235 Studios presents: FREEZE FRAME

[235 Studios]

View The Film Here (47MB)

Tag Line:
She'll make you wish you hadn't moved in.

Log Line:
Old and alone, Robin has become accustomed toher quite way of life. When Mark and his mother Katie move in next door the silence is shattered, bringing Robin to sort out the problem in her own special way.

The Cast:
ROBIN BEAUMONT: Jodi Altendorf
KATIE: Michele Duckett
MARK: Kevin Dahlgren
TONY: Cole Magnuson
THOMAS BEAUMONT: Dave Rianda
SUBURBAN WIFE: Kate Larsen
SUBURBAN HUSBAND: Shuhe
SUBURBAN DAUGHTER: Signe Larsen
SUBURBAN SON: Rafe Larsen
FRIEND 01: Eric Nguyen
FRIEND 02: Naomi Yoneyama
FRIEND 03: Brandi Walters
SIGN INSTALLER: Rachel Risor
MOVER 01: Dave Minamoto
MOVER 02: Nathan Will
JACKO: Max (Owner: Joyce Walters)

The Crew:
PRODUTION COMPANY: 235 Studios, LLC
DIRECTOR: Ryan Walters
WRITER: Rita Wheeler
COMPOSER: Justin Durban
DIRECTOR OF PHOTOGRAPHY: Ryan Walters
CAMERA OPERATOR: Jerry Turner
1st ASSISTANT CAMERA: Evin Carr
2nd ASSISTANT CAMERA: Chris Baumgardt
GAFFER: Patrick La Valley
EDITOR: Ryan Walters
SOUND / BOOM: Ryan Roberton
MAKE UP ARTIST: Robert Serrano
MAKE UP ARTIST: Jennifer Gill
SCRIPT SUPERVISOR: Nathaniel Martin-Long
SOUND DESIGN: Jerry Turner
VISUAL EFFECTS: Mark Johnson
CATERING: Brandi Walters
BTS PHOTOGRAPHY: Patrick La Valley

Bonus Material:
P2 Work Flow
Set Lighting Diagrams
HVX Scene File Settings
​

 

[235 Studios]

Freeze Frame Cast Pictures

Freeze Frame Cast Pictures

Freeze Frame Cast Pictures

Jodi Altendorf

Michele Duckett

Kevin Dahlgren

Cole Magnuson

Dave Rianda

Kate Larsen

Shuhe

Sign Larsen

 

[235 Studios]

Freeze Frame Cast Pictures

Freeze Frame Cast Pictures

Rafe Larsen

Eric Nguyen

Naomi Yoneyama

Brandi Walters

Rachel Risor

Dave Minamoto

Nathan Will

Max Walters (Owner: Joyce Walters)

 

[235 Studios]

Behind The Scenes

Behind The Scenes

Behind The Scenes Videos:
On The Set of Freeze Frame
Coiling With Patrick


Behind The Scenes Pictures:

 

[235 Studios]

The Camera

The Camera

The Camera:
We used the HVX equipped with the M2 35mm adapter and Nikon Lenses.

The lenses we used are as follows:
AF 14mm ED 2.8D
AF 24mm 2.8D
AF 28mm 2.8
AF 50mm 1.8
AF 85mm 1.8D
AF 100mm 2.8 Series E
AF-S 105mm ED 2.8 VR (Although available, we did not use this lens since it was stuck at f22 due to the electronic control of the aperture.)
AF 135mm 2.8Q

I was excited and interested to try out the 14mm lens and see if we could get it to work with the adapter- to my surprise it worked extremely well. You can see the frame grab below of the scene we shot with the 14mm lens. If you want to see the full 1080p image please right click and download from the link.

The M2 equipped with a 14mm lens:

1080p Frame Grab - 3MB ("Right Click - Save As" Please)

 

[235 Studios]

Questions & Lessons Learned

Questions & Lessons Learned

Why "Freeze Frame"?

When it was originally announced that this quarters contest was going to be a "SPY FEST" I wanted to make an effort to do something different from the rest of the entries. Two motivating factors went into this decision- first I had just done a "Spy-ish" film with my entry for the Drama Fest (SEMELE), so while I could do better with my next entry, I didn't want to just repeat making the same film. (Although I did think about making a SEMELE 2 ) The second reason is that I knew that there would be a huge submission of traditional spy entries, and I knew that I wasn't looking forward to watching the same movie over and over, so I assumed that most of the other DVXusers would not want to be watching the same movie over and over. With that in mind, I set out to find something different- a different spin on spying. It was on this search that i came across the script for FREEZE FRAME.

FREEZE FRAME takes a different approach on spying. One of the early posts / definitions that was given for spying was information gathering without someone’s permission / awareness. As you'll see from this film - Robin is definitely gathering information from others without their permission. I hope that you enjoy this film.

