Here is a brief little look behind the scenes on my short film 'Stripped'. It was made back in 2006 and has since been viewed well over 8 million times online.
Ashlie Walker
The main challenge in the film was finding a clever way of switching from the girl above (Ashlie Walker), to the bloke below (Brian Holdom).
Brian Holdom
This is the actor Brian Holdom who I discovered on the Shooting People website. Ashlie Walker responded to a casting call I put on the UK Screen website.
Bits and pieces of prosthetics used in the film.
This is 'the body shop', where I made all my head and hand casts and prosthetic pieces for the film.
I found it tricky to find a suitable SFX make-up artist with the right skills to work on the film, so in the end I decided to just do it myself. I'm never shy of getting my hands covered in muck.
A test cast of my own face, with some arty lighting.
In preparation for the film I cast my own face in plaster, which was pretty tricky since I couldn't actually see what I was doing or breath.
Storyboard shots mixed with prep photos so shots could be closely composed before the shoot.
I storyboarded the entire film before hand. Fortunately I had access to the location before the shot so I was able to go around with a video camera and work out the exact angle of the camera for each of the shots.
Filming with the Sony Z1.
I shot the film on HDV, making the 'film' technically a video. I used the Sony Z1 which I borrowed from a mate. Cheers mate.
Mark and Ashlie against the improvised chroma back drop.
Alot of the SFX magic was done with the help of chroma screens, which in this case was just a piece of green fabric I bought in the high-street. It would have been nice to use a proper chroma key screen, but I think I just about got away with it.
My crappy Gibson Ephiphone guitar, which can't stay in tune for more then 30 seconds.
The music used in the film, a track I jokingly called 'Who's Inside My Baby' also seems to have proved quite popular with viewers.
That was another happy accident. I recorded it as a quick temp track, very crudely with no fancy instruments or recording equipment. The idea was that I would find a proper composer and get something made especially for it. But I grew to quite like it, so it stayed.
The film has been the No.1 Comedy Film on AtomFilms website, No.3 on Google Video. Won 1st Place at the Sefton Film Festival and has been screened at the London Film Festical and Raindance, as well as numerous other screenings around the globe.