Wanted: Film Title

With diamonds now replacing the sweets as loot, we had to think of a new title for our film.

We wanted to stick with the reference to the Fistful of Dollars films, so we started brainstorming.

Mind-map showing our brainstorming.

As you can see we didn't go for the obvious choice of "Handful of Diamonds", but instead thought about other words that can be used to describe diamonds.

In the end we went with 'For a Handful of Rocks', with rocks being a colloquial term for diamonds. We found this more fitting as you would think of the robbers as being of a lower social class as shown e.g. by the location and their getaway car, and thus expect them to use a slang term to describe the diamonds.

The idea was to give somebody looking at the poster, or just hearing about the film, an impression of what kind of film this is.

Inspiration for our soundtrack

As we changed our film we decided to change the music too, since our original stuff didn't work as well. The inspiration that we took is music that is oxymoronic with the scene it is being played to. For example, in The Punisher there is a fight scene with Opera music playing. We thought this type of music would contrast nicely with the film itself.

As well as this scene, when I read "A Clockwork Orange", the main character - Alex, commits violent acts when he hears any classical music such as symphonies performed by Mozart or Beethoven. The classical music can be a representation for the violence that occurs during the film.

Soundtrack For Our Film

Today we had a look on the internet for copyright free music.

Here are the three websites we went on to look for copyright free music:
incompetech.com
audiomicro.com
proudmusiclibrary.com

One piece of music that we agreed would fit our film particularilly well is 'Beethoven – Egmont Overture Op. 84)'.

As we found out though, even though the Beethoven's music is copyright free, the performance itself may be copyrighted.

We will therefore have to be careful not to use copyrighted material or might have to seek permission to use the music.

EDIT: In the end we managed to find a version of the piece that we were allowed to use.

Editing our Film

The editing of our film is now well underway, so I decided to make a post about the software I am using: Final Cut Pro X. I'm explaining the most important tools in FCPX in the image below.

Reshoot Day 3 (Recap)

Today we filmed the inside scene. With this being the main part of our film, we had to plan in the most time for it.

Here is a timelapse video, showing some of the filming we did on the day:

With all of the filming finished, we are moving on to the post production stage now!

Reshoot Day 2 (Recap)

Today we went back to the Windsor Great Park to re film a couple of unsuccessful shots. After reviewing the previous day's footage of the opening scene, some of the shots either looked unnatural (e.g a shot of Jamal jumping over a pole) or it just didn't fit the feel we were going for. We also came up with a few more ideas for alternative shots while discussing the day on Whatsapp the night before.

We then drove over to Stoke Poges, a remote rural town next to Slough, which as you can see from the Google Maps picture above took around 30 mins to get to. We also ran into some navigational issues on the way and we somehow managed to enter Pinewood Studios!

One hour later we finally arrived where we wanted to be. The quiet windy roads allows us to obtain a variety of interesting shots depicting us as we escaped from the heist.

We then filmed the drop off point where the robbers get out the car and walk into there hide out. In the previous test shoots we instinctively pulled up outside the house, however our audience feedback revealed that the residential environment surrounding the location didn't fit the rest of the film. We feel this new drop off point makes for a more suitable environment to exit the car. The picture bellow shows the area we decided on.

Car Scene Research

When we shot the car scene a few days ago we found that we were lacking in shot variety so I decided to do some research into movies which executed these shot particularly well.

We could easily replicate this shot by placing the camera
on the back of Bradley's boot.

We had a shot similar to this one in our test shoot which
proved to be a pleasing shot that we hope to also
implement into our short film.

DIY Steadicam

Since we don't have the budget for a camera track (or even a professional steadicam), I built this DIY steadicam out of a tripod and duct tape to ensure a steady shot for when the camera follows the running robbers.

The inspiration for this came from this video which I found when looking online for new techniques that can help us improve the look of our footage.

Me holding my DIY steady cam.

The result can be seen below:

Reshoot Day 1 (Recap)

Today was the first day of our reshoot-marathon.

Starting with the opening scene, we filmed in a completely different location – in the Windsor Great Park.

The Windsor Great Park is only a good 10 minute
drive away from our main shooting location.

Here we found a great place to shoot our first scene showing two of the robbers running away from where they stole the loot while the third one of them is waiting in the car, acting as the getaway driver.

The Windsor Great Park at its most beautiful.

After climbing over this fence, the robbers make their way
to the car.

This is the distance the robbers have to run:
Long enough to allow us to shoot
from a variety of angles and distances.

While Chicken and Horse are fleeing from the crime scene...

...Pig is waiting in the car, ready to drive off.

But what would a day of filming be without some challeges to overcome?

As it turned out we needed permission to film in the park, so we were stopped by the Park Rangers. After a short conversation everything was fine though, as they allowed us to continue filming as long as we inform them the next time we are planning to come there.

The friendly Park Rangers

Tonight I will create a rough cut of the first scene. The plan for tomorrow is to reshoot any shots that need fixing as well as adding any that are still missing (e.g. a shot of the car driving away).

Look what we did to ensure steady footage throughout the running sequence!

Film Riot's Guide to Preparing for Shooting a Short Film

Today, our constant source of inspiration and tips & tricks, Youtube channel Film Riot, uploaded a video that deals with the preparation for shooting a short film:

So, what can we take away from watching this video?
- Preparation is key
- It's important to know what equipment is available and how to use it
- A well thought-through and planned out storyline is essential
- Everyone on set needs to know what his job is

Reshooting our Film – Time Management

As a result of the audience feedback that we have received we decided to reshoot our film.

Here is the the calander showing how we are planning to proceed:

A New Beginning

Today we showed the draft of our short film to a focus group.
The overall consensus was positive, however most were confused by the narrative as well as the fact that the loot consisted of sweets. The ending was also pointed out to be quite bland without much of a twist.
One person mentioned that the theme of the film does not match the one we had aspired, not being dark and serious enough.

As a consequence of this feedback we decided on the following:
- We will refilm the movie, using fake diamonds rather than sweets.
- We will add a scene at the beginning, explaining how the robberes acquired the loot.
- There will be a different ending with a more intriguing twist.
- The theme of the film will be darker and grittier.