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EricM
Joined: 14 Nov 2006
Posts: 63
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 Posted: Sat Dec 09, 2006 6:15 pm Post subject: Making an episode of Rebuilding Ricky |
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More than a year after making Rebuilding Ricky Episode 1, I've finally gotten around to making episode 2. This thread is meant to be more like a blog, where I'll comment on every stage of production. I do this in the hope that someone may actually learn something about movie making, or at least be mildly amused. Feel free to interject at any time with comments or questions.
Last edited by EricM on Sat Dec 30, 2006 9:04 pm; edited 2 times in total |
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EricM
Joined: 14 Nov 2006
Posts: 63
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| Posted: Sat Dec 09, 2006 6:17 pm Post subject: Background |
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First some details about the origin of Ricky.
Episode 1 was originally made as a pilot for Channel 101. The way it works there is that anyone is allowed to submit a pilot episode for a “TV” series, so long as it's five minutes or less in length. The pilots are screened in front of a live audience who votes their 5 favorite shows back for another episode next month. Rebuilding Ricky was submitted to Channel 101, but was rejected and didn't even make it into the show. Oh, well... 
Future episodes will not be submitted to Channel 101, but I love the format so much I'm going to stick to it. The five minute limit is a great way to learn movie making and story telling. First of all, if you're still learning (and who isn't?) it's much better to make several small movies than one longer movie. Each time you make a movie you learn something that you can apply to your next one, so obviously, the more you make the more you learn. And a great way to make more is to keep them short.
It's also a great way improve your writing. If you can't tell an interesting story in five minutes, what are your chances of holding the audience's attention for an even longer time? The important thing is that you actually tell a STORY and not just a skit. Skits feel more like jokes, where it's just the laughs that are important and the audience really isn't interested in the characters. A story has a beginning a middle and an end. You need to introduce your character, give him an objective, have him overcome obstacles, and be changed by the adventure. Two people walking into a bar and saying something funny isn't as engaging as a real story.
Anyway... on with the show. |
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EricM
Joined: 14 Nov 2006
Posts: 63
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| Posted: Sat Dec 09, 2006 6:21 pm Post subject: Writing |
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I just finished writing the first draft of episode 2. I'm a little concerned about the length. The credo goes that one page of properly formatted screenplay = one minute of movie. Here's the first page of episode 2:
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INT. DINNING ROOM - DAY
WILLIAM and STUART sit at the table. William eats cereal,
Stuart eats waffles. STRANGER enters wearing a house coat
over his trench coat and sips a coffee.
STRANGER
Good morning, William... Stuart.
William grunts, Stuart gives him the finger.
STRANGER
Where's Richard?
INT. PUZZLE ROOM - DAY
Close on RICKY's face as he comes to. He sits up to find
himself in the Puzzle Room, a square featureless room with
two doors and a high ceiling.
In though one door enters LLOYD, wide eyed and a little
freaked out.
LLOYD
Holy shit!
INT. TITLE SEQUENCE - TIME PERMITTING - DAY
RICKY
Hi! I'm Ricky. My friend Stuart
makes sure nothing ever happens to
me. But one day a stranger
arrived. He says I'm capable of
great things and takes me on
adventures where I meet new people
and learn new things. I'm having
fun!
INT. DINNING ROOM
STRANGER
You did what?!
STUART
You're not the only one who can
send him out to rebuild his
faculties.
STRANGER
You sent him out by himself? For
which faculty?
-------------------------------------------------
The problem is my first draft is 10 pages long and I'm trying to make a 5 minute film. Now the credo doesn't work all the time. A single line such as: “Cop jumps into his car and chases the bad guy” can take several minutes of screen time, and inversely, a page of dialog can take less than a minute if delivered by a motor mouthed character, which I'm actually hoping for as there is a lot of back and forth between Ricky and the new character of Lloyd, who talks quite fast.
FYI, the script for episode 1 was 8 pages long and I ended up rewriting scenes to accelerate them in order to make them fit within 5 minutes. The Mighty Blowfish episode 1 was also 8 pages long, but managed to fit within 5 minutes without any scenes being deleted or changed. So it just goes to show you it always depends on the pacing.
Still, I'm concerned that 10 pages is way too much. I'm already considering not having a title sequence, but I'd really like to keep it, because it makes the story feel a lot more like a TV episode.
