Rough Cut
Final Edit
Shot List
Mood Board
Risk Assessment
Callsheet
O Resumo
The initial concept was inspired by the painting Nighthawks by Edward Hopper. As this project was intended to have a short film which revolved around a classic painting, our group came across this painting which was created in 1942. We liked the overall atmosphere that could come from filming a bar. It was then where we were trying to figure out the vibe and genre of the film. And that’s when we figured out that that might be comedy.
Now, the painting is composed such that it’s quite difficult to nail a certain mood. Considering contextual events, it could be seen as a place of respite among a world in war, while it could also be seen as a nonchalant, happy-go-lucky landscape of people who just want to enjoy some smokes. It’s a very unassuming environment, and that’s one of the reasons why comedy would work best for this cinematography challenge. Taking an ordinary setting and making it more about the character means the ‘punchline’ of the comedy isn’t spoiled until the end, and that’s what makes the short film format suitable for this sort of humour
Regardless of the painting, doing comedy was always the intention from the start. People too easily tend to create deep and dramatic narratives that are forced to play out within a short amount of time. Comedy thrives off of punchlines, and short films are a suitable length to build up the tension and the mystery before the tell-all event that caps off the short film.
A YouTuber whose work influenced our ideas was Paul E.T. Known for his editing work and exposure on filmmaking tricks such as how cameras are hidden in mirrors, his video called “The Magic of Editing” was a 1-minute short film/video which hinged around this initial uncertainty towards the point of shots, before eventually pulling out to see the big picture and make for a funny reveal.
It had a very heavy focus on setting the scene through music, cinematography, lighting, and sound design. With this cinematic focus, it created this mystery about (literally) what the bigger picture was. The point of a short film is to be able to tell a small narrative in a short amount of time. With using this video setup akin to that of the punchline of the joke, it made an effective use of the short film’s time.
Using both of these inspirations, we shaped our idea around the location of the painting, and the pacing and action of the video. Our final idea landed on a bartender having a bit too much fun with his process, with the ending contextualising why he was doing so in the first place. This took the form of him taking off a VR headset after all of this, after hearing his mom shout at him to make him a cup of tea, with him failing miserably to do so by the inference of the viewer themselves.
Based off of the painting, we wanted the visual and narrative elements to be warm yet minimal. The scene would be lit with warmer lighting, and the colour grading would match it accordingly. To present the contrast between this character in the bar and at home, we intend to light the bedroom with colder and more blue colours.
Similarly to the video, we didn’t see the need for much dialogue at all. We hope that the action would speak to itself, and the mystery would be exaggerated when hardly anything meaningful is being said at all. It’s a short story, and so having loads of instances of dialogue wouldn’t really fit for the duration of the film.
It made it quite easy to visualise how the final product would look, as the location we had in mind for the bar had been previously used by one of the people in our group. The description and images matched the vibe very well, and the usage of his studio meant he had the lights and props that would make it work to mimic a bedroom setting too.
Even though we were filming at the bar rather early, we would have to account for the fact that there would be customers in at the time, and it wouldn’t be in our best interest to occupy lots of space for filming. So, this meant that our shots had to work using only a small corner of the counter.
In our minds, we had intended the location to essentially be a bar, which would allow for cool mixology shots, one of the original ideas that I had posed with the intent of playing the main character. However, owing to the fact that I’m under 18 and also the difficulty that would entail in trying to find a bar, we settled on me serving simple non-alcoholic drinks.
It was a small issue trying to create the illusion of a bedroom within a black-out studio. So, I had a different outfit to infer a change in location, and to use blinds with lights shining through to infer a sense of daylight.
As we were filming so early in the morning, we were originally worried that the extras we had planned to take from another cinematography challenge would not be able to make it. So, we had backup shots and narratives planned if we weren’t able to get the turnout that we had intended.
Other challenges could arise if we filmed at a pub or bar where we were unsure as to if the clientele and bosses would be tolerant towards our filming. However, with Taylor’s connections (one of the people in our group), we knew that they would be tolerant, and that we can focus more on our filming besides how we were coming off to other customers.
