Jun/22/2008 23:56
Got some sound into the opening credits. I spent almost the whole day categorizing thousands of sound effects into folders. I am going to dream about many many things tonight such as cows, telephones and ice cream trucks. (and none of those sounds will be in the film)
Five new sections are in the tutorials section. A preprouction, production, post-production and marketing and preproduction teasers. I have been neglecting that area for a while.
I heard on Friday we made it to three on google for War Film, one of the gals at work got a screen grab for me!!
Adam Valuckas
Five new sections are in the tutorials section. A preprouction, production, post-production and marketing and preproduction teasers. I have been neglecting that area for a while.
I heard on Friday we made it to three on google for War Film, one of the gals at work got a screen grab for me!!
Adam Valuckas
Jun/19/2008 22:52
1. Well 99% of the effects are done, there is still one shot that bothers the hell out of me because it isn't as cool as I pictured. Uhhhh and its being a bastard, I LOVE Shake but sometimes the normal logic doesn't apply for some reason. Whatevers.
2. I did my first full test of the total finishing/grading process and it looks AMAZING! The film will be converted into 24P, a nice luma curve will be slapped on, a nice thick layer of grain and it looks like film. Here is the flip side, a fifteen second clip took a half hour to render.... Its going to take a week to render this. Killer. But it looks really really good.
3. This weekend i'm going to take a deep stab into the sound effects and cleaning up the sound. We'll see how that goes, I might have to take another week off to finish this. I have had Sound Track Pro for years and I really never used it, tell you what, editing sound in 5.1 is easy!!! Its flipping awesome! I have to make a tutorial about that after i learn more.
4. WE MADE IT NUMBER 4 ON GOOGLE for WAR FILM. FOUR!
5. Two new sneak peek stills are up of the grading test.
2. I did my first full test of the total finishing/grading process and it looks AMAZING! The film will be converted into 24P, a nice luma curve will be slapped on, a nice thick layer of grain and it looks like film. Here is the flip side, a fifteen second clip took a half hour to render.... Its going to take a week to render this. Killer. But it looks really really good.
3. This weekend i'm going to take a deep stab into the sound effects and cleaning up the sound. We'll see how that goes, I might have to take another week off to finish this. I have had Sound Track Pro for years and I really never used it, tell you what, editing sound in 5.1 is easy!!! Its flipping awesome! I have to make a tutorial about that after i learn more.
4. WE MADE IT NUMBER 4 ON GOOGLE for WAR FILM. FOUR!
5. Two new sneak peek stills are up of the grading test.
Jun/16/2008 23:05
Jun/14/2008 23:01
Worked on the ending of the film all weekend. The last shots are epic and they can kiss my ass. Serious, they were brutal..... Image you HAVE to do something but it fights you to the bitter end. I spent 48 hours minus sleep fighting a handful of shots. But it looks 100% better then the first rendition and about 10,000% better than the temp Fighter Bomber that was there. I feel like a large ape beat the crap out of me all weekend.
May/28/2008 23:00
Part 2 (actual movie update)
Last weekend (three day memorial day weekend) i got to the end of the film for special effects. I'm actually "happy" with 8/10 of the film at this point. I still need to get the epic ending done and edit the open credits. Damn i wish i could take another week off to hammer the visuals out.
Last weekend (three day memorial day weekend) i got to the end of the film for special effects. I'm actually "happy" with 8/10 of the film at this point. I still need to get the epic ending done and edit the open credits. Damn i wish i could take another week off to hammer the visuals out.
May/28/2008 22:50
May/20/2008 21:19
I'm falling behind on getting back to people. I need a secretary HAHAHAHA! This memorial day weekend i WILL get back to everyone and I WILL keep hammering on the effects. Last weekend I got a lot done, i'm finally "happy" with the first third of the film (minus the opening credits). This weekend i'm going to try to knock out the main battle. Motion tracking is your friend and enemy.
To the dudes who are watching this stuff, Thank You!
May/13/2008 23:11
Popped up to 17 which is page TWO for "war film", man that is awesome. Right now we're hanging around 26, i can't wait to cut a trailer and see where that takes us.
Other news- still hammering on effects. Right now there are 111 "heavy" effects shots and the number just keeps growing and growing. Once you start adding "roll over effects" such as someone shoots in this shot so Now the next two shots need smoke, they add up. I think I'll make the August date but there is still a ton to do. Will it ever end?
