SciFi on an iPhone

Intermission

Story: A space traveler becomes ‘lost baggage’ when he is teleported to the wrong planet. Can he find his way to the right one?

Status: MoMo Official Selection

We interviewed Jacob Givens about his ambitious and epic science fiction short film:

What is the story behind your film?

I had this short story idea about a character crashing their ship on an empty planet and looking up at the sky to see their final planetary destination was right above them. It was this science-fiction purgatory concept where paradise is just out of reach with no way to make contact… tragic but also a touch of dark comedy.

I knew that if our protagonist had no one to talk to but himself, we wouldn’t be able to show enough depth of character, so I included the A.I. voice built into the suit as a digital companion to allow for a growing relationship. I also was dealing with some personal family issues with my own father at the time, and I was looking for a creative outlet to channel my anger and emotions in a healthy way.

All of these things came together in my mind as I sat down to write “Intermission.”

What were the steps which led you to make it?

I wanted to make it into a short film for myself to act as the main character of Sorely, but immediately felt overwhelmed at the thought and potential cost of renting camera equipment, hiring a crew. Plus, how in the world was I going to make it look like a spaceship had crashed on a planet?!

The task was daunting but I felt compelled to keep moving forward one step at a time. As a writer and actor in Los Angeles, I’ve been involved on several projects that were directed/produced by someone else… but this entire short film would fall on my shoulders.

Knowing that I didn’t have the cinematography knowledge or access to high-end cameras, I started to wonder if my iPhone 8 Plus could do what I needed to tell this story.

Why did you choose a smartphone to film with.

Because it was already in my pocket. I had a powerful piece of equipment in my hands, but I needed to know how to use it. I started to research online, watched tutorial videos on Youtube, and saw how others were using camera gimbals, lens kits, apps and various tricks to make their projects look as professional as possible.

I also adjusted the story to make sure it was easier for me to film on an iPhone with zero budget. Instead of a crash landing, make the futuristic space travel technology about teleportation… and since filming on an iPhone in low light is problematic, change the planet to ‘tidally locked’ so that our protagonist is trapped in perpetual daylight.

What equipment did you use?

I used an iPhone 8 Plus and the FiLMiC Pro app, including the additional FiLMiC expansion pack for color, and I shot all of it in FLAT. For my mic, I had borrowed a handheld ZOOM recorder, but I didn’t have a proper boom pole or boom mic. I had an old shotgun microphone and I built this homemade boom contraption with PVC pipe and rubber bands holding the mic in a suspended way and then I found this fuzzy cloth wrap to place over the mic to help with wind–but it didn’t work well at all.

After we finished filming, a lot of the sound was just awful and compromised terribly by wind noise in the desert. I ended up having to use a lot of the iPhone audio (.. learned my lesson the hard way). I used the Zhiyun Smooth Q camera gimbal, but there were no other additional lenses on my iPhone. It was just the included camera by itself. I edited the project on a MacBook and Final Cut Pro X.

What was the worst thing you had to overcome?

Right after we finished filming, I made sure to back up the footage on 2 different hard drives, and I began editing the short. After about 3 weeks of work the project was around 70% complete, when I parked my car on a well lit street after work and a thief shattered my passenger window and the laptop and hard drive was stolen.

The police were unable to track down my laptop, so my work was gone. I was incredibly discouraged at the time, but I at least knew I had the back-up footage still safe on another hard drive at home. My good friend Jason Adams, who also helped me with the filming of Intermission, offered to loan me his MacBook to finish the project.

The only issue was he didn’t own Final Cut Pro X, and I was unable to get the previous license from the stolen machine, so I downloaded the Final Cut DEMO. With the demo, I was given 30 days to finish. Every time I opened up my computer to work on it, it would say how many days were left of the demo.

But thankfully, I hit export and finished the project just as the opening screen said, “You have 0 Days Left of your Final Cut Demo.”

How much did you know about filmmaking before you made this film?

I’ve lived in Los Angeles for nearly two decades and worked as a writer and an actor. I helped co-found a comedy production team called Good Cops Entertainment that developed our own short form content for the web and and eventually released a comedy horror feature film called “I Had A Bloody Good Time At House Harker” on Amazon Prime in 2017.

During my years with this group, I was the head writer and one of the main actors, but I was constantly exposed to the filmmaking process of lighting, cinematography, angles, sound, pacing, editing, etc. I just absorbed all that I could along the way and utilized what knowledge I had when creating ‘Intermission.’

What did you like about filming with a phone? What were the downsides, if any?

The iPhone allows me to just focus on the storytelling and performance and not get bogged down on the mechanics. I’m not saying I’m against high-end cameras if you have someone who knows how to use them, but for me I had something in my head that I wanted to film and the iPhone allows me to do that in the most efficient way possible. Disadvantages are sometimes not being able to see the shot clearly on the smaller screen in bright outdoor light and knowing how well each shot is focused.

Has making the film changed your life in any way?

This was a huge personal achievement for me and one of my proudest moments to complete something so ambitious on my own and with so many obstacles and setbacks. It has inspired me to create more short films and in fact one day I’d like to direct a feature film of my own. Intermission changed my life for the better in every way.

How successful was the film, personally and in gaining an audience for your work.

I put the film on YouTube because I just wanted to share it with the world as soon as possible. I never expected for it to get much attention since it was 24 minutes, but I hoped it would show my range as an actor, my ability as a storyteller and what I was capable of creating.

The response was far more positive than I imagined and even landed me several meetings with producers in L.A. who had seen and enjoyed the short. Since then, I’ve gained a very small following that I believe look forward to my upcoming projects! I’m incredibly grateful.

Looking back on the movie, is there anything you’d have done differently?

I would’ve made sure I had better sound equipment. Fixing bad audio in post is a nightmare and it pays to have the best possible recorded sound.

How important are film festivals that give these kind of films a platform for you?

These film festivals are incredibly important! It’s the only way our stories can be shared with so many other like minded filmmakers and creators. I’m thrilled to be a part of this film festival!

Watch the film on the big screen in Zurich: Mobile Motion Film Festival Programme

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