest changing the background color to something other than red so that "confidential" stamp text will stand out. Just a tip.

[Daniel Rutter]

That last poster is brown on my screen... and the confidential text I had the opacity turned way down so it didn't overpower the rest of the image (and text).

Thanks Almo, I'll keep that in mind for the next few concepts I do.

[drapeama]

How I'm intending the film to look... gritty, stylized and up close.
[..]
WHEN?
The goal is: Next year. BUT, it's still in writing... and I'm not always writing, so it may take longer. I'm not even promising that I will make this film, right now it's just ideas swimming in my head. The long term goal is to make three films, all following employees from "The Office". Riley is just one of many.
Of course, these will likely be low budget films... and I will be making them to my style of filming. I have a very very long term goal of possibly remaking the films with a higher budget sometime in the future, but again... that all depends on if I finish the script.
I'd appreciate any form of criticism, questions or anything in general.

1) I like the idea! To be honest, I've started something similar recently, and I'm also currently working on a script. I'm still at the stage of writing ideas in "blocks" to fill the story correctly. It's nice you're sharing it here, I really want to watch more of your stuff!
2) Pretty similar here! I plan to finish writing it before May or June and then shoot it during my vacancies. I kept my goal small: one movie, but fully worked and polished. I plan to master the audio in 5.1 and put a lot of work on both audio and video treatment. That's probably what will take most of the production time.

I'm glad you're sharing this project with us, and as always, we'll be helping you as much as we can, as usual!
About the posters concepts; as I said on FB, the simplest is usually the best. But you can work on little details to bring something simple and make it special. Also, showing Bart with a gun, is it all you want to show to the people looking at your artwork? Is that what you want the people to feel about? I'd try to render visually (with your artwork) what the character feels and will live in the movie, simply by looking at the concept. I know it's probably not the easiest job, but that's what I'd aim for. Not that the actual posters aren't good, but I'd try to put a little more efforts in the artwork. I'm probably not the best to judge, but that's my 0.02¢ on it.
Keep it up, I really want to see you working on it and watching it (just like Azmyth did with Exit 101, that I really need to watch ASAP!)
Good luck with it!

[Almohada]

That last poster is brown on my screen... and the confidential text I had the opacity turned way down so it didn't overpower the rest of the image (and text).

Thanks Almo, I'll keep that in mind for the next few concepts I do.

Oops, it looks more of a burgundy on my screen. I had the brightness down so it looked red to me. But yeah, it kinda blends in.

[drapeama]

That last poster is brown on my screen...

I confirm, brown here too.

Oops, it looks more of a burgundy on my screen.

Maybe you should caliber your monitor, especially if you're color grading your actual project!

[Almohada]

I confirm, brown here too.

Maybe you should caliber your monitor, especially if you're color grading your actual project!

[Bif]

Daniel,

The segment you requested is ready. Check your email for access details.

Bruce Foreman

[Daniel Rutter]

Thanks Bruce, I got it... just haven't had a spare moment to reply.

Yep, Bruce is our technical director on this one

[Lawrence189]

Good Luck Daniel! I am planning my own feature film as well and will be looking on at your progress as a source of inspiration!

[Almohada]

I hope Parker (pstan) takes a look at this thread to see some poster designs. Dan, your thread kinda looks like his except he first started posting his concept posters in the footage section

[Daniel Rutter]

Thanks guys.

A little bit of an update, seems like more of an info spill than anything though.

As of the moment, I will not be penning any form of script. I will instead be penning it in some form of novel form... then getting a trained screen writer to adapt it to script form. I can't write scripts properly, and I'd rather everything be good enough for people to understand without having to spend time explaining stuff that could just be better formatted.
The benefit of the novel form will also be a special "feauture" of the trilogy. Not entirely sure of how it'll work yet though.

[Daniel Rutter]

NEWEST UPDATES:

A few weeks ago I had some inspiration to go through the photoshoot I did with the intention of using those photos to develop some kind of hype and artwork with. I'm always messing with photoshop and poster designs, so these will most likely just be filed under "early poster art concepts" just like the others.

