Action Thriller Features Nifty VFX & Two Talented Young Actors

Written by: Murray Suid

In 2018, the editors of this magazine chose “Robot Attack” as the Mobile Movie of the Year. Now, that film’s director Brian Vowles is back with “Run.” A Canadian-based 3D Artist by day, Vowles explained: “I made this short as an entry to the Collective/ Film Riot monthly film competition. It’s a 60 second Action Scene Challenge with a chance to win some amazing gear that would help me with other things I want to do. The contest started on June 28th but I was really late to the game because of work. By the time we were ready to film I had about a week left to finish it.

“The winners were announced last week and unfortunately, “Run” was not one of them. The contest exploded in the final weeks, and there were over six hundred submissions by the end of it. Losing is always a bummer, but I think it’s a good lesson for the kids to work really hard on something and still lose. You don’t always “get a sticker” for participating. We had a blast making it, I got another short finished, and it was a lot of fun getting the band back together.”

Following the movie, Vowles takes us behind the scenes of the production, sharing stories and location stills. As a bonus, he arranged for us to interview the two young performers—his sons—about their experiences on the team.

Interview with the Director: Brian Vowles

MMM: What camera did you use?

Vowles: I recently upgraded to an iPhone XR and so far it’s pretty awesome. A lot has changed since “Robot Attack” and the iPhone 5s. Back then it was a 16 gig camera shooting HD with a battery life that was kind of sad. Now it’s 64 Gigs and I was shooting in 3K. I even shot some 4K stuff at 60fps. Which is crazy. After hours of filming I still had some battery left which wouldn’t have happened a few years go.

MMM: What about the camera app?

Vowles: I used Filmic Pro again, but even that changed a lot in the last four years. So I took the dog for a walk a few times and just filmed a bunch of stuff trying to get familiar with the new interface controls. It’s such a great app.

MMM: Was there any special gear that you used?

Vowles: I had to build a slider because I didn’t have my old one anymore. The two metal pipes were up in my garage rafters because I figured I would never use them again.

The bars were from a neighbour’s weight set that he was throwing out and I was researching sliders at the time. I thought they would work pretty good. I’m sure you could find something similar at any hardware store. Copper pipe or even PVC would probably work. Smartphones are so light, jitter is always a problem. So I made the “sliding base” bigger and heavier than the one on my previous slider. That helped with the jitter, but it was was very hard to get a smooth move until I added some felt pads from the dollar store. Very high tech!

MMM: How did you connect the phone to the slider?

Vowles: While I was looking for a way to attach the camera, I came upon this leftover piece of a “useless” thing I picked up years ago. I just canabalized it. Now there are tons of better things people could use to attach the camera to the wood like one of those octopus tripods.

MMM: Could you talk about the sound design?

Vowles: The sound was tough because I had to redo it all from scratch. The bridge we filmed under has a massive highway on top of it and so all the captured audio was useless. I didn’t have time to do a really complex sound design so I thought the jet engine would be a good approach to just drown everything out. I didn’t have to worry about breathing, and footsteps and clothes rustling. When you hear the river at the beginning, the running on the gravel, and the jet engine, those were all sounds I bought from Pond 5. I like that site a lot for stuff like this because there is a huge selection and the prices are fair. You can even download the watermarked sound to test in your edit and see if it’s working before you buy it. I really like how the jet engine ramps up through different parts of the short to build the tension. I’m really happy with how that turned out.

MMM: Any big problem during the production?

Vowles: The main challenge was trying to keep the project within the sixty seconds. With my first edit, I was thirty-five seconds in and nothing had happened. It was actually a really good exercise in editing. I was surprised at how much you could chop out and still have it work. Like the ending: I tried animating this huge crash landing for the drone, but it didn’t work. Now it just cuts to black and, with the sound effects, comma, your brain fills in the rest. It gave us a gives us a second to breathe before the heroes show up. Other than that it was just the volume of shots that had to be done in a week. It was a really bad week for sleep, but I managed to deliver with just over an hour to spare. It was stressful.

MMM: Anything else?

Vowles: I think going the extra mile and renting the leaf blower really helped sell the drone on some of those shots. I wasn’t sure it was going to work. Even though you don’t see the drone in those shots, I think the kids’ reactions, the sound, and the wind all together make it feel like it’s there.

Interview with the Actors

Brandon is the older one, who shoots the drone down. Dylan is the younger one, who runs to the tire.

MMM: What was it like working with the director? How did he help you play your role?

Brandon: Working with the director was really fun because me and my dad are both movie nerds and we like to talk about movies. Every night we would talk about the short and share our ideas with each other.

Dylan: Working with the director was fun. He helped us make the best one-minute short ever, and he also let me play with the film equipment after we finished. He helped me play my role really well. The whole family helped.

MMM: What did you enjoy most about working in this movie?

Brandon: The thing I enjoyed most was that I got to act again. When we started to make “Robot Attack” I didn’t really know how to act. By the time filming was over I had a better idea and I really enjoyed doing it. When Dad asked us if we wanted to sign up for the “60 second action scene challenge,” I was really excited that I could act again.

Dylan: I got to run around a lot, and we got to have fake bruises and dirt on us. We used a special sponge that made it look like we were scratched.

MMM: Were there any problems in making the movie?

Brandon: All the problems were involving the story. My Dad had so much ideas but only 60 seconds and a week to animate. Every time he had an idea he would try to think of how he could use it to fit in the story.

Dylan: Not really,

MMM: What do you think of the finished movie?

Brandon: I think our movie looks amazing and I’m really surprised how some of the shots turned out. I’m proud of my acting in “Run.”

Dylan: It is sooo cool I can’t stop thinking about how we completed it in one day.

MMM: Do you want to act in other movies?

Brandon: I would LOVE to act in a REAL movie. Now that I have done two shorts I think I have got a little better with my acting. I think it would be really fun to work with a real director in a real big movie. When I am older my dream job is to be an actor.

Dylan: Not really. I want to be a chef. I don’t want to act in a real movie because I think it will be too stressful, but I would love to act in other shorts with my family.

Let’s give the director the last word.

Vowles: Working with the kids this time around was way better. They are a lot older now and they get what we are doing and why we do things a certain way. They get the process more and are really into it. And they both chimed in with directing advice that was pretty cool to see. “Dad, we need to get a shot from over here so show his reaction.”

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The editors of MobileMovieMaking have chosen “Run” as the Mobile Movie of the Week.