Spirit Blade Productions

Entertainment and Resources for Christian Geeks!

SPIRIT BLADE PRODUCTIONS exists to equip, encourage and inspire Christian Geeks to live in the freedom and purpose Christ offers.

Wednesday, May 2, 2012 Spirit Blade Special Edition Commentary, Part 1!

Part 1 of the Spirit Blade Special Edition Commentary is available now on our Media Page!

In this first part of the commentary I talk a little about what this commentary as a whole will focus on (compared to my commentary for the original edition of Spirit Blade) and describe the various changes made in the first scenes, including the song "Destiny".

Some of the biggest insight is in relationship to casting my wife, Holly, as Ebony. Apart from being my wife, why did she get that part? What concerns did I have about her performance? Find out in this first segment of the commentary!

Wednesday, April 25, 2012 I Want Your Opinions For The Podcast!

Over the summer I plan to make some changes that will help to freshen up the podcast and the Spirit Blade community. I'd LOVE to get your thoughts on the podcast! What would you miss if I took it out of the show? What WOULDN'T you miss if it vanished? I'd also love your brainstorming ideas for potential new content.

Your thoughts and suggestions don't need to be thought out or reasonable. I just want a bunch of ideas to throw in a pot and stew over. EVERY idea will be considered. And who knows, your feedback may result in a new facet of the show that becomes a defining attribute attracting new listeners in the future!

A discussion has already begun on our forums. So drop by the topic thread and give me YOUR thoughts, too!

-Paeter Frandsen

 

  1. AnonymousApril 27, 2012 at 3:38 PM

    I'm not on the forum... maybe one day, but too many geek commitments currently. And school. 
    Still I HAD to make one quick comment. Please, please keep the updates! I love what you're doing at Spiritblade Productions and I love the insight into how you do it (I'm a special features nerd). Sometimes I just listen to the updates on podcasts and catch the rest later.
    Just saying.
    Dif-tor heh-smusma,
    KV

  2. Paeter FrandsenApril 30, 2012 at 7:26 PM

    Gotta say, your feedback surprised me! But I'll definitely keep it in mind! Thanks for speaking up!

  3. AnonymousMay 2, 2012 at 4:26 PM

    +1 on that! Always cool to hear what your up to! Love all the geeky news to, much of it I don't follow personally but love your outlook on things I still find cool. In fact you even inspired me to find HeroQuest just on some mention of it. Always fun to learn of things I wasn't aware of! Keep up the good work!

  4. AnonymousMay 2, 2012 at 7:09 PM

    +1 on that!!! Always enjoy the behind the scenes look at what your up to! Makes you feel more connected to and involved in what your up to.

  5. Paeter FrandsenMay 3, 2012 at 10:08 AM

    Thanks, guys! Really appreciate the feedback!

Wednesday, April 11, 2012 Spirit Blade 3 Production Begins!

Woohoo! Today is a very big day for me!

1. I'm turning 34! (Which means my mental pictures of Jesus as he was on earth will have to start getting strangely younger and younger relative to me.)

2. My wife bought me Thunderstone: Dragonspire as an "expansion" to Thunderstone Advance, which I bought three weeks ago. (Thunderstone rocks! Review coming soon!)

3. Kristen Self is coming over tonight to record for Spirit Blade 3!

That name probably isn't popping out to you even if you are a fan of Spirit Blade and Spirit Blade: Dark Ritual. But Kristen provides the voice for the computer in both audio dramas as well as the intro to the Spirit Blade Underground Podcast. And she'll be doing it one more time for Spirit Blade 3!

Our recording session will likely only last around 30 minutes or so. But even so, it will mark the end of pre-production and the start of production on Spirit Blade 3!

Hard to believe it's here! I've already got four other returning actors scheduled to record and before I know it guys like Randy Hesson and Michael Tully will be stepping up to the microphone to play their characters for what may be the last time ever!

