So it's been a while since I last posted an update. I was in Sweden for a month in August, and then finishing the game has taken most of my time until now.
I've still been plugging away at the filming, taking my 550D with me most places and shooting footage wherever I can. I also shot yet another short for an online forum competition and managed to take first place, which was pretty good considering I only had a daya and a half to edit it. Much shorter than I would have liked, and the finished product was definitely in need of some grading and sound balancing.
I've also finished shooting my big short project, an epic sniper thriller with a twist, that is the first time in years that I have been shooting on locations and dealing with permissions and all the phone calls and organising that goe along with that. We even had use of a brand new luxury car, direct from the manufacturer, which was very cool.
I was going for a Bourne style of shooting, and I spent a fair amount of time trying to get the sniper rifle that would match the type they use in those movies, of course it's easier said than done to obtain a prop gun these days, and unless you are a registered film/TV company, or a registered sirsoft skirmisher, it's not possible to buy or rent one.
So I ended up changing tack and using an old M16 rifle replica I already had, kitting it out with a scope and huuuuge silencer to complete the effect. It certainly looked the part, and although it's nonsense to use that type of gun as a sniper rifle, hopefully in the finished edit I'll be able to hide the specific type of weapon and keep it as just 'the gun'.
I've also been experimenting with lenses, and last night I was out in town doing some tests with a handful of Canon 'L' lenses rented from the Flash Centre in London. They do a great deal where you can rent glass for as little as £20 for a weekend! My favourite lens of the night was definitely the 70-200 IS, but at £1500 it's a little pricey, so I intend to go with the cheaper, plastic, 70-300 IS USM instead. I badly need a longer lens as my 18-135 IS kit lens it just not long enough, and my secondhand M42 70-200 is too unstable for hand-held!
Right now I'm finishing up my next short project, an extended test shoot that I turned into a short narrative in the woods, next I will be diving into the big edit for the sniper short.
