SHORT FILM | FLATLINE
DIRECTOR AND EDITOR
FALL 2017
ADOBE PREMIERE
BEST COMEDY AT SFU FCAT UNDERGRADUATE CONFERENCE 2017
INTRODUCTION
The class were asked to demonstrate and exercise skills in film and post-production to produce a narrative film in collaboration with a third-party set provider.
CAMERA OPERATION AND FILMING
As I am familiar with shooting photography and video with various focal lenses on DSLR cameras, I assisted with shooting using my own Canon T5i. Shooting was done by everyone in the team as we loaned out 2-3 extra cameras on our shoot days for optimal amounts of great footage.
The TA helped us learn how to film professionally using wireless microphones and working multiple cameras at different angles. In these settings, I was the main camera operator while my teammates were the camera and microphone operators.
Due to the way the project was managed, I carried all of the files with me on my hard drive so we could have them all in one place. Once the majority of our shooting days were over, we eventually came to the conclusion that it is easier to separate the editing of clips and to pass the video from teammate to teammate to avoid wasting time.
My teammates handled audio-video sync with our shot. Once the final rough draft was complete the video came back to me, where I did final tweaks, audio mastering and final rendering of the film.
POST-PRODUCTION AND SOUND DESIGN
CHALLENGES
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Re-starting footage during production due to an ended agreement with our original set provider required us to switch gears quickly (as we had to scrap all our previous footage).
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Finding compelling and relevant actors to represent a full understanding of this film. Our professor and TA were kind enough to assist us in this.
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Gaining full access as a small team of students to a cafe was difficult – thus, we persuaded them this is also a free advertisement for their shop business, a win-win condition.
REFLECTION
Though this film was relatively short, it was interesting to see how much work goes into every single second of film. Filming and collaborating with third-party set provider was a new experience, and allowed me to work on my interpersonal skills. This project also taught me that anything can happen during production: things get halted, shots get scrapped; but the only thing you can really do is make sure you are on your toes, ready to adapt and resolve conflict, and ready to pursue success regardless of difficulties.