A year ago, this magazine featured a fundraising video co-directed by Renee Faia, whose work we earlier featured. The money was raised and the short film—”Beautiful Dead Things”—is having an impact. The movie, co-directed by Ingela Ogard who was the editor, has been shown in film festivals around the world and just had its LA Premier as part of New Filmmakers LA. It’ll be shown in Atlanta in June and in Holland at the iPhone Film Festival. The film isn’t yet available for online viewing but we do get a taste in the trailer, a hybrid video shot using iPhones and various professional cameras. Can you spot the iPhone footage? Check the end of the interview with Renee (below) where she identifies the iPhone material.
MMM: Which model iPhones did you use?
Renee: An iPhone 5 and an iPhone 6.
MMM: And the professional cameras?
Renee: Canon Red Digital, Red Scarlet, Black Magic, Pocket Black Magic, and Canon 7D.
MMM: For the iPhone clips, did you use any special gear?
Renee: We used some lenses like the macro from Smart Phocus. For some footage we used the 8mm Vintage Camera app.
MMM: Could you talk about the approach taken in assembling the trailer?
Renee: We wanted it to have the same kinetic quality that the film has and also convey mystery and humor.
MMM: Can you say anything about the soundtrack?
Renee: The amazing music is an original score by Gregg Stewart and Kevin Jarvis. They knocked it out of the park. We had 18 music cues for a 15 min short! It is a road trip movie and so the music needed to reflect that. There are also some dream sequences that needed some magic and they nailed it.
MMM: Tell us something about the movie represented by the trailer.
Renee: It was an ambitious short film. We had over 8 locations, we had multiple car shots, we also had SFX. It was quite a bit of work, super creative. And honestly, having the iPhone to jumpstart us, really made a difference and got us working immediately. As we went along, we added crew and various camera formats. Even though it is a narrative story, it is also very non-linear, so we had a lot of different shots we wanted. The images move almost along the lines of how your actual memory moves, which can be fast and then as the character remembers certain events, it all slows down. Ultimately the story is about processing grief, but it happens in an unexpected way.
MMM: We can’t wait to see the movie but a lot of it comes through in the trailer. It’s really a visual treat. Speaking of which, will you identify the iPhone shots in the trailer?
Renee: You’ll find the clips on the timeline at 03, 05, 07, 10, 16, 22, and 27.
# # #
If you’d like to see more of Renee’s work, see her fundraising pitch video for Beautiful Dead Things and her additional work.
The trailer for “Beautiful Dead Things” was chosen as a Mobile Movie of the Week by the editors of MobileMovieMaking Magazine.
Previous post
Next post
BEAUTIFUL DEAD THINGS
Directors: Renee Faia & Ingela Ogard
Writer: Renee Faia
Executive Producers Peter R. Omholt, Ben & Jill Hill
Producer: Lara Costa-Calzado
Cinematographer: Brad Rushing
Editor: Ingela Ogard
Composers: Gregg Stewart & Kevin Jarvis
Sound Editor: Pembrooke Andrews
Starring:
Renee Faia
Michael Petted
Larry Poindexter
Saginaw Grant
Rebecca Ocampo
Evan Strand
Sher Hellard