Finished!

On the 10th of December I finished and uploaded the final cut of my film 'Stan'. Done
Stan from Lucas Warren on Vimeo.

My Progress

At the moment I am currently finalising the edit for the film, by watching over it with others and listening to their constructive critisism, and making changes accordinly, for example I recently watched the current editi with my dad, and we made a lot of changes to the film, some included cutting out moderatly large portions of the film. I am also adding sound effects to at the moment to help give life the actions in the film, I find the majority of the sound effects from the internet on websites like FreeSFX, and YouTube, which are free and easy to use. I recently recorded the narration for the film, but I think I'll have to re-record because my voice does not work as the narrator, and i would prefer it to have more character. To solve this problem, I plan on using my dad as the narrator, as his voice is more suited for the job. Once I have finished all of the editing and finalised the sound effects, I will move onto music. For this I plan on using quite comedic music as that is the kind of mood i am aiming for. To achive this I have asked for the help of my friend Charlie Tilley, who is very familiar with music software like Logic Pro.

Almost there...

Almost got all of the footage now, and only one more shoot to go (When I can get all the people I need in one place!). After a while of shooting, and listening to the dialogue, I often decide to change the script on set, which surprised me a little, as I had already done a read through with the actors, which sounded fine. Likewise there also some things that we are adding entirely, like small bits of dialogue and shots. However I am very pleased to see that after couple of days shooting, Stanley and his mother Helen, have both improved greatly in their acting since day one. But I'm not surprised that my writing needed adjustments in places, as it is my weakest area. 

I've now started my first rough edit, with no effects or colour grading, and so far it's definitely coming together well, reaching about 5 minutes 50. And again adding in some new shots or putting them in a different order.

Second Shoot!

Today we had another shoot at Stanley's house, which went a lot better than the last because we got a lot more done in the time that we had, we even re-shot the first half of day one in under an hour. Overall I think it is really coming together, and watching all of the scenes coming to life in front of me is very satisfying. The nest stage is to start a rough edit for the footage that I already have, then later next week I will film another portion of the footage.

The First Shoot!

Today was the first shoot day for my film and, I am quite pleased with the footage so far. At this point I've done most of the dialogue heavy parts of the film and will be moving onto some of the VFX parts tomorrow. However after looking at some of the footage I think I'll have to do a few pickup shots as well.

Shot List Done

Recently I went through the script and created the shot list for the film, first on Excel, then on an iPad app called 'Shot Lister' which is useful as I can take the shot list with me on set, and I can also schedule certain shots for specific days which means continuity will be less of an issue. I found this app after watching a Filmriot video (Link below) on youtube.

Another app I found from Filmroit is an app called Movie Slate, which is what it sounds like, but unlike a real slate it has a lot more features, for example it can note all the camera information (i.e. Resolution, FPS, Shutter speed etc.).

The third app I downloaded is the Celtx app which is the software I wrote the script on, which is good because I can take the script with me on set and edit on the move.

Floating Can!

Floating Can Test from Lucas Warren on Vimeo.

Here is test video I did related to a part of the new script. The idea is that the main character Stanley will be sitting at the table, watching a can float, mainly for comedic effect. I used Video Copilots Element 3D to make the can, Adobe After Effects to put the 3D can in the scene. The only trouble I had with this was making a shadow for the can, which would have really sold the shot if it worked.

Gantt Chart and Script!

This is the Gantt Chart I created recently to help organize my time in the production of my film, I've made some changes to the original schedule (Pen Idea), because firstly I am going to shoot in a different location, secondly I will be using more effects, thirdly I will have a different actor, and there are a few more props to create than before.

Also I recently finished the first draft of the script, which is quite an achievement for me! I will read through it a lot more before making a few more changes, maybe a second or third draft. When I am happy with the script I will begin work on the storyboards which will be brief and to the point, just to give the essential shots.

New Idea!

Recently I've had some new ideas for the film, which are very different to the original plot ideas. I was trying to write the script for the first idea recently but finding it difficult to continue the story.

However I was influenced after watching a sketch from That Michael and Webb look, which took the idea of a documentary and made a joke out of it i.e. mockumentary.




I have decided to make a short mockumentary about a boy with random abilities (powers) that he cannot control. I have already midway with the script and have found my actor for the part. The next step, after finishing the final draft of the script is to make the storyboard.

Getting Organised

Recently I feel like I've been delaying the blogs a little due to a french exam I had to revise for, but now that it has past, I have made a checklist for all of the things I need to do for the film.

Checklist: (Possibly in order)

• Research into similar media products
• Experiments with software/effects
• Storyboard
• Shooting script
• Location recce
• Construction of special props/costumes
• Film shooting
• Post production – video editing
• Post production – audio editing
• Evaluation
• First ‘public’ screening
• Presentation

The next stage is to put all of these into a schedule to help me organise my time, and I have been told to put them into 'Gantt Chart' which will be the most efficient way of showing plans.

Fire Pen?

Recently, me and my dad had a good idea for the film, which consists of a man with a pen that can be more than dangerous. The pen will be able to have the ability of whatever it writes, for example if the man writes fire, suddenly the pen will shoot fire from its tip. And during the last couple of days I have been working on a video related to this idea.


Fire Pen from Lucas Warren on Vimeo.

I was going to have the man put out the fire with the pen which would shoot water out of the tip, using an effect on my computer, but it turned out to be to complicated with poor results, which means I will have to do the effects practically i.e. with a small hose!

This idea has many variations and is very easy to expand, and I hope to implement this in my film. I am thinking about using the other effects like the black hole and laser effect, both for the pen idea, and I think that it will work out very well. Also I plan to test the other effects later using the pen idea to see if they work.

