The Cosmonaut

PressPausePlay

2012-01-31T14:36:41Z

Some days ago, we found one of the best documentaries we have ever seen about the new change of paradigm entire content industries are facing. It is accurate, original, amusing, critical and really well done.

We advise you to enjoy every single of its minutes. Besides, both its website and the company that made it worth a look too. Even if you are interested in going deeper in specific parts, you have an interactive version to download from their web.

Ah, and it's for free :)

Headcam

2012-01-29T13:06:40Z

In some of our live streaming broadcasts during the shooting, someone had the brilliant idea (maybe it was me) of putting a webcam on my head to broadcast from there.

The director's view

After some hours editing, finding things like this makes you smile :P

Double share of crowdfunding

2012-01-26T19:00:00Z

Yes, this week we bring you a double share of crowdfunding.

Do you remember Footagevault? It's very nice website that have helped us a lot. They supply with shot-stock, and, almost one year ago, they contact us to offer us all their material. We have already used some of their images for our second teaser trailer, and we'll be using more in the film. We will never be able to thank them enough for their help! So the least we can do is telling you that they now have a project in IndieGoGo to edit DVDs of the documentary First Orbit. We have already told you about this documentary in our social networks, but we remind you that it is a one-hour film that recreates what Yuri Gagarin saw that first historic flight using images taken from Space. There are ten days left to end, and there is still a lot to raise, so we encourage you to go to their project right now.

The second share of crowdfunding is CC World. It is a project by the Barcelona Creative Commons Film Festival guys, BccN for their friends. The project promotes the Creative Commons film festivals by means of copying the original festival, the aforementioned BccN. In fact, a few days ago, one of these copies took place in Madrid, the CC MAD. The festival has been terrific, with the screening of An Island, among others (a film we have probably also told you about). They are so nice that they screened our trailer before the films. Keep in mind that the CC World project is not only looking for economical contributions, but many other types of contribution such as translation, web design, organization of the copy festival, etc. Do not hesitate in keeping an eye on it; there are many ways of helping.

We, by the way, are also still dealing with crowdfunding. Even though the film is already shot, there is still a lot to be done. So, remember, if your grandma is not a producer yet, what are you waiting for to turn her into one?!

We are looking for historic photographs

2012-01-26T17:17:28Z

Could you give us a hand to edit an indie film?

We are looking for some photographs to include in the editing:

Any image of president Nixon, with the American flag, and in the Oval Office, if possible.

Images, propaganda, newspaper's front pages, etc. about the space race. Striking, with force.

Any image of the student's protests of 1968-1969. Also with force, so you can see that they stirred some troubles up.

Images of the Vietnam war. Epic, with a film touch.

Nuclear mushrooms. Beautiful, aesthetic.

As you can imagine, we need them to be Public Domain or Creative Commons (in the latter, we also need to know the author). We also need them to have a minimum of 1024px wide, so they can be seen in the film with high quality.

Any help or clue you can offer us will be very much welcomed in hola@elcosmonauta.es

Thank you once again!

Book at sight!

2012-01-24T12:49:32Z

We meet Gonzalo Martín when we started the project. Since then, he became an important reference figure for us, someone to ask for advice, opinion, and someone with whom we can go for a tapa of tripe from time to time.

Every time he tells something to us, we listen to him wide-eyed like lemurs, because he always has something interesting to say. He always treats us with the affection of an old uncle, but with the respect of friends, as equals.

That's why when he proposed us to take care of one the most exciting parts of The Cosmonauts for us, we didn't hesitate. During the next months, we will be writing the book that tells our story. A critical summary of The Cosmonaut's process, from the beginning. With opinions, good and bad things. We get undress even more.

We start this task full of excitement. We'll see if we can eventually publish it in paper (maybe with the help of any business school or university, as a case study). Now, we have to tell Gonzalo tons of stuff.

Once again, we take off!

Movie Poster Clichés

2012-01-20T12:02:43Z

Thanks to the blog 101.es, we have discovered the great compilations made by Christophe Courtois: mosaics that collect the most common clichés when making posters for a film. As they say in the blog, their formulae are pretty basic and they quite a lot depend on the type and plot of the film...

Has Hollywood lost its creativity?

How we managed to shoot on the Moon

2011-12-10T17:34:19Z

Yesterday, we were shooting some parts of the movie with a RED Epic (maybe the best digital movie camera nowadays, which allowed us to take some shots at 5K).

So, how was this?

Thanks to REDLAB Spain. They gave us the opportunity to use it in our shooting. After finishing our job, we shot a little spot for them, also with a cosmonaut setting and on the moon surface.

Ah! How did we get the moon surface?

Thanks to a wonderful chroma screen handed over by Blueberry Studios (Madrid), and also thanks to wonderful people such as Mónica and Gabriel, whose collaboration has been invaluable during the last stage of the shooting. We have made the most of the facilities in the studio with a bit of inventiveness (using a treadmill, a trampoline, a SnorriCam...) and we are sure that we'll get some amazing sequences after the post-pro.

We will tell you day by day how the rest of the shooting have gone.

