First, watch the trailer and then I'll tell you about what we've been up to.

Here's the short link to the Indiegogo: http://igg.me/at/quantumterror

Did you like it? We're pretty pleased with it. There are issues what we're working to improve right now, such as improving our sound, but over all I think you'd be hard pressed to find anything else of this quality on our budget. I'd say that I'd bet my reputation that we'll probably finish with a better all around film than most bigger budget indies, but the fact is that anytime a director/producer makes a movie, that's exactly what they are doing. Fortunately, I've got a great cast and crew who are bringing a level of quality to this film that would otherwise be out of my reach. However, we still need your help. If you've already pledged, please share our campaign. Now what we've made our goal, Indiegogo is letting us keep raising money, so we can make this movie be the best it can be.

The Story

Samantha Carroll's twin sister Silvia has gone missing, without a trace. The only clues that Sam has to go on are notebooks filled with strange quantum physics equations combined with scribblings about the occult, that have been left behind. Silvia's ex-boyfriend and fellow college classmate claims he has seen her going into the nearby drainage tunnels that run under the town he lives in, however he himself is a suspect in her disappearance.
Accompanied by Samantha's concerned ex-lover Lucy, who has brought a new boyfriend in tow, the now group of four go down into the tunnels where strange alien creatures and alterations of reality, will confront them with their deepest desires and darkest inner truths. Now, the question isn't just whether they will find Silvia or not, but if it's even possible for them to ever get out again.

How We're Making It Happen

If you haven't already seen, we've cast actress Kristin Cochell in the leading roll of Samantha Carroll. She, along with the supporting cast of Paula Marcenaro Solinger, Matt Blackwell, Jordan Michael Brinkman, Mike Gassaway, & Dimitrius Pulido were all part of an extensive casting process, in order to ensure that we had the best actors possible, who would engage the audience and truly bring the story to life. 

The Script

As I say in the video, story and characters count. Executive producer James Hudnall is known for his work as co-creator of the Ultraverse for Malibu Comics as well as Harsh Realms for Chris Carter, and is a writing genius in my book. His revisions of the script are invaluable. We continue to talk on the phone about directors we love (David Lynch and Sergio Leone are names that kept coming up) and tweaks that should be made to the script as footage is shot. We're both very visual storytellers and we want to make sure that ours unfolds through mood, body language, the looks in people's eyes and actions, as much as through what is said.

Building Scary Worlds & Monsters

Let's talk about building underground tunnels and the creatures that inhabit them, on a micro budget. My passion for a long time has been working with a hybrid style of miniatures, trick photography, practical effects, puppets, and green screen composite work, both for the screen and design. I've helped bring to life the visions of some amazing creators, on projects like Passport To Explore, Live Forever: The Ray Bradbury Odyssey, and Harbinger Down, but I'm the director, so I had to bring in someone who I could trust to do even better at that stuff than the standards I hold myself to. That's why I made Jenna Green my head of special effects. You'll probably know her best for her time on SyFy Channel's Face Off (season 4) but she also wowed audiences with work on Army of Frankensteins.

We're not having a go at the FX alone, though. Studio 1881 actually has no internet presence, so you'll just have to take my word for it when I say that the main creature that is being sculpted there is beyond amazing. The fact that Oscar winning FX company studioADI is contributing animatronic tentacles to our film is just mind blowing. Having the support of people with that level of achievement (the Aliens franchise, Tremors, Starship Troopers, Harbinger Down) makes us believe we must be doing something right.

 

The Look & Sound

Cinematographer Anthony Gutierrez is one of our latest additions to the team. This has been an amazing development for us, because even though I had confidence in my own camera skills and artistic eye, there's nothing like having a specialist at the helm, that can look at everything that is going on in a production, and capture it in a way that transcends your average B-movie. Composer Derek Hunt is a relative newcomer to film scoring, but as you can tell from the trailer, he's come up with some haunting melodies that will put the fear, in atmosphere. (It works better when you say it out load.)

...and there's so much more we're doing right now, that we either can't talk about just yet, or would just make this post twice as long as it already is. (Shout out to David Paul, who is doing our titles & the band Frankenstein who have a track in the film.) I just want everyone to see that the stars are right. We've attracted more top notch talent than I could have ever dreamed. We've got a film with amazing visuals, themes like love, LGBT issues, freedom of choice, life, death, spirituality, science, and the passion to make it all happen. Come be a part of it.

Oh, and I almost forgot. Check the shout out we got on this weeks Fright Hype, on Crypt TV.

