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.

My First Marionettes

These are some of the very first (of many) marionettes that I've made for my little no budget indy movies. I've already made some better stuff since this video (and my handle on visual effects has vastly improved) but I still enjoy these. I'll post the better ones after the movies they're in come out. Enjoy.

Working on the Ray Bradbury Odyssey: Part 3 (Of Groons and Ghosts)

Of Groons and Ghosts from Christopher (Moonlight) Cooksey on Vimeo.

This video is of some moments from the effects shoots for Live Forever: The Ray Bradbury Odyssey. It demonstrates how I created the underwater puppet effects (with green screen) for such Ray Bradbury creatures as "The Groon" and "The Monster on the Stairs." Family members from Ray's past were also a big part of the story, so we had to come up with a way to make them look ghost like (ghosts from his past) using only some green felt, and a 7D camera. 7D is a great camera for shooting actors, but is hard to deal with when it comes to keying out green, because of the way that it compresses files. In the end, we ended up using some of the noise that compression caused as part of the look, instead of spending time outside the budget, trying to clean it all up. The results turned out very nice, if I do say so myself. As always, I had my loyal team of visual effects supervisor Rich Goddard, co-director and DP Jeremy Hanes, and model builder, grip, and actor Dave Grave, to aid me in making the magic happen. Written and produced by Michael O'Kelly.







These photos are of my creature design for "The Groon" and the staircase I photographed at Dave Grave's home. I then broke the staircase down into layers, so that Rich Goddard could more easily blend the puppets into the scene.

Working on the Ray Bradbury Odyssey: Part 2 (Mr. Electrico)

Mr. Electrico Demo from Christopher (Moonlight) Cooksey on Vimeo.


Ray Bradbury's story of how the carnival magician Mr. Electico sat in an electric chair and knighted him with an electric sword, was another very important part of the play. It is indeed the moment where the young stage actor playing Ray as a boy, stands before his projected image on stage, and is told "Live Forever." That's the name of the play, so we needed to get this right. The only problem was that all we had was a piece of green felt, some lights, an old aluminum lamp, and Dave Grave's (whom we got to step in as Mr. Electrico at the last minute) back patio to shoot the whole thing on. Again, I had Jeremy Hanes as my DP and Rich Goddard as my Effects Supervisor, who I worked with, using After Effects, to get the results you see above. The producers where happy.



I also created this mock carnival poster, for the show. Here are some photos from on set...




It's also worth mentioning that Jeremy Hanes was in charge recording the sounds of Malcolm McDowell, who read four poems by Mr. Bradbury, that aided in telling the story of his life.

Working on the Ray Bradbury Odyssey: Part 1

The thing that I'm most proud of, in regards to the play Live Forever: The Ray Bradbury Odyssey, is that my small team and I did so much on such a small budget, and on such a tight schedule. I quite frankly was lucky to have a team at all, but I had the fortune to have access to some of the top talents, at just the right time. It didn't start out that way, though. First, as leader of the group, I had to prove that I had a vision, a plan, and the knowledge to execute both. I had to start with some tests, that I did at home, to show other talents and the producers what I would do with the project, if put in charge. So, my first task was to pitch the project, which I did by creating some story boards, and simple versions of effects, which I had to create on my own.

This video provided many of the starting points for what I would later turn into a malty media video production, taking the audience into the farthest reaches of space, and into the heart and mind of the man, Ray Bradbury, himself. But, I also had to do it in a family friendly way.

Goblin Test from Christopher (Moonlight) Cooksey on Vimeo.

This puppet was an early test I did at home. Based on a poem by Ray called The Groon, I had to seek out a way to make a monster both menacing and family friendly. I ended up going with a design that was not a copy of, but could fit in with monsters from an old comic book cover that Ray gave us.

Michael O'Kelly, the play's writer and producer took the finished puppet over to Ray for approval, and he loved it, so that was a good feeling.

Another challenge was to create a Ferries wheel full of creatures from Ray's childhood movie going days. Originally, the idea was to rotoscope characters from old movies from Rays Childhood, and put them in the cars, but due to time and budget, it just wasn't possible. It was decided that paper cut outs of these figures would have to do, as non of the shots last more than five seconds, projected on a screen, in the play. It's a shame really, as the effect could have worked really well. It's not a hard one, just time consuming.
However, I knew the wheel it's self had to be sensational, so I brought on one of the greatest improvisational monster and set builders I know. Mr. Dave Grave. Based on my descriptions, and supervision, Dave met the challenge with zeal, and came up with a real show stopper, which we shot using stop motion animation.

Live Forever Ferris Wheel Set from Christopher (Moonlight) Cooksey on Vimeo.

After the model was built, I had Jeremy Hanes (as my DP) help light and shot the whole setup with green screen, using the rapid fire fetcher on his camera, as Dave and I ever so slowly turned the Ferries wheel, using monofilament line.





After that, it was up to Rich Goddard and I to composite the whole thing. I spent time, putting together some digital mat backgrounds, like the trees and moon, while Rich did the final green screen keying, color corrections, fog effects, and composting. Go teem. The final result was this...

Opening Sequence - Compositing from Rich Goddard on Vimeo.

Next: Mr. Electrico

Ray Bradbury Pitch-Viz

Early pitch-viz for the project Live Forever: The Ray Bradbury Odyssey. This was used to help producers get funding for the play. Special thanks to Rebecca Kim for the 3D work, and Rich Goddard, for the first lightning effect. The Ferris Wheel is a stop motion piece, set against green screen. The goblin is a puppet, designed and animated by me. Storyboards, also by me.

Ray Bradbury Ferris Wheel

Ferris Wheel for Live Forever: The Ray Bradbury Odyssey, written by Michael O'Kelly. Scene directed, and art directed by Christopher Moonlight. Composite and FX by Rich Goddard. Ferris Wheel model by Dave Grave. Lit and shot by Jeremy Hanes. Digital mat painting by Christopher Moonlight.

Ferris Wheel Shot Breakdown from Rich Goddard on Vimeo.