I've decided to delay holding auditions for supporting roles until all of the principle performers have finished recording, but keep one eye here for audition announcements in the coming months.

Well I almost typed "back to work!" as my sign off, but remembered that apart from recording with Kristen I'm taking most of the night off for my birthday. So "back to play"!

-Paeter Frandsen

Monday, April 2, 2012 A Loose Grip On The Wheel

One of my greatest challenges in running Spirit Blade Productions is keeping a loose grip on the steering wheel. God has changed my course so many times in my adult life. Many times that I've been convinced that I'm going where God wants me, he seems to change my course in ways I never would have expected.

In broad strokes, I'm getting used to this a little. If God made it crystal clear that I was supposed to leave Spirit Blade Productions behind and focus on something else, I would do it and probably not be shattered. (Don't worry. I have never, to my knowledge, received a single indication from God that I should abandon what I'm doing, and have no reason to think I will.)

The harder thing for me is to have my short-term expectations forced to change, which happens very frequently because of my part-time work as a substitute teacher. Any given weekday morning I may get a phone call in the early hours, or even halfway through my day, that forces me to drop everything and run off to a high school.

Prepping for that recording session tomorrow? Answering e-mails? Studying for, writing and then posting the weekly "In Search Of Truth" segment? Nothing is safe.

Although I spend the vast majority of my time in a year working on things for Spirit Blade Productions, my time is not my own. I may want to pursue professional excellence and present a reliable online presence for my company. Yet my part-time job doesn't care, and repeatedly I have to see my plans dashed to pieces without warning. Almost six years in and I still haven't gotten used to it.

There are also seasons of sudden "bursts" in my subbing activity. This will be the third consecutive week in which I have only one day free to work on SBP related tasks. (The rest of this week is already spoken for by Mesa Public Schools.)

I'm so grateful that God continues to provide me with work that is needed to complete our family budget. But the necessity for it remains incredibly difficult for me to cope with emotionally, when I feel so strongly called to serve Christ in reaching out to the forgotten geek community. (Yes, even Paul made tents to pay the rent. But knowing that hasn't made things much easier for me yet.)

Anyway, I'm not sitting here having a pity party. (That was 4 hours ago for about 5-10 minutes.) But I thought I'd share a little "behind the scenes" look at my efforts in running this little company. Still, your prayers are greatly valued, and if you find yourself compelled, you can ask God to help me value HIS idea of "success" and desire only what he has for me on any given day, in any given moment, rather than what I THINK I should be doing.

If God permits, I'll meet you back here Wednesday for "In Search Of Truth"!

-Paeter Frandsen

Wednesday, March 21, 2012 "The Golden Knight" Is Available Now!!

Spirit Blade Productions is thrilled to announce the release of our latest audio project, "The Golden Knight #1, The Boy Is Summoned", by Steven Clark and Justin Clark.

"The Golden Knight #1, The Boy Is Summoned" is an Enhanced Audio Book, performed by Paeter Frandsen and given cinematic life through the use of numerous exciting sound effects and a rich orchestral score. Discover a world of magic and heroism for your ears and imagination!

In the beginning, the Kingdom was ruled by a wise and just King who ruled by the laws written in the ancient Book. The people were protected by the archangels and the heroic knights. All lived in peace and prospered. Those days are gone...

Flar, the evil fire lord, and his sorceror, Murlox, have banished the King and his angels behind an energy field known as the Great Divide. The Book has been taken. The angels have fallen. The knights are gone. The people suffered. All that remains is the prophecy and a promise of hope.
Join Marsonee the Archangel and Princess Rainna as they embark on a journey to bring an innocent farm boy, Justin, toward his true destiny.

38 minutes
Recommended for ages 10 and older

Sunday, March 11, 2012 Off Grid Until March 20th

I'm taking this week off from my normal routine in order to give all of my time to (and hopefully finish!) the primary development of the Spirit Blade card game.

