Have you made a short film lately? Why not? Perhaps you don’t think you can pull it off? Perhaps you think there are just too many moving parts for you to handle.
Minimalist Filmmaking in Action
Todays guest, Ian Wittenber, made a powerful short film called “Turtle” (video below) which embodies the spirit of minimalist filmmaking. He’s a Director, Writer and Cinematographer all wrapped in one. I was floored by his achievement and even more floored as he shared what went into producing this masterpiece.
There are so many lessons to be learned her:
One – go out and make a movie – no excuses!
Two – visuals must be dictated by your story.
Three – you don’t need expensive equipment to knock a film out of the park.
Four – Five – Six . . . it’s all in the interview below.
Watch Ian’s Short “Turtle” Below
The lighting and film gear used here made me one happy camper because it reaffirmed to me that all that matters is your vision and your tenacity to go and get it done! Actually Ian referred to my Minimalist Filmmaking post as something he especially related to.
The Viewer’s Experience
Ian is clearly an astute student of film. A graduate of film school and studying the art of story telling are clearly his weapons here. I think he would agree that film school isn’t necessarily necessary, but in any event, his focus on doing WHATEVER is necessary to tell his story in the most impact full way, and a CONSTANT mind on the viewer’s experience to ensure delivering his message in the strongest fashion, are the keys to his success and the success of this short film.
If you need some inspiration on what can be done with a go-getters attitude and are curious to the efforts that went into making this type of short a success – this interview is for you.
ARE YOU INSPIRED BY IAN’S ACHIEVEMENTS?
WANNA ASK HIM A QUESTION?
HIT US UP BELOW AND SHARE IF YOU ENJOYED!
This was such a great movie and I had so many questions. So glad to be able to see this in-depth interview.
Thanks!
Thank you Micah. I quite enjoyed hearing some of the details of how Ian pulled this off. One man crew and in 3 days!
Truly inspiring! I wanna go out and shoot something!
Eli – my thoughts exactly! Note that he does mention he spents a few months working with the characters – meeting with them and developing their backstories.
Enjoying this series, keep it coming – learning a lot!
Will Do!
nice to see someone going out and just doing it.
shows what you can do in three days.
Thanks for the interview, Aviv! Great work!
Everybody loves your film and are very greatfull to hear your input on the process of making it. Thanks for sharing!
Love the interview, it was really pleasant to watch
Ian- one thing I was wondering was about your decision to delay the payoff, even after the setup. What I mean is, once we know he’s going to become a turtle, I’d expect to see more of the transformation and sooner. But by delaying it and not showing or even really mentioning the actual word “turtle” much- you’ve hooked me into the emotional bond of the characters based purely on their relationship. That’s brave of you, since the “strange attractor”/hook/whatever you want to call it of the actual turtle transformation is far less common and one might think more interesting, but it really worked here so well to do it the way you did… was that a conscious move, were you tempted to bring in the transformation more overtly?
Great question. Like you said, I wanted the audience to focus on the characters’ relationship and the emotional impact of the story. Delaying the transformation forces you to think primarily about the characters while also providing suspense and curiosity for the viewer. It was a totally conscious move from the start. Doing it another way isn’t necessarily wrong, but just changes it into a different story.
Also I wanted to make a movie with no practical or visual FX. Mostly because (again) I just really wanted people to get invested in the story/characters. Also, doing any sort of FX is time consuming and expensive, haha!
Hopefully this answers your questions! Thanks!
Loved it. Interview was interesting! Thats so crazy a one man crew, dealing witha ctors and locations and whatever. Very nice!
Makes you wanna go out and make something right?!