Saturday, April 16, 2011 (3 hours)

Today I worked on the script for a few hours; I got the first scene done, up until the first music video.  I found a transcript of the original movie online that will help with writing the dialogue while keeping it faithful to the original movie.  I also started ripping the movie from a DVD to a file so that I can use it while editing as well as scan through it for a reference.  I also plan on creating a storyboard with screenshots from the original film to aid in shooting.

I’ve now hit a wall since I need to watch some scenes from the movie and the disc is still ripping in my computer, so I’m going to stop for now.  I looked online for the scenes I needed to watch but could only find fan-shot re-enactments at the Puente Hills Mall in California, which was where the Twin Pines Mall scenes were shot for the original movie.  People have too much time on their hands!  Oh, wait…

Join us for our usual monthly meeting this Saturday, February 4th at Goodfellas Pub & Pizza at 12pm.  As Radar O’Reilly would say, “that is all.”

4-15-11 (2 hours)

Spent a couple hours today researching and ordering materials for the movie online.  Among the items: parts for a flux capacitor, Tyvek hazmat suits for Marty and Doc, and some rope LED’s for the Jeep time machine conversion.  When Carrie and I were in Gatlinburg, Tennessee last summer we visited a Cars of the Stars museum and I took quite a few pictures of a genuine Back To The Future DeLorean, so I got those out to see what I would need to do a reasonably convincing look.  See my photos below… I was limited to staying behind the ropes and the car was essentially sitting in a bay window, so the photos are not the best.My plan is to bend up some electrical conduit to follow the rear cage hoop and down the sides of the Jeep, cover it with metal mesh and put rope light behind it.  I also have some plans to mock up some giant capacitors out of PVC pipe.  The hardest part will probably be making the large vents for the back.

I’m thinking the new seat belt attachment point in the rear will make it easy to bolt a lot of this stuff on using exhaust clamps.  The idea would be to be able to fairly easily remove the “conversion” so that I can still have use of the Jeep throughout the wheeling season.

As you can see below, I’ve started posting the Production Log entries from the 2011 MIJC video, Back To The Future. Look for one every Sunday this year.  Lots of great stories and photos from behind the scenes, many of which were not included on the DVD.  While you’re reading them, we’ll be getting started on the NEXT video!

Before I get into the first production log entry, I’ll give you a little background.

“Back To The Future” was a great idea from the get-go, but the complexity kept scaring us away.  The first time we talked about the idea was in the spring of 2006, on the heels of our first movie-based parody, The Offroad Warrior.  Daren and I did a “pitch video” for Jon that included possibilities for two other themes as well.  The other two  ideas were never used, so they’re not included in the clip below (we might still do them someday) but it’s interesting to see the similarities and differences between our original pitch and the way the video actually turned out.

Back To The Future - Pitch 2006

Fast forward four years to June of 2010.  Jon, Frank, Daren, and myself and Carrie met at Frank’s house and watched the movie.  We discussed which scenes we might do and how we would adapt it for the MIJC.  Although we had plenty of time and good weather left in the year, Jon and Jill’s wedding (and preparations) made it impossible to  do something of that magnitude.  In September we shelved the idea in favor of doing the Mythbusters parody (Jeepbusters), which was much less effect-intensive and easier to shoot and edit.  And that video turned out great in spite of a cold-weather start… although there is sadly no production log from that year, I’m pretty sure shooting didn’t start until late November or early December.

Anyway, the third time’s a charm.  The real production log starts with the following entry:

Saturday, April 2, 2011 (2.5 hours)

Frank, Jon, Carrie and I watched Back To The Future and roughed out a series of scenes we thought could plausibly be shot.  This viewing went far better than last year’s, and we got a lot of things pretty well nailed down.  Instead of approaching it as creating a full story based on the movie, we simply picked highlights we thought we could shoot.  The movie is so well known that people will understand the rest of the plot without necessarily seeing every scene.

So what we ended up excising were all the scenes dealing with the setup before Marty goes back, along with everything referring to Marty having to get his parents back together in 1955.  That gets it down to a simple set of scenes where Marty meets Doc at the mall, goes back to 1955, talks to 1955 Doc about getting back to 1985, then goes back.  Should work fine for our purposes.

Action items were to start procuring props and other equipment, work on a script and shooting order, and determine shooting locations.  Jon is in charge of locations, as usual.  I think we’ll be calling in some favors down in Carlinville.  We’ll also need to start fabrication on my Jeep to turn it into a plausible time machine.  The hardest part will be fabricating the large vents on the back as well as making a flux capacitor, although there are plans for that easily found on the net.

Casting so far is Daren as Marty McFly, Frank as Doc Brown and possibly Joe Gibbens as George McFly in a very brief scene.  Dan Brown will hopefully play “Old Man Peabody” whose barn is crashed into by Marty in 1955.  I’m sure we’ll need others.