Why didn't you promote your film prior to entering?
One of the lessons that I walked away from the Drama Fest is that while creating buzz or hype around your film is great, and can be done- in the end it is the quality of the film that matters. If it is good enough, then that will generate the buzz needed - especially here at DVXuser. With my entry for Drama Fest, I realized that I spent more time promoting the film then I should have, and that the time would have been better spent pouring into the film and ensuring that it was as good as it possibly could be. So this time around I was not going to make that mistake.

Although I was questioned by some as to why I wasn't promoting my film like others, I think that the time spent developing the film instead of the hype made this submission that much better. I think if you compare SEMELE with FREEZE FRAME you will see a marked improvement. My goal with each production is to move forward in my abilities- and I know that my next entry will be that much better because of what I learned from this production. (However, I'm pretty sure I'll take the next festival off, as my wife has her summer off from her masters program- so I should spend that extra time with her. )

Lessons Learned
(To be updated as I think of things.)
1. If you can't write, don't write! (Or at least get some more practice before writting a script you plan on producing.)
As you can tell from the script for my drama fest enter, I am not the strongest writter. SEMELE was my first attempt at writting, and I think that it showed. While I love telling stories, I am definately not a strong with the written word. So this time around I knew I was not going to make that mistake. To ensure that I would not go down that path I did a search on the web, and came across Rita Wheeler on inktip.com. After reviewing many scripts from various authors on the site I settled on her script.
2. Lighting- If you don't have it, rent it- you'll need it.

I was thinking of the lessons we learned, and one that I thought of was to really give lighting some thought, especially when you're shooting with a 35mm adapter. Ryan rented me a 1200 watt HMI to use for our interiors, and it was a GODSEND. We were able to power it off of regular house power, and get the amount of light output that it would have taken 5 or 6kw's of tungsten to match. Plus, we were daylight balanced, which means no gels were needed. So, next time you go to budget for lighting, think seriously about renting lights like HMI's for certain scenes, they will save time and headaches, because you won't have so much head scratching on how you're going to get the exposure and look that you want. Having all of that light in one head also helps keep the heat down, since you're not using a bunch of lights, which in turn keeps the crew happy because they aren't all sweaty. Although I think Jodi was cold, and would have liked a bunch of lights. IIRC our main lights were the HMI, a Diva 400, and a 650 or 1kw fresnel, depending on the shot. The only thing I would have liked more, which would have doubled the cost of the HMI rental, would be a flicker free ballast.

3. Editing- Give yourself time and lots of it.
Something that helped me a lot on this project was the extended time I had to edit the short. Since I didn't have to spend the time writting a script, that gave me more time on the back end to edit the film. This helped me a lot, as I was able to edit the short, take a day off and then come back to it with fresh eyes. Sometimes you get so wrapped up in the edit that you loos track of the bigger picture. (At least I do, anyway.) So it was helpful to not be as pressured by a tight deadline, and be able to evaluate the edit properly. I still had to give myself a deadline, as the composer, sound designer, and VFX guys needed time to complete their end of the project, but at least I wasn't in as big of a rush as I have been in the past. I know that there are still tweaks that I could have made to tighten things up, but in the end you have to stop tweaking at some point and complete the film.

 

[PDX_DVX]

Hey Ryan,

Glad to see you got the film up! Thanks for coming out to our set to help out! Treat those stingers right kids! All the BTS material is cool to see.

 

[235 Studios]

Thanks Patrick- It was fun having you help out on this shoot, as well as coming out to your shoot. Best of luck to you.

 

[Ted Arabian]

Hey Ryan! Awesome to get to see more of your work! What a surprise.... I was wondering what happened to you!

Glad to see you online here!

-Ted

 

[235 Studios]

Thanks Ted, much appreciated. It has been fun to check in on your thread as well. Now that I have some more time, i can actually check out everyone's threads, and get to posting.

 

[Brandon Rice]

Wow Ryan!!! LOOKING FORWARD TO YOUR FILM! I love the BTS stuff, and you have a HUGE cast! Looks like a good sized production! Can't wait to see it man!

 

[Edgen]

holy smokes! I thought the old lady was actually... "Old". Wonderful make up! *slaps myself*

Good luck on the entry!

/j

 

[Brandon Rice]

Oh, and yeah, looking forward to another great Durban score

 

[Ted Arabian]

Thanks Ted, much appreciated. It has been fun to check in on your thread as well. Now that I have some more time, i can actually check out everyone's threads, and get to posting.

Cool man! You see I got some new gear, then! I am starting to get decked out like you! (though I kinda miss my ladders!)