I won't be blogging, posting on the forums, podcasting, processing physical product orders or checking my e-mail at all this week, but will be back to my routine starting on March 20th.

All digital download purchases are processed automatically and instantly without my involvement. So in the meantime, you can still take advantage of the 30% off download sale! (Ongoing through March 18th! Don't miss out!)

Thanks for your patience as I take this time for some focused project development. The game is shaping up really well and I'm looking forward to sharing the results with you very soon!

-Paeter Frandsen

Tuesday, February 28, 2012 30% OFF ALL DOWNLOADS!

Woohoo! Time for another BIG SALE!!

Many of you will be doing some traveling soon for spring break. Why not spice up the drive or drown out those crying babies on the airplane?

From now through Sunday, March 18th, all of our download products are 30% off at the Spirit Blade Productions Store!


Spirit Blade: Special Edition and Spirit Blade: Dark Ritual can be purchased right now for just $6.99 each! And Pilgrim's Progress: Similitude Of A Dream can be downloaded for just $3.49!

Download all three of our audio dramas for just $17.47! (Tax free! That's all you pay!)

You can also buy the song bundles for "Spirit Blade: Special Edition" and "Spirit Blade: Dark Ritual" for just $3.49 each!

These are some of the biggest savings you'll see all year on our products, so spread the word and don't miss out!

Friday, February 24, 2012 What Is The "Underground"?

That's the question I've had in mind as I've prepared to reshape this blog.

When I first started this little company, I knew that at some point after the release of a couple of projects, I would want to try and develop a community in connection with Spirit Blade Productions.

This blog was the first step in that direction, followed by the podcast, then The Spirit Blade Underground Alliance, and finally our forums. From the very beginning, the concept of an "Underground" was rooted in "community" for me. And with the changes to the blog, I'm hoping that will be more clear.

Although I will still be including project updates here, they may not be as frequent, as I make room to post my reviews here and other thoughts relevant to combining a love of Geek entertainment with a life lived for Christ.

As of now I have transplanted all of my reviews to this blog, so if you look for them you'll find them, dated just as they were on their old blog home, "Paeter's Brain". I also updated a few of the old reviews to use the category title of "Relevance" instead of "Veracity" in the philosophical portions of the reviews. And I added Quality and Relevance scores to the game and book reviews I transplanted, since my plan is to use both categories for reviews of all types from here on out, for a more consistent reader experience. 

I'm also adding some new pages to the blog. One for my Brent Weeks Interview, another with a two part article about Christians enjoying "Questionable" entertainment, and soon I hope to have a page indexing and categorizing all of my reviews, including quick score references, to serve as a resource for truth-seeking Geeks.

I'm doing all of this bit by bit as I have the time, so you'll probably notice some rough edges here and there. But I welcome your feedback as I make changes, so please don't hesitate to comment!

Have a great weekend!

-Paeter Frandsen

Wednesday, February 15, 2012 Two New Videos!

Looks like I finally found a new video editor that's easy enough for even ME to use! The video special features should be back on track from this point on. Thanks for your patience!



This month's video is part 2 of the "Pilgrim's Progress: Similitude Of A Dream" script read-through. Hear an entire section of uncut narration and find out why I decided not to have any "magic" in this story!

And as an added bonus, I've also uploaded a video version of the Pilgrim's Progress trailer to Youtube, to make it easier than ever to share it with friends and people on the web!

Monday, February 13, 2012 New Website Design!

After some crazy stuff that happened recently with my podcast hosting, the time has never seemed more clear to start working on a redesign of our main website. (The connection between the two being that I will eventually host the podcast on the new site instead of Libsyn.)

I had a phone meeting with my "tech guy" on Friday and he gave me an outline of what we could do to improve everyone's experience with our site and how much it will cost.

He's giving me a fantastic deal, but with Spirit Blade 3 prepping for production and the costs associated with it still not crystal clear, we'll likely need to proceed slowly in phases on the website.

