Barrier Production Blog

We've moved

2011-04-21T08:40:00.000+12:00

With the upgrade of the new barrier site, I am moving the blogging function over there so the site, the media, and the blog are all in one location.

Thank you for your patronage over the years, I hope you like our new home at http://www.barrier.tv/channel/blog/

Barrier Teaser Trailer 2

2010-06-21T18:02:00.001+12:00

Click to Play

The second teaser for the short movie pilot for our proposed Scifi series Barrier. Staring Claudia Christian, Bruce Hopkins, and Matthew Werkmeister.

Short Movie Teaser

2010-06-01T15:43:00.001+12:00

Hello all,

We are proud to give you the first taste of our short movie with an action packed teaser.

A larger version can be viewed at... http://barrier.blip.tv/

Enjoy.
:)

4/6 way there

2010-03-29T09:06:00.004+13:00

Well that marks the end of another sequence finished for the short movie.

We have now completed four scenes out of the six that make up the 12min short movie, that's 00:08:06:24 (8min 6sec 24frames) of final Live action/CGI.

Setting up the final two sequences for render today, then I am away for a couple of weeks while the computer crunches the numbers.

Take care and stay tuned.

Best.
:)

Galleas workshop cont.

2010-03-05T17:28:00.003+13:00

Well here is the last couple of screen grabs for a while, the first is of Claudia giving the boys their marching orders and challenge "From Beyond The Grave", the second couple is of the awesome computer model supplied to us by the 3D scifi artist Andrew Glazebrook, whose work can be seen on his blog as well on various scifi shows in the UK.

Galleas workshop

2010-03-04T15:53:00.004+13:00

What is loosely dubbed as Gallea's Workshop, but is more of a big room where our two heroes meet for the first time during Gallea's funeral.

We made some serious progress yesterday, and we are hoping to get this scene finished by the end of this weekend.

Enjoy. :)

More Screen Caps

2010-02-22T17:19:00.004+13:00

Some more shots from the Barrier short movie, it's coming together and looking great.

Quarter Done

2010-02-14T22:25:00.002+13:00

The short movie is approximately one quarter finished, or maybe just under that, so in the spirit of sharing here is a few pictures of the Bruce, Claudia, and Matthew doing their dramatic work.

Post Production

2010-02-04T11:41:00.005+13:00

Well the work has been done,and the short is now in what we call the rendering stage... that is where the raw 3d data is calculated, and drawn into full colored image layers by the computer, It is the most time consuming part of the process.

At the moment we have finished 20shots out of approx 160shots, so there is a bit to go yet, however it is looking very good for a smaller budget production.

Well back to it.

Two more for the big race

2010-01-13T22:55:00.003+13:00

We completed another two ships today, these two are competitors in the race against our heroes.
Not to be taken lightly, both ships are designed for high maneuverability and speed... James and Dante will have their work cut out for them.

The Beast

2010-01-12T22:59:00.001+13:00

The Beast is one scary racer, built for one thing, speed! It's pilot has been on the chase to beat young James Ngaio for years, focusing on tech and speed he's crafted one deadly fast ship.

The design is based on an Australian classic muscle car, the XB Ford Falcon Coupe, popularized by the movie "Mad Max", and recently by actor Mr Eric Bana in "Love the Beast" as Eric is a local here in Melbourne, we were inspired to put this ship in the short movie.

WC9 Corvette - The Katana

2010-01-12T08:38:00.002+13:00

He's know bodies chump, beware when he's on the track, here's Dante Lau's personal race ship, the Katana.

I still have a few tweeks to go on it, but it's looking nice for the most part, should look great busting it up on our race track.
:)

Rendering and Compositing

2010-01-06T10:50:00.006+13:00

Well it's getting there, allot to do yet, but we are getting shots finished now, and as the final assets will be delivered today, so we'll be able to do shots on mass soon enough.

Anyway, here are some screen caps from the short.

Enjoy.

Site Update - Crew Page

2009-12-24T09:50:00.003+13:00

In the process of updating the crew bio page on the website, where we have put some short bios on some of the crew members that have put their time into the short movie.
Latest update is of Mr Terry Shepherd, who is the director for the short movie.

Spacerod - pilots! to your racers!!

2009-12-23T14:55:00.002+13:00

Well we are very proud to present one of the hero racers in the short movie, and I have to say everyone has done a great job, and it looks great... just six more to go. :)

-S

Behind Scenes

2009-12-13T12:16:00.003+13:00

We are happy to announce that the fair and talented Kate Mills, and Karen Wasson are taking on the challenge of directing the short film's behind the scenes featurette.

Which will go online when it is finished... cheers guys.
:)

Site update

2009-12-13T12:14:00.001+13:00

Well the Barrier site is in the process of yet another update. So if there are some areas that need improvement, or you would like to see some new content, please don't hesitate to request.

Cheers.

Riggin

2009-12-09T09:35:00.005+13:00

I thought since I had to shove the release date back a bit more I would start sharing some insider info about the project as we progress with it.

The planning stage of the short is all but over now, only have a couple of missing shots left, so we are gearing up to start animation. For the next week I'll be rigging up the space ships.. what rigging do they require you ask? don't they just fly around? just one control will do it right?

