Showing posts with label Chronicles of the Chronicler Series. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Chronicles of the Chronicler Series. Show all posts
Wednesday, July 10, 2013
Thursday, June 20, 2013
Chronicles of the Chronicler: The Retrospective
The other day, I sat down and shot an interview about my YouTube series, Chronicles of the Chronicler. This is a series of episodic action-adventure themed stop-motion shorts that I've been making since 2010. They have become the most viewed videos on my YouTube channel, and been a learning experience for me in many ways. In this set of seven videos, I reflect on making the series and becoming a respected BioTuber (YouTuber who makes Bionicle-themed videos) without the intention of doing so.
Saturday, April 6, 2013
NEWLY ANNOUNCED - Chronicles of the Chronicler 4: The Search for Life
It has been announced that a new season of Chronicles of the Chronicler has been secretly in the works. As most of it is super secret, I can only confirm a few things. Firstly, I am happy to say that Shannon Asprooth and Frank Padour will be returning to voice Hahli and Tahu respectively. Secondly, this story will be highly different from the previous ones, more humor, more mystery, and more focus on the characters. Thirdly, confirmed characters are Takua, Jaller, Tahu, Matoro, Nuparu, Nuju, Altair, and Hahli, who will be the main character of the story. Fourth, a new original character will play an important role, but I'll keep who she is secret for now. But I can say she will be voiced by my friend Sarah Kusz.
Other than that, here are some new photos for you.
Other than that, here are some new photos for you.
Tuesday, February 19, 2013
Director's Cut: Chronicles of the Chronicler 3: The Lost World
It was suggested on YouTube that I release a Director's Cut for COTC season 3: The Lost World. There aren't very many of my videos I can actually do that for, and I decided that it was worth a go. This wasn't as simple as just pulling out the old footage and adding it back in, this required me filming footage for sequences that were in the script, but never actually filmed. Luckily enough, all the necessary audio from Carl, Shannon, Frank, and Lauren was already recorded from the first time around, because they recorded straight from the script, even if a scene wasn't filmed.
In total, 19 sequences were added back in (or extended). I had to reconstruct nearly all the models, because in the meantime, the short "Takua and Jaller go on an Adventure" was shot, and characters Rooktoth and Golem were built using peices of Takua (as Toa), Gali, Lewa, and Onua. Makuta was also deconstructed completely for Clarence. I could easily rebuild the Toa, but I didn't have the time or the patience to rebuild Makuta. It's a good thing he was only needed for one scene and I could get by with just using his arm.
Here's a list of what's new:
**=unused footage and audio from Principle Photography
***=new footage with audio from Principle Photography
- It can be noted that certain lines of Jaller's and Nuparu's during the climax were re-recorded. Also, the music during the climax is mixed completely differently.
- #5 and #7 were previously released as deleted scenes. #2, #6, and #11 were previously released as audio, but with no video.
- #3 and #4 were a scene that was completely new, but based on a sequence that was in the original plans for the film, but removed from the final draft of the script and never filmed nor recorded prior to the Director's Cut pick-ups.
In total, 19 sequences were added back in (or extended). I had to reconstruct nearly all the models, because in the meantime, the short "Takua and Jaller go on an Adventure" was shot, and characters Rooktoth and Golem were built using peices of Takua (as Toa), Gali, Lewa, and Onua. Makuta was also deconstructed completely for Clarence. I could easily rebuild the Toa, but I didn't have the time or the patience to rebuild Makuta. It's a good thing he was only needed for one scene and I could get by with just using his arm.
Here's a list of what's new:
- Makuta's escape/Ahkmou's capture***
- Extended Altair Dialogue at jail house***
- Altair explains the Mask of Time*
- Takua and Jaller talk about Pohatu*
- Makuta's Warning**
- Extended Altair Dialogue at Hall of Records***
- Gali Fights Rahkshi in Ga-Koro**
- Extended Lewa/Pohatu argument**
- Jaller Discovers Takua's Mask**/Tahu fights Rahkshi in Ta-Koro Ruins***
- Extended Lewa/Pohatu exchange after Le-Koro Attack**
- Extended Toa Takua/Altair Dialogue**
- Lewa's Inspirational speech***
- Jaller's relief at Takua's return*
- Tahu/Pohatu/Takua/Gali Dialogue before climax begins***
- Extended Nuparu/Kongu attack**
- Pohatu/Kopaka fight Rahkshi***
- Lewa/Takua/Pohatu/Onua fight Rahkshi***
- Extended Makuta appearing scene***
- Extended Makuta fight***
**=unused footage and audio from Principle Photography
***=new footage with audio from Principle Photography
- It can be noted that certain lines of Jaller's and Nuparu's during the climax were re-recorded. Also, the music during the climax is mixed completely differently.
- #5 and #7 were previously released as deleted scenes. #2, #6, and #11 were previously released as audio, but with no video.
- #3 and #4 were a scene that was completely new, but based on a sequence that was in the original plans for the film, but removed from the final draft of the script and never filmed nor recorded prior to the Director's Cut pick-ups.
You can watch the director's cut here: http://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLnaeLczOR4qqWvPb-KwLdDBtfVpLT6MKh
Friday, November 30, 2012
12 Days of Christmas - Chronicler's Company Pictures Style
A new compilation video is here: Twelve Days of Xmas: CCP Style!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4hML_9hR-qY&feature=g-all
Every year for around Christmas, I make a holiday-themed video for my YouTube channel. I'm not quite sure this really qualifies for that, since I did not actually shoot any new footage for it. It is inspired by an awesome video called "Napoleon Dynamite 12 Days of Christmas". It's been a favorite of mine for years and I was really excited to do a "parody" of it. You can watch it here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uU81JeA4oH8
I'm still hoping to get a completely new video for the Holiday season out by Christmas, but just in case I can't, then I did get this. It's better than nothing and heck, it's better than the video I did in 2010!
Here's a list of the videos I used clips from:
Day 1. Sam's Comics: The Movie
Day 2. Takua and Jaller: Thanksgiving
Day 3. Sam's Comics: The Movie
Day 4. Chronicles of the Chronicler: The Fallen Order
Day 5. Sam's Comics (BTS Documentary)
Day 6. Sam's Comics: The Movie
Day 7. Home Run Inn Pizza (courtesy of MCC Film Club)
Day 8. Hollywood Grail (failed project)
Day 9. Sunday Night Activities
Day 10. Don't Look or it Takes You
Day 11. Sam's Comics (Filming Vlog)
Day 12. Hollywood Grail (failed project)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4hML_9hR-qY&feature=g-all
Every year for around Christmas, I make a holiday-themed video for my YouTube channel. I'm not quite sure this really qualifies for that, since I did not actually shoot any new footage for it. It is inspired by an awesome video called "Napoleon Dynamite 12 Days of Christmas". It's been a favorite of mine for years and I was really excited to do a "parody" of it. You can watch it here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uU81JeA4oH8
I'm still hoping to get a completely new video for the Holiday season out by Christmas, but just in case I can't, then I did get this. It's better than nothing and heck, it's better than the video I did in 2010!
Here's a list of the videos I used clips from:
Day 1. Sam's Comics: The Movie
Day 2. Takua and Jaller: Thanksgiving
Day 3. Sam's Comics: The Movie
Day 4. Chronicles of the Chronicler: The Fallen Order
Day 5. Sam's Comics (BTS Documentary)
Day 6. Sam's Comics: The Movie
Day 7. Home Run Inn Pizza (courtesy of MCC Film Club)
Day 8. Hollywood Grail (failed project)
Day 9. Sunday Night Activities
Day 10. Don't Look or it Takes You
Day 11. Sam's Comics (Filming Vlog)
Day 12. Hollywood Grail (failed project)
Thursday, September 13, 2012
Questions and Answers: Chronicles of the Chronicler (series)
WARNING: This Q&A contains plot spoilers!
Q: What is "The Fallen Order"?
A: The title of the first season is somewhat unexplained, but "The Fallen Order" refers to the Toa. At the start of the film, the Toa have all disappeared. It is revealed in Episode 2 that the most of them have died. Takua, Pohatu, and Onua are still alive, but Takua has shirked his responsibilities as Toa, Pohatu has been possessed by the dark side, and Onua is in hiding. The order of the Toa has apparently fallen and has been fallen for quite some time. In the end of the film, both Onua and Pohatu die, but Takua returns as Toa, restoring this Order to a fraction of its former glory.
Q: How closely do these stories tie in to the original Bionicle story lines?
A: There are varying degrees of faithfulness to the source material. The first one starts off utterly defying the real story lines by saying the Toa and some of the Turaga have died. The series also overlook the fact that it is very possible to bring a Bionicle back to life (this being most obvious in the first and third seasons, where all characters react as though it is impossible). The original 2003 Bionicle plot line killed Jaller, Takua, and Makuta all off, but brought them back. Also in the 2003 plot, the island of Mata-Nui was destroyed, and the Matoran were moved to the island of Metru-Nui. There are also several more Great Kanohi masks than the limited number mentioned in the second season (which were limited to just the Toa Nuva masks, the Toa Metru Masks, the Mask of Time, and the masks of Takua and Makuta).
However, every single character in the series came from the original stories (with the only exception of Altair in "The Lost World") with their original personalities in tact (the only exceptions are Brander, Boras, and Aft; none of whom had personalities in the original stories). The Toa characters have more flaws than in the original stories, but the core characteristics are grounded in the source material. All of the original terms (such as Rahi, Widgets, and Kanohi) were used too.
It can also be noted that in the third season, the Mask of Time creates an "alternate reality" scenario, so it's a little permissible to excuse these differences.
Q: Why does Vakama sound like Professor Snape from Harry Potter?
A: I did all of the voices in the first two seasons and most of them in the third season. When you have that many characters to do, you sometimes need to do some imitating of other voices to add some variety. For Vakama, I did an imitation of Alan Rickman's performance as Professor Severus Snape from the beloved film series based on J.K. Rowling's Harry Potter novels. Some viewers of this series seem to dislike this choice, but I really thought the voice suited the character.
Some other voices that were based on celebrities' voices are: Kongu - Billy Boyd, Whenua - Ray Winstone, Matau - George Harrison, Ehrye - Christan Bale (as Batman), Nuparu - Gordon Ramsey (only in "Masks of Power"), Matoro - Paul Lieberstein (only "Masks of Power"), Brander - Christopher Lee, Aft - Andy Serkis (as Gollum), Norik - Ian McKellen, Altair - Christopher Lloyd.
It can also be noted that Makuta's voice in the series is based heavily on Lee Tockar's performance of the character in the Bionicle motion pictures.
Q: Will there be any future installments of the COTC series?
A: No. The series is over. It had a definite ending that tied up the lose ends.
I'm not going to say that there won't be any spin-offs. I've got some ideas I'm considering (ONLY considering, nothing is definite).
Q: Why did several characters' voices change in the final season?
A: Hahli and Pohatu were voiced by Shannon Asprooth and Carl Mohr in this film. I didn't think the audience would get up in arms if an actual woman voiced Hahli instead of me, and all of Pohatu's lines in Season 1 were distorted given his condition and to sound more menacing. As for some of the other characters, the voices were changed for other reasons. I had a hard time recreating Matoro's, Onua's, and Hewkii's voices from the first two seasons. When I tried to do Matoro's, my voice kept squeaking and it sounded really bad. Onua's original voice I never really liked, but two years had passed between "Fallen Order" and "The Lost World", and I was having a hard time getting it to sound the same. Hewkii always presented a problem because in Season 1, I did his voice while recovering from a cold, so I had a hard time recreating it in Season 2 as well.
Q: What is "The Fallen Order"?
A: The title of the first season is somewhat unexplained, but "The Fallen Order" refers to the Toa. At the start of the film, the Toa have all disappeared. It is revealed in Episode 2 that the most of them have died. Takua, Pohatu, and Onua are still alive, but Takua has shirked his responsibilities as Toa, Pohatu has been possessed by the dark side, and Onua is in hiding. The order of the Toa has apparently fallen and has been fallen for quite some time. In the end of the film, both Onua and Pohatu die, but Takua returns as Toa, restoring this Order to a fraction of its former glory.
Q: How closely do these stories tie in to the original Bionicle story lines?
A: There are varying degrees of faithfulness to the source material. The first one starts off utterly defying the real story lines by saying the Toa and some of the Turaga have died. The series also overlook the fact that it is very possible to bring a Bionicle back to life (this being most obvious in the first and third seasons, where all characters react as though it is impossible). The original 2003 Bionicle plot line killed Jaller, Takua, and Makuta all off, but brought them back. Also in the 2003 plot, the island of Mata-Nui was destroyed, and the Matoran were moved to the island of Metru-Nui. There are also several more Great Kanohi masks than the limited number mentioned in the second season (which were limited to just the Toa Nuva masks, the Toa Metru Masks, the Mask of Time, and the masks of Takua and Makuta).
However, every single character in the series came from the original stories (with the only exception of Altair in "The Lost World") with their original personalities in tact (the only exceptions are Brander, Boras, and Aft; none of whom had personalities in the original stories). The Toa characters have more flaws than in the original stories, but the core characteristics are grounded in the source material. All of the original terms (such as Rahi, Widgets, and Kanohi) were used too.
It can also be noted that in the third season, the Mask of Time creates an "alternate reality" scenario, so it's a little permissible to excuse these differences.
Q: Why does Vakama sound like Professor Snape from Harry Potter?
A: I did all of the voices in the first two seasons and most of them in the third season. When you have that many characters to do, you sometimes need to do some imitating of other voices to add some variety. For Vakama, I did an imitation of Alan Rickman's performance as Professor Severus Snape from the beloved film series based on J.K. Rowling's Harry Potter novels. Some viewers of this series seem to dislike this choice, but I really thought the voice suited the character.
Some other voices that were based on celebrities' voices are: Kongu - Billy Boyd, Whenua - Ray Winstone, Matau - George Harrison, Ehrye - Christan Bale (as Batman), Nuparu - Gordon Ramsey (only in "Masks of Power"), Matoro - Paul Lieberstein (only "Masks of Power"), Brander - Christopher Lee, Aft - Andy Serkis (as Gollum), Norik - Ian McKellen, Altair - Christopher Lloyd.
It can also be noted that Makuta's voice in the series is based heavily on Lee Tockar's performance of the character in the Bionicle motion pictures.
Q: Will there be any future installments of the COTC series?
A: No. The series is over. It had a definite ending that tied up the lose ends.
I'm not going to say that there won't be any spin-offs. I've got some ideas I'm considering (ONLY considering, nothing is definite).
Q: Why did several characters' voices change in the final season?
A: Hahli and Pohatu were voiced by Shannon Asprooth and Carl Mohr in this film. I didn't think the audience would get up in arms if an actual woman voiced Hahli instead of me, and all of Pohatu's lines in Season 1 were distorted given his condition and to sound more menacing. As for some of the other characters, the voices were changed for other reasons. I had a hard time recreating Matoro's, Onua's, and Hewkii's voices from the first two seasons. When I tried to do Matoro's, my voice kept squeaking and it sounded really bad. Onua's original voice I never really liked, but two years had passed between "Fallen Order" and "The Lost World", and I was having a hard time getting it to sound the same. Hewkii always presented a problem because in Season 1, I did his voice while recovering from a cold, so I had a hard time recreating it in Season 2 as well.
Friday, August 10, 2012
Trivia for Chronicles of the Chronicler: The Lost World
PLEASE NOTE: This is modeled after the IMDB trivia pages and written as if I didn't write it.
The title was originally “Inika”, but was changed to “The Lost World” after the first storyline was dropped and production had halted so Sam Shenberger could devote his full attention to “Sam’s Comics: The Movie”. It was later renamed “Time Paradox” for a few months, but after “Comics” wrapped and production for this film restarted, the project began again from scratch, this time once again under the title “The Lost World”.
Unlike COTC1, there was intended to be another installment after COTC2 ended, but the intended sequel story was drastically different. Takua ended COTC2 with the line “I feel there will be a new batch of Toa coming along sometime soon”, which tied into the “Toa Inika” idea that involved Jaller, Hahli, Hewkii, Kongu, Nuparu, and Matoro becoming the Toa Inika and journeying to a distant island overrun by the evil Piraka (based on the 2006 Bionicle storyline). This idea ended up being dropped for budget reasons and the project was completely rewritten to have the Toa Nuva instead.
This film has several unintentional connections to the MCC Film Club’s first project, Cerea. Both films feature Carl Mohr, Shannon Asprooth, Frank Padour, and Lauren Murphy, with Sam Shenberger serving as casting director and occasionally secondary cameraman. Both films also feature two music tracks by Kevin MacLeod: “Private Reflection” (used in COTC3 during the Ruins of Ta-Koro scene and in Cerea plays over the prologue) and “Movement Proposition” (in COTC3 when Pohatu and Onua are fighting, in Cerea during the flashback at the beginning).
Altair was named after the very first PC computer. Before this name was picked, other names like Aorcost, Takaru, Peft, Homete, and Teoku were considered. Although cut from the final film, Altair also mentioned having a brother named Atari, after an old-school video game platform.
The characters Kongu and Ahkmou are never seen on screen together. That was because the model for Kongu and the model for Ahkmou shared the same lower body piece and could not therefore be shown on screen at the same time.
Production for this film began on February 11th, 2011. It continued until March 7th 2011, when “Sam’s Comics: The Movie” was greenlit by the MCC Film Club. As a result, production for COTC3 was pushed back to September 2011. Later, “Comics” ran over schedule and production was pushed back again to December 2011. It never resumed fully until April 2012, more than an entire year later.
Lewa is the tallest of the six Toa. Onua is the shortest.
As was the case in COTC 1 and COTC 2, Bailey Freemire was originally attached to this project as the voice of Hahli. She was dropped from the film in favor of having her star in “Sam’s Comics: The Movie”.
Originally meant to be released as a feature film. Later, when the final length fell under the required 60 minutes for a feature, it was released episodically like the first two.
Only three of the Toa actually use their elemental powers: Tahu, Gali, and Kopaka. There was scripted a scene where Lewa was to use his, but it was too complicated to film so it was cut.
Unlike The Fallen Order and Masks of Power, both of which featured music from the original Bionicle movies by Nathan Furst, this film features music composed by Kevin MacLeod. When the Toa Inika storyline (and a little bit into the February 2011 production) was still being produced, music from the video game “Bionicle Heroes” by Ian Livingstone was to be used.
Each of the three Chronicles of the Chronicler series parts pertains to one of the three virtues of the Toa. Fallen Order: Duty, Masks of Power: Destiny, and Lost World: Unity.
Sam Shenberger recorded voice-overs for both Hahli and Kopaka, but later recast the two roles with Shannon Asprooth and Carl Mohr.
Jaller says that Ahkmou is prisoner 9091. This is an inside joke to the Beatles song “One After 909”. This number combination had been previously used as a phone number in “Sam’s Comics: The Movie”. 9091 is also the number combination of Sam Shenberger’s professional YouTube channel.
Lewa is left-handed, even though in several pre-production stills and even the first teaser trailer he was shown to be right-handed.
Second major Chronicler’s Company Pictures film to have visual effects.
While Matoro’s voice in COTC2 was based on Tobey Flenderson’s voice in “The Office”, his voice in this movie was changed to resemble the voice of Joel Hodgson from “Mystery Science Theater 3000”. Counting the “Adventures of Takua and Jaller” shorts released prior to COTC, this is Matoro’s third voice.
While recording voice-overs, Carl Mohr couldn’t remember the names of the characters he was to be playing, so he gave them nicknames. Pohatu was "Potato", Lewa was "Lewis", and Kopaka was "Cold Pack".
The film has two deleted scenes, the first being a scene where Takua is threatened telepathically by Makuta and the second one showing Gali fighting a Rahkshi on the beach of Ga-Koro.
This is the first and only installment to feature voice talents other than Sam Shenberger. Carl Mohr plays the voices of Lewa, Pohatu, and Kopaka. Lauren Murphy plays the voice of Gali, Shannon Asprooth voices Hahli, and Frank Padour voices Tahu.
Sam Shenberger originally wanted his friend Ryan White for the part of Lewa. However, the script was not finished in time for him to do the voice over and was never offered the role.
In all three installments, Jaller and Takua have the last two lines (if you don’t count Hahli’s narration at the end of this one). The last lines in the first and third films are the same.
The only COTC film that does not open with a shot of the mask of Shadows.
Some voices were based on real actors/movie characters/celebrities. For example, Hewkii was loosely based on Roy Scheider, Matoro was based on Joel Hodgson, and Altair on Christopher Lloyd.
Several scenes were partially filmed during production in February – March 2011, including: The scene where Altair looks through the Telescope, The scene where Makuta first appears in the Kini-Nui, and Tahu and Jaller in Ta-Koro (Matoro was not there in the original shoot). All this footage was scrapped when production picked back up in December 2011. Only one scene that was shot in February 2011 was kept, as it was the only complete scene: The fight between Onua and Pohatu. A fragment of the original Makuta at Kini-Nui also appears briefly.
Many of the voices in this installment actually aren’t the same as the voices heard in the previous films. Takua’s, Jaller’s, and Nuparu’s voices are deeper, Hewkii now has a (inconsistent) New Yorker accent, and Matoro’s and Onua’s are completely different. It can also be noted that Pohatu is played by Carl Mohr in this film, whereas Hordika Pohatu was voiced by Sam Shenberger in the first. Similarly, Hahli is voiced by Shannon Asprooth in this film.
Every character in this film’s names end in a vowel except Jaller, Altair, and Orkham.
Although his name is never said aloud, the first Ta-Koro guard is Nuhrii.
Episodes 5 and 6 are the only episodes which feature the entire cast. Shannon Asprooth as Hahli does not speak in episode 2 and is absent from episode 4, and Frank Padour as Tahu is absent from episodes 1 and 3. Both Lauren Murphy as Gali and Carl Mohr as Lewa, Pohatu, and Kopaka are absent from episode 1.
All three films begin with the line “In a time before time”. In the first two, these words are followed by “in a world you’ve only imagined”, but the third is followed by simply “a world you’ve only imagined”.
Both Jaller and Matoro die in this film. In the actual Bionicle storylines, Jaller died in the 2003 storyline, and Matoro died in the 2007 storyline.
Jaller’s death scene was different than originally planned. His death was to be caused by a poisonous Kraata bite, but the Kraata eventually got cut from the climax, so Jaller had to be killed by a Rahkshi instead. Voice-overs for this original ending were recorded.
Sam Shenberger described Jaller's death scene as "the scene that kept growing. Every time I edited it, I felt it wasn't strong enough. Originally, I didn't want a long drawn-out Hollywood death scene. When it came right down to it, it ended up being far too short for this hero. Eventually, some models had to be reconstructed to film some more footage. After all that, I decided that the voice-overs weren't emotion enough, so I kept re-recording Jaller's lines and adding more panicked reactions from Takua."
The whole finale was entirely rewritten at the last-minute. It originally ended without the whole time-alterations. Sam Shenberger wanted to end it on a bittersweet note by killing Jaller and Matoro off, but in the end decided that the concept of the mask of time lent itself to major time-induced intrigue.
As in COTC 2, Hahli kills the secondary main villain. She beheaded Aft in “Masks of Power” and pushes Ahkmou to his death in “Lost World".
The title was originally “Inika”, but was changed to “The Lost World” after the first storyline was dropped and production had halted so Sam Shenberger could devote his full attention to “Sam’s Comics: The Movie”. It was later renamed “Time Paradox” for a few months, but after “Comics” wrapped and production for this film restarted, the project began again from scratch, this time once again under the title “The Lost World”.
Unlike COTC1, there was intended to be another installment after COTC2 ended, but the intended sequel story was drastically different. Takua ended COTC2 with the line “I feel there will be a new batch of Toa coming along sometime soon”, which tied into the “Toa Inika” idea that involved Jaller, Hahli, Hewkii, Kongu, Nuparu, and Matoro becoming the Toa Inika and journeying to a distant island overrun by the evil Piraka (based on the 2006 Bionicle storyline). This idea ended up being dropped for budget reasons and the project was completely rewritten to have the Toa Nuva instead.
This film has several unintentional connections to the MCC Film Club’s first project, Cerea. Both films feature Carl Mohr, Shannon Asprooth, Frank Padour, and Lauren Murphy, with Sam Shenberger serving as casting director and occasionally secondary cameraman. Both films also feature two music tracks by Kevin MacLeod: “Private Reflection” (used in COTC3 during the Ruins of Ta-Koro scene and in Cerea plays over the prologue) and “Movement Proposition” (in COTC3 when Pohatu and Onua are fighting, in Cerea during the flashback at the beginning).
Altair was named after the very first PC computer. Before this name was picked, other names like Aorcost, Takaru, Peft, Homete, and Teoku were considered. Although cut from the final film, Altair also mentioned having a brother named Atari, after an old-school video game platform.
The characters Kongu and Ahkmou are never seen on screen together. That was because the model for Kongu and the model for Ahkmou shared the same lower body piece and could not therefore be shown on screen at the same time.
Production for this film began on February 11th, 2011. It continued until March 7th 2011, when “Sam’s Comics: The Movie” was greenlit by the MCC Film Club. As a result, production for COTC3 was pushed back to September 2011. Later, “Comics” ran over schedule and production was pushed back again to December 2011. It never resumed fully until April 2012, more than an entire year later.
Lewa is the tallest of the six Toa. Onua is the shortest.
As was the case in COTC 1 and COTC 2, Bailey Freemire was originally attached to this project as the voice of Hahli. She was dropped from the film in favor of having her star in “Sam’s Comics: The Movie”.
Originally meant to be released as a feature film. Later, when the final length fell under the required 60 minutes for a feature, it was released episodically like the first two.
Only three of the Toa actually use their elemental powers: Tahu, Gali, and Kopaka. There was scripted a scene where Lewa was to use his, but it was too complicated to film so it was cut.
Unlike The Fallen Order and Masks of Power, both of which featured music from the original Bionicle movies by Nathan Furst, this film features music composed by Kevin MacLeod. When the Toa Inika storyline (and a little bit into the February 2011 production) was still being produced, music from the video game “Bionicle Heroes” by Ian Livingstone was to be used.
Each of the three Chronicles of the Chronicler series parts pertains to one of the three virtues of the Toa. Fallen Order: Duty, Masks of Power: Destiny, and Lost World: Unity.
Sam Shenberger recorded voice-overs for both Hahli and Kopaka, but later recast the two roles with Shannon Asprooth and Carl Mohr.
Jaller says that Ahkmou is prisoner 9091. This is an inside joke to the Beatles song “One After 909”. This number combination had been previously used as a phone number in “Sam’s Comics: The Movie”. 9091 is also the number combination of Sam Shenberger’s professional YouTube channel.
Lewa is left-handed, even though in several pre-production stills and even the first teaser trailer he was shown to be right-handed.
Second major Chronicler’s Company Pictures film to have visual effects.
While Matoro’s voice in COTC2 was based on Tobey Flenderson’s voice in “The Office”, his voice in this movie was changed to resemble the voice of Joel Hodgson from “Mystery Science Theater 3000”. Counting the “Adventures of Takua and Jaller” shorts released prior to COTC, this is Matoro’s third voice.
While recording voice-overs, Carl Mohr couldn’t remember the names of the characters he was to be playing, so he gave them nicknames. Pohatu was "Potato", Lewa was "Lewis", and Kopaka was "Cold Pack".
The film has two deleted scenes, the first being a scene where Takua is threatened telepathically by Makuta and the second one showing Gali fighting a Rahkshi on the beach of Ga-Koro.
This is the first and only installment to feature voice talents other than Sam Shenberger. Carl Mohr plays the voices of Lewa, Pohatu, and Kopaka. Lauren Murphy plays the voice of Gali, Shannon Asprooth voices Hahli, and Frank Padour voices Tahu.
Sam Shenberger originally wanted his friend Ryan White for the part of Lewa. However, the script was not finished in time for him to do the voice over and was never offered the role.
In all three installments, Jaller and Takua have the last two lines (if you don’t count Hahli’s narration at the end of this one). The last lines in the first and third films are the same.
The only COTC film that does not open with a shot of the mask of Shadows.
Some voices were based on real actors/movie characters/celebrities. For example, Hewkii was loosely based on Roy Scheider, Matoro was based on Joel Hodgson, and Altair on Christopher Lloyd.
Several scenes were partially filmed during production in February – March 2011, including: The scene where Altair looks through the Telescope, The scene where Makuta first appears in the Kini-Nui, and Tahu and Jaller in Ta-Koro (Matoro was not there in the original shoot). All this footage was scrapped when production picked back up in December 2011. Only one scene that was shot in February 2011 was kept, as it was the only complete scene: The fight between Onua and Pohatu. A fragment of the original Makuta at Kini-Nui also appears briefly.
Many of the voices in this installment actually aren’t the same as the voices heard in the previous films. Takua’s, Jaller’s, and Nuparu’s voices are deeper, Hewkii now has a (inconsistent) New Yorker accent, and Matoro’s and Onua’s are completely different. It can also be noted that Pohatu is played by Carl Mohr in this film, whereas Hordika Pohatu was voiced by Sam Shenberger in the first. Similarly, Hahli is voiced by Shannon Asprooth in this film.
Every character in this film’s names end in a vowel except Jaller, Altair, and Orkham.
Although his name is never said aloud, the first Ta-Koro guard is Nuhrii.
Episodes 5 and 6 are the only episodes which feature the entire cast. Shannon Asprooth as Hahli does not speak in episode 2 and is absent from episode 4, and Frank Padour as Tahu is absent from episodes 1 and 3. Both Lauren Murphy as Gali and Carl Mohr as Lewa, Pohatu, and Kopaka are absent from episode 1.
All three films begin with the line “In a time before time”. In the first two, these words are followed by “in a world you’ve only imagined”, but the third is followed by simply “a world you’ve only imagined”.
>>>> SPOILER ALERT!<<<<
below this line are bits of trivia that give away major plot points.
Both Jaller and Matoro die in this film. In the actual Bionicle storylines, Jaller died in the 2003 storyline, and Matoro died in the 2007 storyline.
Jaller’s death scene was different than originally planned. His death was to be caused by a poisonous Kraata bite, but the Kraata eventually got cut from the climax, so Jaller had to be killed by a Rahkshi instead. Voice-overs for this original ending were recorded.
Sam Shenberger described Jaller's death scene as "the scene that kept growing. Every time I edited it, I felt it wasn't strong enough. Originally, I didn't want a long drawn-out Hollywood death scene. When it came right down to it, it ended up being far too short for this hero. Eventually, some models had to be reconstructed to film some more footage. After all that, I decided that the voice-overs weren't emotion enough, so I kept re-recording Jaller's lines and adding more panicked reactions from Takua."
The whole finale was entirely rewritten at the last-minute. It originally ended without the whole time-alterations. Sam Shenberger wanted to end it on a bittersweet note by killing Jaller and Matoro off, but in the end decided that the concept of the mask of time lent itself to major time-induced intrigue.
As in COTC 2, Hahli kills the secondary main villain. She beheaded Aft in “Masks of Power” and pushes Ahkmou to his death in “Lost World".
Saturday, July 21, 2012
Production Diary 7/21/12 - Chronicles of the Chronicler 3: The Lost World
Today, was the final step in production for Chronicles of the Chronicler 3: The Lost World. The only things that were missing were the voices of Gali, Lewa, Pohatu, and Kopaka. Now, we have the final cast. Not exactly as planned, but a cast none the less.
Sam Shenberger (Me) as Takua, Jaller, Hewkii, Kongu, Matoro, Nuparu, Altair, Onua, Ahkmou, Makuta, Guard, Orkham, and The Rahkshi
Carl Mohr as Lewa, Pohatu, and Kopaka
Lauren Murphy as Gali
Shannon Asprooth as Hahli
Frank Padour as Tahu
Sam Shenberger (Me) as Takua, Jaller, Hewkii, Kongu, Matoro, Nuparu, Altair, Onua, Ahkmou, Makuta, Guard, Orkham, and The Rahkshi
Carl Mohr as Lewa, Pohatu, and Kopaka
Lauren Murphy as Gali
Shannon Asprooth as Hahli
Sunday, July 1, 2012
Production Diary 7/1/12 - Chronicles of the Chronicler 3: The Lost World - voice overs prt 1
Today, I invited my good friend Shannon Asprooth over to my house to record a voice-over for Chronicles of the Chronicler: The Lost World. She will be playing the voice of Hahli the Chronicler (the title character). I of course have worked with her on several projects at MCC (both with the MCC Film Club and Drama Club), and I knew she could add a new level of depth to the character than I couldn't quite get when I voiced her in COTC 1 and 2 (Shannon obviously has the advantage of being a girl). She had played the role of Rachael Whittaker in "Sam's Comics: The Movie", and we actually played a couple for a Home Run Inn Pizza commercial the Film Club made for a contest.
When COTC 1 and 2 were in the production, my best friend Bailey Freemire was to play Hahli, but scheduling prevented it, and in the end, she was dropped in order for her to appear in "Comics".
Shannon also brought her boyfriend Frank Padour, who agreed to play another voice. Frank and I were friends too, and he agreed to play Tahu. He and I worked closely on drama club plays, and he brought a great sense of credibility to the role.
When COTC 1 and 2 were in the production, my best friend Bailey Freemire was to play Hahli, but scheduling prevented it, and in the end, she was dropped in order for her to appear in "Comics".
Shannon also brought her boyfriend Frank Padour, who agreed to play another voice. Frank and I were friends too, and he agreed to play Tahu. He and I worked closely on drama club plays, and he brought a great sense of credibility to the role.
Wednesday, May 30, 2012
Production Diary 5/30/12 - Wrap for Chronicles of the Chronicler 3: The Lost World
WARNING: THIS DIARY UPDATE CONTAINS PLOT SPOILERS FOR CHRONICLES OF THE CHRONICLER 3: THE LOST WORLD. READ AT YOUR OWN RISK.
Today marks the last day of production for COTC3. I filmed the last shots for the film, and what may possibly be the last stop-motion shot I'll ever shoot. I have some mixed emotions about it. Part of me is relieved that its over, and part of me knows that I'm gonna miss it.
This movie has been a crazy ride. I can't say it was the most stressful movie I've ever done, Sam's Comics holds that award... This one holds second place though. At least this one didn't drive me to the point of nervous break-downs. I would say that Chronicles 3 wins the longest lasting production award, as it started production sometime in January, began principle photography on February 11th, 2011 and ended on May 30th, 2012. Part of the reason it lasted so long is because "Sam's Comics" was picked up by the McHenry County College Film Production Club on March 7th. I did do some filming during production for "Comics", but only one clip actually survived "The Purge".
The story for the third one was very difficult. At the end of the second movie, Takua mentions that he has a feeling that a new batch of Toa will come along. The original plans for Chronicles 3 was for the Matoran Jaller, Hahli, Kongu, Hewkii, Nuparu, and Matoro to become the Toa Inika (like they do in the 2006 Bionicle storyline). This idea was scrapped early on, because I didn't have the Toa Inika sets released by Lego. I was stumped for a while, but then I got new inspiration after watching "Shrek 4". This got me thinking about alternate reality, which somehow got me thinking about time traveling. The next idea for the third movie was to have time travel, but then that became too complicated. Then came the idea that became the final film: bending time by bringing the fallen Toa from the past to save the present.
There was no script when I started filming; I only knew what I wanted to happen. Because of the nature of the Toa's deaths mentioned in Chronicles 1, Onua and Pohatu had to come head to head in another fight scene. The idea I had was to have them sword fighting, but then I thought "I did that like four times already in the first two", so I decided to have them fighting hand-to-hand. This turned out looking much better than the sword fights, and effected how the rest of the script was written (like a few months later when the script was actually written...) I filmed bits of several other scenes before "Comics", but as soon as it came along, production immediately halted, only to have infrequent bit shoots whenever I had time to film between "Comics" and my school schedule. Once "Comics" was finished, I reviewed what little footage I had done already, and then made a big decision: To scrap all completed footage and written script drafts and start from scratched. This delayed production from starting in November 2011 to January 2012. I finished the script on my 21st birthday, January 3rd, 2012. By this time, I had my buddy Carl Mohr attached to the project as various voices.
Several things were changed from the original February 2011 plans. The characters Taipu (who was going to appear in Chronicles 1 before being replaced by Hahli) and Macku were dropped from the script, and the Rahkshi were given more screen time. Later in March, the script was added on to, fleshing out the plot to make sure that this last film in the series was the best it could possibly be. The biggest change made in the plot was the fact that (AND THIS IS MAJOR SPOILERS HERE) Takua, against all odds, becomes a Toa once again. He was originally only supposed to be a minor character as a Turaga, but in the end, I couldn't justify downplaying the main character in the final installment.
Another big step I took to make sure the fans would be satisfied with COTC3, I decided to film some scenes while I was on vacation in Michigan this last week.
All in all, COTC3 totals 1501 still frames and 348 videos shots. That's 638 more stills and 326 videos than COTC1, and 491 more stills and 292 more videos than COTC2!
Still some voice over recordings to do, so I'll leave the diary update at that.
Today marks the last day of production for COTC3. I filmed the last shots for the film, and what may possibly be the last stop-motion shot I'll ever shoot. I have some mixed emotions about it. Part of me is relieved that its over, and part of me knows that I'm gonna miss it.
This movie has been a crazy ride. I can't say it was the most stressful movie I've ever done, Sam's Comics holds that award... This one holds second place though. At least this one didn't drive me to the point of nervous break-downs. I would say that Chronicles 3 wins the longest lasting production award, as it started production sometime in January, began principle photography on February 11th, 2011 and ended on May 30th, 2012. Part of the reason it lasted so long is because "Sam's Comics" was picked up by the McHenry County College Film Production Club on March 7th. I did do some filming during production for "Comics", but only one clip actually survived "The Purge".
![]() | |
| model photo taken during production for "Sam's Comics: The Movie" (2011). Earlier this day, Sam had filmed three scenes for "Comics". |
There was no script when I started filming; I only knew what I wanted to happen. Because of the nature of the Toa's deaths mentioned in Chronicles 1, Onua and Pohatu had to come head to head in another fight scene. The idea I had was to have them sword fighting, but then I thought "I did that like four times already in the first two", so I decided to have them fighting hand-to-hand. This turned out looking much better than the sword fights, and effected how the rest of the script was written (like a few months later when the script was actually written...) I filmed bits of several other scenes before "Comics", but as soon as it came along, production immediately halted, only to have infrequent bit shoots whenever I had time to film between "Comics" and my school schedule. Once "Comics" was finished, I reviewed what little footage I had done already, and then made a big decision: To scrap all completed footage and written script drafts and start from scratched. This delayed production from starting in November 2011 to January 2012. I finished the script on my 21st birthday, January 3rd, 2012. By this time, I had my buddy Carl Mohr attached to the project as various voices.
Several things were changed from the original February 2011 plans. The characters Taipu (who was going to appear in Chronicles 1 before being replaced by Hahli) and Macku were dropped from the script, and the Rahkshi were given more screen time. Later in March, the script was added on to, fleshing out the plot to make sure that this last film in the series was the best it could possibly be. The biggest change made in the plot was the fact that (AND THIS IS MAJOR SPOILERS HERE) Takua, against all odds, becomes a Toa once again. He was originally only supposed to be a minor character as a Turaga, but in the end, I couldn't justify downplaying the main character in the final installment.
Another big step I took to make sure the fans would be satisfied with COTC3, I decided to film some scenes while I was on vacation in Michigan this last week.
All in all, COTC3 totals 1501 still frames and 348 videos shots. That's 638 more stills and 326 videos than COTC1, and 491 more stills and 292 more videos than COTC2!
Still some voice over recordings to do, so I'll leave the diary update at that.
Sunday, May 27, 2012
Friday, May 25, 2012
Tuesday, May 22, 2012
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 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.
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.
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