Short Film : EXPORTED FILM for Deadline

Here is the film so far,

‘Framework’ Exhibition: Final prints

Here are the prints I will be exhibiting at the Framework exhibition. They feature women and children at the morning markets of Malaysia.

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Music Video: Final Video

Here is my edit of Tom’s performance.

 

Short Film: Risk Assessment Form

Film Production Risk Assessment Form

Short Film : Editing sound in Adobe Audition

Here is where I learnt how to remove noise and clean up audio tracks with Adobe Audition:

Short Film: Stunts test

Here is a compilation of test footage of the burglary scene, escaping scene, and a stunt with a match to be included in a dialogue scene with B1, my character’s brother or partner.

I showed this to Matt and here are some notes from his critique.

• He suggested shooting it with more cuts to emphasize certain actions.
• He suggested that I didn’t have to show everything with a wide shot, for example, I could track only his feet when he walks in, and we see him throw the fag bud on the floor.
• He couldn’t see the full length of the jump, or height, and I was making it look easier than it is. Should film the jump with separate cuts, for example a shot of his feet jumping off, and another of his hands catching onto the ledge.
• He suggested that wide shots that capture a lot in the frame is good when there is a lot going on in the frame, but for the shots in my film, it might be better to keep shots tight, and not show the audience ”everything”
• He suggested have some shots where the camera moves past an object, for example past a tree, to make the scenes cut smoother.

Just to explain where I will use the ‘Putting out a match’ stunt. Before the final burglary B2 tells B1 that it will be his lost job, B1 responds with something like “you say that before each job”. B2, to show that he has made an absolute decision, to show that he is being serious, puts out a match with his tongue, and maybe goes on to reply something that means “this is the last time I’m saying it”, the line is to be decided with B1. Here is the inspiration for this stunt from a movie a watched recently called Eastern Promises (2007)

Short Film : Tracking shot inspirations

Here are some tracking shots used beautifully that inspire my burglary scenes.

Opening scene from Spectre (2015):

Scene from Pulp Fiction (1994):

A scene from Kill Bill (2003):

A scene from Touch of Evil (1958). I wanted to do something similar to the long tracking of the man and woman here walking through the city for the burglars once they escape from the police they walk into the city and blend into the crowd.

Short Film : Soundtrack

My flatmate and brewing partner Harry Laird is the first person I shared my short film idea with. Harry currently studies music production at the Leeds College of Music. He liked the story agreed to create sounds for my film. Here is a soundtrack he made which I really like. I told him about the films that inspired me, one of which was Drive (2011), which was one of his favorite movies. We listened to the soundtracks of the movie together, most of which we love. His track were inspired mostly by these songs.

Short Film : Stunts Research

The first person that came to mind when I thought of researching ways to jump, climb, over walls, through windows, into houses, or any stunt a skillful burglar might have to perform, was Jackie Chan. I tried my best to quickly re-watch in my head the Jackie Chan movies I could recall, but could only think of a handful of the almost 100 films he’s made in his 40+ years as a martial artist, stunt performer, stunt director, choreographer, actor and director. Luckily, someone on YouTube has been kind enough to compile Jackie Chan’s Freerunning/parkour feats.

Just to be clear, this isn’t research to see what stunts are possible, but to see how to perform the stunts beautifully. Jackie Chan is a master at this.

Being a master at this, he shoots all his stunts on a wide shot, and keeping the camera movement to a minimum when possible, allowing the audience a perspective from which to be able to fully appreciate the artistry and authenticity of his stunts.

One example of what I dislike to see when it comes to capturing physical action and stunts. This example includes a lot of freerunning/parkour.

A bit past half way through the video are where most of the parkour stunts are. They are shot with very long lenses with very tight framing, only showing a small portion of the action or a small part of the body, for example a tight shot of only his foot kicking off the wall, or his hands as he climbs over the fence. These tight shots fail to show us the actual  danger or size of risk of the stunts by never capturing the full extent of, for example, the full extent of a fall. Each one stunt is shot with many separate cuts that each lasts for split seconds ; one shot of him jumping from point A, another of going traveling between point A and B, and another shot of him landing at B. Almost always shot with a deliberate camera shake. Besides being slightly dizzying, I do think that it works to convey the intensity of the chase, but it isn’t anywhere close to being something that will stick in my memory, or something that I would like to re-watch, unlike the wonderfully daring and rhythmic performances of Jackie Chan, creating some of the most unforgettable moments in cinema history.

Short Film : Props Design + Herbal cigarettes

Jake’s flatmate George who studies Graphic Design at LCA agreed to design some props for my short film. I told him the story and gave him the script, here is a matchbox he designed.

The eye on the design comes from how I described the final scene of my film to him. I told him that the girl would be hiding in a closet/seperate room, in total darkness but a small slit of light across her eyes, looking out at B2 as the burglar in her room. I am planning to shoot a slow-motion of B2 lighting a match with the match box, but will be done after the Live Project deadline.

As I wanted our characters in my film to smoke, I found out that in movies what are used instead of real cigarettes are herbal cigarettes, which contain no tobacco or nicotine. It would be crazy to have actors smoke cigarettes for what number of takes they would do in a day. It seemed to be difficult to source at first, amazon being the only option. Then I found a shop in town that sold a pack herbal mixture for smoking