With our very minimalist style of filmmaking in place, post-production was intended to mostly be able to pull the actual ‘comedic’ aspect off. Colour grading the warmer scenes in the pub almost sets lower expectations, as the atmosphere feels comfy and unassuming as intended. Juxtaposing this with the colder tones of the bedroom also represents the character as you see this guy who’s super adept and capable within a virtual, comfy, non-confrontational space, but in reality is quite clumsy and pitiful. This is what makes the punchline more impactful, as the viewer gets very familiar with the warm environment in expecting that to be what the entire short film is about.
The minimal dialogue is also done in a similar vein, as we’re not trying to get to learn about either the customer nor the bartender. We only truly learn about the bartender by the end of the short film. This further adds to the surprise and suspense as to why this guy is so weirdly enthusiastic with his mundane job.
When we came to the pub, we thought that the warm ceiling lighting was already doing a great job at setting that warm atmosphere. So, we only set up one white key light just to account for any shadows. Taylor, who was our cinematographer and also our camera operator, used a ZV camera to create that cinematic look. We also intentionally filmed the video in 4:3, finding the middle ground between the resolution of a VR lens and a wider cinematic resolution.
For audio, as it was rather loud and we didn’t have a formal boom setup, we used DJI Mics, which we attached discretely underneath the talent’s clothes. This was then transmitted to a stereo receiver, so each channel could be isolated in post.
We had intended that the anticipated action would look way too simple without enough ‘spice’ in the camera angles, so we took a fair amount of angles, with me ensuring that I was fulfilling the same action so there were no continuity issues.
We started about an hour or so later than we intended, and were worried that we would run out of time to film things. However, we were able to power through these shots, as the movements and action required weren’t super complex, so we sped through our intended shots on the list.
As mentioned earlier, we weren’t able to get a proper bedroom for our one-off bedroom scene. So, we improvised this by me wearing a different costume and setting up blinds in the studio below the pub. It was a one-off scene, so it wasn’t a huge issue that we weren’t able to get that bedroom.
With my role in production being the on-screen talent, I learnt a lot about the importance of continuity. As I wasn’t focusing too much on performing dialogue in a certain way or performing certain complex movements, I was more actively aware about how consistent my performance was behind shots. I can see why it’s so difficult to remain consistent when you have even more action, so this production enabled me to find techniques to keep cuts between the same action more natural.
O Resumo
To prevent us filming during a time that was super busy to the point where our filming would disturb customers, we filmed at 9 in the morning, which is when the bar was opened. While there were a handful of customers there in the morning, many of them had already gotten their drinks, so we were able to get access behind the bar and use the entirety of one side for filming.
Alongside the curtains for the backdrop of the bedroom, we also added blue lights. Compared to the orange of the pub, it provides that further visual contrast to establish a change in settings, especially with the fact that the bedroom is actually just a blackout studio.
These were the contingency plans we had in place BEFORE filming so we could ensure disruptions wouldn’t happen at the worse times. This involves filming the pub scenes first and as early as possible, as the studio we were using to film the bedroom scenes was very close to the pub. It wouldn’t take long after wrapping in the pub to finish in the studio.
Especially since we were filming at the pub in the morning, customer numbers naturally wouldn’t not be as large as they would be later on in the day. So, there was an hour or so buffer, in case transport issues meant cast or crew were late.
O Resumo
In the original script, we had intended to do some mixology. The idea to have the story revolve around the bar came from an experience I had when playing as a virtual bartender in a VR game. Adding cocktail shakers and the almost mesmerising process of creating a cocktail would’ve further enhanced that sort of surreal finesse that the bartender would’ve had. However, the equipment available at the pub is different from a bar. So, we adapted this to be us pouring a can of coke instead. As I was under 18 at the time, it may also pose issues in me being unable to handle any alcohol. However, it does contribute to the comedy in a way that something as simple and vanilla as a can of Coca-Cola can be decanted in such a hyperbolised and flamboyant way.
O Resumo
Through this production, I learned the importance of coloured light within a scene. A very different feel is obtained between colder and warmer lighting. Alongside this, it meant that we didn’t need as many own lights brought with us to light the scene. We only needed one key light for the bar, just to compensate for the lack of depth due to the ceiling mounted lights on the subject. This was set high up, at 45 degrees on the right. It means the colours within the warmer scene has more of a variety instead of just being a fully warm colour, and gives the show a more professional and complex look.