I am still planning to visit Oregon this summer.... I'll let you know when we firm up the details. Right now we are thinking the 2nd /early 3rd week in July.

Later!

Ted

 

[235 Studios]

holy smokes! I thought the old lady was actually... "Old". Wonderful make up! *slaps myself*

Good luck on the entry!

/j

LOL! I'll let the makeup artist know. I was impressed with his work as well- he sure did make her look old.

When I was casting the part, I reviewed several head shots of people who were actually old, but none of them had the look I wanted. After seeing her head shots (Some of which she was dressed up as an old woman) I was sold, as she got the part. Thanks to the makeup department, she ended up looking the part.

 

[235 Studios]

Oh, and yeah, looking forward to another great Durban score

I always enjoy working with Justin- he does some amazing work. And I really appreciated his input on this one. When I began the production I though I had a clear vision on what I wanted for the score, then after the locked edit, I no longer had that same vision- so Justin was a great sport to put up with my general guidance ....

 

[Brandon Rice]

I always enjoy working with Justin- he does some amazing work. And I really appreciated his input on this one. When I began the production I though I had a clear vision on what I wanted for the score, then after the locked edit, I no longer had that same vision- so Justin was a great sport to put up with my general guidance ....

Yep, I agree 100%... Some people work well with a basic idea, and then run creatively with it... Justin is one of those people...

And Ryan, I've always loved your cinematography and lighting, so I'm really looking forward to seeing the visuals here!

 

[PDX_DVX]

Hey Ryan,

I was thinking of the lessons we learned, and one that I thought of was to really give lighting some thought, especially when you're shooting with a 35mm adapter. Ryan rented me a 1200 watt HMI to use for our interiors, and it was a GODSEND. We were able to power it off of regular house power, and get the amount of light output that it would have taken 5 or 6kw's of tungsten to match. Plus, we were daylight balanced, which means no gels were needed. So, next time you go to budget for lighting, think seriously about renting lights like HMI's for certain scenes, they will save time and headaches, because you won't have so much head scratching on how you're going to get the exposure and look that you want. Having all of that light in one head also helps keep the heat down, since you're not using a bunch of lights, which in turn keeps the crew happy because they aren't all sweaty. Although I think Jodi was cold, and would have liked a bunch of lights. IIRC our main lights were the HMI, a Diva 400, and a 650 or 1kw fresnel, depending on the shot. The only thing I would have liked more, which would have doubled the cost of the HMI rental, would be a flicker free ballast.

 

[235 Studios]

And Ryan, I've always loved your cinematography and lighting, so I'm really looking forward to seeing the visuals here!

Thanks much appreciated. I enjoyed this shoot, and I learned a lot from it. After spending a lot of time editing it, now as I look back there were a couple of shots that I would have added, adjusted, or changed. But, over all I like it and I know what I learned will just further the next production I work on.

I enjoyed working with Patrick, he was a great gaffer to work with.

 

[235 Studios]

Hey Ryan,

I was thinking of the lessons we learned, and one that I thought of was to really give lighting some thought, especially when you're shooting with a 35mm adapter. Ryan rented me a 1200 watt HMI to use for our interiors, and it was a GODSEND. We were able to power it off of regular house power, and get the amount of light output that it would have taken 5 or 6kw's of tungsten to match. Plus, we were daylight balanced, which means no gels were needed. So, next time you go to budget for lighting, think seriously about renting lights like HMI's for certain scenes, they will save time and headaches, because you won't have so much head scratching on how you're going to get the exposure and look that you want. Having all of that light in one head also helps keep the heat down, since you're not using a bunch of lights, which in turn keeps the crew happy because they aren't all sweaty. Although I think Jodi was cold, and would have liked a bunch of lights. IIRC our main lights were the HMI, a Diva 400, and a 650 or 1kw fresnel, depending on the shot. The only thing I would have liked more, which would have doubled the cost of the HMI rental, would be a flicker free ballast.

Great point, I've added it to the Lessons learned section, as well as the following note:
3. Editing- Give yourself time and lots of it.
Something that helped me a lot on this project was the extended time I had to edit the short. Since I didn't have to spend the time writting a script, that gave me more time on the back end to edit the film. This helped me a lot, as I was able to edit the short, take a day off and then come back to it with fresh eyes. Sometimes you get so wrapped up in the edit that you loos track of the bigger picture. (At least I do, anyway.) So it was helpful to not be as pressured by a tight deadline, and be able to evaluate the edit properly. I still had to give myself a deadline, as the composer, sound designer, and VFX guys needed time to complete their end of the project, but at least I wasn't in as big of a rush as I have been in the past. I know that there are still tweaks that I could have made to tighten things up, but in the end you have to stop tweaking at some point and complete the film.