May/06/2008 23:22
May/02/2008 08:26
We're still hanging in the upper 30s for war film! Most awesome!! But honestly I haven't gotten much done this week, GTA4 came out and I have been glued to the set. If you don't know what I'm talking about, it's only the best video game EVER! Okay okay, i know. This weekend i work like mule, okay?!
On a side note: The new teaser has just as many views on youtube as some of my other videos that have been there for a year!
Apr/28/2008 07:17
Apr/16/2008 21:24
Apr/12/2008 21:29
Jeff and I went to the National Archives, whew talk about really cool and boring all at the same time. Really cool that there is hundreds of tapes ready for you to copy, boring- the copying. It was a very weird experience being checked in 10 ways to sunday but we each got a researcher pass funny picture included. If you can make a government worker laugh your doing something right! 
Apr/09/2008 22:45
Apr/08/2008 19:27
Apr/06/2008 00:54
Holy crap, i jacked up the movie something fierce today. I was working on the opening title sequence and i wasn't paying attention to how i was shifting and deleting clips. Well I got most of the film out of sync to the point that I reverted back to an earlier save in the day. No real harm done, just a few minutes of terror! 
Thankfully my own motto saved me "Save and Save Often".
Anyways, new Muzzle Flash Study added under War Film Tutorials.
Adam
Thankfully my own motto saved me "Save and Save Often".
Anyways, new Muzzle Flash Study added under War Film Tutorials.
Adam
Apr/04/2008 23:33
Mar/31/2008 20:47
Once again a lot has happened since the last blog. I was able to take a week off from work and do solely effect! Twelve hours a day for nine days and there are over 100 effects so far. With the vast majority at least roughed in i can now spend time make each shot look as best as possible. Right now the new teaser (teaser II) is posted on the main page.
Enjoy
Adam Valuckas
Enjoy
Adam Valuckas
Mar/13/2008 21:38
Lots of stuff has happened, tons of test screeners went out and lots of feedback came back.
One need "sneak peak" image has been added- The EFFECTS HAVE COMMENCED! Sadly i won't have a vacation soon so this is going to be even slower than i anticipated. This sucks. I really need a month off, but i can't even have a week. Really sucks. Anyways, go look at the muzzle flash.
You want a war film, i give you a war film!
One need "sneak peak" image has been added- The EFFECTS HAVE COMMENCED! Sadly i won't have a vacation soon so this is going to be even slower than i anticipated. This sucks. I really need a month off, but i can't even have a week. Really sucks. Anyways, go look at the muzzle flash.
You want a war film, i give you a war film!
Feb/28/2008 20:18
Feb/24/2008 20:59
Feb/19/2008 22:39
Rough Cut V2 DVDs sent out and updated myspace with cast and crew pics. Myspace... What has the world come to?
I have no heart to add a million friends that just want to add to their numbers on myspace ("myspace whores"). But what i find uplifting/amazing are our true fans!!!! It keeps me going honestly.
I have no heart to add a million friends that just want to add to their numbers on myspace ("myspace whores"). But what i find uplifting/amazing are our true fans!!!! It keeps me going honestly.
Feb/17/2008 15:19
Feb/11/2008 20:42
Feb/10/2008 20:17
Feb/09/2008 20:13
Jan/28/2008 23:16
Yo, new Post Production photos added from our trip to the ordnance museum to create matte paintings. Third-Row.com will be working on these for us, awesome!
Trax went to Sundance partied it us with Paris Hilton, double awesome!!
Juston Bolton is helping spread the word of Panzer Corps at Sundance, Thank you very much!!!!!
And I added some last names that were left out on the cast and crew, sorry Lora and Hunter. Plus a new FAQ and Site map were added to the site. Also massive edits to clean up the final battle have been made. This movie, is gong to be gun-tacular. I love explosions.
Adam Valuckas
Trax went to Sundance partied it us with Paris Hilton, double awesome!!
Juston Bolton is helping spread the word of Panzer Corps at Sundance, Thank you very much!!!!!
And I added some last names that were left out on the cast and crew, sorry Lora and Hunter. Plus a new FAQ and Site map were added to the site. Also massive edits to clean up the final battle have been made. This movie, is gong to be gun-tacular. I love explosions.
Adam Valuckas
Jan/25/2008 23:43
New Uniform tutorial has been posted, completely new site map added and updated Film FAQ page. The next tutorial will be sound effects, i keep getting questions about that and i want to answer fully.
Last night Jeff, one of my producers came over and we reworked the (temporary) opening, lots of voice over work to get done. If you know any Russians of Germans in the Baltimore area let me know!
