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In Production
Monarch of the Moon
Sci-Fi Comedy to have Limited Digital Theatrical Release this
Month
 Los Angeles-based filmmaker Chris Patton has produced the critically
acclaimed sci-fi comedy feature Monarch of the Moon with Dark
Horse Entertainment. Shot on two Panasonic AG-DVX100A 24p/30p/60i Mini-DV
3-CCD camcorders, the 99-minute, six-part period piece will have a limited
theatrical release this month to select cinemas with digital projection.
It is being released by Dark Horse Entertainment’s new label,
Dark Horse Indie, and will be distributed to DVD this October by Image
Entertainment. Monarch was an official selection at Montreal’s
2006 Fantasia Film Festival, North America's premiere showcase of international
genre cinema. The feature was directed by Rico Lowry.
Based loosely on the Flash Gordon serials from the 1930s, Monarch revolves
around an American Superhero named the Yellow Jacket who discovers that
the Axis is being supported by the evil Monarch of the Moon to soften
up America for a full-scale invasion. With a cast of 16, the film was
shot in 14 days at eight different locations in and around Los Angeles,
including a huge warehouse in Woodland Hills for green screen. Extraordinary
for a project budgeted at under $80,000, Monarch boasts more
than 900 visual effect shots ranging from Matte Painting to more than
40 solid minutes of green-screen.
“I knew that we needed to keep the production moving fast in order
to get all of our exteriors shot,” says Patton, who also served
as Monarch’s creator, screenwriter and second-unit DP. “I
had worked with larger-format cameras that were heavy and difficult to
haul up rough terrain. We had five days in a hot, very rocky park and
averaged 50 to 70 set-ups a day — the DVX100A was perfect for grabbing
shots from any location. The cameras were also affordable enough for
us to get two.”
“We had a unique shooting location in a real 1940’s passenger
plane. The space was cramped and we had only 12 hours to shoot 150 shots
and get enough coverage,” he says. “To maneuver shots of
the outside of the plane we were climbing on wings, flimsy ladders and
coolers — all to get window shots!
Remarkably, we managed to get all of our scenes. If I had gone with
a larger format camera or 16mm film, we would have eliminated the entire
sequence due to the nightmare factor of the logistics.”
“I used a FireWire (IEEE 1394) pipeline to capture as we went.
I could monitor every scene to make sure we had our coverage and continuity,” Patton
says. “Because we had instant feedback we were able to cut our
shooting ratio down to 4 to 1. The DVX100A’s Gamma range and low
light levels really impressed DP Gregory Marquette. He could not believe
how crisp and clean the image was, even when we projected it 20 feet
wide to watch our dailies. He’d been expecting good video, but
was convinced that DVX100A footage looked like clean 16 mm.”
The initial edit was done on Adobe Premiere and finished and color corrected
on Final Cut Pro. The filmmaker attributes the “very specific old
film look” to a combination of Adobe After Effects and a plug-in
for Final Cut.
“I’d been concerned about using the DVX100 to shoot all
the green screen — was the DV color space too limited for a clean
edge?” says Patton. “Well, we’ve projected this feature
in New York, Austin and Los Angeles, and no one has ever said anything
about rough-looking effects. Quite the opposite, we had no trouble compositing
and every image is very sharp and clean.”
Monarch of the Moon www.monarchofthemoon.com
Panasonic www.panasonic.com/broadcast |
