How about that for the lamest title ever eh? Well, I'm usually pretty tight lipped about my work when it comes to film projects. But I figure there's no harm in sharing the process this time. So I'll be updating the blog a bit with all aspects of production to allow others to get an inside look at fan film production.
Me, writing this article. Fan Film production at its finest.
As I mentioned in a post the other day, I have a few grievances when it comes to Fan Films and I'm really looking to avoid them as much as possible. But I've also seen a bit of success with my own "shorts" as of late with such titles as Halloween V. While HV was a different beast certainly, there were some important lessons taught from that project. Namely how easy it was to make a compelling scene just by throwing in the right ingredients. I concentrated on what I was good at- and avoided the rest. It was a limited risk experience, but that strengthened the production as a result.
For this project I'll be expanding upon the tool set a bit, I'd like to get a few more actor/actresses involved in the project than previously and I'd really like to concentrate on building a top notch wardrobe for those characters. My biggest fear at the moment is just securing the right locations however. While not exactly the hardest to come by, they do require a certain personality.
Compelling Storyboards
So when I dove into the story of this film I realized there was a really simple formula for the film. A brief opening (:15 seconds) an extended action sequence (1:30) and an ending resolution (:15). Because the story was based on context as simple as, 'good guys escaping with bad guys in pursuit'- it meant I could drop a lot of unnecessary elements like developing lines of dialogue. In fact, I've embraced the idea of using character design such as wardrobe and character actions to tell the audience about these characters- without them uttering a word. Because frankly- the audience doesn't care. I wouldn't.
So without a script of dialogue that meant I could essentially forgo the process and instead concentrate on visuals. Which lead me to creating a rough storyboard sequence of events. Using whatever resources I could find online, I created a pretty decent- and sometimes comical representation of events.
That's about as far as I've gotten so far- I need to finish up the storyboarding, then I can begin looking into the costuming required for the 3 confirmed individuals in the film.