I'm going to go through it again and see what I can trim. Once that is done, I'm going to record myself on the computer reading the script (audio only). This lets me know if I'm totally deluded about getting through this many pages in 5 minutes. This is an unusual step, and I haven't heard of anyone else doing it this way, but I'm weird like that.
I'll let you know how the rewrite goes...
---------------
Edited to add: The screenplay format didn't quite come out right when pasted into this message. For those who care, the charater names and their dialog should be centred. ...That is all. |
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EricM
Joined: 14 Nov 2006
Posts: 63
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| Posted: Sun Dec 10, 2006 7:41 pm Post subject: The Rewrite |
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So I recorded me reading the first draft and it came out to 6:15. Hmmm... My conviction to sticking to the 5 minute limit is already starting to slip. Such flawed creatures we are...
I trimmed some fat and removed some exposition I hope won't be missed. Got it down to 5:15. If I remove the credit sequence then it will definitely be under 5 minutes. I really want to keep it, so I'll shoot with the script I have now in the hopes I can tighten it up in editing and loose 15 seconds that way.
Next stop is the story boards... |
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EricM
Joined: 14 Nov 2006
Posts: 63
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| Posted: Thu Dec 14, 2006 12:57 am Post subject: Storyboards |
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Here are the storyboards that cover the first page of the script posted above.
As you can see, they aren't very good. You probably can't even tell which character is which. But for me at least, they only need to be good enough so I can use them as a checklist. There's nothing worse than starting editing only to discover you're missing a shot.
If you can't even draw as bad as me, then you should at least make a shot list: a written list of each shot you need. Check them off as they're completed.
I 'm always tempted to just make a shot list so I don't have to remind myself of how bad my drawing is, but I do prefer a storyboard because they (if created properly) are a visual reminder of what your screen direction is. It's quite easy to loose your sense of direction when you're running around doing a million and one things on set, so a quick reminder as to which direction a character should be facing is invaluable. |
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EricM
Joined: 14 Nov 2006
Posts: 63
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| Posted: Sat Dec 23, 2006 5:05 pm Post subject: Continuity |
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Just before I took two weeks off, the guys at work told me they were going to have a mustache growing contest in three weeks. So I let my beard grow for the first time ever, only to find out upon my return that they had it a week early because no one could stand the itchiness. So now I have this thing on my face that will break continuity with episode one of Rebuilding Ricky. There's only one solution... Goodbye beard!
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EricM
Joined: 14 Nov 2006
Posts: 63
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| Posted: Sat Dec 23, 2006 5:12 pm Post subject: Storyboards part 2 |
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Progress has slowed a bit due to Christmas related things I have to do, but now I have finally completed the storyboards. It actually took some effort to figure out the blocking in the puzzle room.
If you don't know what blocking is, think of it as stage direction; figuring out who is where when what is said or done. If the scene is just two people sitting at a table talking, then the blocking isn't very complicated and may not even need storyboarding. However, if it's something more like a shoot-out action scene, then storyboards are VERY important.
The puzzle room scenes are complicated because Ricky and Lloyd are both running around trying to figure how to get out of there, talking to each other all the while. It's way better to spend the time blocking it out on paper rather than getting half way through the shoot and realizing I really should be shooting from a different angle to make things more clear. |
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EricM
Joined: 14 Nov 2006
Posts: 63
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| Posted: Wed Dec 27, 2006 7:07 pm Post subject: Concept Design |
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It's time to design the puzzle room. I hate this part. I'm not very good at production design as the above sketches might allude to. They're supposed to be some rough ideas for the puzzle room. The script calls for a featureless room with two doors, but it needs some features to give it a sense of scale and some practical light source to explain why there's any light there at all.
Once the concept is nailed down, I'll have to build the room in 3D; another step I'm not looking forward to as I am very slow at 3D graphics... |
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EricM
Joined: 14 Nov 2006
Posts: 63
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| Posted: Thu Dec 28, 2006 4:40 pm Post subject: Costume |
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A good way to avoid building something in 3D is to go costume shopping instead!
So I went to Value Village and bought this dashing ensemble for the new character of Lloyd. The total was $25 including the wig. I got the glasses when I went to see Monster House in 3D. (Never throw anything out! You never know when you might use it in a movie.  )
Note that Lloyd's costume is slightly green. Since I plan to shoot the Puzzle Room scenes against blue screen (because it contrasts with blond hair more than green) it's not a problem, but just in case at some other time I need to shoot him against green, I made sure his costume wasn't the same shade of chromakey green. I toyed with the idea of giving him a tie-dyed shirt, but all the ones I found had both blue and green in them, so I would have been screwed either way.
