In March 2011, the first footage (vimeo.com/11386048) from Outside In went viral, resulting in 3.8 million hits and 1.3 million plays & media coverage in over 250 countries. Here is an improved, extended version of that footage with unlit side of rings, better color and other small tweaks added.

Created from over 30,000 real photographs taken by the Cassini spacecraft. Master is 5.6k resolution (5600 x 4200 pixels) with all work done in 32-bit floating point color space to preserve
photographs from artifacts.

No 3D models, CGI or texture maps used!

Much thanks to everyone who has supported and contributed to this. This is the beginning, just a taste of incredible things to come.

This is fly-through of this photograph – photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA11141 – only a little brightness and contrast has been made to balance the moons with saturn’s body.The saturation is off due to lack of Flash Player ICM support.

This is still a work-in-progress and it’s an art film, not a science film, but as new image data comes down I will tweak this shot for improved accuracy.

We need more – in any language, any quality is fine. For more info on submitting yours (by August 31 end of day), click here.

I will be headed out, film under my arm, to the GSCA Expo and show the clip film to interested and major backers. I’m not at liberty to tell you who they are, but if I did, you’d know.

I’m taking a 30-hour bus journey to Austin, Texas. No flights, first class accommodations or plush amenities for this filmmaker – all the funds are going towards the big expense of recording the three minutes of footage to IMAX film.

Cafe Pasta is generously providing light appetizers and drink specials, including their newest Cassini Martini, named for the Cassini spacecraft orbiting Saturn. Tickets are FREE and you will have a chance to see a portion of the film on HD projection, and mingle and network with others in our creative community, and a chance to support an ground-breaking film.

RESERVATIONS ARE EXTREMELY LIMITED – Only 200 are available. RSVP deadline is Monday, September 5. Don’t miss the best party to kick off the Fall.

RSVP Here: http://event.pingg.com/OutsideInCafePasta

OUTSIDE IN ON THE GIANT SCREEN:

Mark your calendars as new footage from my non-profit film “Outside In“ will be on the giant screen at Wells Fargo IMAX Theatre at Marbles Kids Museum on Sunday August 21st at 5:00pm, followed by a reception and short presentation. Until you’ve seen these amazing images brought to life on 70ft wide, 50ft tall screen with 24,000 Watts of sound, you’ve not seen or heard them at all. And if you are too far away to attend, please let us know anyone you know in the area.

The occasion is the kickoff event of the Summer Fundraiser to support production and promotion of this ground-breaking film. We will be showing stunning new footage, a Q&A, a casual reception and special presentation from space outreach advocates Mike Malaska and Tony Rice. This is a critical time for the film to create a new film-out of the new footage to present to global theaters and distributors at this years international Giant Screen expo in Austin TX.

IMPORTANT FACTS:

• You must RSVP to this event as soon as possible – seating is limited. If you have not received an Evite, contact us or call 336-315-6081. All donors in NC so far (big thanks to you) should have received one.
• Please invite anyone you know in NC that you think would help support the film but please let them know this is fundraiser – the goal is raise enough funds to cover the cost of a new filmout of 3 minutes of new footage. Please contact us with their name, email and/or phone number.
• If you are attending, please arrive a few minutes before 5pm. We have a narrow window in the theater.
• We will be serving non-alcoholic beverages and light snacks in the reception following the screening.
• If you are not able to come or don’t live in the area, you can still support our Summer Fundraiser by contributing in the online campaign and/or spreading the word on IndieGoGo here: http://igg.me/p/29650?a=1258&i=shlk

Thanks to all our donors and sponsors – it’s people like you that make a project like this possible.

The fantastic part of this (for me) is that he is shooting 12 days of day & night time-lapse footage for Outside In and donating this work to the film. It’s an amazing gift as the footage I originally planned to use was just some stills stitched together – nice stills but pales in comparison of what now will be there.

The Rig with Milky Way: Photo Credit Colin Legg

Colin and I crossed paths on the interwebz via the Timescapes Forum – he was really excited about my film and I loved his work. So we begin chatting about possibilities of him helping the film. After some testing on my part and tons of work, planning and building on he and his team’s part, the expedition is finally a go!

THE SHOOT:

The plan is to shoot a 12 day continous sequence timelapse sequence, 6 days either side of the new moon. Changing light will be tracked as smoothly as possible in camera and all 5 cameras will fire together. Images from each camera will be stitched together to cover 195 degrees of sky. The sequence will be used for the key sequence in Outside In that shows the loss of the night sky over the entire history of human civilization.