VICTOR FRANKENSTEIN TRAILER!! That and the best Mortal Kombot YouTube reimaging ever on this week's horror news show FRIGHT HYPE!
Posted by Crypt TV on Friday, August 21, 2015

The Quantum Terror: A Christopher Moonlight Production

A twin sister lost. An underground maze. A nameless insanity from outside of time and space awaits.

 

It's no secret that I'm very passionate about what I do. Film making has always appealed to me, because it allows me to engage my creativity through writing, drawing, building, and working with other creative minds, as a team. In my quest to pursue projects on micro budgets I have been humbled, but my commitment to finishing them have only strengthened my creativity and problem solving abilities. There for I am happy to announce that my four projects, the all green screen sci-fi short Girl In The Window, my documentary The Practical People, short film My Little Zombie (which I will talk about more, in future posts) and my first feature length horror film as a producer, The Quantum Terror will all see completion of their productions in 2015. 

What Is The Quantum Terror?

When I came to Austin, TX in 2012, I was fortunate enough to make some wonderful friends, including director Frank Papa III, special effects artist Jenna Green, and film composer Lauren Morris, and before long I convinced them that they should work with me to produce a work of indie horror, the likes of which no one has ever seen, or dreamed possible on such a micro budget. We tried to run a Kickstarter in the month of December, which was really the wrong time...

...but it was a great way to A) learn that Kickstarter isn't the right platform for us, no matter how near or far from Christmas we try to raise our funds, and B) gain a tremendous amount of enthusiastic and supportive followers who want to see a movie like this made. And why wouldn't they?! We love movies full of strange alien shapes, tentacles, and mind blowing scientific ideas of interdenominational beings so incomprehensible to the human mind, that one would go crazy, just from seeing one. (takes deep breath) It's easy to see that other people love them, too. We also love seeing awesome practical effects, like the ones in John Carpenter's The Thing or James Cameron's Aliens, so when we started doing test videos for our own effects, we and everyone else could see that it could be awesome.  

 

 By the way, those creepy sounds were provided by the before mentioned Lauren Morris, who's passion and deep understanding of her craft make it obvious that she's going to be a huge asset in making this movie as spine chilling as it can be.

 

Of course, these are just some of my own humble effects tests. As a producer, my job is to bring in people who know better than I, and I think I've scored a pretty amazing talent in makeup and creature effects artist Jenna Green, who is responsible for the more impressive effects on the film Army Of Frankensteins. You may also remember her as a contestant on season 4 or the SyFy monster makeup competition show Face Off. Here she is talking about one of the higher end rewards we came up with for our crowdfunding. 

We're also courting some amazing actors. I won't mention all of them here, because their availability is going to depend on when we raise enough funds to shoot, but they include the likes of Mike Gassaway (Magic Mike XXL, Dallis, Bad Kids Go To Hell) and Paula Marcenaro Solinger (Blood Sombrero, Salem, Flashes) who was also kind enough to record this video about why she wants to be a part of our movie.

So, what's this film about?

Our story follows a young woman in her early 20's named Sam, who is struggling with all the expectations that she believes she needs to fulfill within the chaos of modern society, and the confusion she feels after having an unexpected romantic relationship with another woman. Things continue to break down, when her twin sister goes missing, and the search for her leads Sam and her former lover into a dark underground labyrinth where a malevolent entity from beyond time and space, dwells. 

Wow, right? I could go on, but I've got to get back to work on producing this film. As you can see, we're really passionate about creating something meaningful and unique. We believe that there's plenty of room in life for diversity, and really can't understand why people continue to chase after the same horror movie tropes until they evolve into meta, and the meta burns out. Let's take our love of creatures, practical effects, great acting, and solid storytelling, and show that the spirit of independent film making can bring new and original material to the screen.

  

We're coming to IndieGoGo, very soon. Lets do this thing! Follow us on:

Facebook

Twitter

Google+

You Tube

Instagram

& Pinterest

Also go to our Quantum Terror Blog and sign up for email updates, so you can be the first to know what's happening next.

Christopher Moonlight Productions Helps Amalgamated Dynamics Inc. To Fund Harbinger Down

Harbinger Down Kickstarter

Click Here To Pledge!

I am happy to announce that Christopher Moonlight Productions has decided to stand behind Amalgamated Dynamics Inc. (ADI) to help promote the Kickstarter for their movie, Harbinger Down. It will be directed by ADI's own Alec Gillis and produced by Tom Woodruff Jr. It will star the amazing Lance Henriksen.

