This past week I finally finished the first short film I ever wrote and directed.
I waited this long to debrief because 1) After the shoot I was too busy trying to do and finish post-production by the deadline and 2) I was too involved in the whole process to have any perspective.
So, looking back I wonder what in the world I was thinking when I wrote the script I did. First, it was not all that good, and relied a lot on performances. In general, I actually tend to really like films that give actors space to fill in space, and hold things back. But.
With less than a week to find actors, who you are not paying, when around 60 other people are also casting their short films – it’s a mite bit tricky to find strong actors who can carry silences.
Tactical error the second – trying to shoot a film predominately in a moving vehicle. That happens to be a convertible. And has characters in both the front and back seats. Can you say sound problems? Can you say logistics problems? Can you say that the primary actor apparently skipped the day in driving school were they talked about checking your mirrors and not turning in front of oncoming traffic?
Swiftly moving on from the recollection of that heart-stopping moment, I am actually pretty proud of the visual side of things and the performances I got in all honesty. The Mustang looks amazing. And for trying color correcting for the first time, I think I did a pretty good job. My edit was pretty tight too – though the minute limit was pretty frustrating. More than anything, the sound portion was a nightmare. Having to completely dub the audio was incredibly time-consuming.
My next project will be two people in a room. One location. Two actors. A short script.
Nitrate & Narratives 