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First film i ever made

Posted: Thu Apr 11, 2019 7:55 pm
by Jon Pegg
Hey guys dunno if anybody interested but heres the first two films I made.
An hour of sleep I wrote over night then shot it in my gym in about 5 hours on a saturday afternoon,Me and a friend who had a camera was a lot of fun made it about 9 years ago
https://vimeo.com/14362996

The game I made a few years later and met a man who iv worked with a few times since Charles Nicklen a great actor and funny guy.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l1dcYAVUNY4

Re: First film i ever made

Posted: Mon Apr 15, 2019 9:57 pm
by Jill Lampert
Thanks for putting on links to those early films, Jon. It's very interesting to see them...and now I am even more impatient to see your Diamond Award winning film at BIAFF. I particularly enjoyed "An Hour's Sleep". I was completely caught up in the story. Really routing for the older guy. And the twist was a surprise and felt good. Amazing that you did that so quickly, and that that was your first film. AMAZING. Were the other people involved experienced at making films?

Re: First film i ever made

Posted: Tue Apr 16, 2019 9:28 am
by Jon Pegg
The first one my friend who had the camera was/is a photagrapher who was keen to do filming.

The second one film division were quite experienced in corporate work but i think was their2nd or third short

Re: First film i ever made

Posted: Tue Apr 16, 2019 5:20 pm
by TimStannard
I was impressed by the camerawork in the first. it looked like the cameraman was right there in the ring with them. It also looked like theye were really fighting. If it was staged it was really impressive, if it was real then 'd be surprised if the cameraman didn't come a cropper once in a while. Whilst i'm not particularly a fan of a voiceover explaining the emotion (I've done it myself so it's a case of pot & kettles), it was performed well and it did create empathy with the characters.

The second film was moodily shot and had a good atmospheric soundtrack. Although it was well acted, unlike the first, it wasn't really told from the point of view of one of characters and so we, the audience didn't develop any real association with them. Contrast this with the first film. As an exercise in creating an atmosphere it's well done, but we don't relate to either of the main characters. It's also rather lengthy for the pay-off! (I'll say no more for risk of spoiling)

Thanks for sharing.

Jill - I hope and suspect you'll love "Making Friend as the World Ends". It can't really be compared to either of these so expect the unexpected.

Re: First film i ever made

Posted: Tue Apr 16, 2019 5:51 pm
by Jon Pegg
TimStannard wrote: Tue Apr 16, 2019 5:20 pm I was impressed by the camerawork in the first. it looked like the cameraman was right there in the ring with them. It also looked like theye were really fighting. If it was staged it was really impressive, if it was real then 'd be surprised if the cameraman didn't come a cropper once in a while. Whilst i'm not particularly a fan of a voiceover explaining the emotion (I've done it myself so it's a case of pot & kettles), it was performed well and it did create empathy with the characters.

The second film was moodily shot and had a good atmospheric soundtrack. Although it was well acted, unlike the first, it wasn't really told from the point of view of one of characters and so we, the audience didn't develop any real association with them. Contrast this with the first film. As an exercise in creating an atmosphere it's well done, but we don't relate to either of the main characters. It's also rather lengthy for the pay-off! (I'll say no more for risk of spoiling)

Thanks for sharing.

Jill - I hope and suspect you'll love "Making Friend as the World Ends". It can't really be compared to either of these so expect the unexpected.
Hi Tim it was all staged but was lucky in the fact we had ex world champion richie woodhall as one guy and former pro Tom owens as the other and I'm a pro coach so the fight scene was the easy bit.

The V.O method I was told was the easiest way to make a film for a beginner, as the sound is one of the harder parts.I just try different stuff on the job to learn new things,One of the interesting points the judges brought up in your film fest was that Making Friends could have been adapted from a play,I wrote it it to see wether I could write something in the style of a stage play but then enjoyed the characters that much I wanted to see them on screen,But very well spotted by that judge.

Re: First film i ever made

Posted: Wed Apr 17, 2019 5:47 pm
by TimStannard
Jon Pegg wrote: Tue Apr 16, 2019 5:51 pm Hi Tim [the fight] was all staged but was lucky in the fact we had ex world champion richie woodhall as one guy and former pro Tom owens as the other and I'm a pro coach so the fight scene was the easy bit.
Well, it looked good to me. I'd have thought if it's staged, you'd know when and where a punch is coming from and therefore react differently to in a real fight. I'd be flinching in anticipation.
Jon Pegg wrote: Tue Apr 16, 2019 5:51 pm The V.O method I was told was the easiest way to make a film for a beginner, as the sound is one of the harder parts.
Quite right too! Many people buy a camera to make video then never advance beyond "pretty pictures to music" and I wonder whether that's because once they start trying anything with just some ambient sounds of their travels they think it sounds rubbish by comparison. Of course it does! Their sound is from £5 mic capsule sitting on a camera (ie nowhere near the sound source) whereas their dubbed music is probably the result of skilled musicians and engineers using equipment costing 100s of £1000s.

The V/O is a good way to avoid having to learn too many skill sets at once.