We have a nice big news roundup again for you this week. There’s Series X news, various cast/production team projects and appearances, and an exciting competition to go to the new series screening with Danny John Jules. Oh, and there might be a shameless bit of self-promotion too. On that note, if you haven’t seen it, we updated this week with a new in depth article covering the just how important bunk scenes are to the series. Plugs aside, here’s this weeks news:
- Series X News
The main focus this week has been on the remounted model shoot that started on Monday and wrapped on Thursday after a successful test shoot last week. So how did it go? Well remarkably well by all accounts. Here’s a breakdown of what Doug and Richard Naylor had to say on Twitter:
Doug:
Gimbal man put green screen suit on backwards by mistake + peered out of zip hole with 1 eye. Crew hysterical Sang Kermit Half way up stairs
Miniature shoot over. 192 slates in 4 days. Some jaw dropping stuff. What a crew. So talented. So nice. An absolute privilege 2b there.
Richard:
Red Dwarf Model shoot tomorrow! There’s so much to film!!
Great day on red dwarf model set. We filmed A LOT. If we can pull this off, it’ll be one impressive “sit com”
So excited for you guys to see the model work this series Red Dwarf. We’ve done a months work in 4 days and it looks brilliant.
Reviewing model shots and editing show 4. Looking good. Shame miniatures aren’t used more often in film.
Bill Pearson had much the same to say, telling us:
Finished the Shoot! Everyone is happy – even ecstatic! Hope we all made it look ‘Bigger’!
Bill led us to understand that this was a significant increase on the original proposed shoot. Richard Naylor clarified this for us explaining that the original intention had been somewhere in the region of 60 to 70 shots, 20 odd of which would have been beauty passes of Red Dwarf. After the problems with the first shoot it’s great to hear that this one was so successful and that the team managed to get so much done in such a short amount of time. It should certainly give a nice selection of shots to choose from, and hopefully any that aren’t used will make it onto the DVD. While we are all desperate to see the results, for the moment we have to make do with the odd behind the scenes pictures like this one Andrew Ellard tweeted after sneaking on set:
While we are on the subject of Andrew’s tweets, you may be interested to see these ones which provide some of his thoughts on the series.
Today: Watched cuts of all six new Red Dwarf episodes. Scores big on funnyometer. Extra points for each “Ooh, interesting edit!” squeak.
To me, and likely me alone, the Red Dwarf episode feel akin to the following past series: 1 – IV 2 – II 3 – VII 4 – VI 5 – III 6 – V
Getting a sense that recording order might end up almost – or exactly – broadcast order. We’ll see. Series also very much its own thing too.
From my own point of view, I’d say he is fairly on the money there. The only slight changes I would make are that episode 5 had an air of Series II and (though it is hard to be ceratin as the middle of the episode will filmed after the audience recording,) and episode 6 had rather a strong VI feeling to it. Of course, this is all entirely subjective, but for those of you wondering what kind of direction this series is taking it should provide a little bit of an insight, especially as going by the reactions on Twitter there seemed to be a rough consensus.
So what does next week hold for the production? Well we were fairly in the dark until this tweet from Robert:
Checked diary, we’re shooting 1 day of pick ups, missed bits and general smeg for Red Dwarf X this week. Be nice to see the posse again.
- Easter Eggs
To tie in with the Easter holiday, the official site’s Friday update for this week was this article from Seb Patrick about some of the Easter eggs you can find throughout the series. Kudos to anyone that spotted the pictures from the comic shop also contain another model kit from Sevans; the likelihood is that you own far, far too much Red Dwarf merchandise.
- Danny’s New Short: Bucky (Plus RDX Competition)
As you may be aware, Danny is currently working on a short film called ‘BUCKY’ and is looking for funding to get it off the ground for a variety of different perks. Here’s some information about the film:
MOTOVENTURES is pleased to be working in association with KMBA PRODUCTIONS on Danny’s short film, ‘BUCKY’. It is a story seen from the eyes of a five-year-old boy, who through no fault of his own comes face to face with disaster.
Danny is no stranger to writing and directing having had his short story ‘Night Talker’ broadcast on BBC Radio 7 and his directorial debut, ‘Tongue Tied’, the Red Dwarf single and video, reaching No 17 in the National Charts.
A 1950’s tricycle features heavily in ‘BUCKY’ and is the reason Motoventures got involved. Having sourced a motorbike and sidecar for Danny to ride in the BBC drama, ‘Death in Paradise‘ and also the pink Yamaha R1s for last year’s Viva Valencia trip, Steve took it upon himself to find the tricycle.
This he found at the Amberley museum and with their help has managed to borrow a circa 1950’s tricycle for the film shoot.
Danny recently inquired on his Twitter and Facebook pages if people would be willing to get involved in sponsoring or funding the ‘BUCKY’ project and the response was amazing. This was without anyone knowing the storyline or if there was even a script.
‘Bucky’ will serve as a public information film as well as going to all the film festivals.
There are 5 different levels of donation ranging from £2 to £1000. Here is what each on will entitle you to:
- For £2 you will receive a signed photo via email together with a thank you note. In the email there will be a code word so that if you see Danny in the street and say the word he will know you have donated, thank you personally and pose for photos.