In the next couple of weeks I'll be meeting with my designer to talk about the basics of the new site, so movement is already starting and I'll try to keep you all updated.

In fact, I hope to present some of what we talk about with you guys to get your feedback on the forums! While it won't be possible to please everybody, I'm hoping the new site will be something YOU guys like. (Otherwise, what's the point, right?)

I'm also considering a Kick-starter event and have already started dreaming up some cool and unique rewards for getting involved. More on that soon.

Anyway, I'm planning to use the forums as the main point of interaction with you guys regarding the new website design, so check back there often and leave any thoughts you might have. I know some of you have some great ideas, and I'd love to hear them! (I'd love to hear the bad ideas, too, for that matter!)

Both my tech guy and designer are really excited about working on this project and I'm excited to see it get started! Stay tuned for more soon!

-Paeter Frandsen

Wednesday, February 8, 2012 Weight Loss Plan

I'm taking today off to finish recovering from this amazing 24-hour weight loss program I got from my dad this weekend.

Basically, it involves violently expelling liquids from two major orifices, instantly reducing water weight and also activating appetite suppression.

My wife and oldest son got it from my dad, too. So we've been having a great time "losing weight and feeling great" together!

The downside is naturally the "violently expelling liquids" part, and the fact that we weren't able to choose WHEN we wanted to try out the weight loss plan. So we're all still in recovery mode and I'm taking another day off.

I'll be back here on Friday!

-Paeter Frandsen

Friday, February 3, 2012 Script Polishing and Card Game Update

This week I've begun what I hope is my final complete pass through the Spirit Blade 3 script to edit and polish it to prepare for recording.

At this point, most changes are cosmetic and don't change the plot, but rather aim to reinforce the story and characters. I'm also doing the best I can to look for any remaining loopholes in the story. I've had my eye out for them since day one, but it's been good to look at the script again with fresh eyes after completing the last draft in October/November of last year.

I've also decided on a slight change in my script polishing plans for the second episode of "Pilgrim's Progress". Rather than worry about getting the entire script into "recording shape" in the coming weeks, I'm going to just do enough polishing to figure out what roles I might like Michael Tully (Raan) and Sean Anthony Roberts (Saolos) to consider recording for if we have the extra time when they each come into town to record this spring/summer.

The remaining polishing for Pilgrim's Progress Ep.2 will now probably wait until after production on Spirit Blade 3 (man, I STILL need to finalize a subtitle for that) is finished. The reason for this is that in the coming months, as I prepare to release the Spirit Blade card game, I will want to ramp up my development schedule and bring work on the card game into my normal work hours in order to make consistent progress with it. (To this point it has been a "spare time only" project to avoid slowing down SB3 development.) As time progresses toward the card game's release, I'll be offering you guys more sneak peaks and updates, and I'd hate to whet your appetite only to continually have to delay the release because of my unpredictable "free time development schedule".

That's it for now! Have a great weekend!

-Paeter Frandsen

Wednesday, January 25, 2012 Upcoming Changes and Special Feature Delay

With the audio book I've been working on effectively finished, I've been able to turn my attention to a few details that have been put on the back burner recently.

One of these details is the Special Feature for January. As you may already know, I create and release a new "special feature" each month and place it on our Media Page. Usually these are some sort of "behind the scenes" look at the productions we've released, and since last spring they have come in the form of videos nearly every month.

But my ancient video editing software (on my even more ancient desktop) has finally had enough of me, and is refusing to obey my commands, begging instead for a quick and merciful death. Re-installing may be an option, but it's more likely that I'll need to find some replacement software, hopefully for free.

Those of you who have gotten to know me a little on our forums may remember that I am technologically inept. So in addition to the hunt for new video editing software, I will need time to learn how to use it, which I don't imagine will happen quickly. Long story short, I won't be able to release a new special feature this month, but hope to be back on schedule next month.