This was also the first shoot I’d done with my DJI Mic. As the characters would be moving a fair amount, we attached DJI mics underneath our collars to record audio. This is also considering that we had a very high-end ZCam attached to a large rig, and it would be hard to add a shotgun mic, and may let in some unfavourable noise such as customer noise. I found out how to plug the receiver into the camera, which was through a 3.5mm jack into the camera. The ultralight receiver means that it wouldn’t affect handling of the camera at all. I also tested out audio levels, and used this to adjust the receiver volume so the mic wasn’t peaking. However, for situations such as shouting or momentary peaking, I was not able to make those adjustments on the fly. For next time, I learnt the importance of 32-bit float and how it can account for peaking a lot better compared to the 24-bit recording of my previous generation DJI Mic.
In a similar vein to the “Magic of Editing” video, the action is very montage-based, so a rough cut is already doing a decent amount of the whole editing process. I looked over the shot, keeping in mind the order that they had to go in. As there were multiple angles for the same movement, I also looked at natural instances for cuts to be made, such as when my hand or the object that I was holding was placed in a new location.
Maintaining continuity between camera angles was an effort made during both production and post-production. We wanted a variety of shots in the production, so this included scenes in front of the bar and behind the bar. For example, there is a shot where the bartender takes the can of coke out of the fridge. There was another version of the shot where you see this from behind the bartender. In post, I decided to not use this shot, as this would betray the 30 degree rule and would break the continuity and be a bit too distracting for the viewer.
In cutting, I also wanted to ensure that each shot was informing the next. So, I used something similar to the Kuleshov effect, but in a more progressive way. It starts with cuts to various B-roll of the bartender making the drink, with the B-roll progressively becoming a bit weirder and quirkier, going along with the increased franticness of the music. Including the increased pace adjustments, it makes otherwise repetitive scenes feel more dynamic, and start to build up to that narrative punchline at the end, which contrasts as a standalone, one-take shot.
I also used a special effect within DaVinci result which allowed me to place text behind objects in video. I used this for the line “get a REAL job” that shows up, as the bartender walks out of the scene. This slowly reveals the message of the short film, and makes it easier to read compared to if it was placed right on top of the video, and would take focus away from the bartender. Combined with the words appearing in time to the funny music, it’s an opportunity for layered comedy; through the message and through the timing. It means that the comedy of the short film does not end with the twist, and that people can still be enjoying the short film by the time the credits come around.
The good thing about the camera equipment we had was that the camera had a built-in conversion LUT, so the image quality out of the camera already looked like our intended warm image, so not much has to be done in the colour grading side of things.
The special effects that I would focus on getting was more on text that showed the name of the short film, perhaps integrated with the environment, and credits text which would go alongside bloopers and outtakes from our filming.
Considering the whole picture, as the narrative goes on, the pouring of drinks and asking “what are you gonna get” starts to feel repetitive, so I adjusted the editing pace at this point of the short film to get faster and faster, and almost build up to that boiling point which is the ending twist.
To compliment this build-up of action in this warm environment, most of our group had already considered using fast-paced jazz as background music. This means we can have this small action at the start and the music naturally builds up as that’s a characteristic of the jazz that we had in mind.
As we had to inspire our short film off of a painting, it meant we couldn’t fully go with our own ideas for short films. I’d love to make a short film that was slightly longer, as I’d love to take on a slightly longer narrative, as I’d love to make some even more creative shots in different settings. This provides a good opportunity to add more dialogue, which would allowed me to have developed my acting chops a little bit more.
The way these changes could be made would be to film this in an actual bar, with the right facilities like mixology equipment. I would also change the lighting to be more neon and frantic, in line with the ‘virtual reality’ and ‘futuristic’ theme. This setting would then allow the comedic effect to be funnier, as this could then cut to a very dull-looking room inside of real reality. I could also get a lot crazier with shots, and make loads of drinks super intricately, making the contrast with reality all too funnier.
I also feel a bit too much efficiency was in place for production having the bedroom set in the studio below the pub. Having a proper bedroom set would make the effect a lot more realistic and more easily noticeable when the twist occurs. Having the runtime increased could allow for a mockumentary-style backstory of the bartender, similar to SNL’s Papyrus skit, but with a dramatic introduction of a bartender who loves his craft just a bit too much. This would deliver that narrative punchline a lot stronger, as it would become more difficult to figure out how the story could end. It would make the short film feel more mature and full-bodied, and having extras in the background of the bar would give it a bit more professional flair.