Adam V
Last night Jeff, one of my producers came over and we reworked the (temporary) opening, lots of voice over work to get done. If you know any Russians of Germans in the Baltimore area let me know!
Adam V
Jan/16/2008 00:19
Jan/03/2008 22:45
Dec/09/2007 18:33
The saga continues, I'm "online" but my service is very very bad. Long time to explain. But i have really bad upload speeds, so the site is JACK right now. By the time you can read this that means i got someone to do a full upload for me. Well the good thing is we're getting decent traffic for no advertising. Sweet!
Dec/04/2007 20:58
Dec/03/2007 21:06
Dec/01/2007 00:49
AH Damnit! I've been putting a ton of work into the site and i just realized i have to re-do a lot of it..... uhhhhhh. I've been putting these nice black boarders on the images in Rapid Weaver, thats nice other than it more than doubles the file size of the images. Lame lame lame. (means, takes longer for people to view pages) So back to photoshop. I love Rapid Weaver (what i build the site with) but times like this make me want to bang my head.... against something hard.
Anyways i've been reworking all the art work on the site, I had too many different types of fonts and wacky page layouts. Simple baby- Black and White. Must be late, i didn't know 00:49 was a time of day.
Anyways i've been reworking all the art work on the site, I had too many different types of fonts and wacky page layouts. Simple baby- Black and White. Must be late, i didn't know 00:49 was a time of day.
Nov/29/2007 21:58
Still not online Buuuuut making massive updates to the site and film. I "should" have DSL by the 5th. I'm trashing the whole gray look for a simple black and white theme for the website; much more direct and easy on the eyes.... or I'm bored of the gray?. Anyways i live like a monk and drink like a pirate; i need to get out more. Damn the holidays, i guess the movie will be my gal.... pathetic. HA!
Adam
Adam
Oct/31/2007 22:09
I have been mulling over this footage for months now and i just really realized that one of my producers and my 1st AD played dead bodies for the main battle. I knew this don't get me wrong, but it just dawned on me why there never seemed to be enough hands on set HAHAHAHA. Ohhh good stuff. Well, they look good laying there.
This week i've been adding in cool shots now that the story is pretty much in place. My future self is going to hate me, but i want to get as many effects shots as possible in this short film. Yeah, he's gonna wanna kick me ass. (btw- I'm sure i've never typed "gonna wanna" before)
Adam Valuckas
This week i've been adding in cool shots now that the story is pretty much in place. My future self is going to hate me, but i want to get as many effects shots as possible in this short film. Yeah, he's gonna wanna kick me ass. (btw- I'm sure i've never typed "gonna wanna" before)
Adam Valuckas
Oct/28/2007 18:20
There is a good reason for this, I moved into a new apartment AND by choice I have no internet, no cable, and not by choice a broken XBOX360. Needless to say this has helped my productivity immensely. Go to work, come home and work on the movie. Real fun..... Not really. The good part is a full rough cut is done! Now all the cool little shots are being added in and all the fat is being trimmed. Here is a timeline of the movie: Open, action, plot, action/ plot, credits. Beautiful!
If you have emailed me or commented on You Tube i apologize for not getting back to you. I hope you understand why. Okay if your seeing this that means i figured out how to update the site from work...
Adam
If you have emailed me or commented on You Tube i apologize for not getting back to you. I hope you understand why. Okay if your seeing this that means i figured out how to update the site from work...
Adam
Oct/01/2007 22:17
Love the word "Frick", if you watch the Battle Star you will too.
The edit is coming along very nice, some of the scenes seem to cut themselves while some are painful. Sometimes you have to kill your darlings, a teacher said that to me once. Its brutal but he was right.
*Side Note* You want to know something funny? You do?! Great!! There was a lot of butterflies that Love flying by the lens. Annoying, but pretty... Yeah, the actor delivers this great line and a nice present flutters by. Splendid but distracting.
The edit is coming along very nice, some of the scenes seem to cut themselves while some are painful. Sometimes you have to kill your darlings, a teacher said that to me once. Its brutal but he was right.
*Side Note* You want to know something funny? You do?! Great!! There was a lot of butterflies that Love flying by the lens. Annoying, but pretty... Yeah, the actor delivers this great line and a nice present flutters by. Splendid but distracting.
Sep/10/2007 22:28
Going good, big heap of footage. I have been watching the behind of the scenes of Lord of the Ring- Return of the King, there is a segment about this 16 year old kid with cancer making films in his last months. Holy crap, if that doesn't light a fire under your ass and in your heart nothing will. Keep on cracking!
