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Tag: Short film

  • Short Film: The Foley Artist (Feast Films)

    If you are an amateur videographer, you may never have heard of Jack Foley. In our digital age, we seldom have to consider making sound effects for ourselves. This has not always been the case, however. In a time before you could download unlimited audio files off of the Internet – sound effects for radio dramas, films, and television actually had to be created.

    This shouldn’t surprise you, but props and sets don’t usually react the same way acoustically as their real life counterparts. Jack Foley understood this, and it was where his genius shone. In an effort to lend a more realistic sound-scape to a production, he developed a process whereby authentic sound effects could be created in real time alongside the footage. It also proved to be an excellent means of supplying the more nuanced sounds that microphones would miss anyway (the rustling of clothing, or the slight squeak of a saddle when a rider mounted his horse). Such was his aptitude, fellow workers say that the results of a Jack Foley session were as good as editing together twenty audio tracks.

    Jack Foley has been dead for almost 50-years, but the technique he developed is still a popular option for professional productions. And in a lovely homage, those who employ his technique are still known as foley artists. Thus we finally make it to the crux of today’s post. While informative (hopefully), it is a chance to share an excellent short that takes us on a little journey with a fictional foley artist. I am sure that you will enjoy it.

  • Short Film: Light & Shadow (Weiss)

    Wow. That is the best place for me to begin talking about this piece. Just wow.

    Commissioned by the film-making camera accessory giant Zacuto (and shot simultaneously with Revenge of the Great Camera Shootout 2012), this 20-minute Emmy-winning piece by director Steve Weiss – Light & Shadow delves into the creativity and passion of more than 30 of the most legendary cinematographers of our time.

    If you are interested in film, television, online video, or pretty much any kind of visual storytelling – then you need to have this in your life. You really do. It is seriously inspiring.

  • Blog/Video: Thriller Horror on a Budget (Simon Berry)

    If there is anything that a film such as Paranormal Activity can demonstrate, it is that a creative idea doesn’t actually need an extravagant budget in order to be brought to life. I would argue that is especially true when it comes to the thriller/horror genre. And I will share a video that demonstrates that quite nicely. But first…

    For the sake of my blog space I want to touch on just two (of the admittedly many!) components that contribute to the success of a thriller or horror. If you would like more, well, Google will be your friend.

    Firstly, we need a good story. In a large majority of thrillers and horror films alike we will find a variation of this common theme: protagonist falls victim to someone/something else’s scheme – gets stuck in a moment of dread. There is a reason for that: it lends itself to being a good story. What happens to the protagonist? Do they get out? Are they overcome? Why does this other person/thing want the protagonist involved at all?  Etc etc etc. Exploring this style of thriller doesn’t need a big budget to be brought to life: just an intuitively thrilling way for the story to be told.

    Secondly, we need good pacing. This is critical. Just think about the master of suspense, Alfred Hitchcock. Seriously. The guy was able to develop a proverbial stranglehold on his audiences! I recently read some reviews that suggested Hitchcock was slow and stodgy in his work – honestly, the effects of the reduction in attention span have clouded their judgement! Thrillers and horror are all about the suspense and the tension – and mark my words, Hitchcock was the best at that genre… and he held the mantle for a very long time. He was a maestro who knew how to effectively pace his stories in order to build the suspense. Like all thrillers, he was able to keep the audience in that constant tension of asking, “What comes next?”

    So then – let us turn our attention to the video part of today’s blog. This is fresh off the press, and is a little gem. At under 4 minutes, Simon Berry does wonders with this short thriller/horror. And more to the point – he did so with just a two day turn-around, and working with a micro-budget! He crafts a simple story, and builds tension with the pacing. Simple, yet effective. I think you will enjoy it.

  • Short Film: Table 7 (Slavnic)

    Coming back to my series of resource links – from video essays, to cinematographer interviews, how-to tips and the like – today I want to share with you a short film that is a long-time favourite of mine. The premise and the execution by film-maker Marko Slavnic are very well done. There’s not much to say about this really: if this kind of short doesn’t light your fire, then your wood’s wet. Enjoy!

  • Short Film: “Hiding Place” – Phillip Bloom

    Continuing with my new series of resource links – from video essays, to cinematographer interviews, how-to tips and the like – today I want to share with you a short film that was quite secretly recorded by DP, director, film-maker, and all-round cinematographer – Philip Bloom.

    This video grabbed my attention as Bloom was able to create quite a beautiful short piece on the London Eye by using the comparatively discreet BMD Pocket Cinema Camera. He says of the endeavour, “The London Eye is ridiculously strict about what you use camera wise in the capsules. Multiple lenses, tripods, video camera are a big fat no…”

    So why did that strike me as being note-worthy? Well, it reminded me of correspondence that I had with an Australian ABC News camera operator a few years back while I was media manager and producer at NSCC. He wrote, “Practice, practice, practice! The main difference between professionals and amateurs in this field is no longer good or bad equipment, but the skill level of the team… [We] were never satisfied with our level of skill. We were always looking for continual improvement. And this simple principal applies to every area of video production: editing, camera, sound, lighting, scripting, presenting…”

    For me, this clip reinforced that point. Even though Bloom was only able to use a BMDPCC (compared to his standard film-making fare), the final result is still stunning. His skill-set was able to take some humble equipment, and massage a create a wonderful video. As such – my hope is that it encourages you as mush as it has encouraged me. Let us keep going, let us keep practising, and let us keep getting better – regardless of the equipment we can get our hands on!