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Star Ranger 7 : About Us |
In the 23rd century, the Star Rangers are the formidable peace-keeping force throughout the human populated galaxy.
They’ve created a “safe zone” for civilized colonies by way of a defense grid which encompasses the perimeter. When
an old foe comes to town with the key to debunk the system, all hell breaks loose…
SR7’s roots go back many years to the thoughts and ideas of a budding young film maker, Marc Kimball. Sci-fi fan from
birth, he dreamt one day of creating a sort of Lone Ranger in space film using all 3D animation to tell his tale. As he grew
older and the computers grew bolder… he discovered that that day had finally come. With a few concessions to his
original plan, Marc penned a SR7 script with all the fixin’s to make any action packed sci-fi story loving fan proud. With
a runtime just over twenty minutes, he likens the film to a cliff note version of all his favourite sci-fi action films.
The film essentially has two main characters: past his prime and ready to retire Star Ranger 7 Captain Jake Swan and
John Recon, Captain of the dark carrier Revenge and mastermind of the evil plot to acquire the Dark Matter Weapon.
The two face off as mortal enemies as Recon tosses a few henchmen Swan’s way at every turn. Notable is Recon’s
number one, Quartermaster, who seems to be the only combat ready crew member able to handle the threat
that Swan brings on board.
Sound Designer Drake Giles has been tasked to take the cold silence of Marc’s graphical landscapes and give them
life (and death) with robust sound. Every single shot in the movie is or has an effect shot. We estimate around
500 effect shots in all. With each shot comes layers upon layers of music, foley, weapons, explosions and ambient
sound. Mr. Giles had quite the job ahead of him.
Back in March of 2004, Marc and Michael decided to embark on their next cinematic adventure. At that time, both were
very busy with work and home life. Each had small children at home and only a few hours a week to dedicate to the cause.
It was that lack of a large production window that prompted them to “go green”. In an effort to simplify the process, the two
decided to act as the principle characters. They would shoot the short entirely on green screen and artificially create whatever
sets were needed. Armed only with a Sony PD-150 camera, the thought of clean chroma keys seemed dim. But after a few
screen tests, they decided to forge ahead and pixel count be damned! For the next three years, Mike and Marc would meet
when ever possible for an average of two to three hours at a time: one directing behind the camera while the other performs.
It was a crew of two. Neither director nor talent was exempt from repositioning the lighting or adjusting the microphone,
checking script for continuity, rigging poles to hang from or constructing green walls to slide down. On a rare occasion, a
couple of friends filled some of the henchmen roles on camera and they were taken advantage of as crew hands
while it lasted. Final green screen shot was wrapped in Nov 2007. That was the easy part.
Before they shot frame one, Marc had already generated a number of scene backgrounds to work off of. The great thing
about their non-committal time frame was that Marc could pick off a scene piece by piece as his time permitted. A guard’s
gun here, an explosion test there. His major concern grew to be the power of his computer. From when they started in
March of 2004 to effects completion in September of 2008, the power of their Apple processors grew exponentially.
If not, Marc estimated he would have needed at least another 16 months to finish the film.
Co-Directors: Marc Kimball / Michael Harnois
Editor: Michael Harnois
Writer and Visual Effects: Marc Kimball
Sound Design: Drake Giles
Still Photographer: Kent W. Ohlman
Production Facilities: The Troupe, Windham, NH
Marc has been in the Film and TV business for over 20 years now. He currently is employed
at The Troupe, in Windham, NH as their Senior Graphics Designer.
Mike has also been in the Film and TV business for over 20 years. He too is employed by
The Troupe, only he edits and constantly looks to Marc to help spice up his work. They make a good team.
Drake has also been in the Film and TV business for over 7 years. He also is employed by The Troupe,
Not only is he a sound designer but also a final cut pro editor.
This is 40 Something’s third film since 2000. The first being “Dantana Morse for
Galactic Senator”. A 60 second spoof of a political spot set in the Star Wars universe.
This film helped launch the official “Star Wars Fan Films” site hosted by then Atom Flms.
FSF then followed up with yet another fan film,“Star Wars: Battle of Hoth” in 2002.
After playing in everyone else’s universe for a while, they decided to create one
of their own and developed Star Ranger 7
