I wrote the first draft of the script back in August 2017. It had lots of Mike, and some Dustin. I did a rewrite in November after learning Alex (who plays Mike) had limited availability for filming. This challenged me to find ways to fill the episode without the Mike Wheeler character. The rewrite lost Dustin and brought about the interaction between Karen and Billy, as well as the in-between world sequence. Also, the original script had a scene with Tiffany and Mike in the same room, but since that wasn’t an option, I changed it to a phone scene.

Through auditions in Santa Barbara I found Deborah Cristobal, Deborah Bertling, Van Riker, and Will Walker who played the news anchor, Karen, the payphone guy, and Billy.

Filming took a total of 7 sessions.

Session 1: Eleven in between world
Session 2: Eleven in janitor’s closet
Session 3: Karen and Billy
Session 4: News anchor
Session 5: Mike
Session 6: Tiffany
Session 7: Eleven on street + in-between world pickup shots

Production-wise this was one of the most demanding and challenging projects on the channel. I drove from Santa Barbara to LA during the Thomas Fire to get the phone shots of Alex, filmed in my sister’s kitchen. I could see flames just feet from the freeway during the drive. It started to rain while I was filming the payphone scene at SBCC. I struggled to keep my gear dry. The Thomas fire was raging in Santa Barbara the day I shot the scene between Karen and Billy. I remember unloading all my gear wearing an N95 mask, while ashes rained on the equipment. The power went out on during one of the in-between world shoots. Luckily, all I needed was a dark room and a single battery powered LED light.

Post was another challenge that seemed to never end. From trying to find 3D models of TV sets to making news graphics to trying to 3D track a blurry background to place the monster. This took a ton of time and is the main reason why I took 5.5 months in between video uploads on my channel.

Last, in hindsight, I wish I would have lit and color corrected most of the shots differently, but I’m not letting perfect be the enemy of good on this one. It’s done.

Here’s a few behind the scenes pics:

https://www.instagram.com/p/BfjbhAsBqtD/?taken-by=mikewingerfilms

https://www.instagram.com/p/BfzXwTchw_k/?taken-by=mikewingerfilms

The post Finally! Eleven, Years Later Episode 3 appeared first on MIKE WINGER.

I was honored to have a narrative short that I wrote, directed, filmed, and edited accepted into the Santa Barbara shorts category at SBIFF for the second year in a row.

It was beyond awesome to have my most ambitious project to date, The Red Flag, premiere at The Arlington Theater. I spent countless hours in post using After Effects and Element 3D to create several scenes featuring CGI elements and backgrounds. The film features several actors I’ve worked with in other Beachfront Comedy projects – Sean Jackson, Paul Canter, and Robert Byrne.

I also had the privilege of speaking on a panel along other Santa Barbara filmmakers.

I’ll have a more detailed post on production details of The Red Flag that will coincide with the YouTube release in a few weeks.  Also, I haven’t forgot about Eleven, Years Later Episode 3 … still slaving over it in post!

http://www.instagram.com/p/Be7ZPyJhf5L/?taken-by=mikewingerfilms

The post SBIFF 2018 appeared first on MIKE WINGER.

I didn’t have the story arc set when making the first episode. The “we could use a janitor” line wasn’t in the script, and was added while shooting.  Coincidentally I had a blue jumpsuit collecting dust in storage, along with other props. It was purchased for a different sketch and never used. Things sort of fell into place for the second episode when I was able to locate the trash can dolly used by the custodian at my workplace (where the episodes are filmed).

I’m enjoying reading all the YouTube comments, including a few accusing me of spoiling the Season 2 snowball dance. The “it happens in season 2” line delivered by Alex was a lucky guess. My episode was uploaded 8 months before the release of Season 2.

I’m hoping to crank out a few more installments and continue this strange love triangle with more ’90s references, special effects, and characters making predictions about future seasons of Stranger Things. I wrote a third episode and realized it was a bit too long so I broke it into two smaller episodes. I’m currently looking for an adult Dustin Henderson for episode 3, which probably won’t be an easy role to cast. If you’re a twenty something Dustin, contact me!

