#MaraudersTGS

[marauders-fanfilm]

Hi Everyone,

   I want to sincerely apologize for both the long delay between updates and the necessity for one at this point in general. When we set out to make this project, none of us ever anticipated we might still be working on it eight years later. And while a lot has happened in that time, I promise you, no one wants it to be completed and released more than we do.    2022 has been a difficult year for the project on a number of fronts, but we’re still standing. This year has seen an essentially unprecedented demand for the VFX industry, while they continue to fight for the sort of protections and working standards that the rest of the film industry and most industries in general have. Last year’s near IATSE strike was a wake up call for many of us that the film industry can very easily become incredibly dangerous and destructive to the lives of the people who work in it, and we’ve all tried to do our best to ensure we and the rest of our crew members take the time they need to take care of themselves and their loved ones. This, while absolutely critical and my top priority for the team I am responsible for, has meant that there have been some delays with our progress due to artists needing to take time to focus on themselves and their families, or simply because they’ve needed to prioritize their non-volunteer work, and haven’t been able to juggle both.

   As I’m sure just about all of you know, over the past few years, the original author of the franchise has dedicated her time and legacy to an anti-transgender campaign. I’ve talked about it previously, but it’s been an incredibly difficult situation for all of us. While our film doesn’t benefit her in any way, it’s complicated to dedicate months or years of work to a project that is still playing in her sandbox. For some of our artists, it simply wasn’t something they could come to terms with, and they had to step away from the project for their own well being, which all of us on the TGS Production Team absolutely understand and sympathize with. I’ve struggled with it a lot personally, I know most of us have. Speaking purely for myself, while I think the franchise and world will always be tainted by its author’s bigotry now, I love this film, I am incredibly proud of all of the hard work our cast and crew have poured into it, and I made a commitment to see it through. I intend to do so. But I will never harbor any resentment towards any member of our team who doesn’t feel the same way, and wish them nothing but the best of luck on their future endeavors.

   There’s not much we can do from our small platform to challenge her, unfortunately. Our film is long-since written and shot, and a time capsule of where we all were as fans and aspiring creators when that happened. What we can do is support our trans team members and supporters, and reject bigotry like Rowling’s. We will be adding a note on the situation and our rejection of her and her prejudice at the opening of the film, and I have elected to strike her card from the animated credits sequence. She created the world and most of these characters, I can’t change that. She’ll be credited for her part of course, as it would be wrong not to, but we don’t need to plaster her name across the screen either.

All that said, where is the project at?    The first two acts are just about picture-locked with finished VFX, barring a handful of shots that are currently in the works. Among the work done on this section:

An incredibly intricate steadicam shot of the Marauders fleeing Filch’s office after releasing a series of fireworks and dung bombs, as seen in our very first piece of concept art. This effect required the work of four separate artists to rotoscope the actors, 3D model and track the set and camera movement, and the actual effect work of the smoke and fireworks. Talented artist Porter Justus is hard at work on the scene between work on his Masters from SCAD and preparing for the birth of his second child. Congrats again, Porter!

Top to bottom creations of numerous Daily Prophet page graphics and layouts for a montage sequence by talented Malaysian 2D artist Kunal Chopra.

A Virtual CG version of the Marauder’s Map for various shots by American artist Alyssa Nicholas, for tight insert shots where tracking a physical prop became too difficult.

Artist Jorge Gúzman, who was only able to join us briefly before having to leave to focus on paid projects came on and helped with a handful of Marauder’s Map shots.

Artist Chris Shivers has been working on a spell effect for a series of shots of Lily Evans between his other paid work.

UK artist Nathan Collins has been hard at work on several potions class scenes, including the infamous Amortentia potion!

Nic Bahn, a German artist known as WizardingsFX online, has been hard at work helping us upgrade the opening scene of the film.

Talented Spanish artist Pablo Nadal, who goes by Pancatum in online fandom circles, has been busy for much of this year, but when he’s had time to join us, he’s worked on a great sequence between Regulus & Marlene.

And lastly, our VFX Supervisor, Martin Bayang, who between his demanding hours at his Los Angeles VFX day job and helping me manage our team, has still managed to carve out time to work on a number of shots from our Valentine’s Day sequence!

The Third Act is where most of the work is still being done, including a large fight sequence and where most of our focus is.

When VFX Artist Emma Matzke has time between professional VFX work and parental responsibilities, she is currently hard at work on Snape’s big final scene, which is looking absolutely amazing!

Our dynamic duo from Spain, Guillermo Valadez and Iván Rubio, both full-time professional VFX artists, are bouncing between a couple of segments, including that large fight scene, and another key moment of the finale I can’t talk about without spoiling the ending!

There is still work to be done on both Sound and Color, but the brunt of the workload has been on the VFX front.

