VICTORIA’S STORY
By Victoria Fraasa

After reading “Dark Curse” I could hardly wait to get started on this book trailer.  Sheila Clover English sent me script outlines of what she and Christine wanted to be included in the trailer and Mike Miller was up for the task of creating the backgrounds for our green screen shoot.

Green screen is a way of shooting so that you can add elements that are created in the computer and merged into the live action which is shot in front of a bright green background.  Every big Hollywood action film is shot this way so that impossible stunts, locations and characters can be generated to look real.  (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Green_screen)

For Christine’s books this is about the only way to go since her imagination exceeds any earthly reality!

First, we casted for the roles of Nicholas and Lara.  Nicolas had to be a “man’s man”, powerful, big and handsome and Lara, beautiful, petite yet strong.  We found the perfect actors in Tay Ghazi and Dana Faras.  Both are professionally trained and experienced thespians with years of film work under their belts.

When they came to set I knew we had the right actors.  Nicolas glows with sexuality and Dana is a sensual fireball of energy;  sparks flew when these two kissed.  Dana lunged right into that kiss and stayed lip locked on him until I called cut.  Together they stepped into their roles as though they had been those characters all their lives.

The best part for me as a director is when the actor wants to know every single thing about the character and then brings that life to the screen.  Tay was in character for every scene.  He asked questions and wanted to make sure his character would do certain things, act a certain way.  Dana challenged Tay every chance she got, knowing that Lara would challenge Nicolas. 

In the scene were they struggle, Dana is really fighting against Tay and not holding back when he tries to calm her and get her to settle down.  In one take she fought him so hard that she actually got away!  Go Girl!

Our hair and make up artist, Gennifer Montoya, did such a great job applying long black extensions to Tay that we all forgot what he looked like when he first came in with short curly brown hair.  The look was powerful and Tay was great for sitting though hours of make up so we could get the right look.

Steve Fraasa, the Director of Photography, wanted to make sure the characters would be in their proper environment once the graphics were added to the green screen and lit the scenes according to the script.  When Lara and Nicholas are looking into the pool of parasites, he aimed light onto a large pan of water so that the ripples would reflect up and dance across their faces.

Mike Miller has started to add the graphic elements to the video and it is exciting to see how his expertise makes this video come to life.  He has taken our live elements and created a feel that still amazes me.  I look forward to seeing the final product with everyone.

SHEILA’S STORY
by Sheila Clover English

As a long time fan I have a different perspective when I work on a Feehan project. I’ve been reading since Dark Prince. Gregori is still my favorite Carpathian and I love how the story has evolved into this fantasy world of dragons and mages. I’m along for the ride, because I know it will be a good one! Dark Curse is one great ride!

I needed to work on the script but there was no ARC. The manuscript I had to work with was unedited, but Domini had started going through it and making notes. No everyone knows that writing can be hard work. There is the joy of writing, which is evident in a good novel, but there is work to writing. There are revisions and re-edits and a labor of love to working on a novel. My challenge was to read the story with the notes making suggestions, comments, corrections, etc. So, in the end, when Dark Curse finally comes out next month, I will buy it and be as excited to read it as any fan, because I have no idea what these comments may have changed. Maybe Christine changed something, maybe she didn’t. What I had to do was pull out the scenes that really captured my imagination and then send her a list of them so that she can pick out what she wanted used.

Sometimes, in the process of writing a script, things flow easily. Sometimes it does not. There’s so much that I could use that would be visually outstanding to see, but then I have to ask myself, “What represents the overall storyline?” And of course there is the constant challenge of trying to do something new. I have written scripts for several Dark series trailers and I wanted to show how this one is different. I pulled out scenes of fantasy that I hope will be breathtaking when you see it. There are so many special effects in this one that it has become the most special effect intense video we’ve ever done. The love scenes are hot and it was pushing the envelope to have the actors be in a passionate embrace, kissing and nude. Now, I know many of you reading this and I have to say, get your mind out of the gutter! Lol It is very tastefully done and still rated PG. If I didn’t mention it here you would probably not even notice. Okay, some of you would. And some of you will be looking for it now! Lol

We have a Shadow Warrior again and we brought in Xavier and there’s one scene that Christine asked for and I told her, “I’m not sure that scene will make sense out of context. We may end up having to cut it.” And now I’m eating my words because it has become one of my favorite scenes. It is a single shot of the Carpathian women in a cave. It is all in shadow. We had hoped to put the chant in there, but the way the video played out it wasn’t necessary. If you’ve seen the teaser for the trailer then you’ve seen that shot.

The entire video is green screen, as Victoria has mentioned. The backgrounds are all created by a special effects team. There is one special effect in there that I would bet money no one catches it. Sometimes those are the best done effects; those you can’t tell are effects because they look so real. I’m very proud of our FX team and all the hard work they have put into this trailer.

As things begin to wrap up and final touches are put on the red dragon, I prepare the launch of the trailer. We really want to get this one out and all over the internet. We invite you to take the embed code and use it in your blog, send it to your friends, whatever you like! Link to it, watch it over and over again when it hits YouTube. This is a fantastic book! It’s an escape into a beautiful fantasy. It will warm your heart and make it beat faster as you take that ride. Invite a friend. Share the love. This is one you’ll want to talk about.