Remember that you can watch our "live making off" in http://www.elcosmonauta.es

Remembering the trailer premiere

2011-11-24T17:42:44Z

Here we are in the press conference we organized to launch the trailer:

*The subtitles for the video will be available soon.

Let's be honest: we were quite nervous. The well or the poorly the trailer was to be received was going to give us an idea of the future reception of the film. We were going to show the product of these three years of hard work.

More than 70 people followed us through the Internet (even though we didn't let them watch the trailer). They were more than the ones following on site. A revealing fact of how things work.

Today, by looking back, we can talk about a clear success. And that's thanks to you, for all this:

The Cosmonaut got more than 450 mentions in Twitter in the following hour after the trailer was released. It was one of the trending topics of the moment.

More than 1,300 people talked about us that same evening.

We reached 30,000 viewings of the trailer during the first week.

We got more than 600 new followers in Facebook and Twitter. The day after the release, we reached 5,000 followers in each of these social networks.

We got 262 retweets for our trailer. In just one night.

Fun fact: We launched the trailer the 4th of November; the very same date Laika's arrival to space was announced.

We got more than 100 new producers

We got more than 50 new investors.

But the actual success is that you liked it so much. From all the feedback we have received, we can count the bad critics on the finger of one hand.

Today, we sleep more peacefully (or less, depending on how you look at it), thinking that the film can work in the same way.

We're looking for a postpro studio

2011-11-23T10:48:58Z

As you already know (and if you don't, we'll tell you), we are in The Cosmonaut's final stage, namely, we are in the editing stage of the post-production process. We have even sent a first pre-edition to Sundance festival, and we are also preparing some other versions for Berlin's and SXSW.

As any self-respected science-fiction movie, we want the special and visual effects to be really meticulous and elaborated.

Not really long ago, our post-production coordinator had to leave the project due to some other personal projects. That's why we are looking for a post-production studio who wants to work with us, and carry out the coordination work of the special effects, as well as carrying the weight of making them.

If you are a studio, or you know any studio that might be interested, send us an e-mail to: hola @elcosmonauta.es. Send us a reel of your work or any link to any website where we can see some reference works of the studio.

Thank you very much to all of you :)

What's left to shoot!

2011-11-15T13:00:49Z

As you already know, The Cosmonaut is in the post-production process, but we still have some shooting days left. Some of them are indoors (what we couldn't do in Moscow as planned, because of a problem with one of the actors' visa), and the other one is outdoors, in nature, to shoot some cutaway shots. We are preparing everything to shoot here in Spain.

This shooting is not going to be easy at all, since we are going to incur some extra expenses, such as the building of the interior of a spacecraft, a different cosmonaut suit, bringing the actors from London... but it is going to be definitely cheaper than doing it in Moscow, and we can monitorize the production better. Furthermore, as we have already told you in our web, we are still looking for funding, so we have to shoot trying to incur the least expenses possible, since we don't have too much money (thanks goodness, more of you have joint us as producers or investors since we released the trailer, Thank you very much!!)

So this post intends to tell you about what we need just in case you can help us to economize on resources :)

All we need is better explained in our Wreckamovie profile (do you remember? It's a website for organizing the request of help to create proyects)

The indoor part of the shooting is mainly from the Moon Files, the most important transmedia piece that tells what happens to Stas when he loses connection with earth. What we need at a broad outline is:

To build the interior of the spacecraft in a silent and big place (about 50 square metres) where we can shoot later. We would need it to start building it from right now until the 12 of December. This is what we need most!
Art material (woods, metals, buttons, whatever) to build the interior control panel.
An engine or big device to vibrate and simulate the spacecraft take-off.
Professional lighting.
A body-mount or snorricam like this.

About the outdoors shooting, we are going to Galicia, where we will try to find nature that can be similar to that in Russia. We are not looking for snow, but wild vegetation, rivers, canyons... even a gully. We are going 4 people in a guerrilla way, looking for beautiful places, so if you want, we need help in what follows:

We need to find places in Galicia with lush woods, with rivers, cliffs, etc., that can be similar to Russia (for instance, there shouldn't be eucalyptus; yes, I know it's difficult in Galicia). We will welcome any proposal! (you can see more descriptions and references in the task de wreckaMovie)
Camping equipment for 4 people (tents, sleeping bags).
Roof rack with 'trunk' for (old) Seat Ibiza (property of Carola`s brother, that is going to be full of material).

We come to you as usual to see if you can help us. Any recommendation or loan will be definitely welcome. You can answer through these comments or straight to Carola, the producer, at carola.rodriguez@riotcinema.com.

Come on! There is less left to finish it! :)

Our frames' wall

2011-11-11T18:11:32Z

Do you want to know how to organize the editing of a feature-film? Do you want to meet the editor of our film who already collaborated in jewels such as Japón by our beloved Carlos Reygadas? Do you want to see the transformation our office has suffered in the last months? You have all this and much more at just one click. Namely, in the next video:

Protip: Do not lose the notes we wrote down in the white board... They are helping us a lot ;)

The Cosmonaut's Christmas dinner

2011-11-10T13:02:36Z

Yes, we know that Soviet Russia did not celebrate Christmas, but take this as the end-of-the-shooting dinner (if nothing happens, we'll have done by then the 4 sequences we have left).