The Clone

The Clone from Lucas Warren on Vimeo.

This is another video that I made over the last couple of days, exploring an effect that I have been looking into i.e. the scope effect, the flare of the gun and the blood effect. For this video, I edited the all the footage in Adobe Premiere Pro, and did the VFX in Adobe After Effects this way the editing process became a lot faster than making it all in After Effects. Another effect I used in this video was a 'cloning effect' in which I could duplicate my dad within a single clip.

I learnt many of these effects from the website Videocopilot.com, a website which has lots of tutorials for VFX in After Effects, including the scope tutorial, the blood and the gun flare tutorial, all of which gave very satisfying results in this video.

If I were to make the video again, there are a few things I would do differently, for example one issue was that the battery died half way through the shoot, so next time I would make sure I have a charged spare on hand. Also I think that this shoot took longer than it could have me and my dad were making the shot list up on the spot, thinking of new ideas every second, however this is not a very good method because after looking at the footage I realised there were a few shots that would have helped the continuity of the scene or made the shot better for example, and also after looking at the footage, I noticed that sometimes the camera auto-adjusts to the light or looks very pale/overexposed, which is something I forgot to look at, during the shoot.

I have yet to decide on whether any of these effects will be in my film, but either way I have definitely make progress in terms of my skills. However I am not saying that the effects used in this video are perfect but are satisfactory for the effect I wanted to achieve.

http://www.videocopilot.net/tutorials/scopes/
https://www.videocopilot.net/products/action2/

Laser Missile VFX Test!

Laser Missiles from Lucas Warren on Vimeo.

This is my attempt at an effect used in 'Plot Device', during the sci-fi scene. This effect was a little more straight forward than the last (Black Hole test), but as I soon realised, the more I added to the effect the more complicated it became.

For this effect I used some of the resources from Video Copilot's Action Essentials plugin, for the ground hits and smoke, and also from their Optical Flares plugin for the 'Laser missiles'. Overall it is a very satisfying outcome and it is definitely an effect I could use in my film.

Also since my dad doesn't mind being in many of my videos he has agreed to play the part in my film, which will make it a lot easier. I have already came up with a lot of good ideas for the basis of the story now including him, and I will be writing my first draft of the screen play soon.

Black Hole Test Video!

The Black Hole Test from Lucas Warren on Vimeo.

After watching 'The Black Hole', I had to give it a go for my self, and above is my attempt at one of the effects in the video, and I was surprised how complicated it actually is to pull off (and even mine isn't very good). To begin I watched the actual video a few times to try and gain an understanding of how it could be done. And eventually we had a few vague ideas of how to start and began our shoot. We concluded that they must have had a piece of paper with a pre-made hole in the middle (or at least that's how we did it), then have the actor (my dad) hold the paper and put their hand through it. I wont go into the full process but it took me a while to figure out, however now I know the technique, I could do it again a lot faster.

This is just one of the VFX videos that I will make, and hopefully after watching more short films, I will have learnt a good handful of VFX to implement in to my film.

This looks a lot more complicated than it actually is!

Plot Device

Plot Device from Red Giant on Vimeo.

This video was made to promote Red Giant's tools for post-production and to show a community of filmmakers that something like this can be done without an extremely high budget. I love this video for many reasons, firstly the concept for the video is such a good idea in my opinion, as it allows them to show off each of their products whilst creating an exiting yet humorous film. Also the acting of the main character in this video was very well played and funny, especially his facial expressions throughout the video. This kind of video could definitely inspire a similar theme for my video especially with either the device or the alternate realities (or both?).


Red Giant TV Episode #57: Behind the Scenes of Plot Device from Red Giant on Vimeo.

This is the behind the scenes video (BTS) showing their process from concept to shoot to post-production, which was very useful to watch as it gave me a better understanding of their filmmaking process and also their inspirations, for example they mention how the sci-fi scene was inspired by Michael Bay (i.e. lots of lens flares and explosions).

The Black Hole

Short Film 'The Black Hole' from PHOTOPLAY FILMS on Vimeo.

This is a short film called The Black Hole by Future Shorts.

This is a really entertaining video with a very funny and creative concept, about a man who somehow manages to create a black hole from a copier, but uses it for the wrong reasons.
This video shares some of the key aspects that I hope to use in my video, for example throughout the entire video there is no dialogue, and similarly, the whole video is expressed though the visuals. I especially liked the acting of the main character, and the clever FX used in the video and there are definitely some FX that I would like to try (maybe in my film). I was surprised by how big the production actually was after looking at the credits, but overall this a very well done and profesional short film, and I hope my film can match some of the same qualities this video has. All I can say is that I will definitely be exploring some more of their work later on.

Getting Started...

This is the first of many posts that I will release, and I wanted to start off by saying what I intend to do on this course and my initial thoughts.

My goal for this film is to show off my filmmaking skills, but mainly my editing and VFX skills, as they are what I am really passionate about and hope to pursue in the future. I am constantly watching video tutorials online to try and improve my skills, and at this stage, I'm confident about my computer skills, but not sure how well my writing will be. And I am sure that the writing stage could surely be the longest and hardest part.

However, after talking to Mr Quirke, he gave me the clever idea to leave out the dialogue and make the visuals tells the story, which took a load off my mind!

At this stage I will be posting my research of other interesting short films with the same themes or genres to the ideas I've been having. At the moment I am interested in the themes of either exploring different parallel dimensions, or exploring the power of the imagination (which ever gives the better story and visuals / FX).