On November 21st, we had our first pre-production meeting. This meeting was focused primarily on design, although some high-level logistical matters were tackled, as well. In attendance were Allison, Kat, Roger, Kara, Ben, Kim, Kit (aka Catriona), K, and myself. This was a great meeting, not just because it marked the official kick-off of turning the script into a reality, but it was also only the second time anyone outside the writer’s circle had laid eyes on the screenplay, so it was really neat to get people’s take on how they saw things. Not to mention have some fresh eyes point out where some holes existed or some future difficulties might present themselves.
We broke into two groups, with Kat, K, and Allison cataloging assets that exist in the script and the rest of us discussing the look of the production. (Ben later moved into an advisoiry role) Not surprisingly, we spent a great deal of time discussing how to represent the troll and the high speed train that he attacks. As you can imagine, there aren’t a lot of empty train cars sitting around the Boston suburbs waiting to have scenes from a television pilot shot inside them. We weren’t going to settle that difficult issue in a single meeting, though, so we moved on to the look of the elves and some of the monsters that appear in the episode.
For elves, we all threw out a lot of ideas about how they might look and what might influence their fashion and technology. Coming back together, we hit upon this notion of their style being derivative of one of the great empires of their time. Since many of the elves in the Summerlands left Earth hundreds of years ago, we chose a Persian bent as the prototype style for one of our elven classes. Since the weather is predominantly agreeable in the Summerlands, it seemed reasonable that their garb would be looser-fitting, more flowing, and generally lighter and more airy. Here’s a sneak peek (click to enlarge):
After that, we talked about the look of the troll and what he would need in order to so boldly and powerfully attack a mass transit train. Big arms were definitely in, and the group also hit upon the neat idea of having them possessed of a pebbly, almost alligator-like skin. The combination was quite menacing. Here’s an early concept piece without the skin application (click to enlarge):
The last critter to appear in the pilot episode is a goblin, but we haven’t quite nailed down his look yet. The group agreed that while the troll was brutish, big, and strong, the goblin should be smaller, faster, maybe even pot-bellied and off-putting. One of our latest assignments has been to try to focus on the look of the goblin so that he is appropriately menacing.
