Doctor who fan mini series that's a bit too ambitious

[jontennant]

I think you could use some paper plates painted gold or copper. If its a mcgann style. Also. For the time rotor, go to home bargains and buy a large pack of Christmas baubles. Use the case for them

[Volpone]

Lids for 5 gallon pails are an option too.  A note on plates:  I actually used these on an early iteration of my TARDIS interior.  They're WAY smaller than most of the roundels from the series (which are larger than 20" IIRC), but that can give you a nice forced perspective effect of making a small room look larger (maybe).  The reasoning is that Dr. Who fans know how big roundels are, so if you use smaller ones, the wall looks farther away. 

[KIT-KAT]

thank you all so much!, i like volpones idea of lids!,
I've had another go at the basic sketchup tardis design,

[galacticprobe]

I have a general idea for my story, mixed with a summary of my friends story that he is making, but overall i'm terrible at script writing. My dad recently got in touch with an old school friend who now writes for big finish (Simon Barnard) and I was part thinking about asking for his help.

It never hurts to ask. The worst is, he could say no, and you wouldn't be any worse off than you are now. On the other hand, he could jump at the chance to help a friend's son.

I'm not sure what this update is but its just a little of what I'm thinking at the moment,...

This is like discussing your thoughts with friends, only your friends are in a planet-sized room (literally). Some ideas and suggestions will no doubt come your way from several members.

I don't want my mini series to be badly written, i want it to be enjoyable and have character progression and Underlying themes.

I don't think anyone wants their work to be badly written, so you're not alone there. (Though, after watching 'Mystery Science Theater 3000' since the early 1990s, there are also some people that don't care how badly written - or directed - their work is!)

Another thing is shooting location, I know I don't really have a script yet but i have some idea and i know I kneed the inside of a spaceship (for now)
I'm pretty sure I could use my school for some things as they have let me film there before, but it's nothing really spacey and i don't have the time after each school day or budget to make it look very spacey.

Boiler rooms are great for a sort of "spaciness". They've got pipes, conduits, ducting, junction boxes on the walls, breaker panels, etc. They're especially good for engineering spaces (remember Platform One from the Series 1 episode "End Of The World"; they used some sort of tunnel with piping as part of that space station). And boiler rooms also give a great look for an older spaceship - one still in service because someone just forgot to retire it 50 years ago!

If you're very clever you can go "old school", taking a page out of The14thDr's book to make some control- or switch-looking panels out of cardboard. A box can serve as the foundation for such a control panel, or switch panel, and the box can be slipped over an existing junction or breaker box. If you take the time to work on a design for something like that, I'm sure you could make something very realistic-looking.

Also going with the "old school" method, you can reuse that same cardboard control panel in another location, but orient the panel differently: sideways, upside-down. That way it would look different from the way it did in the previous location. This can work well if you use it upside-down; you can paint half of the box's sides silver (so in one location it looks like the panel has a silver side and "top"), and paint the other half of the box's sides a different color (blue, grey, etc.,); then when you flip it upside-down, the panel will have a blue, grey, etc. side and "top".

Just doing that adds to the illusion of having more than one control panel box without having to build more than one. (Of course, if you've got the time, you can always build more than one, but if you need several, building two boxes like above will give the illusion of having four panels, and you would still be able to show two at the same time.)

I hope some of that made sense.

Actors, My friend who is writing a summary of his story is very good at acting, hes in the last year of six form at my school, however i don't want everyone to be in there late teens, I think I'd like some older people as well,...

Yeah; I agree there. Unless you do something really outstanding, you could end up with something like 'Class' (which was so bad it got the axe before Series 1 was finished airing; sure, it finished Series 1, but it was dead before then). Unless you're doing some sort of post-apocalyptic yarn like "Night Of The Comet" where this comet does something to Earth that kills off all adults, leaving only teenagers and younger people alive, you'll definitely need some older people to star in it (or you could end up with a version of "Lord Of The Flies").

I've seen a few of those giant robot films years ago: "Robot Jox" (by Empire Films and Trans World Productions, before they became Full Moon Productions), and the sequel films "Crash And Burn" and "Robot Wars". And while they were fun to watch, they were box office bombs. ("Robot Jox" cost $10 mil US to make, and only brought in $1.2 mil US.) But the point I'm getting at is that when watching the end credits, it looked like there were a lot of people with the same last name involved with making those films... which could mean there were family members drafted to help.

You could do the same thing. Pull some of your older family members or family friends in to appear in your production. (And those three films mentioned above aren't the only ones were I've seen family members involved with the productions. Some acted, and also did camera and sound work when they weren't in a scene. I'd have to ask my son what the titles of those were because he's the one that made me watch them!)

I think I'd even like the doctor to be old.

Are you talking Bill Hartnell 1st Doctor old? Or Jon Pertwee 3rd Doctor old? Or Peter Capaldi 12th Doctor old? (Note: Capaldi and Hartnell were the same age when they took the role; the BBC just made Hartnell look older with that wig and his seemingly forgetfulness - at least in the beginning; his illness did make him forgetful near the end of his run, and sadly started making him look older than he actually was as well.)

