Who Killed Jessica Lane? OFFICIAL TRAILER

Get excited! The official WHO KILLED JESSICA LANE? trailer is here! Watch it at this link below :)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CEiqV1TUiZg

We are finalising the editing for the first webisode, which airs 3rd SEPTEMBER, 2012. Pop that in your diary so you don't forget (It's next Monday!) This project is finally about to take off after what has felt like years of making haha. We're anxious and excited! Are you!?

Make sure to check back here each week as we will be writing 'Recaps' for the webisodes incase you missed any details and they will include behind-the-scenes information.

Bye for now!

Who Killed Jessica Lane?

Who Killed Jessica Lane? TEASER

Check out the cast of the first season in this WKJL teaser!

http://youtu.be/Q67WMNQAdFY

'Like' us on facebook: www.facebook.com/whokilledjessicalane
Or
'Follow' us on twitter: www.twitter.com/WKJL17

Bye for now!

Who Killed Jessica Lane?

Final Shoot. What!?

We're here, we made it! We planned our final shoot date with the final two scenes for Saturday, July 14th, 2012, and coming up to that date it was an amazing feeling knowing we were about to wrap production and just focus on editing and promotion... but an actress called up sick the morning of the shoot and it was cancelled :( We moved the final shoot to Sunday, July 29th – that was the next common available day for cast and crew. 

Well what a way to end the series. The morning of the shoot, I get a message from our D.O.P - “I hate to be THAT guy, but I'm sick. I can't make it”. First internal reaction - “NOOOOOOOOOO” haha We're so close to finishing! What to do? I tell the actresses that it may be cancelled but not if I could help it! I message around to close friends in the early morning to see if anyone can help at late notice that has a camera. An hour goes by, no responses. But I figured that because it was still early. I decide... I will film on my iPhone! Bit crazy right? But desperate times call for desperate measures. And yes, I could have just rescheduled with everyone but what if that was then cancelled and the series never got finished?

Two things made it impossible for the shoot to not go ahead:

1) New release dates had just been planned and we'd have to change them and it would ruin the concept we had going for the series, but more importantly

2) the house we film at had been sold over the past weeks and this was our last chance to film before all the furniture was moved out. And for continuity purposes, it wouldn't be good to randomly change the exterior and interior of the main characters house... Could look a bit weird. So the girls showed up two hours after first scheduled and in that time, a friend came through and gave me her spare video camera. Thanks to Lauran (check her link at the end) our shoot went ahead not having to resort to my iPhone's camera.

The two final scenes involved all 3 lead cast members but recently, Brianna, got a contract with a company to be the face of their brand, which requires her to travel to Brisbane every week for 12 months to work on TVC, web media and print campaigns. Swamped with her new job (Congrats Bri!), we had to change the scenes so her character wasn't in it. So Hannah and Shanna did the two final scenes by themselves. Let me give you the set up for the final shoot. There was a total of three people; two actresses and the director - No D.O.P/camera Op and no sound recorder. The director would film one actress while the other actress stood in the scene holding the boom mic. The director became D.O.P and the actresses became the sound recorders! I can safely say that all three main actresses in the series have acted as a sound recorder at some point within the production. What an experience this has been! With filming over, we have scheduled a photo shoot for the girls (in hopes it will be ready by the time the official trailer is released).

Bye for now!

(Shanna during a scene today)

Who Killed Jessica Lane?

Reshoot, Cancelled, Reschedule, Cancelled, Recast, Reshoot, Done!

Two days later, June 28th, 2012, we had made a date to reshoot a scene from our first shoot which we had lost footage for :( The night before this shoot our lead actress tells us she can't do it because she has work and can't get out of it. So we cancel and reschedule for the next week. That time comes around and the night before that shoot our other actress involved cancels. So we cancel and... Oh wait, we can't reschedule because that actress leaves for overseas in a few days and is unavailable... Damn. So we have to recast. We thought about editing the scene with the footage we already have but it just isn't of a good standard and would look bad – which we don't want if we can help it (sometimes you can't). A week later we find an actress and plan to shoot the week after that. So three weeks on from the original reshoot date and we are finally doing the reshoot for this scene with our new guest actress, Samantha.

