And We Rollout Our Newest Title

Blue Smoke Design — Sun, 14 Sep 2008 21:29:23 +0000

After being silent for far too long, we’re pleased to announce our newest production title:

Single Shot

Three hundred years ago a single shot started a revolution. Yesterday it ended one.

With Stargate SG-2, our primary goal was successfully attempting special effects. And while we we achieved this goal, the overall presentation of characters and plot was left lacking. But, we had accomplished what we set out to do.

With “Single Shot”, we’re now focusing on character development and story progression. Using the experience gained from our effects work on SG-2, “Single Shot” looks to incorporate our effects prowess with our newly infused sense of story telling to deliver a solid work of entertainment.

The official website has been launched, displaying the film’s title graphic and feel. A teaser poster is to follow soon. In the mean time, pay attention to the forum for new details and breaking news. We’re really excited about this latest work, and are already hard at work in the Pre-Production phase. The film is slated for an October 10, 2010 release.

Roll Out the Red Carpet

Blue Smoke Design — Thu, 20 Sep 2007 23:12:17 +0000

Its here folks.

Yes, the movie is here. Its officially launched and ready to download. I will say no more, except that this film was evolutionary in construction. We started three years ago, and in those three years released other films that showed our improvement and increase in skill. Thus, SG2 is a journey from beginning film making to semi-pro.

Head over to the projects page and visit the official movie site for the download.

The official premier is set

Blue Smoke Design — Thu, 16 Aug 2007 16:42:02 +0000

I have to say, its been so long in coming that even those of us working on the project haven’t had it sink in yet. Its hard to believe that three years of sweat and blood are all coming down to 40 minutes. I guess thats the entertainment world, right? So our premier is the 19th of this month. Naturally that means we’re not quite done with the movie. We probably will be tweaking it all the way up till the showing on Sunday. If we had posted our internal progress charts, you would have seen that certain categories weren’t even tackled until this production quarter. Like the 3D compositing. … Don’t even get me started on that.Its funny, having this project on the edit timeline for so long, seeing it so many times over and over again, you start to second guess yourself. One of our earliest edits just got some somewhat major changes to it. Familiarity does breed contempt I guess. The production has taken so long our forward advances in filmmaking skill is, if you look for it, apparent. But, I suppose thats the price you pay for taking so long. Be that as it may, the fact we’ve seen this through to completion is by far our biggest achievement. If it wasn’t for a few dedicated individuals, myself included, this project would have died two years ago. So whatever achievements have been made, this is, in my opinion, our biggest.

Anyway, keep on eye on FXhome.com for our internet release announcement teaser in the next two or so weeks.

We’re Not Dead, We Swear

Blue Smoke Design — Sun, 08 Apr 2007 04:27:42 +0000

Ok, so maybe it has been forever since the last blog post. Those of you who visit often (and you know who you are) you might have noticed a little house keeping going on. Alright, maybe more like house re-modeling. The entire site has been revamped with a new look, more functionality and 99% standards compliance. Not bad eh? And we’re still bug squashing, so if you see something that needs to be fixed, drop a line over in the forums and we’ll get on it.

In other news, progress on Stargate SG-2 has gained major headway since the post here. We’re down to filming our last couple scenes, and from there its all in the edit room. Theres be talk about whether or not to release an official, theatrical style trailer. But, since there are already four teasers out there, its pretty much decided you’ve seen enough of previews. The next thing out will be the movie.

Stay tuned for more details as we wrap up shooting and get closer to our release of our fanfilm Stargate SG-2 The Ninth Symbol.

And the wheel keeps turning…

Blue Smoke Design — Mon, 02 Oct 2006 02:01:33 +0000

For those of you who are regular visitors, you’ve no doubt noticed the changes around here. For those of you who aren’t regulars, let me bring you up to speed. Basically, we’ve been doing some general site-wide design updates. The front page has taken the biggest hit, now sporting a brand new banner system that shows more projects, and a slighty redesigned news viewing system. We’re also making a client-side news submission program that will allow more of our workers to put new news on the front page. Guess that means we’ll finally start seeing regular updates. And speaking of updates, just how is Stargate SG-2 you ask. Yes, we’re moving, albiet in place. It’s starting to drive me crazy that after our massive surge forward (see the previous post), we have hit a pause in production. We’re in our new location, the final one to finish up the film. But we don’t have anything else. The people aren’t gathered up yet, the equipment is here and the script revisions needed haven’t happened yet. But, there IS one thing on the lighter side. Our custom scored theme song is in progress. We’re still deciding if the final version of the SG-2 site will be flash or html. In the mean time, you may see some new tidbits appear on the exsisting SG-2 site, including stills from the movie, new actor pictures, and possibly even a story synopsis.