So if you know anyone that does make-up, maybe you could get one of your older actors to undergo an "age make-up" to make him look even older. (That would also eliminate stress on an actual elderly person if you're going for that much of an "old" Doctor.)

this update was a bit of a ramble, its the things I'm thinking about at the moment, and I thought I'd better write it down.

Ramble away! (Heavens knows I do it enough!) It helps with the thought processes and it brings in some others' suggestions, which begets ideas, or at least the foundation of ones to build on.

And I hope some of this ramble was helpful.

Dino.

[KIT-KAT]

Thanks for taking the time to reply galacticprobe, what you've said is really useful!
By old I meant older than 20s because I'm more able to have young adults and teenagers in the film, for the doctor I'd like a sort of Patrick Troughten to Peter Capaldi age group. 

[galacticprobe]

Well, that age group puts your Doctor (actor) in the 46 (Troughton) to 55 (Capaldi) years old range (when they first took on the role). So it sounds like a great part for a relative (aunt, uncle), or friend's parent, or even one of your parents, especially if you add that touch of age make-up... maybe add a "salt and pepper" wig to make them look a little grey, or even just give them a grey wig.

It's all in the looks. Troughton didn't really look 46 when he started the role. And stepping just one foot out of the 'Whoniverse' for a moment, actress Shirley Henderson ("Moaning Myrtle" from the 'Harry Potter' films) certainly didn't look her age in her roles (37 in "The Chamber Of Secrets", 40 in "Goblet Of Fire"). She was 41 when she played Ursula in the 'Doctor Who' Series 2 episode "Love And Monsters" and didn't look a day over mid 20s! And then we have Alex Kingston who looks far younger than she actually is. (You can look that one up; I won't let that one out here.)

So even if you get someone close to the age range you're thinking of, you can always use the age make-up and wig to make them look older to get that "older Doctor" you're after.

I hope some of this extra ramble is also helpful when it comes to selecting your Doctor.

Dino.

[galacticprobe]

I was also very interested in the watcher from logopolis...

it figured it might be a cool effect to have the dry plaster likeness of the watcher creeping up the doctors skin over a while until it finally consumes him and cases him to regenerate.

Interesting concept. (And also verrrrry creeeeepy.)

Dino.

[jontennant]

Given the initial idea of the blue light covering objects, you could have a repeating line like bad wolf in the new series. You could have different characters die off with their last words being 'follow the light'. It would be like silence will fall. The doctor slowly realises what he's in for and tries to avoid it. A past Incarnation or parallel Doctor warns him of what is to come, and claims that he needs the doctors help. Then the parallel goes to find other versions and universes. You could have other fan series all linking together to build up into a big climax. You could even have a spinoff of the parallel doctor called Broken Glass or something.

[boxman550]

nice work id love to see how my TARDIS would look as a 3d model

[KIT-KAT]

if you download sketchup you could  

[davidnagel]

Jontennant has created some titles: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WSgW2Wcs8U4

Thats pretty - I like that.

[timewomble]

Very nice, but the second half, which makes it look like you're moving backwards, makes me feel a bit nauseous for some reason.

[galacticprobe]

Very nice

I agree. The music is very smooth and flows nicely. Great graphics as well.

the second half, which makes it look like you're moving backwards, makes me feel a bit nauseous for some reason.

Unfortunately I have to agree with this one as well. Backwards movement has that effect on some people, especially if they've got a touch of vertigo. It's a disconnect between the eyes and what the ears are telling the brain. You don't find this happening with forward movement because the brain naturally moves in that direction as your body walks, or drives, bicycles, etc. forward. (Stand facing backwards on a bus or train and watch the scenery move away from you. You'll get that nauseous feeling there as well, and it won't take long. Turn around and face forward and as long as the bus or train is moving, and you can see the scenery moving, the nauseous feeling will go away after a few minutes.)

With all of my vertigo problems I had to stop watching the video as soon as the backwards motion started, but I could still listen to the music with my eyes averted to my TV; it was off, but stationary, and it stopped a vertigo episode while I listened to the rest of the music.

I also have that trouble with TV episodes, or movies, when things start "swirling". Watching the opening of "Rose" as the scene moves from space down to Earth was no problem before I got hit with this problem I live with now. Watching that opening again now - not directly; I've got to keep my eyes away from direct viewing, catching things out of the corner of my eye to see the action. (Watching "Star Trek Beyond" was a chore as the new director replaced J.J. Abrams' infamous "lens flares" with lots of swirling and spinning, even the slow-ish parts where the Enterprise is moving at you, and things turn on its head as she passes by and the camera tracks and rotates to keep "eyes" on the ship. I almost needed a bucket after that. Forget about the battle scenes; those I really had to watch from the corner of my eye and only catch a glimpse of what was happening. Those 'Star Wars' films aren't any better as they love all of that spinning around. )

So, maybe those titles should just keep with the "forward" movement of the vortex FX. It looks really cool.

Dino.

[Rassilons Rod]

Presumably the "backwards" version is for the closing titles.

I assume that once the credits are overlaid, ones focus will shift to the text and the problem will go away

[jontennant]

That was the idea, yes. I just spliced it on the end at the last minute, but its not the final version so we can change it. We've got a darker version that looks a bit like the one in Twice Upon A Time. The problem will be fixed after that.