In the meantime, if you have any suggestions for free video editing software on PC that is "grandma-friendly", I'd love to hear about it!

Leveraging Time

In addition to that little curve-ball, it's become necessary to adjust my work schedule significantly to better serve my wife and two boys. The amount of time I spend workingwill change very little, although my day to day routine is being put on its head.

Because of this, blog posts are now much more likely to go up in the evenings and I'm also planning a change in the regular content of both the Spirit Blade Underground Weblog and Paeter's Brain. My plan is to temporarily switch to a twice weekly posting schedule on Paeter's Brain (instead of three times) while retaining the regular schedule and content for the SBU Weblog. However once I have my ducks in a row, I plan to stop posting to Paeter's Brain and instead place the posts that would normally appear there elsewhere.

When I started "Paeter's Brain", I saw it as a way for listeners of SBP to see a little more of me as a person, and share in some of my random or not so random thoughts. But I believe the forums we launched in 2010 now serve that purpose much more effectively.

The movie reviews, my odd game reviews and philosophical musings about Geekdom from a biblical perspective will soon be posted on a new blog designed specifically for that purpose. I will also include an archive page that contains all of my past reviews and some other posts from Paeter's Brain. This will serve as a growing resource for Christian Geeks who are interested in engaging in their faith more as they enjoy the crazy fun that sci-fi, fantasy, horror and comic books offer.

In the end, I'm hoping this will allow me to leverage my time a little better and bring more focus (and more readers!) to the content I put online to represent Spirit Blade Productions.

If you have any questions, thoughts or suggestions as I prepare to move into this new territory, I'd love to get your feedback!

As always, thanks for your support!

-Paeter Frandsen

Friday, January 20, 2012 Great Read-Through and Finishing The Audio Book!

Last weekend the read-through for Spirit Blade 3 went wonderfully! Everyone present seemed to enjoy the story. Jesse Tessier (Claudius Falcore) even stayed till the end when he had originally had to leave early, because "it was all just getting too interesting!"

There are a number of tweaks and polishes I still need to make and so the writing process isn't completely finished, but everything is looking good to begin auditions in a month or so!

This week I put the finishing touches on our upcoming audio book release, "The Golden Knight #1, The Boy Is Summoned" and turned it in to the author for approval. I'll probably get the final okay sometime next week, but his first impressions were that all of his expectations had been exceeded, which was very gratifying to hear! I'll look forward to announcing the release sometime next month!

-Paeter Frandsen

Friday, January 13, 2012 Spirit Blade 3 Reading Session Tomorrow!

I am totally stoked for tomorrow! The invitations have gone out, the scripts have been printed and we're ready to go! Tomorrow at 1pm, a collection of family and friends will be coming to my home for a complete read through of the script for Spirit Blade 3. Those attending will include:

Randy Hesson, the voice of Vincent Craft
Holly Frandsen, my wife and the voice of Ebony and AIA
Michael Tully(by speaker phone), the voice of Raan Galvaanik
Sean Anthony Roberts (by speaker phone), the voice of Saolos
Preston Hancock, the "Scottish" Sanctafi
David Alderman, friend and author of the Black Earth novels
Dave Lindstrom, friend and Bible study mentor, to help look for heresy in the script ;-)
AND
Jesse Tessier, returning to voice Claudius Falcore!

This will be the 4th reading session I've had for one of my scripts and the 3rd at my home. Never before have I had this many cast members involved in one, so it's going to be a HUGE treat and a LOT of fun! An awesome way to officially kick off production for this long awaited project!

More details after the weekend!

-Paeter Frandsen

Monday, January 9, 2012 Ready For 2012!

