Not only will you find production notes on this page of our site, we thought we'd take a moment to tell you how the project got started in the first place, how it got from Stephonika's head, to paper, and to where it's going now.
The Nameless Cryst began as a very vague idea, which Stephanie Branham wrote as an "original script" assignment for her Advanced Screenwriting class at Ohio University. The original "final" script was exactly 30 pages in length, but what was the process and where did she find her inspiration?
Kaye's initial inspiration actually came from having played the popular RTS PC game Starcraft over her winter break, for in her very first drafts of TNC, Cuaras had no voice over. The back story was supposed to be delivered in chunks of green text. She also says that it is because of Starcraft (the green text) that propelled her choice to make the iconic color scheme of TNC be green. What propelled her then to abandon the green text? Two reasons. (1) Her classmates likened it instead to the opening crawl attributed to Star Wars films (a saga that she continually says she "can't seem to get away from"). (2) Her professor advised that it was too much to deliver simply by text, and that this method would bore an audience. Thus, the voice over was born, which had a considerable amount of rewrites, likely having been rewritten more times than any other part of the story, until she was satisfied in it.
As she continued to write the original script, her classmates continually likened certain characters and situations to Star Wars. Though, as per Kaye's claims, only a few situations in the script were designed to mimic the saga, but only in paying homage to the films. The speculations of whether Kyne was another incarnation of Han Solo were quickly squashed by Kaye, as she says that Kyne was her creation from taking Firefly's Malcom Reynolds and Final Fantasy's Balthier and mixing the two together. She also built her character Cuaras up from three separate video game characters: Final Fantasy's Princess Ashe and Lightning and Assassin's Creed's Altair.
In fact, much of the basis of TNC was inspired by Firefly, Stargate, and Final Fantasy, three of her greatest pleasures. She admits that whenever she caught a dry spell in her writing (or any of her writings) her usual cure for her blocks was to pick up her PlayStation controller.
All the time she was writing the script for her class, she knew that because of its high concept genre, it would be passed over for production in the succeeding class (419 Advanced Video Project), as many of OU's 419 projects are initially written in this writing class (432). This didn't bother her in the least, however, because she was already making plans to reach out to friends to gauge their interest in producing TNC.
Since its early conception, Kaye has now made the decision to rewrite the script as a feature film. She also plans to develop the concept further into a legitimate television show in the future.
PRODUCTION NOTES
5/26/10 The Nameless Cryst is busy gearing up for its year-long production journey. The crew is beginning to fill up, and notices are starting go out up over the OU campus as well as by word of mouth. Recently, the Media School's John Bowditch (professor of game research and development) has lent a hand in posting up the crew-call notice on the GRID Lab (Game Research and Intensive Design) website for all students within that major to have access to the information. So, it's off to a slow start, but TNC, it seems, is picking up a little steam.
6/02/10 The producing team is beginning to fill up with Tom Carpenter and Erin Malone, and another is on unofficially, as a producing consultant/assistant. Offers for the Production Designer position have been dealt to two possibles, with replies due back to the production team by the end of the week. Also, casting has begun to accommodate for the production of costumes over the summer pre-production schedule. It is expected that at least half of the roles will be cast before the summer.
6/09/10 The producing team has now been filled. As the head producer, Mike Sweeney has signed on. Evan Mitchell joins the team as an associate producer with Tom, Erin, and Andrew Denney (who will also serve as the Script Supervisor when the film begins shooting). The Production Designer position has also been filled. The director, DP, and producing team are currently in negotiations for a location which could be used for a green screen studio. The last casting call of the spring takes place today. More casting calls and callbacks will take place in the fall. The director says that final casting decisions on all or most roles will not be made until then.
6/10/10 Alex Foor has now been cast as David Sarrik, and we also now have a Kyne Dibasi!
7/22/10 The script is completed. Further rewrites are pending, but there are no major changes expected.
8/04/10 Jacquelyn Baker has accepted the role of Zafrii. This was a part previously written for a male actor, but realizing the lack of female presence in the script, Kaye made the decision to change the character's gender and relation to the lead, Kyne Dibasi. In other news, Kaye will be calling on hometown friends and allies in and outside her local community theater to participate in a closed reading of the script. She hopes that this will help to gauge pacing of the story and dialogue. Also, the production of costumes is slated to begin within a week.
8/07/10 Ryan Nord finished a first cut of some of the opening CGI scenes, which was then sent to and reviewed by the director. Also, Levi Mcgrath was offered the role of Kazynsky and has accepted the part.
9/11/10 Casting calls took place yesterday, and a test scene is scheduled to be shot this evening. The shoot is slated for the testing of the A and B cameras to see how well they edit together in post. The footage will also serve to be a "test" for those trying for the editing position on the film.
9/15/10 Jacquelyn Baker has been re-cast as the lead Cuaras XLIV (previously cast as Zafrii). Other casting decisions will be completed by tomorrow, although, after this there will still be some roles open to further casting.
9/16/10 Matt Razzante and Eli Plaskett have been cast as Kyne's nemeses Rogaud Loore and Bahir Hashin, respectively.
9/24/10 Take19 Productions (a student run audio team) talked with those of Orbital Media at a meeting today, and they have agreed to come on to the project.
9/29/10 In an unfortunate turn of events, our lead actor (Kyne Dibasi) has backed out of the film due to scheduling concerns. The crew and cast are banding together in the hopes of recasting this vital role with only 2 and 1/2 weeks left until cameras begin rolling.
10/14/10 Only a few days left till cameras roll. Alex Foor has been recast to fill the lead role, and his previous role of David, as well as two other roles, are recast pending replies from actors. The role of Damen Sarrik was cast, rewritten for a woman.
The film did not receive affiliation with Ohio University's School of Media Arts & Studies.
11/07/10 The last shoot of the quarter took place, a full shooting day from 8AM to 2PM and then from 7PM to 11PM. In other news the part of Yuki Tamahara was recast one week prior to this shoot after Paige Seigwardt had to back out due to overscheduling. The role of Yuki is now being played by Juliette Rocheleau, previously cast as Zafrii, who will now be played by Jessica Link.
12/26/10 TNC raises $3008 through Kickstarter.com, an all-or-nothing fundraising site.
1/11/11 TNC gets the keys to the warehouse, where it's spaceship sets will be built over the course of 3 months.
5/22/11 After nearly 8 months of a sporadic shooting schedule, TNC is gearing down for its final four days of shooting.
6/01/11 TNC debuts its second (first full) official trailer at OU's Guerrsfest, to enthusiastic response from the attending audience.
6/02/11 TNC WRAPS SHOOTING!
6/27/11 TNC now has picture-lock, but this does not yet account for its Visual Effects-driven counterparts, which will now be made and worked into the existing cut of the film.
7/20/11 Visual effects are still underway and gaining speed. Nord has churned out a few samples of laser- and ship-driven animations for several scenes. Josh Ries is also underway in doing the color correction for the film. All the while, the producing team, Kaye, Gelber, and Malone, are working hard to ready promotional materials and secure screen/s for the premiere.
8/25/11 ADR begins. Matt Razzante records his dialogue first. Among the other actors on the August schedule are Duncan Shaw, Jason Cox, and Juliette Rocheleau.