This is a project of passion for everyone and that's why we've thrown our support behind it. The money will go towards creating the same caliber of practical effects that won Gills and Woodruff the Academy Award for Death Becomes Her and also got them nominated for and Oscar for Alien 3. They are asking for $350,000.00 which must be raise by June 7th, 2013. This may sound like a lot of money, but in a world where movies cost hundreds of millions of dollars to make, it's really nothing. I'll post the press release below, but I want to say that on a personal level, I really care about this project. It means a great deal to me that there are creators like Alec and Tom, who are not in this for the money but for the joy of realizing their art. They need it. We need it. Why? Because work like this is not a means to an end. It exists for its own sake. Like all art, it is meant to fill our lives and bring us together, like a tribe gathering around a fire to hear the elder tell tales in the dark, and not put money in the pockets of investors, who don't care what the final product is, as long as they get theirs. So, if you are the kind of person who believes that the meaning of life is to make it as full and happy for all, as you can, please do so by joining us in pledging to this project.

...and now, a small sample of the incredible amount of work that has already gone into this project:

 

 ...and my own contributions to the cause:  

...and here's how we did it: 

Academy Award-Winning Team Attempts to Resurrect Lost Art of Classic Horror Film Through Launching Kickstarter Campaign In the spirit of classic films such as Alien and The Thing, Alec Gillis and Tom Woodruff, Jr. aspire to bring “Harbinger Down” to the silver screen with the help of fan support for their independent project LOS ANGELES, CA – Academy Award-winning Visual Effects artists Alec Gillis and Tom Woodruff, Jr., co-founders of Studio ADI (Amalgamated Dynamics, Inc.) have launched a Kickstarter campaign to bring their science fiction/horror film celebrating animatronics and makeup FX, “Harbinger Down,” to the silver screen. Gillis and Woodruff hope fans are excited to help not only make a new horror classic, but also to uplift an art form. The filmmakers’ goal is to raise $350,000 from fan support via the Kickstarter campaign by June 7, 2013 to get the project off the ground.

 Harbinger Down, set to star notable sci-fi and horror film actor Lance Henriksen, depicts a group of grad students have booked passage on the fishing trawler Harbinger to study the effects of global warming on a pod of Orcas in the Bering Sea. When the ship's crew dredges up a recently thawed piece of old Soviet space wreckage, things quickly become deadly. It seems that the Russians experimented with tardigrades, tiny resilient animals able to withstand the extremes of space radiation. The creatures survived, but not without mutation. Now the crew is exposed to aggressively mutating organisms. After being locked in ice for 3 decades, the creatures aren't about to give up the warmth of human companionship.

“Animatronics and Makeup FX have been utilized less frequently in recent films, but this is not because of audience disinterest,” announced Gillis, who will write and direct the film. “In the spirit of sci-fi/horror classics, Alien and The Thing, Harbinger Down is a tense, claustrophobic full-length creature film that will feature only practical Animatronics and Makeup Effects. Fans of the art of Animatronics and Makeup FX know this technique is currently overlooked by the big studios; I'm hoping the fans will help us remedy that by supporting this labor of love.”

“Our company, Amalgamated Dynamics, will create the kind of Oscar caliber Creature Effects for which we are known,” commented Woodruff, who will produce, along with Studio ADI’s Jennifer Tung. “Traditional techniques still have a place in modern genre films. We didn’t give up painting, when cameras were invented.”

Gillis and Woodruff have over 60 years of experience between them and have worked with many top filmmakers, including James Cameron, David Fincher, Paul Verhoeven, Ridley Scott, Neill Blomkamp, Robert Zemeckis, Joe Johnston, Nora Ephron and Mike Nichols just to name a few. The filmmakers are utilizing Kickstarter to ask supporters of “old-school” visual effects to give them the opportunity to show it.