I’m looking forward to getting an early start this year.

I added three new businesses under our “Sponsors” tab above… Praxair and Fleetpride (Midway Truck Parts) have had a long-standing relationship with the MIJC and O’Reilly is a bit newer.  Club members can take advantage of substantial discounts at these businesses.  Take a look!

Thank you to all who make the annual banquet the success that it continues to be, in particular this year Jan Brown, who cooked the main course for us.  Everyone loved the video, and we really enjoyed making it for you.  Remember that every membership gets a free copy of the DVD, so if you were not able to make it to the dinner, just ask Jill for a disc at the next regular meeting.  If you’re one of our non-Peoria-area members and you need one sent out to you, please let me know and I’d be happy to drop it in the mail.  Include the address you’d like it sent to.

Also congratulations to Golden Shaft winner Bill Gangloff, who had a myriad of different problems with many different Jeeps on the trail this past year.

Additional copies of the annual video are $5, payable to the club.  If you’re new to the club and this is the first video you’ve seen, you can also get the whole collection going back to 2003.  Jill is also putting together a T-shirt/sweatshirt order in the next month or so, if you’re interested in anything else that she does not already have in stock.  The deadline for getting that order in is our February meeting on 2/4/12.  There will be a new Back To The Future-themed MIJC tour shirt this year.  Read more in the minutes, posted in the forum.

Photos are now up from the banquet as well as Jill and Jon‘s pre-party, courtesy of myself and Will Watson.  If you’ve got some too, let me know or (if you know how) upload them to the FTP site.

Lastly, I’ll soon be starting weekly posts of the Production Log from this year’s video.  There are a ton of great stories behind the making of the video… some entertaining, some technical, with lots of pictures too.  I hope you’ll enjoy reading them as much as I enjoyed writing them.  If you ever want to catch up with older entries (or read the Blues Brothers Production Log) you can use the “View By Category” links on the upper right of any page on the site.  That will take you to a list with the newest post at the top, so to start at the beginning you’ll want to go to the last page.

Our next meeting is Saturday, February 4th at noon at our usual winter meeting spot, Goodfellas Pub & Pizza.  MIJC Veep Todd Watkins will run the meeting.

Our Annual Dinner and Video Premiere Night is this Saturday, January 14th at the American Legion in Pekin (Map link now corrected).  Cocktails start at 6 and the dinner will be at 7.  If you follow the map link you’ll see that parking is limited, so you can also park in the Pekin Trophy House lot as well.  Once that’s full… find a spot where you can.  Don’t forget a side dish to share!  A few people have posted in the forum with what they’re planning on bringing, in order to help avoid duplication.

I’ll see you all on Saturday!

Finally got time to get all the events for 2012 put into our online calendar of events; sorry that took so long.  Alternatively, you can also download a PDF of the finalized schedule for easy printing, circling-on and refrigerator-hanging.  As you’re planning which events you’d like to attend, please remember that it’s always a good idea to visit the forum to see who else is going, make travel and food plans, etc.  You don’t want to show up and be the only one there when the rest of the club chickens out because of a rare Missouri hurricane.

Speaking of the schedule, our next event is the Annual Banquet at the American Legion in Pekin on January 14th at 6pm, where we’ll be having a delicious home-cooked meal prepared by our own Jan Brown as well as all of you (please bring a dish to share).  We’ll also be premiering the 2011 MIJC video, which promises to be the best yet… no hints on the topic, sorry!   Plus, there will be drawings for prizes.  Hope to see you all there.  There’s also a pre-party at Jill’s house; all are invited.

If you haven’t already, please submit $5 per person to Jill Martin for the banquet so we can plan for food.  We need your $$$ and reservation by January 1st so hurry up and drop a check in the mail.  You can also include $30 to re-up your membership for 2012 if you haven’t done that yet either.  Don’t forget to print out and fill out a membership form and include it with your check.

Until the 14th, I wish everyone a happy holiday season.

Join us at Goodfellas in Pekin at noon on Saturday to (re)elect our officers.  The club will be buying a pizza lunch for all who attend.  We’ll also have copies of the 2012 schedule to hand out.  See you there!

You can also renew your membership for 2012. Bring this form and your $30 membership fee to the meeting.  Remember that current members must re-up by January 31st to avoid the $10 penalty fee, as per our bylaws.  You may also make reservations for the Annual Dinner, which will be January 14th at the American Legion in Pekin.  The cost will be $5 per person.

Lastly, the meeting is the last chance for you to get me your photos and videos for inclusion in the annual video and on our website.  I will have my laptop with me if you would like to bring a flash drive or your camera, or you can burn a disc, or you can upload them to our FTP site.  Contact me for the upload instructions.