My goal is to get a third episode up in December, and a fourth by March. I also plan to release an original short film on the channel in February or March.  It’s about a superhero, and I spent more time on it than any other project. More details soon.

The post Eleven, Years Later and Stranger Things Season 2 appeared first on MIKE WINGER.

When I started working on the footage for Alien Quest: Return to Drendulon, a short I filmed in January 2017 about an alien arrival during the Trump presidency, I was overwhelmed by the all of the issues – gear visible in shots, popping sounds in audio, harsh lighting, changes in sunlight between shots, missing shots, lots of throw away takes, several out of focus shots, shots that had to be rotoscoped, etc.

To top things off, Saturday Night Live released their version of a Trump alien sketch as I was editing mine.  At this point I decided to abandon the project. I thought it would be a mediocre short and gave up, even though I invested my time and money into shot planning, picking out wardrobe, filming, buying props and costumes, etc.

As time went on I gradually appreciated the things that went right with the shoot: nice moving shots, costumes, acting, and I began to think of workarounds to solve the problems, and spent LOTS of time getting the short to the point where I could get excited about its release.

In the end I felt the worst thing I could do to the project is not finish it. I realized that if you’re not making mistakes on a shoot you either have a budget and a crew (I definitely don’t) or you’re not challenging yourself enough. I could have easily done an office sketch with a tripod and predictable lighting, but instead I lugged a ton of gear to a location filled with uncertainty. Here’s to breaking comfort zones.

Check out the short here:

The post Don’t Let Perfect be the Enemy of Good appeared first on MIKE WINGER.

Earlier this month my short comedy film, The Financial Teller, was screened at the 32nd Annual Santa Barbara International Film Festival. As I mentioned in a previous post, the film cost approximately $100 to make (not counting the gear I own), and I did not have a crew.  I try not to exceed $100 for any project on my channel simply because I love producing content and I’d go broke if I spent more. Most of the money for each video goes toward props.

I’m proof that one person with a camera, a mic, a few bucks for props can have their film screened at a festival that features appearances from Denzel Washington, Ryan Gosling, and Emma Stone.

Here are some lessons I’ve learned over the years that helped with my festival acceptance.

Lesson #1: Don’t expect your first short to get into a festival, and don’t get discouraged if it doesn’t

The Financial Teller was my third film festival attempt. Looking back I can understand why my first two attempts failed (bad sound, noncinematic feel, subpar lighting). After my submissions were denied, I took it to heart and put my camera on the shelf for a few years. Big mistake! When I finally started making shorts again, I completed 21 small projects for my YouTube channel before taking another shot at a festival submission. By the time I submitted again, I had 21 videos under my belt, and learned from making lots of mistakes along the way.

Lesson #2: The shorter, the better (for shorts)

When you submit to a festival you’re competing for time. A festival will usually reserve 1.5 – 2 hours for a series of shorts. What I’ve heard from festivals is that, all things being equal, a 5 minute short has a better chance of getting selected than a 10 minute short. My short runs about 4 minutes.

Lesson #3: Go local!

If you’re new filmmaker like myself, your best bet is to check if a festival in your town has a local category. In this category, you’re competing for festival time with people in your geographic region instead of competing with the entire world. This is the route with I took with my film. It would have been tough for my solo project to compete for time with nonlocal shorts, which seemed have decent funding, sporting credits with RED Cameras, big-name actors, large crews, and fancy production company logos.

Lesson #4: You don’t need the best gear in the world

My film was shot on a Canon C100 ($2500), a Sigma 30mm ART lens ($500) and a Rode NTG3 mic ($699).  You could get these three items used for $3000, and once you master them, the sky’s the limit.

Lesson #5: Craigslist is your friend

When I moved to Santa Barbara four years ago, I knew no actors. In July of 2015, I wrote a simple comedy sketch that I wanted to film. I posted an ad on the talent section of Craigslist and that’s how I met Robert Byrne, the lead in my festival film. Our sketch didn’t receive very many views on YouTube but we had fun making it and became friends in the process. After posting the sketch on YouTube, I had something to show other talent in the area and word got around that I was interested in producing more videos, which attracted other talent for future projects. We filmed The Financial Teller approximately a year after our first sketch.

