Battle Royale
Back in September of 2020, I shot an action comedy based on trending FPS shooter’s like Call of Duty and the “Battle Royale” style of gaming. The script was collaboratively written by Steve Coen, Ed, and myself as a sort of simple sketch idea that quickly snowballed into a long, complex production. Was it worth it? Only time will tell!
I was the sole person to shoot, manage audio, cinematography, and now edit the entire film. We shot all action over 3 days in several outdoor locations and interiors over 2 days using sets at Kings Park Studios including green screen. There’s been numerous hurdles, but working little bits at a time has helped keep my sanity.
Currently, I’m well over a terabyte of footage, comps, assets, and project files. I was reluctant to even touch the footage for almost 2 years, knowing what a tremendous amount of time and energy it would require to prep, let alone start cutting together. The countless special effects needed to be animated, rotoscoped, and composited are still daunting but the progress so far is promising. In my experience, I need to finish visual effects first in order to properly sit down with the rest of the team and start editing. This way we can all better visualize pacing and overall narrative. Most everyone on this project has no experience in filmmaking other than the stunt crew and myself, so it’s vital that we’re all on the same page moving forward.
I’m getting close to wrapping up effects so we can start cutting in the interior performances. From there, I’ll go back through the timeline to color grade and tweak sound. Hoping to finish shooting sometime in July/August and be totally wrapped by October. Most important… is that we all have fun during the process!
For a nice mix of practical effects, my friend Ashley helped make an electric actuator switch to remotely open 3 valves hooked up to an 11 gallon compressed air tank. These valves can be positioned throughout a shot to simulate bullet hits by releasing a burst of dirt and baby powder, a technique I first used 15 years ago on my first war film I shot in High school.