“Not With A Bang” An Uchujin Films Short

I am proud to present my latest short film “Not With A Bang” (Title stolen from T.S.Elliot because I have delusions of grandeur) the result of months of work and what amounts to a final parting shot to Japan.
I advise watching it full screen on a reasonable sized monitor or it won’t make a lot of sense and you’ll miss most of it.

I’ve had the general idea for this kicking around for ages but it was only after a conversation with my good friend Sean Lotman a few months ago that the idea finally crystallized into something I thought I could attempt.
I knew roughly how to realize it but I also knew it would involve a LOT of work and the learning of some new software (Mocha for all the motion tracking) and getting much better at compositing in After Effects.
I had no idea when I started just how long it would take!

Motion tracking 30 signs into one shot and compositing them so they look like they are part of the scene and not just tacked on is a laborious process for very little pay off in some cases but I knew if I was going to do this I had to do it to as well as I possibly could.
Cue days of watching tutorials, trying things, refining them and frame by frame motion tracking. Rinse and repeat and repeat and repeat…….
In total it has taken more than 2 months of work…..for 3 minutes of film!

The end result isn’t technically perfect but…..in my humble opinion it’s pretty damn good. I doubt if anyone other than other motion graphics and composting people will even see most of the imperfections.
I have a new respect for the guys & girls that do it full time for a living because it makes your brain hurt and some parts of it are really fucking tedious!

That said it was a really interesting learning experience and a great way to improve my skills and for that reason alone it was worth all the time.

For the record all the statistics are from reliable sources.

Big thanks and respect to my sometimes collaborator and good friend Sean Bonner under his new alias //delay(5000); for making the music that adds an extra level to the soundscape.

Thanks also to the mystery girl (you know who you are:) who I filmed for the people disappearing shot.

In the words of Michael Stipe “I know that this is vitriol, no solution, spleen-venting, but I feel better having screamed , don’t you?

I would be very interested to know what you think so please leave a comment!

Tech details-

Shot on a Sony A7Sii w/ Sony 28-70mm

Varavon Birdy Cam gimbal used for some shots (Thanks to Matt Allard for the loan)

Motion tracking in Mocha

Compositing in After Effects

Edit in Premiere Pro

Audio tweaking in Audition

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