Latest news

April 26, 2005

Online interview with Shane by Comic Geek Speak.
Audio only. Explains a lot of what Shane and company were thinking
. . . and what they were hoping for.

April 26, 2005

Still more "Revelations" in the news.

Here are a couple of quick links to folks who are talking about us.

The Can Magazine has a very positive review here.
C-Net gives us an honorable mention of sorts here.
And C-Net has another here.
Kentucky.com has an article about the film and local 328 Studios.
As well as reprint of the Tish Wells - Knight Ridder article here.
NFHQ has a short review here.

And the hits just keep coming.
Still not sure where this wave is heading, but man, what a ride.
I had to totally remove the quick time file of the movie from my site altogether because people were apparently just going to the Google cached version of my page and finding the link there and burning through my bandwidth like a lightsaber cutting through butter.

April 25, 2005

George Lucas announces new Star Wars
Television Series!

Well good, finally. I mean there have been five Star Trek television series' and not one serious, live action, Star Wars series. Why not?
So, let's see what we have here, he says it will have original characters (good, good we like stories about other Jedi.) Almost no characters from episodes I through III, (uh huh, sounds good.) And it will take place between Episodes III and IV and . . . (HEY! Wait a minute! This is starting to sound a little too familiar!!!)
The central story will revolve around the destruction of the Jedi Temple and a lost artifact?!!!
(Okay I made that last part up . . . but still. One has to wonder why he didn't pick up the story right after Return of the Jedi. With the Jedi coming back into power and the galaxy wide open for new adventures aplenty. Hmmmmm.
Still if there is to be a new series, I'll certainly be watching.
Also I know a good director and some kickass CG guys with just the right kind of experience for such a project, not to mention a couple of actors looking for a break.)

April 24, 2005

Where can you go to see Revelations?

Here is the main mirror site hosted by the brilliant and wonderful ZAP.
http://revelations.master-zap.com


Zap also tell us that "2000 DVD's has been downloaded so far (disk #1) and over 21 Terabytes of revelations data has been shuffled around the net. "

GREAT DAY IN THE MORNING!!!
WE ARE HUGE!!!!!

Also while you are there check out the video's from the premiere weekend.
Fun stuff.

Thanks ZAP!

Photo by Jim Norcross I think this shot says it all. Thanks Jim!

Baltimore Sun Revelations Review

A really good article by John Coffren who calls my performance as Declan "grand".
There really is just too much to tell here. The Premiere went off, if not smoothly, at least successfully as seen from the outside. There was a lot more drama behind the scenes than there was on the screen, to tell the truth, but we pulled it off. There really is too much to tell, but we'll cover it all here in the days to come.

March 19, 2005
(From the Revelations site:)

"Revelations" Fanzine
Now open to all...

well, with us getting so close to the release and premiere of "Revelations" we thought we would open up the Official "Revelations" Fanzine to give you even more insight to the production and film. The fanzine was a feature our sponsors got to enjoy in getting the inside scoop with interviews, articles, and the current progress of the film as we were making it. Now we are making it available for you to read and enjoy as well. So dive back through the months and see what all happened and what went into making "Revelations"!

March 16, 2005

NOTES
Frank (Declan) Stands up for Revelations

A few friendly notes here to some of the curious out there:
No one is saying that this work is perfect. It has its flaws, as most project do, but I read some of the post some people were putting out yesterday and while Shane has decided not to address any of that at this point, (partly because he's so busy trying to get the film through post production, and manage the premiere, and partly because he's on the verge of nervous exhaustion) I feel I must step up and set a few things straight.
First of all Gina and I did not really know Shane and the crew of Panic Struck prior to this, except as competitors. Shane thought Gina would be good for the role after seeing some of her work. While it is true I rode Gina's coattails into the project, once Shane saw a little more of what I could do, he asked the writers to write a little more into the script for me. I am grateful and I will let those scenes speak for themselves. The point is no one cast their girlfriend in this thing! Furthermore all this talk of the girls being ugly is just stupid and petty. All of the girls are quite simply, stunningly attractive if you meet them in person. Of course the fact that I'm married to one does mean that I am a bit biased.
A lot of people have come out saying the acting is poor. This is simply and completely unfair. You can not and should not try to judge the acting of an entire production based on a trailer, especially with a fan film. For one thing the takes that were used in the trailer may not be the same takes as what you see in the final movie, this happens even in professional movies. Furthermore you're seeing, what you are seeing completely out of context. For example; the scene with Taryn (Gina) saying "she lied to me" "she used me" is cut with scenes of characters fighting. That's for the trailer. That's not the way you are going it see it in the movie. In the actual film this is part of a highly emotionally charged scene. So why then did they use it in the trailer? They used it in the trailer because it's what was available at the time. This is the same reason Shane used the music from the actual Star Wars movies in the trailer. The plan had always been to have an original score but it wasn't done at that point.
With respect to the fighting, we did in fact have a dedicated fight coordinator and he did a splendid job. Here again it's a matter of context and available footage. When you actually see the finished fights in context, not only do they look good, but they actually help carry the story along.
As to the trailer itself, while we have all had the experience of going to a movie and realizing that all the best parts were in the trailer, this I assure you is not the case here. With a low budget fan film, trailers and teasers are released, not after the project is done to show of the best of what has been done, they are released to coincide with local conventions using what is available. Shane had a lot of tough decisions to make about the trailer and he decided to be deliberately vague as to story details, character motivations and so on. He didn't want to give too much away and whether I agreed with everything he did or not at the time, I want to make it clear that I stand by his work now.
Rest assured that the finished project is far more polished than the trailer. We went back into the studio and did a lot of voiceover work to get rid of any of the ambient background sounds that you can clearly hear in the trailer.
The CG in the trailer, while stunning, is in many cases just not finished. I clearly remember Shane saying that some of it was just above video game level in his opinion and that he was going to go back and rework it. Now when I watch some of the more finished stuff I am truly amazed. In some cases I was there, in the shot, and I can't tell you what was real and what was added later.
This movie was shot over a long period of time; sometimes on a location, like the quarry, the caves or the bar, sometimes in the studio (green screen and all), sometimes on a set that we built. This was done to add to the scale and scope of the project. Shane decided early on to avoid the forest world that you see in so many other low budget productions. Also extra care was taken to avoid some of the more overused clichés, no one was allowed to say 'I have a bad feeling about this' for instance. (Actually there's a good shot of Gina looking right at the camera and doing exactly that on the blooper reel.) A tremendous amount of work, prescreening and even re-shooting was done to bring this fan film to a whole new level. Add to this the sound effects and new original score and believe me when I tell you the best is yet to come. As I have said before, say now, and will continue to say; we are very proud of this entire project. We believe in this project and in all the people who helped make it a reality.

