Journey of a Lifetime Part 2

To look forward is to always remember where we have come from and how we came to be where we are today.

Reflecting on this Journey of a Lifetime;

In addition to a completed Oscar caliber Script from Jay Wolpert, a 5 min short film was shot based on the story recreating moments of The Great War.

A very well thought out, aggressive shot list was put together and over the course of 7 months Richard Schmon was hired by Pacific Empire Corporation to document a part of the Journey of a Lifetime, to shoot stills and time-lapse video for A Century of November short film.

Producer Nicolas Awde.

A Century of November is based on the acclaimed novel by award winning American Author W.D. Wetherell with a screenplay adaptation by Hollywood Screenwriter Jay Wolpert (Pirates of the Caribbean / The Count of Monte Cristo).

Cinematographer Joel Ransom watching the monitors at video village.

On a Saturday that produced some of the most undesirable conditions for human beings (really cold, overcast, wet, muddy and raining) (perfect conditions for recreating the First World War), over 100 cast and crew began at 6:00am and an average of 300 people gathered throughout the day in Mission, BC to shoot a promotional teaser for A Century of November. With cinematographer Joel Ransom behind the camera, everybody forged through a blustery wet day in the mud.

Many other key department heads included First Assistant Director Jack Hardy (RIP), Oscar Nominated Production Designer Peter Lando, Oscar Nominated Costume Designer Monique Prudhomme, Visual Effects Supervisor John Gajdecki, Key Grip Tony Whiteside, Stunt Coordinator JJ Makaro, and Props Master Jimmy Chow.

The promotional teaser was captured with a combination of Panavision Genesis cameras as well as Arriflex 435 film cameras and Kodak's 5219 Vision 3 film stock, all with Panavision's gorgeous glass. The camera crew also had the epic 50 foot Super Technocrane with the Mega 3 three axis remote head at their disposal.

The 11:1 Primo Zoom. An optical marvel. 24-275mm at a fixed T2.8.

The set at “Westwood” in Mission B.C. was divided into two halves, the first being the elaborate trench set and the second being "No Man's Land", the lethal bombed out space separating enemy and friendly lines on the western front. These were constructed one piece at a time over the course of the last seven months.

As the local coniferous trees and foliage do not accurately match those found in France and Belgium, both blue and green screens were employed to enable the Visual Effects team to composite the war torn backgrounds of the era.

Below are some of my images and time lapse from the set. Over the course of 12 hours Richard Schmon captured over 600 raw files and my three time-lapse cameras shot more than 35,000 jpegs!

Again, there are some moments from their story that help illustrate that nothing’s impossible: respectful persistence, drive, determination, heart, passion and a never give up attitude is everything.

They have recognized their opportunity.

A Century of November... Imagine… 

Development endures to the next stage…

A Journey of a Lifetime continues…