A Drink In Time (Short Film)

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(Edited)

▶️ Watch on 3Speak


I thought I would share my short film I filmed back in February of 2018, for my graduation from college. It is kind of cringe, but, at the same time, it's better than anything I created in the first and second years of college.

The Story

The story follows two old friends who meet up after many years of not seeing each other, one of the men has had an unusual encounter and is feeling reminiscent of his past.

There are a few topics I suppose the film covers, like regret, and wanting to relive your past but knowing you can't. It's a comedy in a way because all the lads want to do is have fun like they did when they were younger, but, without everyone they used to hang around with, they find out it's not the same as it was.

I was 24 or 25 when I wrote this script, that summer leading into my final year of college was a bit weird. There was a bunch of us hanging out in our old drinking spot from when we were teenagers, but, it wasn't really the same as it was back then hanging out. So, I guess that thought made it into the story. I also had a few personal issues going on which made me a bit reminiscent too.

I've never liked mindless comedy, something that's meant to be funny in a stupid way. I've always liked things that aren't really supposed to be funny.

The Other Script

The idea was that coming up to the end of the second year, we would have a script prepared to shoot in 3rd year, so when we came back after the summer, we could focus on casting actors and ensuring we had everything we needed to shoot. I had a different script prepared and had spoken to some of my tutors about it. But, after returning in September, I decided I didn't like the story. So, I got to work and wrote this. I remember a piece of advice my writing tutor gave us. "Always write within your means; don't add anything into your script that you don't have access to or the means to get easy." Good advice, and something I always try to keep in mind.

Writing with a producer cap on is a good way of making sure you can film what you intend to film. I remember giving him the new script to read and as I was working out some paperwork he was laughing while reading it, which was a good sign.

He came over to me with the script afterward and asked. "So, have you got a Tardis?" and I laughed and said, coincidently, I do actually, we built a vocal booth in the studio, and my dad is a big Doctor Who fan. He handed back the script and said it was good. "But, I know you can do better with the ending."

The original ending was going to be the lads going into the Tardis and coming back out as kids. With one of them saying "Oh, Fu..." Then cut to black. I got back to work on it and I think I did do better.

Problems and Issues

With any undertaking, there'll always be problems. No matter how organised everything is. One problem I encountered was. We had 2 kits and each of us in the class was shooting over the course of 3 weeks, so one shoot would end, and a kit would go to the next person. In the kit, we had H4N, Shotgun mic, Boom poles, Lights, a Blackmagic camera, and a bunch of gear like tripods and whatever.

Well, when I was handed mine to shoot, we found out that the battery wasn't given with it. Since my film was mainly outdoors, I had no choice but to shoot with my Canon DSLR. Which was a pain to match up the footage in the colour grade. But, how or never, we got it done.

There was also an issue with sound because we didn't have a Deadcat either, luckily the entire film wasn't ruined, but, one scene that has always bugged me.

The old makeup on the lads wasn't as I thought it would be and took longer than expected, I should have gotten two older actors, but, I couldn't find any. The makeup is fairly ropey... But, Shhhh, it's meant to be like that, it is a comedy after all.

There were many other issues, but, those were the main ones.

The Crew

We had a 4 man crew including myself, plus my sister and girlfriend who worked makeup and hair. My dad wrote all the music for it after the fact and I edited and graded it.

I've always liked working with small crews, even though everyone has to double up on jobs. It's hard to organise big crews I find, which is why I love shooting music videos, as I can do everything for them by myself.

Watching It Now

I've learned a lot since this film and the recent shorts I've written and shot have turned out much better, but this one holds a special place for me and I think is a great example of the milestones in the quality of my work since being in college.

Hope you enjoy it, I'm thinking of uploading some more of my work here.


▶️ 3Speak



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14 comments
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Well my dear, you learned and you implemented the change which by itself is a sign of improvement. You're doing very well. Won't be able to watch the Movie, not now anyway. But I'll come by later...

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Thanks so much! Yeah let me know what you think if you get a chance.

Yeah learning and working through problems has paid off so much, the stuff I can film now is so much better.

!PIZZA

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Those college years are always a technical challenge. So many things you have in mind to do but so little (good and modern) gear to use to achieve it. I remember ditching the college gear and using my own, even buying a gimbal, because all the college had was these old Canon 500D models and some barely functioning tripods. Lenses were also a massive issue; your main option pretty much was just a 50mm F1.8; also the same issues as you with gear either not being present when it should be or constantly in rotation from one person to the next. I remember there being a little more modern gear but very low in numbers, and the college would treat them like diamonds and rarely actually let anyone use them. Oh and the lighting equipment at the college was just nonexistent! I remember intentionally just shooting everything outside and taking advantage of artificial light in the evenings because of that.

I remember the rotation of gear meant everyone had a really long time to get things done, so I would be done within a day or two while everyone else was still waiting for a chance to start. I ended up either not appearing for a few weeks or asking everyone if they needed any help so I had something to do.

Part of me actually misses all that chaos. The college side of filmmaking is completely different the real thing, but just messing around with some people with a camera and roaming around trying to find locations was a great time. Then after grabbing some beers or food and doing it all again the next day.

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One of the first things I bought was a H4N, the sound gear the college had was either broken, or on the verge of breaking. The cameras were good though, they also had some good LEDs but I ended up buying my own before leaving.

Yeah I miss it too, it was a lot of fun, aswell it was good having so many people interested in filming stuff in one place haha

I like working Freelance, but at the same time I'd like to have a solid team to do stuff, even just for our own films. The most recent one was a nightmare at first to get a crew together for, but we managed it and it turned out great. I'm still colour grading it atm but I'll have it up on 3speak soon.

Funny, usually actors are the hardest thing to find, but we ended up with so many and not enough crew.

!PIZZA

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(Edited)

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Amazing. Looking forward to see your new work.

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Thanks so much I appreciate that, I've gotten to learn a lot more since filming this short. I might put up some of my first films haha they were terrible.

!PIZZA

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Amazing! Good to see this type of work here at hive
!1UP


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Thanks so much, I appreciate that! I'll be adding more of my work up here over the next while!

!PIZZA

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What a beautiful film, loved the calmness and colors of the scenes and their exchanges. You should share more of your work here. Great job.

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Thank you so much, that means a lot! I'll be putting up some of my recent work and I might even dig around and put some of my earlier films.

!PIZZA

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