In some cases, yes... but for the hero ships they need additional controls to throttle the turbines, shake the parts of the ship, some of the ships have swivel engines that need controls, and house lights that need a control to shut the ship down if the need arises.

Matty's hotrod is looking pretty good, just need to add some greater tolerances, and am done, then onto Bruce's ship, the Katana.

Visualised

2009-12-03T12:10:00.003+13:00

Well the previsualisation part of the short movie is finished, and nearly locked down, we'll be working on the Animation, sound, and music from next week onwards.
It's coming together really well and I am most impressed with everyone's contribution to date, Thank you.

PS The picture? I just really like it, sums up my inner feelings right now. :)

One Onset Board

2009-11-19T22:48:00.002+13:00

Art by Sunny Koda while on set during the film shoot, the subjects are Mr Bruce Hopkins and Mr Matthew Werkmeister during one of their scenes.

Ship Submissions Coming Soon

2009-11-13T17:42:00.003+13:00

We have some new submissions to the Barrier project with 3d models provided to us, and being built for us by Mr Mehmet Pinarci, and Mr Ivan Pxxx.

I'll be posting images of these assets in the next week or two, once my backlog of previs setup work is complete.

1TB

2009-11-13T17:33:00.003+13:00

Barrier has just been moved into a bigger universe, in the form of a new 1TB production drive, brought exclusively for the Barrier Short Film Production, as we are running out of room on the somewhat no-longer so spacious 500GB drive.

A27-C dustCart

2009-10-28T18:34:00.003+13:00

Submission made by Andrew Glazebrook as part of the public contribution request.

Glazy's Contribution

2009-10-27T19:04:00.006+13:00

Another fine contribution has made it into the mix, thank you to Andrew Glazebrook for this star wolf pursuit ship.

To date Andrew has supplied this ship, and the docking bays to the space station... awesome work man!

Cheers.

Edit

2009-10-26T09:18:00.004+13:00

Terry and I worked on the edit for 10hours yesterday and we are now 4mins in, as a rough it's looking very good, and I am really excited about it.
It's been a long road, and though it's a short movie pilot, it's finally a reality, by god man! we have a show.

Barrier Sci-Fi Channel Ship Casting Call

2009-10-12T23:47:00.001+13:00

Casting Call, Casting Call... for original space ships great and small, If you feel your spaceship is suitable for our flick, all you have to do is post us a pic, we'll review your work and if we like it we'll put it in our short movie.

We are modeling the hero ships and sets, but one of the opening scenes calls for a large amount of private vessels that are moving through, arriving or docked that the above space station, they will be seen from a distance, except for a special few that may receive close up shots.

Any final requested submissions will have to be delivered in a Maya compatible format like, .OBJ, .FBX, .MA or .MB formats.

We can't/wont use any ships like, Battlestar Galactica, Viper fighter ships, Cylon fighters or Baseships, Star Trek, Babylon 5, Andromedia, Firefly ships or any ship that's been seen on TV/film already, original means original.

To make a submission just email us at Barrier Email, please include the 3D artists full name for the credit, a maximum of three jpeg pictures of the ship... if we want to use it we'll contact you for the mesh.

Even though we can't offer monetary compensation, in exchange for using your ship in the short movie, you'll receive a credit on the short movie, and a free download link of the final movie in either a 1280x720 resolution or 640x360 resolution.

We're Looking forward to seeing your work.

Station Name

2009-10-11T20:30:00.003+13:00

The modeling for the station is nearly finished, just some window detail work to do now, and it'll be finished. Spent all day today meshing in Andrew Glazebrook's launch tube model to stand in for the docking bay doors, and texture mapping.

It's coming together nicely as a straight out of the box render, will be interesting to see how it'll look once split up and composited properly.

On another note, as the post header would suggest, we are after a name for the station, any suggestions would be appreciated.

Principal

2009-09-21T00:13:00.006+12:00

And with that folks it was over for the principle photography part of the production, But what a totally enjoyable and successful day on set, I could not have wished for a better crew of dedicated professionals, actors that really brought their A game.

Bruce knocked it out of the park with each take, and off sided by Matthew, they made a well contrasted appearance on screen with a kick ass performance.

Of course now comes the post production phase of the project, and to kick that off we had Sunny on set drawing digital set designs based on camera setups off the monitor, what a trooper, the man is a machine and a raising talent delivering well conceived concept designs one after another.

Everyone on set today deserves a full applause for their exceptional work, I hope that one day soon we'll have the chance to work with them all again.

Cheers guys, brilliant work all round.

D Day Weekend

2009-09-17T23:54:00.004+12:00

Planning is set, all lights are green, and we are good to go for a full on weekend.

The set elements are built, and green screens are in place.

Like wise Ms Christian has given us some kind props and encouragement as we head into the weekend, then it's all post production until January.

http://claudia-christian.blogspot.com/2009/09/barrier-reef.html

Also Mr Michael Martinez posted a kind entry on his blog...
http://sf-fandom.blogspot.com/2009/09/claudia-christian-joins-barrier-short.html

Spacestation Build

2009-09-06T11:27:00.007+12:00

We started the spacestation build last week, still much more work to do yet, but this is a good start... naturally the final image will be reserved until the release of the production.

LA Shoot Wrapped

2009-08-29T19:03:00.002+12:00

Many thanks are in order after the wrap of a very successful shoot in LA for Claudia's role in the production.