575035_356312774415790_176042589109477_1011825_1384729924_a.jpg
74735_356312611082473_176042589109477_1011824_820797068_n.jpg
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Better quality versions can be found here:
http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?s...9109477&type=3

Also, we had a step in the right direction the other day. I put a call out to friends I have in the Australian and UK film industry, and spoke to one fellow from the UK who is interested in taking over script writing duties. As it stands I don't have a lot of time to work on that side of things, and I needed fresh eyes and ideas. I couldn't find a plot line I was happy with, so with his help we'll get one.

So, for now I have at least one crew person all the way across the globe. International film making eh?

This coming July, I'll be making my purchase of the GH2 and at least one new lens (the lens is a maybe, but the camera is definite). I am completely certain that I will be filming 'The Riley Project' on the GH2, with B-roll done on the GH1 and behind the scenes and any other stuff also most likely shot with my HV30's. I'm messing with the idea of shooting on anamorphic glass... otherwise I'll just shoot it 16x9 and crop it. I don't do this to enhance the 'film look' though (I used to!), I do this as a way to help myself fix up any sloppy framing... and I personally like the wider perspective of the frames.

[Daniel Rutter]

The film is moving forward now, I've attached some more people to some characters to appear in the film... as well as starting to write a treatment. I won't personally be penning the script, only forming the ideas for a script writer to translate into better words and bigger format.

Here's the kicker, I have characters and scenes... but no plotline. How's that for sloppy? Hehe!

[Almohada]

It'll come together eventually... just keep at it

[Daniel Rutter]

It'll come together eventually... just keep at it

Thanks almo, and thats the plan. Right now I'm just combing the mind for anything that could make sense as a plot, writing it down... then seeing it any of them fit, otherwise try and mash a few together and see what takes seed.

[Dr. Benway]

Poster #2 (Post 15) looks great scaled down. Upscaled, faults emerge. The text is hard to get right, huh?

[Almohada]

Thanks almo, and thats the plan. Right now I'm just combing the mind for anything that could make sense as a plot, writing it down... then seeing it any of them fit, otherwise try and mash a few together and see what takes seed.

Yeah... I've been through that. My last project took about 8 months to write... at least 3 months to fully develop the idea. Went through many major changes but by the time we shot it was SOLID. Had to tweak some words on set so they flow naturally with the actors and their conversation. Really try your best to perfect it. Take a break from it or show it to someone else... get feedback. The best writing is re-writing.

[Daniel Rutter]

Poster #2 (Post 15) looks great scaled down. Upscaled, faults emerge. The text is hard to get right, huh?

Yep, you got that right. These posters are the only thing I really have to show for the film at the moment... but time will change that we hope

Yeah... I've been through that. My last project took about 8 months to write... at least 3 months to fully develop the idea. Went through many major changes but by the time we shot it was SOLID. Had to tweak some words on set so they flow naturally with the actors and their conversation. Really try your best to perfect it. Take a break from it or show it to someone else... get feedback. The best writing is re-writing.

Agreed. Years ago I started penning a very similar script to the one I have now, following a similar character. I've considered taking the plot from that, because it makes the most sense... but every time I try and fit it into my current idea, I feel like the script has too many things going for it and i can't keep it simple enough.

Oh well, I'll work it out! It just takes time.

[drapeama]

Oh well, I'll work it out! It just takes time.

Yeah! I know that too! I'm still stuck with my ideas for mine. And I'm still trying to develop my concept for the current contest at the same time...not easy!

[Daniel Rutter]

Alrighty guys, I now have a Facebook page up and running for the film. We're working out script stuff now and hopefully I'll be full steam ahead in the coming weeks!
http://www.facebook.com/pages/The-Ri...71990319534633

[Daniel Rutter]

I just wanted to update you guys a little bit.

I think I came to the conclusion that making this into a feature film at the moment is a bit of a stretch. I've decided to give it a go in a smaller format, with a web series. In fact, I finished writing the script for the pilot episode yesterday, and will be shooting it in the next two weeks over 5-6 days around my local area.

The post above this one contains the link to the Facebook page, which if you wish... you can follow that page and get updates as they happen. I'm hoping to send updates from right on set, so we're in for a bit of a ride!

All thats left to do now, is begin writing episode two and three... and hope that nothing happens to any of my actors between now and when shooting begins! That paranoia sets in pretty quickly once I lock something down.


Promo poster:


Timeline-Webseries-1.jpg

[drapeama]

Can't wait to finally watch it! Seems very interesting!