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When she picked up the knife I thought she was going to slice and dice, or stab ol' pumpkin to smithereens. The b.b. is a much more inspired visual choice.
Loved the exterior shot of the apartment looking in. Great lighting. And the pumpkin burning is likewise a nice visual.
Curious if you're going for real scares though...
I didn't get the impression your main girl was in any way scared by what was happening. I get it's tongue in cheek and (I remember part1. btw, ) & the ending means she wouldn't be scared anyway, but I wonder, was her being pretty cool a deliberate choice?
Love that she deliberates over leaving the lollies (candy) too. Made me laugh. I'm thinking, no, don't chuck it,! You'll want it later.
And, I did not pick that ending. Great job on her face at the end.
Can I enquire as to budget? And any other technical know-how you've learned and care to share withe class?
Seriously though, well done for actually doing it. I'd like to try (again) myself.
I'm a bit interested to know what the collaborative process for two writers on a short is.
I mean I get working togeather on a feature, there is generally a lot going on, several charater arcs to think about, sub plots and so forth, but when it's a low page count with minimal words on paper, how does it turn into a joint project?
Thanks guys! Just a short comment for now because I have to go in a few minutes. I'll get to the questions later today.
First off, it was great to finally meet Dena after having been online friends for so long. We plan on making more films next year!
This is the third short film that I've made that requires night time filming. This is important for all you writers out there, especially horror writers. Just to set the mood right for horror, we often make our stories take place at night. Yeah, so what? The thing I've learned with night shoots is that after 1am or so, most people start to get really tired. They can't wait to go home and hit the sack. As the director, you can feel this quite strongly even if no one says anything. You get this feeling that you have to hurry up and get this over with, so you start skipping things. Certain shots you had planned and things like that. This turned out great IMHO, but there were things we had liked to do a little differently. Just putting this out there, so next time you write - NIGHT in your script, remember that if it's necessary that your script takes place at night, you might actually reduce your chances of your short getting made. I for one, think twice before I decide to shoot a night time script.
I'll be back later this afternoon and I'll be happy to answer any questions regarding this shoot.
Oh, btw, we actually shot two films in one weekend! We are indeed insane!
I really enjoyed working with Pia. After talking for several years, it was good to finally meet up AND to do not one but two films in 48 hours!!!! That is unheard of.
The night thing...wow...it's so hard. You have the light issues which can cause grain issues. And we literally worked until after 1 am I think Saturday night! As Pia mentioned, we had to push through and do some things quick because it was getting later and later...camera guy was getting annoyed and Jorgia(our actress) was getting tired. Jon(my husband) who was like Santana's assistant and my honey-do guy, was even getting tired. AT one point I just laid in the grass outside during the burning pumpkin scene.
Also blacking out the windows and house to make it look like night while we were shooting during the day was a chore. It's easy to just cover the windows, but our cinematographer was very particular on keeping the light looking 'real' so there was way more involved than just taping the windows dark.
I learned something... I got contracts on every one except from the cinematographer! WTF right!!?? Anyway, he was also doing the editing and we were getting down on the time...and he went on a rock descending expedition the last weekend of editing so I was biting my nails that he would come through.
We learned that the mic we used was not the best. Pia had a better mic that if we do this again, we will make use of. So much so much learned ...
Also the shots are crucial and cut for time we may have missed some POV shots that would have added to the tension...but we were rushed into the night. I will really work harder on a shot list the next time we film I think.
I love those alligators. I've always had night dreams about alligators they are like my biggest fear
One last thing... when I first met Pia, I can remember us talking and her saying, "Every writer should really try to make a short...even if it's a few minutes long." And I can't stress how much I agree with this. Even if you have to make one on your iPhone. There is so much involved. So much you have to think about usually.
Great learning experience. I am dying to one day tackle a feature...but for now... I'm happy.
Libby - The gators were actually made by Brett's better half! Very talented and I'm super pleased with it.
This was actually filmed in a restored house in Jacksonville. The house was built in 1906!
Were we trying to really scare? This is where things get tricky. I would've preferred to go along the same vein as the original Pumpkin Nightmare. A bit of a mystery feel with a funny ending, but we were running short on time and neither Dena nor I had the time to sit in on the editing, so this is basically the editors version. He did a good job, but I think he was going for real horror, not the funny kind. That's what happens sometimes. Had we had more time, I would've been there during editing and tried to make it my vision. The end result though, is still great IMHO. Just different than the original intent.
Our vision was that the girl first suspects someone is messing with her, playing a prank by by putting the pumpkin back. Then she suspects there might be an intruder messing with her and then finally she decides the pumpkin itself is evil. Again, if we were sitting in on the edit, we would've tried to drive this point home.
The candy tossing was actually a longer piece where she throws it away and then changes her mind and digs one out of the bag and eats it. It was cut in editing because Dena and I both felt it made the scene too long.
As far as the ending goes, just like with the first film, we wanted to surprise. Most people seem to have been. The make-up was made by a local/Jacksonville woman. She's apparently well known there for her FX make-up skills. I'm sorry I can't remember her name right now.
Budget? Not sure, because we shot two in one weekend. Maybe $3K-$4K for both. We believe everyone should get paid for their work and that also ensures everyone shows up...
AlsoBen - We carved six pumpkins on the night before the shoot. #2 pumpkin didn't really get any face time though.
Warren - We talked extensively on Skype, we always do, about what we wanted. Both of our ideas are in there. I ended up writing the script only so the actress and DP would have an idea of what we were trying to do. So, definitely a collab, but not really a lot of writing.
Would be a very interesting process to be involved in.
Like Dena said, every writer should try to film something, even if just with their phone. You'll learn a lot and that a LOT of stuff goes into a production. I used to wonder why producers/directors didn't follow my scripts better, but sometimes that's impossible. All filmmakers do the best they can with what they have available. In our case for example, neither one of us had seen the location in person before we got there. A shot list is great, but sometimes you don't know how things will work out until you see the location. In our case, it was a two storey old house with a narrow staircase so we tried to shoot everything upstairs first. This meant we had to shoot everything out of sequence. That, can really make things confusing! No wonder there are people hired on big films just to ensure script continuity!
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Happy Halloween from Pia and Dena
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