- For £30 you will receive as above plus you get a credit in titles of the short film.
- For £200 you will receive as above plus a ticket to a Gala Screening and party to be confirmed.
- For £500 you will receive as above plus an Associate Producer credit.
- For £1000 (limited places) you will receive all of the above plus you get to be part of the crew or extra for one day of filming allowing you to take photos on set with the cast.
It doesn’t end there however, as if anyone donating guesses which BUCKY is prevalent in the story they will be allowed to shadow Danny through the whole production and join him at the screening of Red Dwarf X. With all of this in mind we are expecting a pretty good take up, so if you are interested then head over to MotoVentures’ Bucky page and sign up.
- Craig’s Funk & Soul Show
Craig’s funk and soul show on BBC 6 Music has had a timeslot change to 6-9PM. If you wish to catch him DJing live however, here are the latest upcoming dates:
APRIL
8th – The Magnet (Liverpool)
14th – April Chic Bar (Hitchin)
20th – The Last Call (Brough)
27th – Holmfirth Festival
28th – Funk & Soul Club (Manchester)
MAY
4th – MoJo Soundsystem (Northampton)
5th – Soundwave Boat Party
- An Evening With Tony Hawks
5th Dwarfer Tony Hawks recently returned to stand up with a brand new tour called ‘Random Fun’, a tour. I was fortunate enough to see Tony when he played in Maidstone and can testify for the quality of the show that you may well have expected to be on display. While this tour has finished, Tony will be performing in London on the 30th of April as a fundraiser for Action For Happiness. Tony has been a supporter of Action for Happiness since before its launch in early 2011 and has spoken in support of the movement and the ideas behind it. Here’s the blurb:
Join us for an entertaining evening as best-selling author and comedian Tony Hawks shares his unique perspective on life and happiness.
Tony will explain what he learnt about being happy from his infamous adventure hitch-hiking around Ireland with a fridge. He’ll also share his views on generosity, the politics of happiness and why he’s passionate that we should be putting people’s wellbeing ahead of growing the economy at all costs. And of course he’ll sprinkle in a good dose of randomness and fun along the way too.
Tickets to the show cost a fixed donation of £15, but if you are prepared to donate more there is an option to do so. The show will take place at Conway Hall in central London on Monday 30th April 2012. Doors open at 18:45 for a 19:00 start. You can find more details and book tickets here.
- Andrew Ellard Interview
The latest episode of ‘What Are You Laughing At?’, the Dave Cohen presented podcast looking at the latest comedy news, has been uploaded over at the British Comedy Guide website. This edition features an interview with script editor Andrew Ellard, in which he holds court on a variety of subjects including Red Dwarf X. Here’s the blurb:
Dave Cohen and James Cary are joined by top script editor Andrew Ellard. Together they discuss ITV’s latest moves back into the field of sitcom, and Andrew’s impressive CV, including The IT Crowd (with Graham Linehan) and Red Dwarf (with Doug Naylor). Andrew also talks about his work co-writing The Brian Butterfield Movie with James and Peter Serafinowicz, as well as the use of Twitter in the comedy industry, and more in-depth writing discussion including the mechanics and use of character and gags.
You can listen to or download the interview from the British Comedy Guide website or from the player below:
[soundcloud url=”http://api.soundcloud.com/tracks/42118783″ iframe=”true” /]
- Fan Club Shakeup
The Official Red Dwarf Fan Club announced this week that they would be saying goodbye to some long standing team members and hello to some new additions. Here’s the statement:
As you may have already seen on our Twitter and Facebook feeds, Jen, Caz and Sharon are sadly no longer with the club. Together they were the longest serving team members and their many years of hard work in the club has been greatly appreciated by their colleagues and Red Dwarf fans alike. We wish them all the best on their future endevours and hope to see them among the crowds at the next Dimension Jump!
In their place, we’re very pleased to announce three new members; Jez Harrison, Carrie Parsons and Alex Newsome. You can read more about our shiny new members (and gaze lovingly at their faces) on our Team page. We’re currently gearing up for next Spring’s Dimension Jump as well as the more immediate priority of getting the Back To Reality magazine back to a regular schedule so Jez, Carrie and Alex have come on board complete with the writing and organisational skills required for the club to forge ahead into a new era.
We’re very excited about the future and this new injection of talent into the team is going to be incredibly important as we look to improve the output of the club and prepare to make Dimension Jump XVII the best ever.
We hope you will join us in welcoming Jez, Carrie and Alex to the team.
I have to say that I am thoroughly delighted to be joining the fan club team, and we are currently working hard on the new magazine and organising next year’s Dimension Jump. So what does that mean for this website? Well we will continue as it has done before with regular news updates and articles from James and myself, but as you will have seen in our roundup last Sunday, we have brought forward the date that we originally intended to open to submissions on as a consequence. We’ve had some really interesting proposals and we hope to bring you some of them in the near future, but if you have any Dwarf related article that you’re interested in writing then don’t hesitate to get in touch as we would love to host them.
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