Arcadian Dreams

The Life of an Independent Filmmaker

Posts Tagged Fallen Sky

writing season

Dec 17

Posted by Joshua in Making Movies | No Comments

Winter is always the best time for writing. On cold, wet days there’s nothing to do but sit and get out the stories that have been buzzing around in my head for the past few months.

The treatment for Dream Raiders  is finished and like most of my scripts, it’s very ambitious.  It’s meant to be “scalable” in terms of budget even though it’s very FX heavy. A lot more needs to be developed before I show it to anyone, but it feels like I’m off to a good start.

I’ve also been tweaking the Fallen Sky screenplay.  Scenes or dialogue that didn’t add to the story are gone, making it much leaner while keeping the spirit and “holy shit” ending. It’s still probably too “big budget” to be my next movie, but SOMEDAY…

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Fantasy vs Sci-Fi

Nov 5

Posted by Joshua in Making Movies | No Comments

I’m still undecided on which project to pursue after Bloodwood. Looking over the script for Fallen Sky, I realize it would be very hard to do with a small budget and still have a fantasy feel. It could work as a gritty urban drama if I want to take it that way. On the other hand, my sci-fi idea based on dreams could be shot on a limited budget if I develop it the same way as Bloodwood, by writing the story around locations and FX that are easy to find or make.

Sci-Fi films tend to be more successful than fantasy, with the notable exceptions of LOTR and Harry Potter. And those already had loyal fans from the books. Original fantasy is hard to sell compared to sci-fi, at least according to my former lit agent.

Midsummer Nightmare and Bloodwood 2 are also options,  even though I’d rather my second feature be something besides horror. Still, I think the best plan may be to enter scripts into contests and see what wins and/or gets attention from producers.

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Looking Ahead

Oct 12

Posted by Joshua in Making Movies | No Comments

As Bloodwood get closer to release, I find myself looking ahead to the next project. A vacation is probably in order, but then my schedule is wide open.

Most people agree that the Shakespeare inspired horror “A Midsummer Nightmare” is my most marketable idea. I wrote it a few years back to be produced for around $3 mil. The next draft will have to have to tone down some of the bigger scenes if I’m going to make it for under $100k.

If Bloodwood is successful there will undoubtedly be a sequel. Both Midsummer and Bloodwood 2 are set mainly in forests, so it could even be possible to film both at once (or back to back) on a limited budget. That is IF I want to follow up my first feature with more horror.

Personally, I would love to make Fallen Sky my next film. The dark modern fantasy is my most original screenplay, and it has infinite potential as a series or just as a stand-alone movie. My ambitions exceeded my skill (and budget) when I first attempted to film the story as a short in 2003.  Still, we got enough footage for a cool trailer and the movie’s back story inspired my first novel: “Fallen Sky – The Shining Blades”.

Can an epic fantasy movie be made on a limited budget? I think so. Especially when you have a good Producer.

Know any?

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