Post by The Candyman on Aug 1, 2005 1:15:06 GMT -5
A few months ago I wrote, directed, and edited my first short film: Stuffed Fantasies. I entered it into the NP2K 3rd Online Film Festival, where it competed with six other short films for a prize. It won 4th place, right in the middle of everyone, which I figure is a good for my first real short film.
NOTE: The film is no longer available online for download. If you wish to see it, drop me an email or an IM and I will transfer you a copy.
Here's a brief description of the movie and how I went about making it, for those interested:
I can’t remember the exact moment I came up with the basic concept for “Stuffed Fantasies”. All I know is that I had often toyed with the thought, “I wonder what it would be like to make a romantic comedy about a girl and an inanimate object. Perhaps a stuffed animal.” I already knew that I wanted to enter the next NP2K film festival - the first film festival had been what brought me to NP2K in the first place. Plus, although I had made a few short films for school, I hadn’t yet had the time to sit down, write a script, and make something truly original. The NP2K film festival gave me that chance. I wrote a script. It sucked. Then I paid more attention to the “one character has no dialogue” element, and in a flash of insight, “Stuffed Fantasies” was born. The concept of a psychiatrist/patient conversation gave me the framework I needed to make my original idea work: A romantic comedy. With a stuffed toy.
I wrote a rough draft of the script in a single night of inspiration. I then spent the next few weeks revising it and looking for actors. I lived in El Salvador at the time, so I automatically knew that I would have to get someone from my school to play the part of Erica, for the simple reason that my school is a place where everyone speaks English. I mentioned what I was doing to a few people, and Patty Cruz immediately volunteered to play the part of Erica. I had worked with Patty on a few minor videos for school, and there was one thing I was sure of: even if her acting sucked (which I didn’t think it would), she would get into the part and do whatever it took. She was always enthusiastic about filming, and willing to do whatever the director told her needed to be done. And since this film involved at least one scene which might be awkward to film (you’ll see what I mean), that made her exactly the kind of person I was looking for.
The part for the psychiatrist took a bit longer to find. Once again, I considered getting a classmate from school to do it. I had someone in mind who probably could have pulled it off, but it would have taken a lot of work to make him appear like an older man. So I wasn’t sure what to do. I didn’t know a lot of English-speaking males who I thought could make a convincing shrink – asking one of my teachers to do it was out of the question, since that probably would have brought up a whole new batch of problems, scheduling and otherwise. Then one day Patty casually asked me, “Why couldn’t your dad do it?” And I realized she was right. My dad was old enough to do it. He had the white hair. He was definitely extroverted enough to really get into the part. And plus, ironically, at one point in his life he had wanted to be a counselor. I asked him, he agreed to do it, and I think he ended up being perfect for the role.
Casting the stuffed toy wasn’t as hard. I wanted Marvin from the start. And his performance is top-notch; I couldn’t have asked for a better, more qualified actor. I just hope Warner Bros. doesn't sue me.
Filming went smoothly, as far as I can remember. The scene that was the most fun to film was the scene in the park – everyone was constantly coming up with new ideas to try (the script left the scene open to various approaches), and it couldn’t have gone better. The scene that was the funniest to film – and Patty’s least favorite - was the “awkward” scene mentioned above. You’ll know which one when you see it. It took a lot of takes to finally get it right, and even now it’s not perfect (I hate cars).
The scene that took the most preparation to film was by far the scene in the toy store. They wouldn’t let me film in an actual toy store, even for 5 minutes, so I was forced to make my own. I took two bookshelves and completely emptied them of books. Then I moved both of them to my parents’ bedroom, which was the biggest open area I could find. I then proceeded to fill both of them up with as many stuffed animals as I could find. My girlfriend at the time, Sonia (who has a brief part in the film), was able to lend me a few boxes full of nothing but stuffed toys, and that was very useful. When you watch the movie, you have no idea of the scope of how many stuffed animals were actually used. There were literally boxes and boxes and boxes of them. The sad thing is that only a few shelves are actually seen in the movie. But hey, you gotta do what you gotta do in order to make a normal room look like something its not. I don’t think I did a perfect job in mimicking an actual toy store (or even a particularly good job for that matter), but I think it could have turned out a lot worse.
Also, that scene was the biggest pain to edit. When I captured the footage, I realized that the scene was going to be too long if it played out that way I originally intended it to. Plus, I didn't have the right footage in order to shorten it, and still have it make sense. At one point I seriously considered omitting that scene entirely, but I think that would have left a huge gaping hole in the movie. In the end, it took some careful thinking and editing, as well as some reversed footage, in order for it to actually make sense.
