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Watch My Surrealist Short Film ‘Brother Sister’ – Shot RAW On The Blackmagic Cinema Camera (EF) & Posted In FCP X/DaVinci Resolve

A few months back I decided to make a short film called ‘Brother Sister’ that was loosely based around two characters that I wrote into a feature film of the same name. While there were many differences in story and style between the feature script and the short film that I eventually made, the short wasn’t ever intended to serve as a prequel or teaser for the feature, but rather an experimental platform to test a number of creative, technical, and stylistic elements. For example, I wanted to get our core cast on set together right away to develop chemistry between them, and to help me learn their language and habits. I also wanted to experiment with simultaneously directing and DP’ing (using the Blackmagic Cinema Camera, which I hadn’t used much before this shoot), and developing a RAW workflow for FCP X/DaVinci Resolve which I eventually used to edit and color the film. Overall, it was a fantastic experience and a great way to end off the year.

Since the film was completed in December, it has been submitted to a number of festivals and already screened here in Los Angeles. Although I am still waiting to hear back from the majority of the festivals that we submitted to, I’ve had a lot of readers of this site ask me to share the film after watching the teaser that I posted a couple of months ago, so I decided to go ahead and release the full cut online, as of today.

Why would I release my film online when I am trying to do a festival run, you ask? There are a number of reasons. First off, having a premiere status for a short film is not nearly as important as it is for a feature film, so there is little or no risk of closing any festival doors by showcasing the film at this stage. And secondly, this isn’t my first short – I’ve completed a few others and have found that the response and results that I’ve had from sharing them online has largely trumped any festival experience that I’ve had. The shorts that I make are often more experimental and the audience that wants to see that type of content is more easily able to find my work on sites like vimeo than at a local film festival. I still plan to screen it at festivals throughout the year, and am very much looking forward to doing so, but truthfully I am more excited to get to share it now with a larger, more engaged audience as well as the regular readers of this site.

Without further ado, here is the film:

Be sure to check back soon as I’ll have some updates on my next feature length narrative very soon.

About Author

Noam Kroll is an award-winning Los Angeles based filmmaker, and the founder of the boutique production house, Creative Rebellion. His work can be seen at international film festivals, on network television, and in various publications across the globe. Follow Noam on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook for more content like this!

9 Comments

  • Andre Baldwin
    at

    Great Job Noam!

    I really hope you are pushing to make this into a feature. Great job again! Phenomenal grading and acting. Which Lenses and filters did you use on this project?

    Reply
    • Thank you so much! I mainly used my Tokina 11-16 and Rokinon cinema lenses, with Tiffen ND filters. Appreciate the feedback!

      Reply
  • Great film Noam!
    A lot of work. It seems that your story, casting, directing and lighting it was absolutely very good!
    Where we can see some BTS pictures?

    The sound was amazing also.
    I just buy a SD MixPre-D, NTG3 (for exterior) and AT4053b (for interior). I also have some Tram lavs.
    Do you think that I can get any closer to your wonderfull sound?

    Thank you Noam!

    Reply
    • Thanks again Filmari. I will try to post some BTS shots here at some point soon.

      As for your audio – that setup sounds great. I actually didn’t record audio myself on this film, but I had a great sound recordist who brought in his own gear. As long as you carefully place your mics and make sure you are shooting in areas that don’t have lots of background noise, you should be all set.

      Reply
      • Thank you Noam.

        If you have time for BTS pictures it`s great.

        Thank you Noam!

        Reply
  • Will
    at

    Makes me proud to own a bmcc. Excellent display of ability. I would love this to be a feature great work again Noam.

    Reply
    • Many thanks Will – I am trying to develop it into a feature, so I will definitely keep you posted!

      Reply
  • Flaaandeeers
    at

    Looking good Noam! Loved the framing & grading. Nice performances also.

    Reply

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