iSundae Bloopers Reel from Phantom Moose Films on Vimeo.

“He’s right, Somindeo…”

We did this scene on a stool, because Malfhok had to float down from the ceiling. I’m wearing a green box so that I can’t wave my arms around, and so we can key it out for the floating head effect. Well, it’s really hard to step off of a stool with a box that comes down to your knees! Needless to say, the box got the worst of it.

Clocks

This was one of the worst interruptions we had while filming iSundae. Normally, it’s perfectly lovely to have a clock that chimes every quarter hour. But when you are trying to finish a scene ASAP, a chime every fifteen minutes is quite annoying. We learned our lesson and ran the clock down before we started shooting iSundae II. My advice? Think carefully about what makes noise in a location before you decide to shoot there, and if you can, silence them.

Weather Conditions

Man! We had such a hard time on that day. The place where we were filming was right next to the road and right out in the open. Plus, as you can tell, that day was windy. So we shot in between cars going by and gusts of wind. However, it was fun to watch all the people in their cars turning to look at us while they went by.

Sword Belts

This was a recurring trouble. The belts were made of cardboard covered with fabric, so they tended to spring open a lot. For iSundae II, we used real belts.

The Garage Cave

Yes, we know. That scene was shot in a garage. Shocking, isn’t it? Now you know why we darkened the scene so much.

“Have you seen my DVD collection?”

This is what happens when you tell your actors to have a conversation, and then tell them that the audio won’t be used. Consequently, I’m the one with the remark about the DVDs.

Why Document?

Our first movie had barely any documentation. We took a grand total of, oh, probably 15 pictures, most of which were of things we did when not making the movie.

When we started iSundae, we decided to avoid making the same mistake twice and assigned documentation to somebody. So between movies, we went from 15 pictures to 579 photos and 140 movies. Once the movie production was finished, we all got plenty of laughs out of our documentation. Then we did iSundae II and took 1,259 photos, plus 278 movies.

So why document? Well, for one thing, you will catch all sorts of silly moments. If we hadn’t been documenting during iSundae II production, we would have missed all sorts of silly moments, such as wig adjustments, crazy dances, and shadow puppets.

Need a second reason? What happens when your friends ask how you made the movie, and you are struck with the idea of doing a “making of” video? Or if you decide to blog your movie? Documenting is essential to both.

How Should I Document?

I doubt that there is one right way to document a movie project. That said, this is how we do it.

We pick one person who has a small part in the film and make them the main documenter. It is their job to carry around a small digital camera and take photos and movies of everything. Basically, just tell them to take pictures of what’s going on.

When we’re on set, we put the camera somewhere within reach and point out where it is. If somebody wants to document, they are perfectly welcome to take a few pictures or movies.

Of course, as I indicated a little further up, all this documentation can come at the cost of embarrassment to yourself. If you’re like me, you end up being the subject of most of the silly photos. But the pros of documenting certainly outweigh that small con.

And I can’t show you goofy pictures of them without showing a picture of me.

So, based on the other crazy freeze-frames posts, which frame was your favorite?

Here’s your freeze-frames for this week. Have fun!

Fonsuger’s eyes:

Emcracy gapes:

Gwenanda decides to try:

Two lovely heroines:

The badguys’ solemn greeting:

Marelac must have been grouchy that day: