COMPLETION!

Hey Kids,

Now that this is done, I can loosen my belt a little, slow down, and really look around and appreciate how this all came to be.

During the shoot of the film PREDATORS in Austin, Texas, my long-time friend and colleague, Gino Crognale, suggested that I shoot as much footage at that location for PHANTOM HARBOR for no other reason than it got the character off of the set and into an exotic location.

The Art Department on PREDATORS led by Steve Joyner and Caylah Eddleblutte had built what was an impressive exotic jungle set and with their permission, we grabbed my little Hi-8 videotape camera (yes, before digital!) and we began to shoot with no story in mind. 

I knew, however, two things: Exotic jungles need headhunters and there was no way I was going to be able to hire a bunch of actors to portray headhunters for my humble show.  The idea of making puppets hit me and soon the concept of a Geckoniki had been born.  Truthfully, it was such a seat-of-the-pants idea that in unused footage, the Captain keeps mispronouncing the word!

I asked Robert Rodriguez if we could shoot some elements on his massive green screen stage and I'll never forget his question: "How big will your crew be?"  My answer: "Just Gino and me."  "Oh, " he responded, "Go ahead then."  So one Sunday Gino, Dave Wogh (who had been making props on location for Phantom Harbor with little more than rubber bands, tape, and whatever he could find) went onto the green screen stage to shoot. 

As luck would have it, one of Robert's trusted collaborators, cinematographer Jimmy Lindsey, was there, knew us from our past work, and offered a couple of Kino Flo lights to light the stage!  Shooting could commence.  At the end of the day, we had all sorts of footage including the Captain in a boat that had been lent by the Art Department along with a fishing pole.  Elements were coming together, but not a clear story.

One night, I cooked up this story about a missing sea Captain, Captain Keller, and that at least gave us a template for shooting when we left Troublemaker Studios and headed for the forests of Austin.  Again, with no rhyme or reason we began shooting the Captain darting through trees, calling for Captain Keller, etc. and I kept thinking: "How the heck am I going to put all of this together?"

The show wrapped and Gino went back to Pennsylvania while Dave and I returned to Los Angeles.  I had so much footage to now sift through, and a script I had typed and printed in Austin to sort of go by in assembling the episode.  I was able to cut together what I considered Part 1 of the episode entitled "A Cry from Captain Keller" and posted it on Vimeo in 2010.

I was so full of optimistic energy that I was SURE I could complete part 2 in a matter of weeks.  I gave myself 2 months and started building.  I had no idea.

During this time, www.phantomharbor.com was getting "Birthday Requests" (which I thought was a great idea to increase awareness of the site and show) so The Captain was making appearances there and in a couple of Halloween Specials (that I so love doing...again, we'll have to wait for 2013 for a BIG special!) but I always felt that the Captain really was still on Geckoniki island.

If you've been following the blogs, then you know how much I had to accomplish just to create part 2.  Geckoniki puppets (rod and hand versions), Captain Keller, miniatures, props,sets and then shooting, shooting, shooting...What am I saying?  Then, EDITING, EDITING, EDITING!

My original intention was just to pick up the action on Geckoniki Island as soon as The Captain had hit shore, but in thinking about it, that would mean that Captain Keller would not be introduced until the end of the show and he is such a great character, I didn't want to waste him as a "boo" at the end of the show.

I realized I could do a rewrite, make the entire episode basically a flashback, and feature Captain Keller throughout the entire thing.  This meant that some footage I shot would become redundant and unusable while new footage would be needed to pin the entire story together.  Trust me, it's no way to make a movie.

So now it is done.  You've been with me on this voyage for nearly TWO YEARS! And, yes, I'll be resting for a bit.  A BIT!  But we're coming back soon with more fun!  Thanks again for your patience and support.  I really, really could not do this without you all!

Until next time, I'll see you at the Harbor!

Shannon Shea

P.S. - What are you standing around reading this for?  Go watch the episode!