Lesson #6: Save money for DCP Conversion

Chances are you’ll need your film converted to DCP (Digital Cinema Package) to be screened at a festival. While it’s possible to do this yourself, it’s not recommended. This is a cost new filmmakers probably don’t consider when submitting to a festival. I handed off a ProRes 422 file to a local post-production house, and they converted my movie for about $200 (twice the budget of the film).

Lessons Learned from SBIFF

Something you may have heard before is “If you have a great story, production value doesn’t matter.” While this may be true to some extent, the reverse seems to work as well – If you have great production value, your story doesn’t have to be top notch. The latter is more common than the former. I was blown away by the production value of many of the comedic, dramatic, and live action shorts. I can’t say that I saw a film at the festival with so-so production value and a phenomenal story. In most cases, both were strong, or the story was so-so and the production value was strong.

Going forward, after writing a project I’m passionate about, I’m going to spend more time on perfecting lighting, set design, and not try to rush against some imaginary clock in my head when I’m filming. My 2017 goal is to film a longer short (7 – 15 minutes) and compete in a nonlocal category at a major film festival. I’ll be happy if the progress I make this year matches the progress I made last year. For comparison here’s a July 2015 project vs. a July 2016 project. What will July 2017 bring?

The post How I Got My $100 Film into a Major Film Festival appeared first on MIKE WINGER.

The festival treated their filmmakers like royalty. I received two platinum passes, which granted myself and a guest priority access to every movie and event. I attended the opening gala, two studio parties, several happy hours, the awards breakfast, and about 10 films. I was able to see Denzel Washington, Emma Stone, and Ryan Gosling interviewed at the Arlington.

All this happened because of my decision to pursue my passion of comedy writing/directing through starting a YouTube channel in June of 2015. The channel has helped me hone my skill set and make great connections with other creative people.

Robert Byrne and I about to watch The Financial Teller and other Santa Barbara shorts.

I made The Financial Teller specifically with SBIFF in mind, approximately one year after starting uploading my first video to the channel. I was beyond thrilled when I received an acceptance letter, my first ever for a film festival. The film cost approximately $100 to make (not counting all the gear I own) and it was done with no crew. I used a C-stand to hold up the boom in most shots. I filmed in my boss’ office, SBCC, the backyard and living room of one of the actors, and downtown on State St. I spent many hours editing. I remember working all night on the 4th of July on one special effect (you’ll know it when you see it).

Now that the festival is over, I’m thinking about ways I can grow and challenge myself in 2017. For festivals, I would like to make a longer short and put a greater emphasis on character development. For YouTube, I’d like to explore ways I can use Element 3D to enhance a story with comedic visual effects, along the lines of my Stranger Things Parody.

The post SBIFF 2017 appeared first on MIKE WINGER.

The Location
The main scene was shot at the Santa Barbara Courthouse Sunken Gardens. I settled on this location after spending a half day scouting for a decent set of bleachers (similar to the set of season 2) with no luck. My plan was to shoot on the main steps. I should have known better. There were tons of tourists and I was too lazy to walk across the street to Fedex and print out a fake film permit.

Can’t these people see I’m trying to make a Mr. Robot parody for my YouTube channel. Garsh!

The Plan B location choice turned out to work well, maybe even better than the first choice. At first I wasn’t too crazy about the palm trees, and was considering removing the background in post. I ended up leaving them in since it is Beachfront Comedy…

Ungraded shot

The Music
I stumbled upon a Reddit AMA of Mac Quayle (Mr. Robot’s composer) where someone asked him what his favorite software synths are. He listed Zebra, Blue 2, Bazille, Omnisphere, and Predator. I figured why not download a demo of a few and boot up Ableton Live. I ended up fiddling with presets from Predator and now I’m pretty sure I’m a legit film score composer.

Add some reverb to the kick drum? Sure why not.