The idea is, for all those who want to come, to meet and have a drink and chat until we get tired. Something totally informal and extra official, with no big displays.

Since we don't have too much time, we are going to propose a specific date that cannot be argued, because if not it's going to be impossible. So:

What? End-of-the-shooting dinner.

Who? Whoever. Producers, investors and fans of the movie.

Where? We don't know yet. We'll tell you depending on how many of us we are. We book it.

When? Friday, 16th December. It's Friday. There are no long weekends neither family dinners.

How do I sign up? Sending an e-mail to hola@elcosmonauta.es. There is no need of telling us anything, just tell us if you come alone or with someone else, just to take them into account. We don't care either if you are coming to the after-drinks, in that case, don't send us an e-mail, and just come. We just need to count the people coming for dinner, for booking purposes.

Dress code? Do we really have to explain you that? Come on, go and grab your cosmonaut t-shirt or embroider your patch.

After saying all this... we will solve any doubt in FACEBOOK, not in the e-mail, but we reveal here some of the answers::

Yes, we are going to have fun. No, we are not going to sign autographs. Yes, we are going to tell you stories about the shooting. No, Luis Enrique and Paco are not taking their t-shirts off, sorry girls (and guys). Yes, you are going to try the cocktail we made up in Latvia during the shooting: The Black Bomb. No, you cannot tape us at four in the morning and sell the exclusive unless you publish it in Creative Commons.

Commons baby.

See you on the 16th.

The Cosmonaut: first official trailer!

2011-11-04T10:26:55Z

Come on, come on... we are ready. Take your places. Let's see... you, the one on the font row, get down, we can't see the ones behind you. Come on, come on, let's go. Let me take a look....hmmm, you, the one on the back to the left, stick out a little, you're not in!. Let's see....Ok, very well. Now everyone smile: One, two....

Click!

You all turned out very good looking. Keep this picture because it will be the first one to appear on books about the history of cinema. Today is the day when the adventure really starts. It's the day of the premiere of the first official trailer from "The Cosmonaut".

Click!

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All the questions, all the answers

2011-11-02T15:06:08Z

Many of you are writing us asking about the strategy we are following now we are close to releasing the film: do we still want to release it for free on the Internet? How do we want to get to the cinemas? Some others are interested in the last figures: Up to what extent such an experimental show is cost-effective? How much has the film really cost?

Well, as that soft drink commercial used to say: "for the thirsty, for those who hang out in packs, for heroes, for sidekicks..." "The Plan 2, The Cosmonaut strategy" has just being design. Print and screen friendly, so you can know anything you want about your favourite soviet cosmonaut film in 20 minutes.

Download it here.

Furthermore, you will also find some new pictures of the film and exclusive tip-offs about crazy plans for the DVD, USB (yes, USB) release, an experience in cinemas that implies that the whole team will be a whole weekend out to take the "Cosmonaut Experience" to you... well, I think we have revealed too much information. We see you inside.

This is all thanks to the magic of Jordana Gomez and Angel Trancón, as usual.

Shit happens

2011-10-27T18:45:13Z

Shit Happens. This expression perfectly explains what happened to us.

More than one year ago, we met a Latvian producer living in Russia: Alisa Green. She was excited about the idea of The Cosmonaut. By then, she was creating her own company: Phenomena Films.

The year after, in the festival of Berlin, we reached an agreement for her to involve in coproduction. She was going to provide the film, through different investors, with â‚¬120,000 and some â‚¬30,000 more of her work and her team's that she was going to capitalize.

She was going to take 30% of the future benefits of the project in exchange.

It is obvious that it was really, really good having someone who understood the project, and who would be essential for the shooting in Latvia and Russia. We enthusiastically announced it to you.

For the next months, she did her job efficiently: she organized the shooting of winter shots in Moscow, she contacted us with Forma Pro Films, the Latvian producer who would be the key to organize the production service in Latvia and, literally, who saved the shooting (without them we could not make the film) and also organized the shooting in Moscow.

After several long excuses, just one week to the shooting, she confessed that her investor was not going to invest in our film. You all know the result: she was about to terminate three years of hard work and the will of thousands of you (and our careers as well). Thanks to the huge effort made by the community, by you, we saved The Cosmonaut at the very last moment by raising â‚¬131,000 in less than one week. Thanks to that we could finally finalize the shooting.

There are some other unfulfilled promises. Alisa Green didn't meet any of the deadlines, the dates; she failed to keep all the conditions. Nowadays, we haven't received our money yet and we decided to break our relationship with her. Yes, we have that 30% of the film again, but the rage, frustration and uneasiness will stay for long. She left us with a lot of problems, she have gambled with our work, with our (actually your) money and with the will of many people.

They say these things are pretty common in cinema. We are new and we have few resources, so this was a real blow, and we almost couldn't cope with it. That's why we only want to tell you about it and share it with you so you can be up to date with her behaviour in this project, just in case you meet her in your professional future.

As we said at the beginning: Shit Happens. Luckily, we will be able to show you the first trailer of the film soon and keep on going forward, as usual.

Kisses!