Hmmm... Now I guess I have to get back to 3D work. Grumble, grumble. |
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EricM
Joined: 14 Nov 2006
Posts: 63
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| Posted: Mon Jan 01, 2007 4:36 pm Post subject: Virtual Set |
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Happy New Year!
Anyway... Here's a preview of the Puzzle Room.
It's pretty simple, but it still took me a couple of days to make. Told you I was slow at this stuff! I spent a lot of time just trying different textures and deciding what kind of lights to use. I started off using linear lights (like florescent tubes), but they take a long time to render, so I used spotlights with a very wide cone angle. Does anyone even understand what I'm talking about?
I have yet to put the doors in, because they are going to be the most critical part. Without giving much of the story away, the doors have to be build in 3D and for real so that the characters and interact with them directly. I'm worse at building things for real than I am at building things in 3D. I'm going to need some help with this... |
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| Posted: Thu Jan 04, 2007 11:09 pm Post subject: A New Toy! |
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I know lighting is very important, but I've never liked doing it. It takes so long to set up and I can never get it looking that great. But now I have this new light! It cost me 120 bucks, but look at it! It's awesome! There's a soft box on it! My lighting gonna look much more gooder now. You'll see.
The reason my lighting has never been that great is obviously because I've been using non-professional gear to do it. It couldn't possibly be lack of talent on my part. You can see how amazing my lighting is now that I have one professional light. Well... My shirt is over exposed... and so is half my face. But it can't be my fault, I just said why it couldn't. Must be the light I bought. Damn cheap assed light!  |
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EricM
Joined: 14 Nov 2006
Posts: 63
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| Posted: Tue Jan 09, 2007 1:24 am Post subject: Props! |
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My dad helped me build the door for the puzzle room. It's made entirely of things that were laying around so it didn't cost anything. The construction was fairly simple, but I still needed the help 'cause I'm a klutz when building things. Thanks dad!
You can see our marvelous handiwork above and the virtual version next to it. |
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EricM
Joined: 14 Nov 2006
Posts: 63
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| Posted: Tue Jan 09, 2007 1:32 am Post subject: Green Screen |
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Hey, I wanted a blue screen! I thought we had a blue screen at work, but apparently we only have green. I had problems keying blond hair in The Mighty Blowfish, so I was going to use blue this time. (Blond is 50% green (and 50% red), so it contrasts better with blue screen.) Bad lighting was the main reason I had problems on Blowfish, so hopefully if the green screen is lit better this time I won't have a problem.
The frame is made out of PVC pipes I bought at Home Depot. It's a bit tricky to put together by yourself as you can see, but once the green screen is stretched tight it holds itself together nicely.
Guess I'm gonna have to start shooting this thing soon... |
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EricM
Joined: 14 Nov 2006
Posts: 63
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| Posted: Sat Jan 13, 2007 4:55 pm Post subject: Test Comps |
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I did some test comps. The blond hair is still tricky, but it's much better this time due to more even lighting on the green screen. These test told me that I still need to work on the lighting on the characters. They're a bit too flat. A rim light will add some shape to them and help pull better keys off the hair. |
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EricM
Joined: 14 Nov 2006
Posts: 63
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| Posted: Sun Jan 21, 2007 9:37 pm Post subject: It's begun! |
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I started shooting last Saturday. Things are getting busy at work and next week is looking like it's gonna be real busy, so I'm not sure how much time I'll have to work on Ricky. That end of January deadline I gave my self is feeling mighty close. Who's idea what that?! I told me that February was more realistic. Why don't I listen to myself?
Anyway... When Ricky Episode 2 is done the stupid thing I'm probably going to be most proud of is the lighting boom I bodged together. Take a look at it.
Yes. That's half a cereal box reinforced with duct tape at the heart of it. The arm is a curtain rod that's been in storage for years. The light is from a copy stand that someone threw out at work and held in place by a clamp. The sand bag for counter wight was also retrieved from a garbage bin. Dumpster diving pays off, people!
The pictures below show the difference. One is from a the same test shoot from my last post and the other is from Saturday's shoot.
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