Crash Time is a noncommercial short Sci Fi action movie that I shot back in 2011.
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uPHTydV2sTo]
The goal was to walk through the entire process of moviemaking starting with pre-production and finishing with distribution and doing it with a low to none budget.
The need for me was to build a strong understanding of each stage of this moviemaking process — its problems, difficulties and specifics. I wanted to walk in the shoes of as many key figures in a film production as I could.
In pre-production I was the writer of the script, I walked in the shoes of a producer and of a production assistant making production boards, budgeting and planning. The roles of the production designer and the director were assumed by me as well on this stage of the production, making the storyboard and the production script, scouting for locations and casting actors. I had to gather all the equipment I needed and to stick to the lowest budget possible.
In the production stage as well as a director I played the role of DP, a gaffer, a key grip man and so on.
In post — I edited the movie and worked with CGI effects. The movie is in English, spoken by Bulgarian actors so English and Bulgarian subtitles were written and added to the movie.
Distribution comprised making of DVDs and DVD labels, banners (one of them you can see at the beginning of this post), making a Facebook page for the movie and also its own website where I’m offering a walkthrough of the making of the film. My goal is to share my experience and conclusions, to give advice to everyone who wants make his own short movie with low or no budget. The site is still in Bulgarian but I’m planning to translate it in English soon.
Here is the DVD cover made for the movie.
Here are some excerpts from the Crash Time site showing two important phases of the production of the movie.
1. From storyboard to shot. One of the most important things about moviemaking is planning! Every movie maker must know what he/she wants, what he/she will shoot and how it will be shot way before the shooting period. Carefully planned and organised shots in pre-production are very easy and quick to shoot in production, where the cost of the movie is the highest. Below are images of a storyboard concept for a shot and their footage equivalents. You can see how close the scenes are to their storyboard concepts.
Crash time has a lot of CGI effects. It’s a Sci-Fi story. 🙂 All the CGI were made using Eyeon Fusion 6 composing software and Photoshop. Here are some examples of a shot before and after CGI effects.
Building branding at the left side of the shot, mic branding and plates with text:
CGI: a tracking device, made entirely in Eyeon Fusion:
Futuristic lockpick — before and after CGI:
Futuristic device and its interaction with the environment:
Green screen background replacement and plates with text:
You can download the movie from this link: Crash Time
Download subtitles: ENG or BUL
Visit the Crash Time website (only the Bulgarian part is full of content) or check and like ( if you like it) its Facebook page.