P.S.
Not all the links below still work but some of them do and they are worth checking out.

P.P.S. for more links and info check out my blog: http://www.elysianvisions.com/blog.html

March 15, 2005

OMG!
The entire Panicstruckpro site is down.
The news on our little project is out and the response is overwhelmingly positive. Thanks to everyone.

Mirror site available here.

Keep in mind that the Premiere at the Senator itself is totally sold out (with a substantial waiting list) but some tickets are available for the black tie Gala afterwards.
Of course with the site down I'm not certain you can really make any new reservations but when it comes up again I would not wait too long if you want to make it to the party at all.

Gina and I just got back from shooting the behind the scenes interviews for the additional features on the DVD. I had a good time and joked about someone mentioning the alternate title "I Declan, Hero of the Rebellion" that might have been used, much to the amusement of the writers. All in all it went really well and I know that Shane and Jack will deliver a professional quality DVD that will be simply stunning.
As an aside the current plan being discussed is to make it plain that copying, and passing around the DVD are encouraged to discourage anyone trying to make any money by selling it at conventions later.
There are a lot of things going on right now. The Farpoint Convention is coming up this weekend and they are planning to show the first five minutes of the movie. Those lucky enough to see it will see lots of panoramic shots that really establish the feel of the Star Wars universe and the overall quality of the movie. The effect is overwhelming with its original score and special effects that will leave a lot of professional producers wondering where the hell their money went in their own films.
The Premiere and Gala Party are selling out faster than anyone could have expected. In fact if you are reading this after February 25th it's probably already too late but check with the powers that be anyway.
Premier Link Here.

Revelations Site Update now underway.
The music for the FLASH on the opening page is from the movies original soundtrack.
How cool is that?
Click the image to go Check it out.

September 2004

Rumor has it the the premiere date will be April 16th of 2005. A site with details on how to get in and see the movie, go to the party, and rent a hotel room is being built even as we speak. More details as they become available.

June 2004

Okay here is the latest; there is news of a tentative premier date for sometime in April 2005. Can't say too much here, but things are moving along. Lot's of promotional stuff and activity, and of course they're still trying to finish the movie.

February 2004

The latest news was the premier of the new, incredible, trailer at Farpoint Feb. 14th, 2004.

The response of the crowd was overwhelming and very rewarding for both Gina and I after all the work we've put into this project. Having said that let me just add that the total work we've done doesn't even measure up against what Shane and Dawn have put in. They truly deserve all the credit. Honestly, we're honored just to be able to call them our friends. That goes for the whole crew at Panicstruck. Sarah, Jack, Nick - you guys are the best.

We've put a lot into this but we've gotten so much more out of it, in the friends we've made, and the experience we've gained, that it hardly seems fair. While we're doling out thanks and credits let's not forget the CG folk who are currently working so hard to finish this. If this latest trailer is any indication you guys are going to put this project over the top.

Also at Farpoint, Gina and I, along with other members of the cast and crew got to participate in the "How to make a fan film" panel. The first hour was in the main ballroom right before one of the major guests was scheduled to speak. (Now that's timing!) We had been a little nervous about it, but it turned out to be great fun. Everyone talked about his or her commitment and contributions to Revelations and related some great stories about how it all happened.