Filming a web series with no budget is proving to be hard. Not so much the part of needing the money for the production (we manage as best we can with our own resources) but the part where the actors and crew are unable to be paid. From the very start, the WKJL production promised “shoot when you can”. We all give up our own time when we can. The last few weeks have been busy for everyone, and everyone needs money so work comes first. It can be hard finding a common free day for cast and crew and sometimes it means weeks go by until we can film, pushing back the scheduled release of the show. Originally, filming was to wrap June 26th, with the official trailer being released Mid July and the first webisode airing July 23rd. Well those dates have certainly passed haha. And this is the very reason I decided to make a blog. To document how things don't always go to plan and the behind-the-scenes situations that are unavoidable. Hope you're enjoying the insider goss!

Bye for now!

(Samantha, our newest cast member)

Who Killed Jessica Lane?

Freezing Shoot 5

Three days later and the main cast were back together to film our LAST shoot on Tuesday, June 26th, 2012 (or so we thought). It was a freezing, cold day, filming south-west of Sydney in the directors street and home, which is the setting for the lead character's home and fictional town of Eastdale. When we had the wardrobe fitting prior to filming, to put together the girls outfits for each webisode, we just assumed (hoped) it would always be sunny and picked dresses or jeans and a top. Unlucky for the girls, we were filming the first webisode, which is set in a cemetery and we picked dresses for them. But being so cold we added jackets to the outfits. The only bonus of the overcast weather was that it really suited the mood of the first webisode and overall plot of the show.

We filmed into the night, filming our first night scenes for the series that are all set at the lead character's house. Overall, the day was an unpleasant experience because of the cold and the minimal wardrobe selection, and we ran out of time having to leave two scenes to be rescheduled for another day. We only had two crew members and one camera for the whole day also :( lol. Talk about tough times. This production is the definition of no budget and limited/minimal help but I'm so thankful it can be made :) Our biggest concern isn't the production value but creating an entertaining drama that will connect with our intended audience and leave them wanting more! Quality is just a bonus.

Bye for now! 

(Shanna, Brianna and Hannah filming on location at the Cemetery)

Who Killed Jessica Lane?

Shoot 4

Saturday, June 23rd, 2012, saw our fourth shoot for the WKJL web series and it was a massive day! Thankfully we had some extra help :) It was our first weekend shoot, which meant more friends were available for crew roles. Our regular sound recorder, Keelin, went back home to Adelaide for the Uni break so she was missed but we had the lovely, Georgia, in her place and two great camera op's, Danielle and Chris – two very talented, aspiring film makers (check out their links at the end).

The day kicked off at 6.45am. I must mention to our readers who do not live in Australia, it is winter here and it was so cold! The first scene was a reshoot of a scene from our first shoot between our two leads, Hannah and Brianna. The girls were in summer dresses and they definitely didn't find that fun lol. By the time of the next scene the sun was out and we were filming in it, which made it warmer and more enjoyable. At 9.30am our third lead actress, Shanna, joined the cast for a group scene. I'm excited to announce our D.O.P will make an appearance in the WKJL series (webisode 11) as we put him in the girls scene as an extra. Trivia for y'all, we've never used extras in the series so far. If there is a featured part or someone in shot, it's a crew member! (Keelin also makes an appearance in one webisode).

By 10.30am, we moved location from the school campus to a nearby soccer field where we were joined by our first guest actress for the day, Emily. The girls and Emily filmed for two hours and we then moved back to the campus for Emily's second scene (Oh! Recurring character... how will her character impact the story of Who Killed Jessica Lane?) Hannah and Brianna then shot the first scene for the finale episode. Can't wait for everyone to see the series and the lead up to the season 1 finale. To end the day, we were joined by our second guest actress, Julia. Julia also filmed two scenes – one which is also featured in the finale. What will her character know that may well be the finale climax?

All in all, we had nine scenes to be shot with a crew of five. ...Five. So different from the usual two or three crew members. It was great! Definitely a less stressful day than others. Thanks to everyone who helped on the day. The weather was great and so were all of you! Very much appreciated.

Bye for now!

(Emily in her scene at the soccer field)

*Additional film makers to check out:

  Danielle Payne: https://www.facebook.com/DaniellePayneFilms

                           http://directordani.tumblr.com/

  Chris Chrasity: http://www.youtube.com/TheChrasityLife

Who Killed Jessica Lane?