After some very welcome time off, I'm back in the saddle and geared up for a HUGE 2012! God promises tomorrow to no one, but if we're on the same page with him, as I aim for and hope we are, here's some of what's coming this year:

Although 2011 may have seemed like a "quiet" year for Spirit Blade Productions, 2012 will be making up for it! This week I'm gearing up for the official read-through of the script for "Spirit Blade 3" (final title still TBA) this Saturday afternoon. Michael Tully(Raan) and Sean Anthony Roberts(Saolos) will both be on speaker phone from out of state to read the script with me and some other friends, family and returning cast members. Then auditions will begin sometime in February or March! So stay tuned if you wanna be involved!

At the same time, I will also be polishing the script for the second episode of "Pilgrim's Progress", which I will schedule a read-through for in a few more months and then hold another set of auditions to cast it.

In February, we'll see the release of our first contracted Enhanced Audio Book, "The Golden Knight: The Boy Is Summoned"! I'm working on the mixing right now and can't wait to have it out there for you guys to enjoy!

And sometime between now and June we'll be releasing "Spirit Blade: The Adventure Card Game", which I will be spilling more beans about soon!

There are a few things that may also be coming to make the back half of the year interesting, but it's still too soon to talk about them. In the meantime, please keep this little company in your prayer time, asking that God will empower it, and all those involved, to accomplish his plans for it this year, and that I will have the wisdom, discernment and willingness to take it wherever he wants it to go.

As always, thanks for your support! See you back here Wednesday for our continued "Search For Truth"!

-Paeter Frandsen

 

  1. RickyJanuary 15, 2012 at 7:04 PM

    Do you think Spirit Blade 3 will be out this year?

  2. Paeter FrandsenJanuary 16, 2012 at 7:59 AM

    Good question. Spirit Blade 3 will likely be released, at the earliest, in the first half of 2013, followed about 3 months later by Pilgrim's Progress Episode 2. This year's big release will be Spirit Blade: The Adventure Card Game, preceded by our upcoming audio book, The Golden Knight: The Boy Is Summoned.
    Stay tuned for more info and eventually one or more videos that demo the card game!

Saturday, December 31, 2011 Delay In Returning/No Podcast Jan. 6th

Just a quick note to let you all know that I will be slightly delaying the date on which I am officially back in my office. I had posted January 4th as the date that I'll be in my office answering e-mails again, but even still here on my vacation I've realized that I'll need more time to catch up and get things in order again once I'm home. With an audio book deadline looming and the read-through party for Spirit Blade 3 coming up in a few weeks, January is going to be a VERY busy month!

So rather than heap mounds of stress on myself, I've opted to get some work done "off the radar" first and officially come back to my office on Monday, January 9th, at which time I'll start catching up on e-mails that may be awaiting a response. If you are in that category, please accept my sincere apology at the delay in getting back to you.

In addition, there will not be a podcast episode released on the weekend of January 6th, although I'm already itching to get back behind the microphone! You can plan on the next episode of the podcast coming the weekend of January 13th.

Thanks so much for your patience. Have a wonderful New Year celebration!

-Paeter Frandsen

 

  1. AnonymousJanuary 4, 2012 at 9:32 PM

    *Dramatic sigh from a random fan* Ok. I forgive you. 
    I shall survive till the next podcast :) Good luck with the audio book and read through.
    Dif-tor heh smusma.

  2. Paeter FrandsenJanuary 6, 2012 at 5:42 PM

    Thanks for your patience! I'm almost caught up and should be ready to be back full steam on Monday!
    BTW, is "Dif-tor heh smusma" code or something in another language? You've got me very curious!
    Take care,
    Paeter

  3. AnonymousJanuary 9, 2012 at 1:38 PM

    It is, sir, translated into English as "Live long and prosper" :)

  4. Paeter FrandsenJanuary 9, 2012 at 4:38 PM

    Oooh! I'm totally going to impress some trek fans. Thanks for the heads-up! 

    BTW, you might find some like-minded, hardcore trek fans at spiritblade.net/forums if you haven't been by there already. I'd love to connect with you some more! 
    Take care,
    Paeter

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