From Storyboard to Screen Part 4
Here it is! The moment all three of you have been waiting for…my final ‘From Storyboard to Screen’ blog post for my experimental short film ‘Smile: It’s Only the End of the World’. If you just want to scroll through the images, go right ahead. If you’re here for the release date of the film, go right to the bottom. And if you’re here for well-written prose smash that X button because you’re not going to find that here!
The alternate title for this post should be circles, circles, more circles, and guy who got stabbed. It’s no surprise circles are a motif in the movie. I think this might be the 400th time I mentioned that. I am not going to dig too deep into it anymore, but I’ll briefly talk about each shot.
This one was interesting because we had limited ceiling space. What we ended up doing was rigging up a camera on a C-Stand. Then we used a ladder to actually take the photos. This was a lot of trial and error because we couldn’t see what was in focus. Luckily, we got the shot on the second or third try. We had to flip the seating arrangement based on the space as well having Zara and Benjamin at the 9 and 3 position (clock reference). Another fun fact about this one is we had two of our actors drop out the morning of the shoot. So, I have a little director cameo (very bottom of the screen) and our amazing Costume Designer, Cherie Howard, also filled in and is seated right next to me.
This is the incredible Seth O’Shea who played Benjamin Cohle. Seth and I played hockey back in the day (I’m talking like 15 years ago). Since then, Seth has been working on various projects in Toronto and Vancouver. We met in 2019 over some drinks around Christmas and I told Seth I had been working on this script and I had a perfect role for him. Without hesitation, he said he was in, and the rest is history. I had a lot of fun working with Seth and we are truly lucky to have him part of our Cast.
This shot was fun to create. We actually shot two versions of it. One where the ‘Foster Dad’ (played by Trevor Goupil) is unconscious and the other where he winces in pain after being stabbed. Ultimately, I chose this wincing shot because I think it works better with what Zara is saying in her Voice Over Dialogue.
As you can see in the storyboard the scanner shot was supposed to be 3/4 shots. But when we got to the location we couldn’t rig anything to combine the ‘Employee of the Month’ photo and scanner for different variations. So, it ended up being two shots. Which at the end of the day I think it might actually work better. You can see Zara (played by Kaeley Jade Wiebe) on the scanner a lot better than if it were a wide shot. And you get the point of what is happening in fewer shots which is always a plus. Shoutout to Powerplay Sports in Edmonton for their Employee of the Month plaque they designed. They probably thought I was weird for asking for a circular mirror but hey, what’s the point of a motif if they aren’t all over the place?
And that, my friends, is what we call a wrap on the ‘From Storyboard to Screen’ blog posts. Sure, I can share more. But I don’t want to overstay my welcome. And you don’t want to see any more of my poorly drawn stick figures. I hope you enjoyed these posts as much as I did writing them. This is a film that has a lot going on and more than meets the eye, so I hope it gave you some insight into why certain choices were made and even gave you a better understanding of the movie itself. If you haven’t seen it or want to watch it again, that time is coming soon.
In fact, it’s coming Saturday May 21, 2022. I couldn’t think of a better way to spend the May Long Weekend than watching a 30-minute experimental, art house sci fi made up entirely of still images! I am so excited to finally release Smile to the world! Stay tuned and until then, adios amigos!