Contributors to the Harbinger Down Kickstarter Campaign will receive unique, amazing, thrilling, one-of-a-kind incentives for supporting the project. More details about the project can be found on the Harbinger Down Kickstarter website: http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1117671683/harbinger-down-a-practical-creature-fx-film

About Studio ADI (Amalgamated Dynamics, Inc.) Amalgamated Dynamics, Inc. was founded by Academy Award winning creators of special characters and character effects artists Alec Gillis and Tom Woodruff, Jr. Calling upon a diverse range of talents and techniques, Studio ADI creates prosthetic make-ups, animatronic puppets, actor duplicates and replica animals. With over twenty years of professional experience, we bring “real” character effects to the set to interact with the actors, lighting and practical atmosphere. We pride ourselves on working with the industry’s leading Computer-generated imagery (CGI) companies to find the right balance of digital and practical effects. For more information and a resume of work on past productions, visit the Studio ADI website: http://www.studioadi.com/ or, the Studio ADI YouTube Channel: http://www.youtube.com/user/studioADI

All attached jpg photos © 20013 Studio ADI. Permissions granted only for usage in conjunction with “Harbinger Down.” EPK/VIDEO CLIPS/ PHOTOS/INTERVIEWS/STUDIO & SET VISITS available upon request.

Ray Bradbury's The Groon: Speed Sculpt

Christopher Moonlight Making Of Ray Bradbury Groon from Christopher (Moonlight) Cooksey on Vimeo.

For Live Forever: The Ray Bradbury Odyssey (liveforeverthemovie.com/) I had to show Ray's childhood monster, The Groon, which he used to imagine seeing at the top of the stairs, late at night. The solution was to build a rod puppet, which was then shot against a green screen, and added to footage of a staircase, shot by Scott Smith (lighthousevideoservices.com) under the direction of Micheal O'Kelly. O'Kelly and smith were also responsible for videoing child actor Zachary Meade (imdb.com/name/nm5282501/) against a green screen for me to composite with the other footage for the final moment in the film. 

Watch until the end for a special comment from Malcolm McDowell.

Music by Bartok, Roumanian Dance No. 1 musopen.org/

If you have trouble viewing this video CLICK HERE for the You Tube version. 

The Official Live Forever: The Ray Bradbury Odyssey Website!

IT'S HERE! The official website for Live Forever: The Ray Bradbury Odyssey. 

CLICK HERE to Enter

Click Here for more info on this blog.

Designing Bradbury's From The Dust Returned

By way of Live Forever producer Michael O'Kelly's friendship with Ray Bradbury, I had an opportunity to pitch my idea to him, on how I would interpret his book, From The Dust Returned, into a low budget movie. Of course, I was thrilled to be able to do this and wanted to also possibly pitch this to the stars who are in Live Forever, including Edward James Olmos, Malcolm McDowell, and Joe Mantegna. Sadly, while I was working on this, Ray's health took a turn for the worse and not long after, MGM acquired the film rights to the book.

What fallows are an introduction video I made, to show how I would have liked to incorporate puppets, animation, and actors together, using green screen, as well as dummy posters for the movie pitch, and a select few designs I did, all with the hopes of showing them to one of the most brilliant writers in the last one hundred years.

I also owe a huge shout out to the band Death By Dolls and Dame Darcy at damedarcy.com for letting me use her brilliant music for this demo video. It has been a long time dream of mine to have her score one of my films, and I think her music would have been perfect for this movie. Go to her website and buy one of her albums. You won't be disappointed.

Here are the dummy posters:

Beyond the would be posters, were these designs for Timothy's Egyptian mummy cat, his mother, and a random family member that might be a gorgon.   

This sketch would have been the beginnings of my Timothy design as well as another family member, but I never got around to putting it into Photoshop. Still, I like the design. See the rest of my PORTFOLIO BY CLICKING HERE.

I did send these designs on to the producers working on the film right now, but never heard back from them. That's not unusual. My understanding is that the film is already in production. I look forward to seeing it.
#christophermoonlight 

Live Forever: A Ray Bradbury Odyssey (Extended Trailer)

This is (as the title says) an extended trailer for the documentary Live Forever: A Ray Bradbury Odyssey about the life of the writer, himself. Originally it was to be a short film, boiling down his life into fifteen minute for the You Tube Your Film Festival. Due to what was felt to be very one sided contest rules, dealing with ownership, it was decided not to enter to contest, so the movie was re-edited into what you see here.

 (Sorry, we had to take it down, due to re-editing. It'll be back soon.) 

Unfortunately, the continuity of the effects I created were meant for a short film, so they aren't entirely what I would have done for an extended trailer. However, now there is this sizzle reel, which shows (somewhat) what I had originally intended for the individual scenes, and their continuity.

(Sorry, we had to take it down, due to re-editing. It'll be back soon.) 