Special Thank you to...
Mr Joshua Siegel
Ms Claudia Christian
Mr David Honl
and
Ms Holly Evans

For their help, collaboration, and participation in the Barrier short movie.

Thank you guys, you rock.

Today Barrier, tomorrow the world!

Cast - Role Gallea Flynn

2009-08-29T17:23:00.005+12:00

An actress that requires very little introduction to anyone in the scifi community, we are extremely excited to announce the involvement of Ms Claudia Christian in the Barrier production.

Since we approached Claudia with our concept, she has been a delight, and absolute professional in every respect to work with, and marks a solid start to the whole Barrier production.

Excerpt from the Barrier website...
Q. What do you like to do when you aren't working on a project? What do you like to do in your spare time?
Claudia. I love to read, cook and hike. I also always have a book or two going (that I am writing). I spend some of my free time making little skits for YouTube and I produce and cast and direct and work on lighting DVD's with David Honl, we're building an empire though no one knows it yet :) I recently volunteered to read to kids at the Children's hospital in LA and I volunteered for SAG as well for the same thing but neither institution has gotten back to me, I don't think they know what they're missing, because man, I really give great book!

We'll be updating the Barrier Sci-Fi Channel shortly with more information about Claudia, and her role, in the next week or so.

Photograph used with permission of Ms Claudia Christian

Cast - Role James Ngaio

2009-08-29T09:41:00.003+12:00

We are proud to announce the confirmation that the role of James Ngaio has been filled and set to be played by Melbourne actor, Mr Matthew Werkmeister.

A Melbourne local, Matthew has been active in theatre production since a young age, and is a cast regular on the international hit soap, "Neighbors", where he plays the part of Zeke Kinski.

We are all extremely positive and excited to have this promising actor on our cast.

We'll be updating the Barrier Sci-Fi Channel shortly with more information about Matt, and his role, in the next week or so.

Bio Pic Coming Soon... for google hits click here

Cast - Role Dante Lau

2009-08-28T12:00:00.000+12:00

We are very proud to announce that the role of Dante Lau has been cast and confirmed to be performed by Mr Bruce Hopkins.

Hailing from Auckland New Zealand, Mr Hopkins brings years of strong acting experience to Barrier.

Known for his many various roles in Film, Theatre, Radio, and Television, he is most famously known internationally for his role of "Gamling" on the "Lord of the Rings" movie trilogy.

Excerpt from the Barrier website...
Q. What first attracted you to the role of Dante in Barrier?

BRUCE. It was not an overstated one dimensional character. This kind of action drama can often have pretty shallow characters. I like that Dante is complex in terms of his personal inner turmoils, but he is also a rebel and very aware of how to play the game!

If you would like to ask Bruce a question, please email the production here, and he'll try to answer them in the behind the scenes documentary, Q&A segment. Thank you.

Production Update

2009-08-05T09:10:00.003+12:00

Production planning is coming along nicely.

Mr Joshua Siegel is set to film the footage for the LA part of the shoot, namely the esteemed actress that has agreed to play the role of Gallea Flynn.

Crew are set, and we have a new set builder, who will be building our cockpit and basic set elements.

3D modeling is coming along, and previz will be finished in mid August.

We are still looking for a sound fx artist, but all in all the team is coming together well.

-Barrier Sci-Fi Channel

Barrier Sci-Fi Channel Launch

2009-08-01T08:32:00.001+12:00

We are very proud to announce the launch of our new website the Barrier Sci-Fi Channel, www.barrier.tv

We will continue to update and build on the site over the next few months to include, full cast announcements, full cast profiles, short movie related fun pages, and on going updates as to the progress of the production as it advances.

All the best,

Team Barrier.

Previsualisation in Production

2009-07-28T09:23:00.004+12:00

The CGI side of the production is coming along nicely, most of the main racer ships have been fleshed out and previz will start this weekend, which is very exciting news.

Which marks the end of preproduction and the start of actual production work now, we are hoping to have the previz locked down before the live action shoot in September.

Onwards and upwards.

Barrier Sci-Fi Channel Ship Casting Call

2009-07-25T20:56:00.004+12:00

Casting Call, Casting Call... for original space ships great and small, If you feel your spaceship is suitable for our flick, all you have to do is post us a pic, we'll review your work and if we like it we'll put it in our short movie.

Basically we are modeling all the hero ships and sets, but one of the opening scenes calls for a large amount of private vessels that are arriving that the space station, they will only be seen from a distance, except for a special few that may receive a close up shot.
Any submissions will have to be delivered in a Maya compatible format like, .OBJ, .FBX, .MA or .MB formats.

We cant/wont use any ships like, Battlestar Galactica, Viper fighter ships, Cylon fighters or Baseships, Star Trek, Babylon 5, Andromedia, Firefly ships or any ship that's been seen on TV/film already, original means original. ;)

To make a submission just email us at Barrier Email, please include the 3D artists full name for the credit, a maximum of three jpeg pictures of the ship... if we want to use it we'll contact you.

In exchange for using your ship in the short, you'll receive a credit on the short movie, and a free download link of the final movie in either a 1280x720 resolution or 640x360 resolution.

We're Looking forward to seeing your work.

