Drakkon's 2k HD scanned rushes are back!

I am excited to tell you that the scanned 2k HD rushes of Drakkon arrived back today and I quickly did a test to compare the difference in quality. Hopefully this should give you a pretty good idea below:

Raw 2k HD scan

Graded 2k HD scan

Graded 2k HD scan cropped to 16:9 1080p

Original U-matic video master upscaled to 480p and cropped to hide tracking bleed

Drakkon's Indiegogo Campaign is 182% funded with 13 hours to go!

We have exceeded our minimum target by a whopping 182% - well done everyone who has supported this campaign! 

This is the final call for the`Drakkon Express train to Remasterdome! If you were intending to contribute to this campaign, but kept putting it off, then you now only have 13 hours left. This really is your last chance, so climb on board and join the team! Wooo Woooooo! 

http://igg.me/at/Drakkon/x/3449576

What's the difference between the original Drakkon master and the 20th anniversary remaster?

I thought I'd give you a better idea of the sheer difference in quality from the original U-Matic SP master copy of Drakkon to the eventual 2k academy remaster. 

As you can see from this chart below it is going to be a huge leap in terms of definition, and once color graded the picture is going to look amazing on a modern HD TV, computer screen, laptop, i-pad or even an i-pad mini. With a 2k Academy master, I have the choice to either keep the original standard 16mm ratio or crop the frame to fit 16:9. What do you think I should do? 

If you haven't yet supported our Indiegogo campaign to remaster Drakkon, we still need to raise another £150 ($242) to be able to complete the remastering, so don't be shy, check out the campaign here: http://igg.me/at/Drakkon/x/3449576

20 years since the making of Drakkon

We are now well into 2013 and in a few months it will have been a whopping 20 years since I made my first 16mm film on location at West Burton Falls in North Yorkshire. Drakkon was an incredibly ambitious first film filled with stunts, explosions and special effects puppetry.

The final results may not have been up to Hollywood standards, but they were certainly no worse than Peter Jackson's Bad Taste. For a crew that were mostly made up of national diploma media graduates from Harrogate College, who had never made a film before, it was an impressive feat in 1993.

On the surface the short is now construed as a rather embarrassing and somewhat amateur attempt of filmmaking, but for myself and many of the filmmakers involved, it holds a much deeper sentiment.

Peasant (played by Derek Boyes) being confronted by Drakkon (notice the Alien 3 homage).

We were very inexperienced at the time, attempting something far more ambitious than most other beginner filmmakers. To our Media Production course leader, we were seen as egotistical mavericks who were heading for failure, yet through naivety, passion and sheer stubbornness we proved him wrong.

The experience bonded many of us at a pivotal moment in our young adult lives. It symbolised our hopes and dreams for the future. It was a time of innocence and optimism, when anything seemed possible. I look back on the whole experience with great fondness and despite all its faults, I am still very proud of the short film we made.

Twenty years later, it seems Drakkon has made a lasting impression on our middle-aged lives, so much so that on Saturday August 10th 2013, nine (maybe eleven) out of seventeen original cast a crew members, will be heading back to the enchanting waterfall in West Burton for a 20th anniversary reunion - can't wait!