Colour Code

While we get ready to shoot Heart Shaped Box 2, let's talk about Colour Code, my latest and greatest short film. Shot with a Canon 7D, 1 Arri 750 and a bounce card, we shot it at night on Enhanced Realizm Studios roof. 

The idea came to me very randomly. I was explaining the difference between story telling for a short film vs a feature to a film student. While explaining, I randomly spit a scenario and when I was done, I had what I thought was a great idea. I dropped him off went home and penned it. I then contacted the actors I had in mind and sent them the script.

It took a while, mostly because I was looking for something to make a prop bomb with. I went online and by chance Film Riot had just released a bomb prop tutorial. I wanted mine to look more sophisticated than theirs so I kept my eye out for the ideal parts. 

Eventually I got my hands on an old printer drum that was being dumped by a company. I had some old computer parts. The big problem was finding a timer I liked. I originally wanted too use the digital display from my radio because it has a big bright and red display. Of course as luck would have it, I could not find the radio. I went in search of one I could buy but just couldn't find anything appropriate. I spotted one time that was workable but it only displayed at angles not dead on and it wasn't back lit, so I feared it wouldn't show on camera.

So time passed and I haven't done anything film related in a while, plus I was swamped with work and helping to run an association that had an upcoming event. I simply set a date, immediately after the associations launch. I searched high and low for a timer and came up empty handed. With shoot day fast approaching, I went back for the timer I originally rejected.

My seminar started at 11 am, call time for the seminar was 8 am and I had a long meeting the day before. The seminar was scheduled to end at 2:30 pm and the shoot was to start at 6 pm. Little did I expect, the seminar had some glitches, we started late and we had to have a debriefing to address the issues. I made it to the shoot at 6:18 pm and the prop was not built yet. I saw the annoyance on everyone's face so I opted get everyone food and have them chill while I got to wire splicing and spray painting. The parts consisted of a printer drum, computer power supply and a kitchen timer. A can a paint if you want to count that as well. I think I will do a tutorial and upload that this weekend so you can all see. I have to give props to Tricia, she made the suggestion to use the power supply and I turned it inside out and it made a great looking circuit.

All in all we were on set for way longer than expected, midnight to be exact, but we had a lot of fun acting silly and stupid waiting on the dogs and karaoke to quiet down. I was most pleased with the actors performances. It's amazing to see them grow in their craft each time we shoot a film. It's also amazing to watch myself grow with each project. 

It took us a day to edit and we had to do ADR because for some strange reason, even though we had checked the venue many times during that same time of day on that same day of the week, on this particular day trucks were driving in and out, people were having karaoke at home, dogs were howling.

We decided not to just release the film on YouTube but also to market it a bit by creating posters for facebook, instagram and twitter and blasting away. Once we got people's curiosity, we released the short and got some excellent reviews. The lighting was on point, the acting, story and the twist. Let me not say anymore, watch it for yourself and be the judge.

Look out for more as we will be shooting Heart Shaped Box 2 this weekend.