Updates All Around

Blue Smoke Design — Mon, 31 Jul 2006 18:27:00 +0000

I didn’t mean it to be four months on the dot till the next post here. The name Stargate SG-2 has been used so frequently around here its become common place. Things have been rather hectic, and thats an understatment. I realize nothing has seemingly changed in the last 4 months…at least not on the outside. On the inside, much work has been accomplished. Our unit 2 crew has finished filming the temple scenes, the design for the movie’s website is almost finalized, and we’ve actually got all the desert scenes done. Yes, you read right. The movie actually ends in the desert, and we managed to pull off an on location shoot. Editing is underway, sound design has started, we’re pulling music together and in general progress is being made. So, I’m off to the editing table. Expect more here soon.

New Teaser Released

Blue Smoke Design — Sat, 01 Apr 2006 07:02:32 +0000

Ok, so originally we weren’t going to release anything else till the project was done. Obviously thats changed. We’ve been getting alot of emails from people asking wether or not SG-2 has been cancelled or put on hold. To make a long story short, we got tired of saying (as we’re sure you got tired of hearing) “Have patience, we’re working on it.” So, to that end we’ve let go another little teaser. This teaser focuses on Lt. Col. Ryan Edwards, SG-2’s leader. Just remember this is a teaser, and NOT a trailer. Anyway, you’ll find the teaser here.

Major face lift

Blue Smoke Design — Fri, 17 Mar 2006 09:14:26 +0000

Wow. As you may have noticed, we’ve undergone a major face lift here at Blue Smoke. It was long in the arriving, but well worth it. Everything now has a unified look, everything works, and navigation has never been easier. And I’m pooped. In the last three days I’ve put in over 26 1/2 hours of work on this site. Hence why this is short. Enjoy.

What a weekend!

Blue Smoke Design — Mon, 13 Mar 2006 17:30:35 +0000

Well, I�m back from the little weekend excursion to the fieldstation. Wow, things really can change for the worse. Quite suddenly in fact. It was Sunday afternoon, and we were just about ready to wrap things up with our little networking project. The server, file server, and presentation computers were setup and running, the over-extended cable lenghts had been fixed, the WAP�s were working�..yes, everything was lookin� good.

Then, 30 or so minutes from leaving time, the three main computers died. Gone. Byebye. All they emitted were morse-code like beeps. We ruled out the possibility of SETI (Search for ExterrestIal Intellengce) trying to contact us and came to the conclusion the motherboards had fried. The question �Why?� became the 64 K question. (That was a computer joke). So instead getting back to school at 5, we rolled in at 10:15 instead. Ugh. But, to our credit I must say that when we left, the entire station was operational again, and that our checklist of things to do was nearly complete.

So all in all, the weekend was a definate learning experience. Our hosts were most gracious, and they definately made the stay worthwhile. Ok, I�m done talking for a whlie.

A Biological Weekend

Blue Smoke Design — Sat, 11 Mar 2006 22:29:59 +0000

So I’m sitting here at a biological fieldstation on the Pacific Coast, and it just occured to me that having internet in a spot such as this is a luxury. I mean, I have a constant connection at school, and even at home I can connect whenever I need to, but out here, its almost as if the internet seems out of place. It really is a pretty location, right here on an esturary of the coast.

So then, what is a Computer Networking major doing at a biology field station? Networking of course! Right now is our day of rest, relaxation and taking it easy, but tonight we’re hitting it big time. We’ve alot to do, wiring, configuring, setup, trouble shooting, security, network mapping. But, instead of doing it in a cramped office, I get to work in the outdoors. OOOh ya. This honestly is an awesome oppertunity, being able to implement practically what we’ve been going over in the classroom.

I can already see there are going to be challenges, though. Looking out the window, I can see about 3.8 billion near-infinity challenges. Rain. But then, its just going to add to the overall fun of the experience. The only rain you’d get doing a networking job in an office is if the fire-sprinkler system was set off.

Anyway, I’m heading outside to enjoy it before the rain sets in. Maybe I’ll do a follow up Sunday night, If I’m not too wiped out