Hello followers!

We haven’t done too great of a job keeping you all updated on our progress with Project Callisto, but, rest assured it’s because we have been extremely busy constructing the set, filming, and taking the set apart. It’s been a whirlwind of excitement, nerves, and stress, the past six weeks for the entire crew. We are however, happy to announce that we have finished principle photography and are moving into post-production!

The set in its early stages

The first day of shooting was rough, as we worked out the kinks and quirks in our equipment, as well as in each other. But, by the time we finished lunch, the crew was in good spirits and we finished the first day strong! The rest of production went as swimmingly as working 10-12 hour days can go, and with some crew members getting as little as four hours of sleep a night, it was definitely a highly stressful and exhausting week.

The crew working hard getting a scene right

Mindy Montavon, a very talented actress, played our leading role as Captain Karen Whitmore, supported by Brett Emmanuel, another talented actor, as Captain William Shaw. Both actors were wonderful to work with, and each brought their own spirit and life to the set. You can see Mindy in the online web series “The Bomb Shelter.” Brett comes from a theater background, and has appeared in multiple short films in the past few years. You can find both of them on IMDB.

Mindy Montavon as Captain Karen Whitmore prepares for a scene

Brett Emmanuel acts out a scene as the camera crew gets the shot

Overall this has been an incredible learning experience for our crew. The entire crew, from construction and art department, to camera and lighting, was made up of undergraduate and masters students. While we are extremely grateful to those professors who gave us their advice and help, this was an entirely student developed and operated production. And everyone learned an immense amount about running a professional production.

The director goes over a scene with Brett & Mindy

The camera crew preps for a scene and awaits direction

Despite the exhaustion, our cast and crew had a great time, and the long hours definitely paid off in the final product. We’re currently working on editing a rough cut to work on and finesse with visual effects, as soon as we can, you, our backers, will be the very first to get a glimpse at screenshots of the film!

Our editors, Kathleen, Christine, and Katie work hard on organizing our footage

Thank you again for your support! We hope you enjoyed these first-look production photos! You can see these and more on our facebook page in the next couple days. We look forward to keeping you updated on the project!

- The Project Callisto Team

Members of the crew enjoy a photo shoot after the last day of production

Producer, McKenna Daniel, and 2nd AD, Dani Conklin, unwind after a long week of production.