Adam *out*
Adam *out*
Aug/31/2007 19:15
I was just looking at PanzerCorps.com website report today on August 14th was it's one year anniversary and there has been some serious growth! In 2006 the website had 4,728 requests, in 2007 we have had 268,530 requests!!!!! (second half of 2006 compared to first half of 2007) Heck yeah, hopefully in 2008 we can blow that number out the water.
In other news i have several scenes edited, hopefully on this three day weekend i can cut a few more together. I'm finding it takes much longer to do this than commercials or even long format spot. I see that as a good thing.
FAQ-added today. More FAQs to come.
Adam Valuckas
In other news i have several scenes edited, hopefully on this three day weekend i can cut a few more together. I'm finding it takes much longer to do this than commercials or even long format spot. I see that as a good thing.
FAQ-added today. More FAQs to come.
Adam Valuckas
Aug/19/2007 12:51
Aug/18/2007 17:06
Mr Lee Dingman snagged us half a dozen rolls of concertina wire from our buddies the US Army. Concertina wire is large evil rolls of metal, teeth, jagged edges and pain just waiting to happen; well today it left our life forever to be returned. Least my cuts and scraps will remind me why you should never store anything like that in your apartment.
Poor bastard Matt Conlon laid in the stuff for two days while we filmed the last scene, and Lee did "body breeches" (running on Matt's chest while laying on the wire) over and over again. Big thank you to Lee and Matt.
Farewell Concertina Wire. I will not miss you.
Poor bastard Matt Conlon laid in the stuff for two days while we filmed the last scene, and Lee did "body breeches" (running on Matt's chest while laying on the wire) over and over again. Big thank you to Lee and Matt.
Farewell Concertina Wire. I will not miss you.
Aug/16/2007 19:51
Aug/15/2007 09:08
After the best night's sleep i woke up and shaved which felt like a privilege not a chore. My body is still covered in metallic silver spray paint after a spray can exploded in a trash fire (apparently perfectly legal when your in the middle of no where) after we wrapped. Yeah, molten paint does char your skin. But I feel rejuvenated.
I can't wait to start digitizing the footage and trashing/selling the props i've been collecting for the last year. My life has been wrapped around getting this or that and now it is all on little tapes ready to be edited. I'm very excited!
Adam
I can't wait to start digitizing the footage and trashing/selling the props i've been collecting for the last year. My life has been wrapped around getting this or that and now it is all on little tapes ready to be edited. I'm very excited!
Adam
Aug/14/2007 21:30
Never have i been so dirty, so stinky, so tired and yet so happy. The cast and crew did their best to make Panzer Corps as best as it could be, from constantly reconstructing tank traps to keeping bodies on fire... really. Our shoot was cut down to four days due to rain so we had to double time it to catch up. Honestly I hope this all makes sense, I'm very very tired. I thank you guys once again for all your hard work.
Sincerely
Adam Valuckas (the Director)
"annnnnnnnnnnnd........." ................"Cut"
Sincerely
Adam Valuckas (the Director)
"annnnnnnnnnnnd........." ................"Cut"
Aug/01/2007 21:29
So Adam has conned me into a blog in which I can update you the viewers on the behind the scenes of his soon-to-be epic film Panzer Corps. For the better part of a year Adam has kicked around the idea for making a war film that would make Saving Private Ryan look like a Power Ranger sequel. Only after a short time of research did he find direction with other historic and fictional films paving the way. That's where I came into the picture; I worked on a few films with Adam and told him I was crazy enough to go down this road in hopes to blow you the viewers away. We began slowly building stunt guns for explosions and then getting our hands on some replica war weaponry. It only pushed Adams creative process further; he basically became a machine- finding the right gear, look and appeal of the characters. I slowly had to shut down the factory- only to point out that a script was needed first and fore most. Soon to join the small army of Panzer were Jeff Leman and Matt Tull. With the three of them working hard and ideas flying back and forth, I felt it was safe to leave them be. I did my best to stay out of their way until its time for me to step in and give my two cents. Jeff, Matt and Adam slowly chipped away at many drafts and after a few months the final Panzer Corps script seems to be just over the horizon. It overwhelms Adam with joy knowing the script will be out of the way and he can go back to playing with his guns and armor once again. I think he's a bit too excited about all his new editing software, but as a producer I'd rather have him happy.
Matt Conlon
Matt Conlon