Barrier Sci-Fi Channel Website

2009-07-12T11:52:00.006+12:00

The Barrier Sci-Fi Channel will be online for either a July 20th or August 1st deadline, then will be updated and built upon as the production advances.

Shoot date

2009-07-02T08:56:00.006+12:00

The production shoot date has been set for mid September, so it's all planning and organising now.

On another note, pre-production is proceeding smoothly, and the 3d modeling is coming along.

Also the website rebuild is nearly finished, just a few pages left to write, but they will be released after the film shoot... so everything is on target.

The Last of a Line

2009-06-30T09:05:00.003+12:00

The last of a line of concept art has come through from Sunny Koda. The guy is freaking me out I tell ya, not for anything weird, nor for his love of all things Transformers, but he seems so in tuned with my sense of style that nearly every ship design he's submitted, I want in the show.

Way to go man!!

The latest, and the last of the racer ships in the short movie is being affectionately dubbed "The Beast" it has a certain aggressive styling that we like.

Final Draft

2009-06-26T08:50:00.006+12:00

Well, not actually being the final draft as such, the script is in and it's good, The director will undoubtedly conform the script to fit his style and vision, which is as it should be.

Now we just need the hero cockpit design locked down and we can get a quote on getting it built for the shoot.

Inspiration and Determination

2009-06-25T09:22:00.004+12:00

One of the things I have marveled allot at over the years while developing and promoting Barrier, is the number of "negative Nancie's" you meet along the way.

OK maybe not that many, considering the amount of positive folks we have had the pleasure of meeting.

Over all I try not to take to much notice of the negs. But if you hadn't meet any in your life yet, they are the friendly doomsayers that try and save you sometime by telling how hard or impossible it is to get an idea off the ground, Now I am not trying to gloss it over, doing something like Barrier is really hard, but ya know... where's the harm in trying?

I tell you though, making the decision to try and actually do something with Barrier has been the best decision ever.

Along the way I have meet, and worked with some truly fantastic people, been in touch with some greats, and learnt so much about the industry, that even if Barrier is never produced into a series, I can't help but feel like I have won.

The next step is to really hammer Barrier home, and do something that will get it noticed, hence the live action short movie.

Sure I have lots of other projects I want to develop, and some of them I am, but I have to say without a doubt that Barrier has legs, I am firm believer in that.

Anyway, keep posted, lots of cool stuff coming soon.

- New Website
- Behind the scenes featurette
- Cast announcements and Interviews
- Shameless promotions, etc... ;)

All the very best,

-S

Studio Checked Out

2009-06-20T17:41:00.011+12:00

The studio was great, very special thanks to Mr Graham Slater for his time today and allowing us to use his studio for our production.
www.interactivemartialarts.com
The premisis is very well set up for our needs, and should be an excellent venue for our production.

Terry was all go filming recy shots of the studios, like a director in a candy store. :)
Great space for setups and acting, I would love to get in here for my martial arts movie next year.

Studio

2009-06-20T09:46:00.003+12:00

We're off to check out a Studio space in Preston today, it's through a mate of Morgan and Terry's. I'm going in with my trusty SLR stills camera to take pics.

On another note I am on the lookout for an inexpensive DV Camera so I can run around shooting Doco oriented footage to put up on the site.

Role: James Ngaio

2009-06-17T09:27:00.005+12:00

We are proud to anounce that all our major roles in the short movie are Cast, We'll make an official anouncement inside the next week or so, and introduce you to the talented cast and crew that we have assembled... Check back soon.

Thank you.

Race Course Buoy

2009-06-14T23:31:00.003+12:00

Just a quick render of one of the navigation buoy's that are deployed along the race course, depending on the course configuration the pilots have to navigate around them in a specific order and laps before they can finish the race and cross the finish line... pretty standard. ;)

Behind the Scenes Documentary

2009-06-13T17:24:00.003+12:00

Over the next few months I am going to be shooting behind the scenes material at the shoot, costume fittings, test footage, anything I can.
Then after the shoot I'll cut a short documentary and put it online, I think it'll be fun to do.
:)
I'll have to see if I can borrow a camera of a mate though, I am at a point where any money I can save can go into the budget.

Pre-Production Meeting

2009-06-13T17:12:00.004+12:00

The Meeting went well, we discussed story points, areas that could be fixed, suggestions on improvements in the short, and what we are trying to achieve with the movie.

All in all very successful, we'll start organising for the shoot now and set a date, after that I'll complete the post production with the VFX guys that are in board and make this thing look really special.

First things first, one final pass at the script to get it ready, obviously there will be a bit of jogging and jagging to it on the fly.

I'll start previsualising the race and external shots over the next few weeks... that'll help me save some money, being locked away working is good for that, and anytime I need to take some time off I can write a blog entry.

Pre-Production meeting

2009-06-13T09:40:00.005+12:00

Meeting with the director, and writer today for a script reading this morning, basically to have a read through, timing out the story, and raise any issues we have concerning the story, who are we goign to cast for the role of James, and how we are going to make it. :)

Barrier Sci-Fi Channel Site

2009-06-11T20:40:00.005+12:00

In a few months time we will be relaunching the Barrier Sci-Fi Channel website with all new content, cast & crew information, and focus.

Aimed at providing a forum and information for anyone interested in the Barrier project to read up and express themselves, we hope the site will be well received by the public.

