The story thus far . . .
Ever since I saw RETURN OF THE JEDI as small boy I have always had a strong passion towards movies. Not knowing much about the technical aspects of movie making and rarely having access to any camera equipment (aside for some crude VHS experiments with friends in middle school) I decided to attend a film school post high school. While there I made various different shorts films ranging in genre and in late spring of 2004 as my thesis year was coming to a close I had an idea. I had already done some comedy films and a relatively large horror picture. Next I really wanted to do a movie that was straight up action. It was an ambitious idea and in hindsight probably too much so but I wanted to do it nonetheless. So one day on a train ride to and from school I plotted the entire story arc of what is now the FALLOUT CHRONCILES.
As I was doing this I came to the realization that this concept and story were far larger than anything I had attempted previously and was definitely leaning more towards feature length. But I didn’t want to shoot an entire feature length movie did I? So taking inspiration from a serialistic cartoon I had recently seen I thought having my story being told in chapters was a good way to go. That way the entire feature length movie could really made up of about twelve 6 – 10 minute episodes. That way I could shoot one cut it together and have it as a watchable mini movie and then go on and shoot the next one. So I had a plan. Time to write. It wasn’t until almost a full year later that I had my script. It came to a whopping 97 pages. The next few months were spent storyboarding, making costumes, and doing camera tests. Shooting something that was 97 pages long was a bit of an undertaking compared to my previous work that was about 30 pages and that one took about a year to finish. But this shouldn’t be too bad because again I was going to shoot it a chapter at time. It would be like making a lot of little films instead of a giant one. If only it worked that way.
When most films are made they are shot out of sequence. I wanted mine to be an exception to the rule. It was not. Due to timing, peoples availability, and climate conditions it had to be shot out of sequence. Day one of shooting was an action sequence that takes place in chapter 4.
On OCTOBER 25th 2005 cameras rolled for the first time with fairly good results. (The first day always ends up being iffy for me because I never know what to expect and it takes a bit to get in the groove of things.)
Since then shooting has resumed here and there with a cast and crew usually no more than 4 people and very rarely 6. There have been highs and lows but always very little compromise. In between shooting I will edit the footage when I have the time. Unfortunately, the fact that I am financing the film myself and that the cast and crew work for free puts a hindrance on the speed in which progress can occur. Regardless the project continues to roll forward even if at times it’s a glacial pace. I am still extremely excited about his project and so pleased with the results as it comes closer to its finished form. I am also extremely grateful of everyone who has donated their time and or efforts to making this film possible and I’m so proud of how far everyone has come with their abilities since my very first film to now when I’m making my very first feature film.
As of April 7th 2008 roughly 85 percent of principle photography is completed and probably around 50 percent of the editing. There is still a ways away before the final piece will be ready for viewing but chapter 1 will be able to be viewed in the very near future via this website.
Until then thank you for taking interest in THE FALLOUT CHRONICLES and take care.
- John T. Fisher