The Gear
Camera – Canon C100 with Canon 17-55 2.8 lens and Atamos Ninja Star (for ProRes 422 capture).
Audio – Rode NTG3 inside of a Rode Blimp on top of a poor man’s steadycam. I attached an Zoom H5 with some rubber bands. This allowed me to plant the mic down, walk away, and be a bit more discreet than using a c-stand or asking someone to hold a boom. Also kept the crew count down to one.
Stabilizer – Ronin-M was used for walking/running shots.

The Wardrobe
When it comes to wardrobe, Ross is hands down the best place to find a black hoodie for your actress/model friend for under $15.

Score! Thanks Ross.

The Run
Some commenters on YouTube and Reddit are giving Hayley crap for not being an Olympic sprinter, but in her defense I ended up using the very first take of her run since I screwed up the focus of the following takes. Also she was ill that day, but as you can see, always a trooper.

I spent all my money on the Ronin-M, which means the actors get bread and water.

All in all this project was a blast and I’m stoked with the result even though it went over my $20 budget. Can’t wait to do another piece with Paul Canter and Hayley O’Connor.

The post Production Notes – fcinematography appeared first on MIKE WINGER.

I’m stoked about the positive responsive that Production Value received. There’s a chance it may even appear on a TV show. I’ll post a separate blog entry with details if it happens.

If all goes according to plan, I’ll have three shorts up in August as well, starting with The Angry Goth Girl in Santa Barbara, where Hayley O’Connor plays a goth girl named Dara who struggles to fit in a ritzy, self-absorbed beach town. This short features a theme song written and sung by yours truly. I’m hoping to create additional episodes featuring Dara, and make her the first recurring character on the channel. It would be a shame to only use a theme song only once.

Aside from YouTube shorts, I’m editing another project, The Financial Teller with the goal of submitting to SBIFF sometime this month. It would be a thrill to get accepted. I have no idea how competitive the local shorts category is.

The post Update on Projects appeared first on MIKE WINGER.

The mic used during the shoot (Rode NTG2) was defective, and produced an odd sound effect, making the audio unusable. I sent the mic into Rode and even they are perplexed by the issue. In addition, the audio contained tons background noise from street traffic. Luckily I can use dirty audio from the NTG2 as a guide for actors to sync to.

Another related challenge is that since I used a Ronin-M with handleless Canon C100, I didn’t get any audio directly into the camera, which means I have to line up the dirty audio based on lip movement. Yikes!!

I had the actors come into a studio to record ADR. After the session I realized things didn’t sound quite right. I should have had them do ADR outside instead of the studio (since all the scenes take place outside). Hopefully they’ll all agree to re-do ADR with my newly purchased NTG3.

Despite all this I feel really good about the project and can’t wait to premiere it on the channel on 6/26/16. I optimistic the writing and acting can withstand these minor technical glitches.

Update: I decided push back the release date of the new short to 7/2/16 and release a Blooper Reel first.

Lessons learned for future shoots

Next time I will:

• Thoroughly test gear before a shoot and not use any equipment I have doubts about.
• Take the time to ensure the mic is as close to the subject in every shot, pointed at the right angle to ensure maximum dialog level and minimum background noise.
• Use my newly purchased NTG3 instead of an NTG2.
• Do ADR outside for outdoor shots, and inside for indoor shots.
• Get a cheap, powered lav to put on the C100 when it’s on the Ronin to capture dirty audio directly to the camera.

The post Production Challenges: ADR appeared first on MIKE WINGER.

Both projects feature an actress new to Beachfront Comedy, Katherine Bottoms, who is a dream to work with. Both of her performances blew me away, and I’m so grateful to work with talent of her caliber.

Katherine Bottoms is amazing.

It’s been almost one year since I revived my passion for writing, directing, and editing comedy videos. When I started the channel, I knew no actors in town that wanted to collaborate. Three awesome friends from yoga class volunteered to be in the first sketch on the channel.

Now I’m getting to the point where I can take the visions in my head, which seem to be getting more elaborate, and make them come alive with top talent in a matter of days.

This has been, by far, the most productive year of my life. For the first time ever I feel like my passion could eventually turn into to a career.

The post BIG things coming in June 2016 appeared first on MIKE WINGER.