After a hiatus over winter, the next set of Venn episodes is now in pre-production.

There have been two meetings this week; last night's was a meeting of the script-writers. We spent most of the time adding weight to the characters, discussing the major story arc and what each episode would show.

Change in role

This was my first time being involved in the initial stages of a script. Usually, I'm happy to be reviewing and commenting someone else's work. It's a different feeling to be part of the script-writing script.

In response to a question on www.dpreview.com's forum, I made a quick video of the speed of the Panasonic DMC-FX150.

You can download the video here.

Sorry about some of the subtitling speeds, this was a rush job to answer the question. You can always pause it to read the words.

Further information:

Initial images from Panasonic DMC FX 150

Images at f/2.8, also from DMC FX-150

Episode 2 of Venn has been released.

Celtx

The New Haven project uses Celtx for screenwriting. I was all set help out in some other areas of production, when I received a warning from the project-lead. Essentially, although Celtx allows for multi-user collaboration, it doesn't facilitate it at all. In fact, it gets in the way.

I've been on the look-out for a Sci-Fi movie series a to get involved with. I wanted a side-project and after coming across a few old books I read and a few movies, I decided on the Space Opera theme. Lots of scope for over-the-top thematic music, a bit of rock and some atmosphere.

New Haven

I picked the New Haven project (previously known as Ticonderoga) as it fitted everything I was looking for out of a side-project. This had to fit alongside the normal jobs and projects.

Episode 1 of Venn has been released. View the episode online for free.

The vast majority of Space Operas have the same flaws. A moment's reflection and they seem obvious.

1. Lightyear is a measurement of distance, not time.

Although it could be considered colloquial hyperbole nowadays, like saying some car is lightyears ahead of another in its technology, would it still be colloquial in the same sense when there is a more basic need to space-faring humans for measuring distance in terms of lightyears?

2. Advanced technology is out of context

I've recently received the video for the 1st episode of Venn (the previous release was a pilot and called Episode 0)

Again the episode is by Spinneyhead Presents. Episode 1 picks up from that and plays on the theme of the celibacy bet. The content is better than Episode 0, the scripts are better and from my perspective, the audio is so much better. It's definitely better than the first series, Memory.

Wow, I knew I've been busy on other tasks for a week or so, but I hadn't realised it had been over 4 weeks since my last post. That's the first time I've had a gap of this size since I started out with this site.

Screening

Science-fiction is heavily laden with context rather than plot. Those series that feature good plot and good, well-thought out character stand out from the crowd, even when the cinematography and set are not up-to professional standards.

I like the idea of something that stands out. Think BSG (either actually, but more the reimagined series), Lexx, Firefly, Red Dwarf.