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We used a Sony A6300 with a 35mm Cine Samyang Lens.

Thanks! I don't know where I'm going with this project, but I know I want to strive for that feeling exactly. Stay tuned, I'm going to be shooting all summer and hopefully, I'll have something short and sweet by Septmeber!

@@KovacIndustries I mean it doesn't really have to go anywhere if you ask me. It's nice making something purely subconscious and aesthetic once in a while. Looking forward to it!

We used a RODE NTG2 microphone with a ZOOM H5.

Thanks so much man!

Awww thanks Bri. Miss you!

Building characters is typically the hardest part of the entire writing process for me. I'm actually trying to lock down some characters for a new short I'm writing. But it's difficult because I try to make them as real as possible (doesn't always happen but 'm learning). I hate going into an idea/story where I know the plot but not the characters. That doesn't help me at all. The way I love to write is this: Find, develop, and listen to the characters. Place them in a world. Watch what they do and how they interact with others. It's a bizarre thing, I know when I started out that didn't make any sense to me, but if you try it a few times, you'll understand. I don't typically have rule set or archetype that I have to have, but I am a person, and I'm usually writing from some sort of experience, so if there's commonality between characters from my other films, that's why. Hopefully that helps!

@@KovacIndustries I have the same problem as you, its dificult to write characters 😅. But thank's. It's seem to me that you have an active imagination, that is very good. I will do as you say, find them, tweak them but set them free on my mind. I'm waiting for your feature film.

This was something I thought about exploring, but I wanted this moment to be intimate with the protagonist and I wanted it to feel a little surreal due to the "who's in the trunk, really?". I felt that cutting away from the lead, to the supporting character would take the audience out of that emotion that I was trying to convey, but I absolutely hear/understand your critique... I just don't agree ;)

Sure thing Deja. So, for lighting we used a lot of practical lighting from the actual structure of the drive-in diner. Then we bounced them with a 5-in-1 bounce. The only light we used on set was a Godox sl 150wii and we used it as a backlight for most of the shoot. For audio we used a ZOOM H5 audio recorder, single microphone: RODE NTG2 condenser microphone. We used this same set up when doing foly work. Hopefully that answers your questions!

@@KovacIndustries thank you that’s incredibly helpful!!

@@KovacIndustries sorry this is 2 years late, but what camera gear did you use?

@@ThereAreNoGoodHandles we used a SONY A6300 with a 35mm Samyang lens.

Thank you Ajinkya! I put a lot of hard work into this short film so I'm very happy you enjoyed it so much. As for your question about dialogue/script here's what we did. I wrote a full 5 page script for these two non-actors, sat down with them and talked about their characters for a week or two, we followed that up with a table read. Then once we got on location, I carried the script around in my back pocket, we'd read through it once, but after that I gave them the direction and they said whatever felt natural. I tried my best to give them the outline, the true meaning behind the scene. They had some difficulty memorizing lines so I just let them loose. Most of the best lines and jokes aren't in the script at all, it was all improv. You might be asking how we got the transitions from locations and shots to flow so well with something as inconstant and loose as improv. Well, we did many reshoots and during those reshoots I was already editing, so I knew which shot would come after the other. I no longer carried the script around and instead just a few notecards with key-lines that needed to be spoken in order to transition smoothly. THAT was how we got it to feel natural whenever we were cutting or transitioning to the next scene. I've never worked like this before in the past. With my other films like 'Schism' and 'Distant' we 100% stuck to the script and I encouraged 0 improv. But after this experience on 'Good Years Gone' I don't know that I ever want to go back to the old way haha. Hopefully that answers your questions!

@@KovacIndustries • Wow! That's really interesting! I asked that question particularly because exactly what you said, it's how you transition from one scene to the next. And also when I am directing, one of the fears is, I don't want to go too far from the emotional core of the scene and loose sight of the theme in the process of improv. Editing it simultaneously while reshooting the scene as you did on this project and keeping notecards with you really seem like great ideas. This is a wonderful film and thank you so much for this insight into the process and these great tips/advice. I think it's time I should also try this method now hahaha. Lol. 😁 Cheers man! ✌️

As long as your characters motivations reflect the theme in some way AND your actors know what those motivations are, you'll be solid! But I hope you don't think we achieved it in one take haha, no it took us at least 10 - 15 takes for EACH scene (you can watch all the outtakes in the Behind The Scenes video). If you end up using this technique on a short film, send it over I'd love to watch it!

@@KovacIndustries Gotcha!👌 Absolutely! I'll definitely send it to you.. 👍 Thanks once again man! 😊✌️

Nope, this was shot on a Sony a6300. But that was before I knew what I was doing

@@KovacIndustries That's hella impressive and inspiring!

Haha thanks! It’s was for a school project and I ended up getting really into it. Found a real kitchen to shoot at, got a little crew together. But I never cared to learn how pies are actually made lol

Both James and Brian did a fantastic job and were a pleasure to work with. To answer your question, they're the same actor... but are they the same character? That's up to you.

We used a Sony a6300 for the shoot with a Samyang 35 mm cine-lens. It’s an older Sony camera, so it’s much cheaper now than what I paid for it back when it was new!