The longest 4 minutes in history.
Shooting for the short is still on going. Yes, this is a 4 minute epic. Thus far we have spent 14 hours working on this project. With an average of 8 people working on it, you are looking at almost 3 man-hour weeks. All for what will be 4 minutes of two people standing and talking.
Why so much time for something so short, you might ask. Well that is simple. One reason is that much of this is a learning experience for those involved. I discovered this week that I could have gotten much of what we were looking for by using a master shot. A master shot is a wide camera angle that frames both characters in the same shot. Using this as a main shot and cutting away to close-ups would have lowered the number of shots needed.
The second reason is art. We are working very hard to get something specific on the screen. We know what we want. Last night, we re-shot a couple of set ups. After looking at them we thought we could do better and went ahead and set up these shots again. Every shot is set up with care. We are always looking for ways to make them better.
A couple of years ago I read Robert Rodriguez’s book “Rebel without a Crew.” It inspired me to make movies. He was a lone film maker with some actors, a barrowed camera and stack of 3x5 cards for a script. He stressed getting lots of shots really fast. I see now, I am not going to be Robert Rodriguez. We have different styles. No offence Mr. Rodriguez, I got some ideas I want to try on my own. I hope that some day you will enjoy my work as much as I have enjoyed yours.
p.s. Kelly you were right...