Music Theme Tone...

2009-06-10T21:19:00.006+12:00

I rang Pulse Creation Productions today and spoke with Anthony Ammar to discuss the music for the short movie. I am definitely excited to have him on board as he totally gets what we are after music wise, and i am looking forward to see what he comes up with.

The Script is in...

2009-06-09T09:25:00.004+12:00

Well folks, the Barrier short movie script is in and I have to say.... I Like It!
There's a few minor tweaks, but it's a good script from which we'll make come alive... stay tuned... same bat channel... same bat time!
:)

The Spacerod Design is in...

2009-06-08T14:51:00.003+12:00

The space rod design was finished yesterday, special thanks to Sunny for his hard work on his day off... thanks man!

We are very happy with the design and it is now passed over to Chris to model it.
:D

Funeral Ship

2009-06-08T14:44:00.006+12:00

Built a little funeral transport ship today, the ship will be used in the short movie to fair well an old friend and respected member of the Barrier racing community, and provide the setting for the racing drama that will unfold over the course of the short.

I would have made it black, but then it'll be hard to see, still thinking the textures over, but it looks fine to me so far.

The emission out the top there is a holographic emitter to display the image of the dearly departed as they make their last trip out of the system.
:)

About...

2009-06-08T11:07:00.003+12:00

Hi,

I just wanted to do a post to better introduce myself and my interests, mainly to bridge a bit of a gap between you and my influences that do effect my interpretation of Barrier.
:)

I was born in Christchurch, New Zealand. I mention that as I think it's important to know that I am from a small insular country on the other side of the world from the Spielberg's, Lucus's, Bruckheimers, and Roddenberry's of the world. (Barrier #1)

I grew up with old reruns of Star Trek (TOS), Doctor Who, and Shows like Thunder birds, Terror Hawks, Buck Rogers in the 25Th, Captain Scarlet, and Joe90.

In the 80's I really got into and followed the Star Trek movies, and Star Wars. From those movies I related to and bonded most with characters like Kirk, and Han Solo, instead of Characters like Spock and Luke Skywalker, who I felt were a little too unrelateable due to being born special, Han and Kirk are excellent in their skills as they have developed them over time with education and practice.

Through the 80's I would watch read and lap up any and all scifi I could get my hands on, from the Blob to the Thing, to bad 50's B-Movies like the creature from 40'000 fathoms.

The 90's brought to us Stargate, and Independence day, and the Matrix, which really turned me onto what can be achieved these days, and I started to feel really positive about the future of scifi.

As I mentioned before I am from New Zealand, home of Lord of the Rings movies, and director Peter Jackson, He is a man that has really inspired me to just get out there and "just do it", In NZ nothing will happen if you don't make it happen.
That's about the time I discovered and religiously watched the TV series Babylon 5, I was so impressed that they could now do an action packed, VFX heavy scifi TV series like that. But again I just watched it and thought that unless you were in the USA you can't work on or make a show like that cause NZ was just to far away.
(Barrier #2)

About that time I also brought my first real PC, Pentium 75 running a windows `95... I tell ya, best OS Microsoft ever brought out. LOL

Then one day I was reading a magazine and they had an article on B5 and the software "Lightwave" that they used to do the VFX, AND IT IS AFFORDABLE!!! man I was excited, finally I could bring to life my concepts and animate them on screen.

So you could say that Babylon 5 inspired me to get into 3d Animation, and Peter Jackson inspired me to do something about it.

Over the next three years I learned several graphics software systems from editing, to photo imaging, to 3d animation.
Finally I got my big break and got a job working on a TV advertising campaign in Wellington, New Zealand. And over the past 7 years I have worked on a movie, 4 TV series, many adverts and documentaries and other little projects that have furthered my skill base.

2005... After being continually disappointed with the lack of new scifi on TV I thought i would try and come up with my own. In 2006 after coming up with several outlandish and way to expensive concepts for scifi movies, and TV series, I came up with Barrier.

Around that time I was also introduced to the TV series Firefly with Joss Weedon, actually a pessimistic near do well I know told me about it, and that it sounded like my show, so i better not waste my time coming up with something new... (Barrier #3) deflated I watched firefly, was so impressed by the show, and became a fan... however I realized it was nothing like Barrier, except that it is similar in the respect that it focuses on a small down on it's luck crew of a piece of shit spaceship.

I really laugh at Pessimism, "Oh that sort of thing is really hard... better not try cause you'll just waste your time" or, "I knew a really smart guy, spent years working on a script, and it never got made"... It is funny to me cause those people never really try, and even if Barrier never gets made, you cannot imagine how much i have learned about the industry so far, and the wonderful people I have meet, I am coming away a winner either way.

So charged up again I pushed on with Barrier, made contact with several big named actresses and actors that I admire for their work, meet a talented young writer by the name of Michael Beyers, also made contact with big producers and executive producers that I admire, and then started work with a ex-Hollywood producer in Wellington, who then informed me that I shouldn't be able to get anywhere by cold calling on these people, but was so surprised that I was getting such positive feedback from them all.

By working together for the next six months we ironed out all the wrinkles in my pitch, material, and test projects.

