Apple’s App Store offers more than four million apps. Most of them fit in the “lifestyle apps” category, promising to make our lives better, easier, smarter, or just more fun. In the Socratic tradition of posing obvious but profound questions, Oliver Richard’s “Thirsty?” invites us to step back and ask: “Are we better off for having access to all these digital wonders?”

An English filmmaker residing in Cork Ireland, Richards started his career editing and producing documentaries. In an interview following the movie, he takes us behind the scenes of making “Thirsty?”

 

Interview with Oliver Richards

MMM: How did you come up with the idea for “Thirsty?”

Richards: It came from thinking about phones and tablets as part of our everyday lives, and the rise in “lifestyle apps” intended to assist with our daily activities. Also watching sci-fi movies definitely helped, for example, a wonderful moment in one of my favourite movies, “The Fifth Element.” The main female character Leeloo, puts an empty bowl in a futuristic microwave and takes it out filled with food. That moment was certainly an inspiration in developing this concept.

MMM: How did you plan the shoot?

Richards: It was all storyboarded in advance.

MMM: Did you plan to cast yourself all along?

Richards: I did think about casting someone else, but I then figured that I had a solid grasp of the concept and how I wanted the movements. So I saved myself the time of finding someone else to be in it and just jumped in front of the camera.

MMM: Can you share  any tricks about directing yourself?

Richards: Being organised is the key for me. When you’re both in front and behind the camera, you have no-one to tell you if you’re doing it right or wrong. So having faith in your own ideas is very important. This is why I like to do storyboarding: it visualizes my ideas so I can work in front and behind the camera knowing what I want.

MMM: How did you handle the framing since you were in front of the camera?

Richards: It was a lot of trial and error as I didn’t have a stand in. Several shots I had to retake as I couldn’t see what I was doing and I got the framing wrong. An external screen would have been very useful here.

MMM: Could you explain how you developed the app screens that open the movie?

Richards: The iPad screens were the hardest bit to do for me because I’m not a graphic designer, and I had no idea how to do them or what I wanted it to look like. But I ended up doing them on After Effects. I was trying to go for a futuristic, corporate look for the app.

MMM: During the shoot, did you encounter any problems?

Richards: Camera movement was the biggest problem.  I didn’t have any remote control sliders then so I had to come up with ways to imitate camera motion, which I ended up doing in post-production.

MMM: In your YouTube listing, you mention using FiLMiC Pro. How does that app made a difference?

Richards: The amount of image control that FiLMiC Pro gives  the user control is certainly the reason they are valued so much.

MMM: What other gear did you use?

Richards: I use a Beastgrip Pro cage which is another piece of gear I love. It’s made very well and when my phone is locked in that cage I’m confident it’s never falling out which is great for both studio and handheld filming.

MMM: The fill-up-the-glass effect is spectacular.

Richards: I tested that shot a couple of times in the days before shooting, and I wasn’t going to make the film if I couldn’t get that shot right. It was a composite of different shots that came together in post-production.

MMM: What about the focus pulls?

Richards: They too were done in post-production using After Effects. Nothing complicated, just using the software’s in-built blur tools that can be easily applied to individual layers.

MMM: Could you talk about the sound track?

Richards: I looked for the music for several days and tried a few pieces. I wanted something playful and with a pretty fast tempo and so I searched for waltz music which I thought would suit, and it did.

MMM: What site provided the music?

Richards: Audiojungle.net. So far I’ve gotten all my music and sound effects from them. They have great quality products for fair prices.

MMM: How has the movie been received?

Richards: The film is currently a finalist at the SmartFone Flick Fest in Australia. Because of that it was accepted to be part of the in-flight entertainment for Etihad Airways, which the festival has a contract, so that’s all very exciting. Initially I never intended to put this film into festivals and I was just going to have it on Youtube but I may put it into more festivals in the coming months.

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The editors of MobileMovieMaking.com chose “Thirsty” as a Mobile Movie of the Week.

For more about Oliver Richards, see his “Abduction” which we showcased last year. You might also visit his YouTube channel.