There is still a decent bit left of both final action beats, along with a handful of Marauder’s Map shots, and one complicated VFX shot for the final sequence of the film that has proved more challenging than anticipated. But we’re hard at work trying to progress through them as quickly as possible.

  Our composer J. Paul Bourque has had a very busy year with his professional composing work in New York, but we’ve slowly been chipping away at the last of the score for the film. We are currently undergoing some revisions to the final sequence, after which Paul and Writer/Creative Producer Ben Wessels will be going back through all the tracks for final adjustments and filling in some final instrumentation, along with the recording of one track I won’t go into detail about that is being recorded live. We’re all really excited about and proud of how the score is sounding, and can’t wait to share it with all of you.   Lastly, while I had hoped to save this announcement until the trailer reveal, I am incredibly excited to announce that over the last couple years we have been working alongside the magically talented Tom Ya, also known as The_H_Project, a french architect who used his lockdown time over the pandemic to create an insanely detailed digital replica of Hogwarts Castle! All of the establishing shots in the film have been replaced with custom shots Tom crafted for the project, and I cannot overstate how much it adds to the final product. Tom is now working, again as he’s able to between his busy day job and time with his new bride (Congratulations again, my friend), on integrating elements of his model into some other shots and sequences, and the results so far have been truly fantastic.

   I want to apologize again to our incredibly patient friends, families, and fans that the project has taken so much longer than any of us have anticipated. We all want to see the project finished and released, and we are working as hard and as quickly as we can to make that happen. But I also just want to take a moment to say how proud I am of our team and everything they’ve accomplished, both on the film and in their personal, professional, and creative lives since the project began. We all really appreciate your years of patience, and we will continue to pour our hearts into this project, and try to get this film finally completed and out to you soon. Happy New Years, everyone. Aaron

[cpt-tightpants]

CAV! #TGSdontstop

[ilikemyqueensevil]

Needed to make room on my phone and rediscovered this pretty shot of young Professor McGonagall from The Gathering Storm. @maraudersfilm

[theneverlandarchitect]

I have to make a heartfelt statement about these guys now, don't I? Well, it doesn't quite feel over yet. So I'll get back to you when the dust settles. But the smiling faces in this photo have become so important to me, even as they've grown and changed over the last year. I love you all, and I am proud to know you. #regram #marauderstgs #mischiefmanaged (at Hogwarts)

[bloodshed-on-mars]

[arthurconandorable]

Hammond Castle aka Hogwarts

I wish I had taken more photos during filming :(

[laura-ellie]

The last day of shooting went bout as well as one would expect. Thanks for the memories. #bowsarelovely #marauderstgs #maraudersfilm

[datvikingtho]

marauders-fanfilm Alice (Kingsley) is prepping for the day with a little bit of motherly pride.

[marauders-fanfilm]

Hi all!

I know you all have been clamoring for an update. Those of us working on “The Gathering Storm” have been hard at work on the film, as well as on our own lives (many of us graduated college and moved around the USA since). We wanted to get this update to you to let you know what we are up to. Click the link below to get an overview, and we promise that more videos, behind-the-scenes, and content planned to be coming your way this year!

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/128206543/the-gathering-storm-a-marauders-fan-film/posts/1501116

Mischief Managed,

Victoria Loubert

Producer - The Gathering Storm

[cpt-tightpants]

I found a Murph! #maraudersTGS #whenyourcrewarecharacterstoo

[cpt-tightpants]

In the studio! #Fixitinpost #maraudersTGS

[theneverlandarchitect]

#regram from @cavalyn to commemorate my last day on the set of #marauderstgs . It's been an adventure of a year, and I couldn't have done it without all of my amazing cohorts. But perhaps most of all, I couldn't have done it without Cav, who brought Professor Bastet to life and consistently made me believe in her as a part of this world in the first place. <3 #thegatheringstorm #maraudersfanfilm

[theneverlandarchitect]

Look Mum, I'm a Witch ;). Now, I've got to get back to Hogwarts...to see my favorite mischief-makers and to finish filming @maraudersfilm #marauderstgs #hogwarts #Gringotts #tgskgb

[theneverlandarchitect]

"So if you seek beneath our floors a treasure that was never yours, Thief , you have been warned, beware, of finding more than treasure there." Why, I think Professor Bastet would be proud. #Gringotts #wizardguard #marauderstgs

[theneverlandarchitect]

johannamasonjar and professor-remus made me do it. 

The fatigues might have existed in the 70's...but that scarf pattern CERTAINLY did not.  Closet cosplay for marauders-fanfilm's DADA Professor, Zahra Bastet, who has a far more liberal wardrobe when she's not teaching class. 

[ilikemyqueensevil]

The other Blackinnon