THE EXPEDITION:

The shoot will take place in a dry lake bed, Lake Auld, that is basically in the middle of nowhere. It’s about 80 km from the nearest aboriginal community to get supplies and 160 km from nearest mining operation, so there should be zero light pollution.

Location of Shoot (credit Google Earth)

It’s far enough north to escape most southerly winter storm systems but far enough south to avoid tropical lows with a very high chance of clear skies. Of course, nothing is easy especially shooting in the wilds. There could be smoke from fires, sandstorms etc. but hopefully if those occur, they will be brief and maybe even incorporated into the film.

THE TIME-LAPSE RIG:

The rig is built using five Canon 5D Mark II DSLR cameras arranged to capture a full sky dome panoramic time lapse with sophisticated electronics and software to control the cameras during the shoot. The rig allows all camera to fire at once, manages the exposure as light changes from day to night to day. By using five 5 Canon 5D’s, it will give better resolution and lower noise than even 15/70mm film used in IMAX and other giant screen productions.

Colin has a lot of help from key people in pulling this off that I’m also very indebted to.

• His wife Uta Bauer is a critical member of the team helping with everything Colin can’t handle.
• David Gargadennec is talented photographer & collaborator on the project. He will be with Colin on the 12 day shoot for the Outside In sequence. He designed and built 5 camera mount, power systems and contributed post processing advice.
• Thomas Bethell built an 8 camera bulb firing and monitoring micro-controller for the project. He is a pioneer in bulb ramping camera controllers for smoothly tracking light (sunrise/sunset/moonrise/moonset). You can read more about the building of this here.
• Fred Bruenjes is the developer of Eclipse Orchestrator software used in adjusting camera settings and orchestrating and timing the 12 day sequence. He modified his software to Colin’s needs for the shoot.
• Carsten Oehring -  Created custom power systems engineering to keep all 5 cameras and supporting gear running.

As I get updates from Colin, I will keep everyone posted. This is a very exciting part of the creation of the film.

On the one hand it’s frustrating that Outside In has yet to land a single grant. Film grants in the US almost always go to “socially conscious” films and despite the fact that professional grantwriters have helped rework my applications, the few grants that will allow IMAX films to apply have rejected Outside In multiple times.

Of course, film grants are scarce in the US and most of them refuse to let IMAX films apply – believing that only well-heeled filmmakers make IMAX films despite much letter-writing in protest.

Outside In is, well, too outside-the-box for the usual indie film world, so fundraising will need to be outside-the-box too. Outside In already has impressed people with how much start-up seed money has been raised and the progress so far. Now it’s time to launch the film completely (see the cool rocket launch graphic added to the site).

It’s my mission to keep the film true to the pure vision: to inspire and spark interest in space exploration as way to understand the big questions. It’s also very important that the film reach as many people as possible and that the film sparks many new efforts in outreach, inspiration, dialogue and community building around the world.

You can help, even if you don’t have dime. Start a Team 11. Ask a generous friend to donate. Help find a corporate sponsor. And always continue to spread the word.

The images in the film belong to all humanity, so it’s only fitting that the film is of the people, by the people, for the people.

• Search is now easy from the menu bar
• Added logo header at top
• Font change for better layout especially on mobile
• Facebook and Twitter feeds available with easy like and tweet options
• Fundraising store integrated with site
• Minor layout tweaks to improve readability and usability
• Some tweaks to improve page load speeds

Let me know what you think. The site is built out of the WordPress Blog engine, so there are limitations on what can be done but the advantages of easy update, customization and integration for a non-web programmer like me far outweigh those.

But that’s not all. Marie and I will be there all weekend with a booth complete with a gorgeous print giveaway thanks to Mark Wagoner Productions, The Artery and Penland Custom Frames plus:

• Free actual 70mm IMAX film frames
• Team 11 sign-up info
• Demo Footage
• Free 5 X 7 prints from new footage

Plus, there will be tons of other cool astronomy & space stuff there including from Outside In supporters Mike Malaska & Ian Hewitt (Raleigh Astronomy Club) as well as NASA. Should be a great event with tons of stuff for the whole family.

Here’s the print we are giving away. To enter to win, all you have do to fill up a sign-up sheet at the event and/or make a donation in any amount. ALL PREVIOUS DONORS are automatically entered. If you are not a donor or can’t make it, just email your name, address and phone with the subject “Print Giveaway here.

The Print Giveaway

Printing/Framing by Mark Wagoner Prod. The Artery & Penland Custom Frames