After submitting it to a few studios we hit a bit of a brick wall due to the gradual downturn in the economy, and I had to be back into my own work, and Barrier was pushed into the background. (Barrier #4)

Then recently when teld a few new friends about it they got excited, and we are now charged up to produce a professional short movie that we will use to promote and try to get the show off the ground again. (Breaking the Barrier)

Over the years I have been encouraged by the responses I have gotten from scifi fans world wide that really want to see this show, and we just really want to bring it to them.
(Breaking the Barrier)

So this show is the melting pot of years of scifi, brought together and reinterpreted to tell my very own story that I hope will inspire and entertain many young and older fans world wide for years to come... least it'll be nice. ;)

Best,

Sheldon Whittaker

Ship Redesign

2009-06-05T08:52:00.006+12:00

We made a decision last week to redesign Jame's space rod ship for the race in the short movie, mostly it's great, it is just that we want it to be a different scale with a more visible single person cockpit, as opposed to a three to four person cockpit.
Sunny is going to draw up the rework, Chris will remodel it, Matthew will paint it, and I'll re-rig it for animation, it'll also get a slight design update as well.
:)

Pictures will be posted once the build is done.

Great Guns

2009-06-04T21:57:00.003+12:00

Got my first read of the new short movie script today, both the director and I are very pleased, a few changes are needed though, but it should come out looking great.
We are looking forward to casting soon, once the script is agreed on we can get moving on all the planning, casting, and organising to shoot this thing, then the rest of the work begins. :D

Rollin Along

2009-06-03T22:09:00.002+12:00

Things are certainly rolling along now, Today I met with a talented 3d modeler, Chris Burness, who is keen to get involved with Barrier, so he'll be taking on a majority of the modeling in the short.
This is quite exciting as Chris's work is excellent and I know he'll pull out all the stops to deliver some fantastic designed ships and sets.

Space Station Build Design

2009-06-03T09:24:00.004+12:00

We are about to begin designing the space station that will be the backdrop for the first Barrier short movie, and I was wondering what you all thought, don't be shy, what would you like to see?

Costume Rec

2009-06-01T22:12:00.006+12:00

I went on a bit of a rec in the weekend to look for costume options without doing allot of sewing work, as you all are probably not aware... I am not a seamstress! LOL

The outing was very good, found quite a few options in regards to looks and places to source from, I am however wanting to raid our actors wardrobe for clothes that will suit first, but there are a few things you need if you want to set a character in a stunt flier cockpit.

Currently waiting on a Australian owned business that I am hoping will supply us with the helmets, but if not I have found another place I could probably hire a few from.

Good times.
:)

PS. Relax... ol Drakk the ugly there is not going to be in Barrier. LOL

The Pen and The Sword

2009-05-30T14:14:00.003+12:00

I have just gotten back from a meeting with Morgan, where he ran me through the short movie script, and I have to say that the story is really going to be something we can be proud of.

At present the script is about 80% there, and in a few days we should have a solid script to start working off of.

Space Racer Concepts

2009-05-26T09:36:00.002+12:00

The talented young Sunny Koda delivered his first batch of racer ship designs for the short movie yesterday, and I have to say they are very cool, Once we have built them in 3D I'll post them on the blog for you to see each one.

Looks like we'll have a pretty decent movie at this rate, the story has been ironed out, and the short script started, great artwork, and we have some pretty talented and passionate people involved now.

:)

A Change Of Plans

2009-05-17T08:59:00.004+12:00

Hello All,

Well we have a change of direction away from the planned CGI release of Barrier.
I recently met with and have started working with a couple of new contacts, who I will introduce to you all more officially once the ball has rolled along a bit further, But the big news is that we are going into production on a contained short movie based around the main story in Barrier in about 10weeks time.

The resulting short movie will be played around various Scifi Cons, used to promote the concept with studio executives, and will be available online eventually also.

We'll post concept art, production photos as we go, and introduce you to the talent as is appropriate, so please keep posted.

All the best,

-SW

Vacation / Holiday Break

2009-04-08T23:52:00.000+12:00

Hi All, We are offline from the 8th April 2009 until 1st May 2009. Take care and all the best. -S

"Casting and Recording"

2009-03-23T09:55:00.009+13:00

CAST: Arcadian Entertainment in California, helmed by Mr Joshua Siegel, have offered and will be casting for the voice roles in Barrier, I have worked with Joshua before and I am always impressed by his can do attitude and ability to produce work.

"Art Director / Production Designer"

2009-03-22T10:59:00.005+13:00

CREW: We are currently talking with Mr Matthew Donnici, a talented concept designer and painter who I work with, in the hopes that he'll be interested in taking on the role of art director and production designer for the Barrier CGI premier episode.

"About Time"

2009-03-22T10:28:00.003+13:00

You might have noticed that we have transferred the Barrier flag to the blog site in preparation of the website closing down.

The website did actually serve us quite well for the time we had it, and I do think we'll set up another one once the first episode is finished, but for now it is not necessary, and is a luxury we don't need right now.

I have finally found some time to get stuck into the card edit again, and am hoping to have it finished in a months time.

Still unsure how we are going to solve the issue of getting voice performances that are of a consistent quality, Mr Bruce Hopkins has again kindly offered to work with us again for the role of Dante Lau, otherwise I am considering calling in the help of a friend of mine in LA do head up the voice direction there.

Anyway onward and upward.

