Fear: A Documentary
My first serious film. A documentary on the physical and cultural reasons behind fear.
The making of Fear...
If you watch after the credits there is a making of portion to the film which includes some bits that I did not use in the final version of the film.
This was a quick and inexpensive project. The only things I actually bought were the Thor action figure which wasn't used in the end and the clown mask which was only $30.
The missiles and other military footage comes from the Prelinger Archives
(http://archive.org/details/prelinger)
This was a quick and inexpensive project. The only things I actually bought were the Thor action figure which wasn't used in the end and the clown mask which was only $30.
The missiles and other military footage comes from the Prelinger Archives
(http://archive.org/details/prelinger)
Location, location and Sound...
A remote desolate beach stands in for the island of 5 monsters. All that footage was shot on Gazos beach, the island itself being Ano Nuevo island. There were a couple of problems with this but mainly, its very windy there and foggy a lot of the time. So it took me 3 trips to the beach to record just 30 seconds of dialog.
Thing I learned: Pick locations with low levels and ambient sound ( no wind or surf) and consistent weather. Perhaps my next film will be in the desert!
Thing I learned: Pick locations with low levels and ambient sound ( no wind or surf) and consistent weather. Perhaps my next film will be in the desert!
Stop Motion on Green Screen
Stop motion on green screen turned out to be surprisingly easy. I light my green screen with 2 500W softboxes. The camera was tripped using a radio shutter so it will not get moved during filming. The puppet was on a 1/4" aluminum rod which was clamped to a foot stool. This was lit independently of the green screen with another 500W light.
The actual stop motion itself was very simple. I watched some King Kong before starting for inspiration and then drew out what I wanted on paper and precalculated my frames. First take was perfect for both the shots with the puppet, which is good because I think the fatigue life of the puppets wings would be about 30 beats.
The actual stop motion itself was very simple. I watched some King Kong before starting for inspiration and then drew out what I wanted on paper and precalculated my frames. First take was perfect for both the shots with the puppet, which is good because I think the fatigue life of the puppets wings would be about 30 beats.