Way back in 1998, when I was in college, I made a short film. It was nothing high quality and it turned out to be pretty hard, but it was an enjoyable experience and forced me to do a lot of work on my own.

Over the next few weeks, I hope to share with you the stages that I went through to create The Realm. Perhaps, at some point I will get the film online to share with you, until then, I'll share the process from conception to completion.

The first thing I did was write the story. I think I jumped a little further ahead in the process, but I had the story and it just flowed out of me. Of course, things did not go nearly as well as they had been planned.

Please, read on. Part 1 is my original story for The Realm.

The Original Story:
As He wandered through the darkness, an eerie calm descended over him. He wandered around the land believing he was dreaming, but feeling awake. Too bad he was too naive to know the difference, for he was doing neither. He walked for what seemed to be days but were just minutes ticking, ticking away. His calm slowly gave way to panic as he wasn't waking up. In his anxiety he failed to search his surroundings and fell....

His aching body sat up, pain shooting through his skull.... Pain? He thought, I'm dreaming you can't feel pain in a dream....could you? He suddenly came to the realization that he was not asleep. Although he did not know where he was or how he got there. All he thought he knew was that he must find a way out of the intense blackness.

As if on cue, colors started swirling around him. His panic grows and grows into a fevered pitch. Where am I? He screams to anyone who may be listening. Little did he know that someone was listening...
That was me.... And one other

The other arrived about the same time as he, but in the polar opposite. She was bathed in a blinding white light. She stumbled around at first, startled at the brilliance of the light and the loss of her sight. She soon learned to navigate the unfamiliar landscape without the use of her eyes. She came to have questions about where she was and why she felt so relaxed. She wandered for minutes which seemed to stretch for hours. As she walked her questions were forgotten and she felt empty and alone, falling into despair and then... She walked off the edge...

And landed on what felt like a large pillow, and suddenly she could see again. Not shapes but colors swirling around her. It was then that she heard the voice...

Where am I? It said. She sat up startled, not prepared to hear a voice other than her own. Slowly she got to her feet and calling out Where are you?