-S

"In response..."

2009-03-14T17:48:00.003+13:00

I received an email the other day and wished to respond to it in kind, but as the email address given failed I thought to do a wider response here.

Hi Xxxxxx,

Your comments are very much appreciated, thank you.
I haven't been able to do to much to the premier episode in the past month or two due to my work load on a TV series I am working for.

All the best and good luck with your TV series project also, I know how much they can absorb our lives, but I also know how rewarding it is to make progress, no matter how small, take every victory and savor it my friend. :)

All the best,

Sheldon Whittaker

"Card Edit"

2009-01-26T01:06:00.004+13:00

Well we started on the first stage of the production, now that the script for ep 1.01 is finished, that being... "The Card Edit".

Basically a card edit is where you transfer elements from the script onto black and white cards in an editing program like Final Cut Pro, or Sony Vegas (which I use), there we can cut together the first run through of the story on the screen before any storyboarding or previsualisation in 3d.

It's tediously boring, but fullfilling as well as it gives us the first chance to lock down the direction for the visuals, and iron out the storyline.

"CGI Production"

2009-01-14T16:48:00.002+13:00

Thanks to some quite positive support, We are proud to announce that the Barrier team is about to get stuck into producing the first episode of the Barrier science fiction series in CGI.

Due to the nature of the current world economy and costs related to production of a highend TV series, it is our intention to produce the first episode in the series as a ultra low budget production, that is, using basic CGI characters, props, and sets to create the visual environment and acting for the episode.

Once completed we will screen it online, and depending on response, we will decide weather or not to continue with future episodes in the series.

As a further cost cut, the website and it's domain name will be allowed to expire, all future announcements will be made on this blog.

Thank you all.

Barrier Online Series

2008-11-12T16:03:00.003+13:00

We've been tossing around an idea for a few days now in regards to producing Barrier.
And as the project has hit a bit of a wall in regards to getting it produced, we have an idea of just going ahead and producing it CGI/Machinima via the iClone app.

One thing we would stress though is that Barrier was never intended to be an animated series, rather we always wanted it to be a live action series like firefly.

However It has occured to us that without a following of fans it'll never get made, but if we go down the road of producing it CGI it'll forever be tagged as being a animated web series... Ahh the delemia!

Any and all comments in regards to this will be greatfully recieved.

Warm regards,

Sheldon Whittaker.

"We're on our way back"

2008-09-02T18:30:00.003+12:00

Well it's been a while, very shameful, but we have been busy over the past few months, finally though we are back into Barrier.

The news at hand is that while Barrier is still up for grabs, we are producing a new pitch only teaser that will feature several key cast members and sport a new look universe.

So while, it won't be seen by the wider public online, we are taking steps to involve talent and creatives to produce a stunning new teaser that will be reviewed by studios and executives with the aim of picking this show up.

It's all very exciting, and we will keep you updated as we progress with it.

-S

"Aliens or not?

2008-05-13T08:29:00.003+12:00

We are at a tiny bit of an impass so, time to have your say again. :)

"Website Domain"

2008-04-18T21:58:00.004+12:00

Hi All,

You may have noticed that we have moved the Barrier website to, www.barriertv.com

It was necessary for us to shift the site to a .com for various reasons, there may be a few technical difficulties until we can get all the bugs worked out, but here's to a new home for Barrier online.

Cheers!

Team Barrier.

New Barrier Teaser

2008-04-04T10:03:00.010+13:00

We have added a new Barrier teaser movie to promote the show, and have updated the credits page to thank several people that have contributed to the new teaser, thanks guys!

Very special thanks to:
Mr Bruce Hopkins (voice)
The Radio Agency
and
Piranha Talent

-S

"The Goliath Entering Atmo"

2008-02-15T14:46:00.002+13:00

-S

James's Spacerod

2008-02-15T10:13:00.001+13:00

This is another teaser animation spot to introduce James's hotrod styled space ship in the Barrier story, it's a highly modified short range trasnport that he rebuilt and modified, it serves as his personal transport away from the Goliath.

"Goliath Teaser Spot

2008-02-13T13:38:00.000+13:00

Short animated teaser to introduce the main spaceship in the Barrier story, The Goliath.

"Goliath Textures"

2008-02-04T21:46:00.000+13:00

The lighting isn't to great, but there ya go. Here are the textures for the ship.

-S

"Goliath Model v.02"

2008-02-03T16:48:00.000+13:00

Well after a week of modeling and rigging here is the latest design for the Goliath, this next week will be all about textures and lights, should be fun. :P

"Goliath Redesign"

2008-01-28T16:47:00.000+13:00

Hi,

We have decided to do a bit of a redesign of the Goliath, and thanks to our good friend E.J.Roy, we have a sketch base to build a new ship off of.
Once the ship is built we'll post it here and announce it on the website. If you would like to see an animation of the new ship, post a comment of what you would like to see it doing, and we'll consider doing it.

Cheers, post ya soon.

"Great New Year"

2008-01-03T08:31:00.001+13:00

Happy New Year,

Here's looking forward to a positive and productive new year, the racing season hasn't yet started here in the Barrier universe, but I hear that the drivers and pit crews are hard at work both designing and building this years top racing ships for what should be an exciting season of high speed action.

Wishing you all the best,

The Barrier Team.

