HMHS St Patrick

This is the ship that brought a wounded Gilbert safely back to Blighty, only to be sent back to the front to fight for the remainder of the war.

There are monochrome photographs out there, but this fabulous colour painting is by William Albert Edward Jeneway, a ships steward who loved to paint and who sold many of his paintings to passengers aboard ship. He painted HMHS (His Majesty's Hospital Ship) St Patrick at the very time it was being used to ferry the British wounded back from the Western Front.

It's the perfect reference for Gilbert's War. I can't ask for better than that!

One man and his dog

Whilst researching Gilbert's life and family through online ancestry sites, I got in touch with a guy called Glenn from Canada. Glenn is related to me through Gilbert's family, and he has some photographs that I've never seen.

The most outstanding one for me is one of Gilbert's dad, Walter. He's seen here in a small patch of ground in Wortley, Leeds, surrounded by his chickens and one of his pigs (visible behind his left hand). With him is his dog (name unknown) and in his right hand is a switch, a small whip (I presume for the dog).

I look forward to uncovering more wonders like this, as I keep digging to fill out the picture of how Gilbert lived.

Great new development

Long time no post. I took a break from Gilbert over Christmas and started again in earnest early last month (January).

Things are progressing well. The vimeo trailer was featured on Blender.org (the main site for the open source 3d software I use) and got over 5,000 views in the first week it was up. It's had a great reception from everyone I've shown it to, and has given me determination to push on and make it the very best I can.

I've been writing and, since I need input from other (read better) writers, have set up a regular writing workshop, starting on Monday evening, with two writing partners who's work I respect immensely.

So, I have a firmer idea now on how to tell Gilbert's story to give it the best visual impact, and offer the viewer a tense, gripping drama with a great finish.

I recently got back in touch with other members of Gilbert's family through the magic of Facebook, and their added insight will be a great help.

All in all, it's a very exciting time - so I really should stop typing and get back to it!

Until next time,

Gary.

Trailer is here

Yup, it's finished. I'll post more about it and the future for Gilbert's War later on, but for now, enjoy.

The trailer is also available at: https://vimeo.com/53223751

Trailer's almost done

All the scenes bar one are rendered and comped into a working edit. Now comes re-shoots, gathering/mixing all my audio and music, and knitting the scenes together.

I got a good few hours in this weekend, which helped a lot. The 'To Do' list is now a lot shorter. I might have to get myself a cider tonight to celebrate. :)

Playing soldiers

I'm currently orchestrating the four second long scene where we fly over the battleground. Here's a screenshot showing the armour and infantry in action. The tanks are basic low-detail models for this shot.

Also, there's a single frame from the opening action scene, where the tanks are creeping into position.

Setting the mood

I've started to work on the final scene set-ups for the trailer. Here's a snapshot of the colour and mood for the opening shot on the battlefield that November morning in Cambrai. I'll add a little more light to the final shot - but not much more.

The shape in the foreground is a British MarkIV tank that's just passed underneath the camera on it's slow, lumbering way to battle. The large shape on top is a fascine - a massive bundle of logs which will be dropped into the German trenches to enable the tanks and men to cross them.