Production Diary 5/22/12 - Chroniclers of the Chronicler 3: The Lost World - Le-Koro/ Ga-Koro scenes

For the first time in the Chronicles of the Chronicler series, I finally did some outdoor filming. I was on vacation somewhere in Michigan (I have no idea how to spell the name of the town), and I decided to take advantage of some of the beautiful lake-house scenery to use in COTC3. I filmed six sequences outside. Two of them were in the woods, three out in the open area outside the lake-house, and one was shot down by the lake itself.

The first set of scenes took place in Le-Wahi and Le-Koro, the Matoran city built in the tree-tops of the forest in Le-Wahi. I basically just shot these scenes on a flight of overgrown stairs leading from the lake-house down to the beach. It created a very dramatic environment for Toas Lewa and Pohatu to encounter a Rahkshi. A few shots were hard to get just right, but I got them eventually (and thankfully, I narrowly avoided some poison ivy!)

The scene with Toas Lewa (left) and Pohatu (right) in the forests of Le-Wahi was filmed on a flight of over-grown stairs.

The beach scene takes place in Ga-Koro, a Matoran city built on the water in the bay of Ga-Wahi and home to Hahli the Chronicler. This scene was a bit problematic to shoot, as stop-motion animation requires me to take still photos of each of the character's movements. While shooting outside in and of itself creates a problem with shadows moving because of the wind/the sun, shooting by the water was proving to be a greater issue, as the waves, while small waves, still were creating a significant continuity issue. As a result, the entire Ga-Koro sequence had to be shot in video format, so that the waves could move on without disturbing the characters, who had to either not move in the frame, or had to have movements that could be performed hand-held beneath the frame. This also made filming a fight scene between Toa Gali, Toa Lewa, and a Rahkshi very difficult, as mobility of the models is more limited in video shots (because you can't reach up and move pieces yourself, because your hands would get in the shot).

All in all though, I am very pleased with the final result of these scenes and I'm sure viewers will enjoy them too.

left to right, top row: Lewa, Rahkshi Guurahk, Rahkshi Leerahk, Rahkshi Kuurahk. 2nd row: Turaga Takua, Toa Onua, Toa Pohatu, Rahkshi Onurahk. 3rd Row: Hewkii, Kongu, Toa Gali, Toa Kopaka. 4th row: Altair, Nuparu, Toa Tahu. 5th row: Jaller, Hahli, Matoro.