In the end, I personally think Stuffed Fantasies is an okay short film. It's not great, but it's not terrible. Overall, I'm pretty happy with the result. Please watch it and post any comments/criticisms you have here.
NOTE: The film is no longer available online for download. If you wish to see it, drop me an email or an IM and I will transfer you a copy.
Here's a brief description of the movie and how I went about making it, for those interested:
I can’t remember the exact moment I came up with the basic concept for “Stuffed Fantasies”. All I know is that I had often toyed with the thought, “I wonder what it would be like to make a romantic comedy about a girl and an inanimate object. Perhaps a stuffed animal.” I already knew that I wanted to enter the next NP2K film festival - the first film festival had been what brought me to NP2K in the first place. Plus, although I had made a few short films for school, I hadn’t yet had the time to sit down, write a script, and make something truly original. The NP2K film festival gave me that chance. I wrote a script. It sucked. Then I paid more attention to the “one character has no dialogue” element, and in a flash of insight, “Stuffed Fantasies” was born. The concept of a psychiatrist/patient conversation gave me the framework I needed to make my original idea work: A romantic comedy. With a stuffed toy.
I wrote a rough draft of the script in a single night of inspiration. I then spent the next few weeks revising it and looking for actors. I lived in El Salvador at the time, so I automatically knew that I would have to get someone from my school to play the part of Erica, for the simple reason that my school is a place where everyone speaks English. I mentioned what I was doing to a few people, and Patty Cruz immediately volunteered to play the part of Erica. I had worked with Patty on a few minor videos for school, and there was one thing I was sure of: even if her acting sucked (which I didn’t think it would), she would get into the part and do whatever it took. She was always enthusiastic about filming, and willing to do whatever the director told her needed to be done. And since this film involved at least one scene which might be awkward to film (you’ll see what I mean), that made her exactly the kind of person I was looking for.
The part for the psychiatrist took a bit longer to find. Once again, I considered getting a classmate from school to do it. I had someone in mind who probably could have pulled it off, but it would have taken a lot of work to make him appear like an older man. So I wasn’t sure what to do. I didn’t know a lot of English-speaking males who I thought could make a convincing shrink – asking one of my teachers to do it was out of the question, since that probably would have brought up a whole new batch of problems, scheduling and otherwise. Then one day Patty casually asked me, “Why couldn’t your dad do it?” And I realized she was right. My dad was old enough to do it. He had the white hair. He was definitely extroverted enough to really get into the part. And plus, ironically, at one point in his life he had wanted to be a counselor. I asked him, he agreed to do it, and I think he ended up being perfect for the role.
Casting the stuffed toy wasn’t as hard. I wanted Marvin from the start. And his performance is top-notch; I couldn’t have asked for a better, more qualified actor. I just hope Warner Bros. doesn't sue me.
Filming went smoothly, as far as I can remember. The scene that was the most fun to film was the scene in the park – everyone was constantly coming up with new ideas to try (the script left the scene open to various approaches), and it couldn’t have gone better. The scene that was the funniest to film – and Patty’s least favorite - was the “awkward” scene mentioned above. You’ll know which one when you see it. It took a lot of takes to finally get it right, and even now it’s not perfect (I hate cars).
The scene that took the most preparation to film was by far the scene in the toy store. They wouldn’t let me film in an actual toy store, even for 5 minutes, so I was forced to make my own. I took two bookshelves and completely emptied them of books. Then I moved both of them to my parents’ bedroom, which was the biggest open area I could find. I then proceeded to fill both of them up with as many stuffed animals as I could find. My girlfriend at the time, Sonia (who has a brief part in the film), was able to lend me a few boxes full of nothing but stuffed toys, and that was very useful. When you watch the movie, you have no idea of the scope of how many stuffed animals were actually used. There were literally boxes and boxes and boxes of them. The sad thing is that only a few shelves are actually seen in the movie. But hey, you gotta do what you gotta do in order to make a normal room look like something its not. I don’t think I did a perfect job in mimicking an actual toy store (or even a particularly good job for that matter), but I think it could have turned out a lot worse.
Also, that scene was the biggest pain to edit. When I captured the footage, I realized that the scene was going to be too long if it played out that way I originally intended it to. Plus, I didn't have the right footage in order to shorten it, and still have it make sense. At one point I seriously considered omitting that scene entirely, but I think that would have left a huge gaping hole in the movie. In the end, it took some careful thinking and editing, as well as some reversed footage, in order for it to actually make sense.
In the end, I personally think Stuffed Fantasies is an okay short film. It's not great, but it's not terrible. Overall, I'm pretty happy with the result. Please watch it and post any comments/criticisms you have here.