 This project was done on a micro budget, and wouldn't have been possible without the help of some super talented artists and producers, who's photos are below. I'll try to explain these photos, the best I can.
Here is producer Summer Potter, sitting on stage with Mr. Electrico (Dave Grave) projected behind her. Summer was a major contributor to the production, and did many thing to keep it from stalling.
Here's me (Christopher Moonlight) with Live Forever creator, writer, producer, and good friend of Ray Bradbury, Michael O'Kelly. What are we doing? Trying to figure out why his Mac isn't working how it's supposed to. Seriously, that took up half the production time.

 ...and this dapper fellow (he's single, ladies) is the AMAZING Rich Goddard, who acted as FX supervisor for the video portion of the original stage play, and consultant to me, for the extended trailer. He's a little camera shy, so this is the only photo I have of him.
Here is Mr. Electrico himself, Mr. Dave Grave. Not only is he front man for the death rock band Frankenstein, the builder of that epic Ferris wheel you see in all the videos, the actor who plays Mr. Electrico, but he's also a fantastic grip. Oh, and we shot all the green screen at his home.
These sketches are an example of Dave's mad genius. I give him the simple task of building a spooky old Ferris wheel, and suddenly I'm getting page after page of notes and design ideas. If you want a model builder who can take an idea and run, and run, and run with it. Get Dave Grave.
  Jeremy Hanes (who is first and foremost and actor) was also instrumental in the production of this project, working as director of photography, sound recording engineer, and stand in actor. Like Rich and Dave, I couldn't have made this project happen without him.
Here's some more on set silliness for you, (makes a great desktop) of us sitting behind the fish tank that was used for all of our puppeteer work, as well as the dining room chair that was converted, using cardboard, into Mr. Electrico's electric chair. I know, it's way budget, but did you notice, when watching the video? I don't think you can honestly say you did.

For all the extended behind the scenes work, click here and scroll down. Being resourceful on a budget is my specialty, and the specialty of all of my crew. There's plenty of videos, photos, and links that will show you just how brilliant they are. You can also read news stories on the project HERE and HERE. Enjoy.

Christopher Moonlight Productions Sizzle Reel for 2012

Christopher Moonlight 2012 Show Reel from Christopher (Moonlight) Cooksey on Vimeo.


This is my Sizzle Reel for the first part of 2012. It contains scenes from my upcoming short film Girl In The Window, staring Jeremy Hanes. I also hope it shows my skills as a production designer, digital composite artist, matte painter, model builder, and puppeteer... just to name a few. I've worn many hats and my only regret is that I couldn't put the other two thirds of the projects I've been working on, in it. I'd like to submit (in this post) a few stills of the models and puppets I've built, so you can spend a little more time looking at them. I find its always best (for me) to find practical solutions to visual effects challenges first, and let the computer be there to enhance what those solutions are. When working on a budget, I find that the blend can be better than satisfying.

e mail me:
christophermoonlight (at) gmail (dot) com

Be sure to "Like" Girl In The Window on Facebook.

Let's start with a few of my digital matte paintings. These are a combination of digital painting, and photography... with the last pic being a concept painting to be developed into a two and a half D matte painting.

Next up are my models and puppets, which I create from Sculpy and latex (as in my monsters and goblins) painted with acrylic and polyurethane or in the instance of my space ships and robots, are put together from found objects. It's the best way to work, on a budget.

  My daughter really enjoys my work, by the way.

Storyboarding isn't an intricate part of what I do, but I do like to rough out a general idea of what I have in mind for a scene. These days, it's more practical to rough out ideas in Adobe After Effects, animate them, and let them evolve within the computer.

From drawing, to painting, to digital, its always good to visualize not only the look of a character but that character's mood. Sometimes choosing a medium will dictate that mood.

Painted:

Sketched:

Digital:

Bloom by Christopher Moonlight

Special thanks to Rich Goddard who has been my adviser in a lot of my work, and did the 3D background for the vampire bride puppet, and Dave Grave who built the monster head (to my specifications) which I animated. Also, to Jeremy Hanes who not only acts for me, but has been my director of photography, though all of this. Also, thank you to Richard Hines for loaning me one of his DV cameras and light kit to shoot my short film. You can learn more about their work, by checking out other posts on this blog.

Girl In The Window Part 1: Designing Everything

Working on my own no budget, indy, sci-fi, film requires that I pretty much to everything, including props and monster design. Here are both, that I've designed and built for my short film "Girl In The Window." Shooting starts next week. I give you two ray guns, and the Anigav Beast.

 ...and for a bonus, one of my early story designs and a couple of idea sketches.

Check out our Facebook page HERE.