"Merry Christmas"

2007-12-14T11:12:00.000+13:00

We here in the Barrier Universe are closing down for the Christmas break to spend time with friends and family back on Earth, We look forward to seeing you all again in the new year once the racing season has resumed.

From the whole team here at Barrier...

Have a Very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.

.

"A supportive bunch rev it up!"

2007-12-05T14:20:00.001+13:00

Dear all,

Over the past few weeks we have received some wonderful support and interest from the science fiction community, we are humbled by your enthusiasm for this project and it empowers us to push harder to make it a reality for you all.

Take care and see you out there soon.

"Teaser"

2007-12-04T12:05:00.000+13:00

New Barrier Teaser, there's no music for this piece yet but i'll upload it when ready.

This video sometimes doesn't show due to issues with youtubes bandwidth and congestion times, there is a Quicktime movie version on the Barrier site if this one fails.

-S.

"Small Steps..."

2007-11-27T16:06:00.000+13:00

Hello!

Well it's been a while since I posted on here, shame on me... shame!!!

The main reason for my tardiness is that I have been working on some new projects, but have not been able to do much more on Barrier as it is in front of a producer that may or may not take up the charge to get it produced.

Honestly it's very exciting, even if I don't get the response I would like at times, but that's just the game as it is played.

well that's it from me for now, visit the barrier site and be involved.
I'll try to post on here when I can.

Take care all.

"Production Over Story"

2007-10-15T07:29:00.000+13:00

I was asked the other day about why the Barrier site seems to geared towards production over story, and the truth is, we want to share with and involve the SF fan to gain their interest, but we honesty can't give away the storyline or there would be no point in producing them for TV if everyone knew the ending.

The Barrier site was set up to garner fan interest in the project, and we are trying to include enough information and involvement to keep the potential fan engaged, without giving the story points away.

We are however, very focused on good story, script, and dynamic characters, but we also want to bring these stories to you for you enjoy them the first time in their intended context, and keep the surprise intact.

-SW

"Barrier Site Update"

2007-10-11T20:29:00.000+13:00

I have recently cut down the amount of information on the Barrier site, and may do so to a greater extent over the next few weeks.
This is due to the site containing to much story sensitive information that we really didn't want public at this point.
When a producer takes a more official interest in this property, we will proceed in a professional manner to disclose the details of the story and series as it is requested.

Thank you.

"Belated"

2007-10-09T10:46:00.000+13:00

This is a belated thanks to my unsung graphic designer Jessy Capelletti, who designed the Barrier Logo, sorry for the late credit Jessy you did a prompt and great job.
Cheers.
SW

"Promotional Work"

2007-10-07T17:53:00.000+13:00

Kiora Barrier Fans,

We here in the Barrier universe are pleased to announce some new involvements.
First we are working on a new animated short to tell the story of the last moments of the mysterious derelict ship, where did this amazing ship come from, who built it, and how was it destroyed? Perhaps some answers will come out of the forth coming webisode.

The talented artist Rizaldy Valencia has joined the team in his spare time to design a few key elements for the show, welcome aboard the good ship Goliath my friend.

The SF fan site Xenite have also come on board to lend aid to us in getting in touch with a larger portion of the SF community.

SW

"Polling"

2007-09-18T10:54:00.000+12:00

We have added a page to the Barrier website called "Vote" that we will use to host a series of polls for you to vote on various aspects of Barrier.

Also if you have any suggestions for polls that you would like us to run, just send us a message from the contact page in the website, or add comment here with your suggestion.

"Race Teaser Animation v2"

2007-09-07T18:42:00.000+12:00

Just reworked the intro section of the clip.

"Race Teaser Animation"

2007-07-20T15:51:00.000+12:00

If the youtube video doesn't show then here's the link.
Barrier Video

"QTVR Page"

2007-07-20T15:42:00.000+12:00

Just a short announcement, the site now has a new Quicktime VR Page, this page will allow you to click on the image and turn the ship models around to see what they look like.

You will need Apple Quicktime installed in your computer to view them.

-S.

"Spacerod Model"

2007-07-16T20:03:00.000+12:00

"Written"

2007-07-03T07:00:00.000+12:00

As this process draws to and end, hopefully a happy one, Michael is working hard going over the scripts for the 2 part premier to ensure they tie together.
The hard job is soon to come though when we take this show to the producers that'll be interested in producing Barrier.

It's going to be a cool thing.

"Pitch"

2007-06-26T14:41:00.000+12:00

Well this is it, everything that could be done has been done. All the i's are dotted and t's are crossed. The show is finally ready for its big pitch in September.

I would really like to thank everyone that has helped me get the project as far as I have gotten it, from design work, writing, to advice and fan interest, it has all helped.

Cheers, I'll keep posting as I have new news that I am able to share with you all.

Take care.

S.

"Pit Crew"

2007-06-14T20:33:00.001+12:00

Last, but not least.

This is the style plate for the Goliath pit crew working on the Yumbo Nutribar racer, the stadium space station isn't a definitive version as I don't have any art or models made for it yet, but you get the idea. :)

S

"Racers"

2007-06-13T15:41:00.000+12:00

These are concept frames to show what a race might look like, These are the generic type racers that are in popular use in the racing league at the start of the
Barrier series.

S.