Sweding

This post is explaining what a swede/sweding is, Show my swede and what i did to create it and lastly my evaluation of my swede.




The term "Sweded" comes from the 2008 movie Be Kind Rewind. The film is about a VHS rental store that has all the tapes erased. "Films that were erased and recreated are referred as being sweded. These remakes are unedited with only a single take per scene. The tapes are described as having come from Sweden as an excuse for higher rental fees and longer wait times" In responce to the movie many fans made viral Sweded videos. Here's an example
5 films i could swede the opening of.
- Fight club - Hot rod - Saving private ryan - Night watch - American pyhco

I first wanted to swede the film fight club, but after viewing the film Hot rod i decided that it would easier and funner for me to do that film instead.

Pitch

Hot rod is a simple minded comedy focusing on a failing stuntman and his attempt to gain the respect of his step father. My swede will be of the opening and a later scene because i because that i could replicate it very well while still keeping to the opening in the movie.

Hot rod (Plot)

Rod Kimble is a naïf, a slacker living in a small US town with his mom, his younger brother, and his stepfather whose respect he craves. He also misses his dead dad, whom he thinks was Evel Knievel's back-up. Rod, a man-child, believes that he is a stunt man. When his stepfather needs an operation, with help from his brother and his slacker pals, Rod hatches a plan to set a school-bus-jumping record on his moped. First, his crew and he have to raise money to rent the buses and build the ramp. Trouble is, Rod's inept at his chosen career. Looming failure is complicated by the return of Denise, Rod's next-door neighbor and secret heartthrob, who is home from college. Is public humiliation at hand?

I could make the opening more intresting by using really stupid takes that reference to the movie for example in the film the character Rod Kimble has a bike/moped so i could use a childrens bicycle. Also by linking different parts of the film to the opening i could make the opening more entertaining and funny.

1. Costumes
I am only going to use 3 characters, one of them wears a tight fitting polo shirt throughout the film so i decided that i would make my actor wear the same. The main character has a boiler suit with buttons on the front. i couldnt find a way of getting one but the buttons are a quite important piece in the opening of the movie so i found a button up jacket. The main character also has a few other pieces of costume that are important in the opening of the movie which i managed to make and get so they resembled to relavent props in the movie. They were a pair of converse shoes, a helmet, gloves, a cape and a fake mustashe.
2. Location and mise en scene
In the film's opening scene it is set on a road in a typical american street. I couldnt find anywhere that would look like it does in the movie so i filmed in a empty car park. ( they was also some safety risks with filming on a road). The mise en scene isnt very good in my swede. The films a comedy yet my swede has takes which in the distance you can see a graveyard. This wont help to put across a mood of comedy.
3. special effects
In the film the stuntman is sick after doing one of his stunts. i copyed this by making some porrige which in the filming looks very much like the sick in the film.
4. Props
They are quite a few props used in my swede. All the props mentioned in the costume post. for the main character aswell as a childrens bike. Some wood and a bench to make a ramp. A empty vodka bottle for the scene in the wood. A camcorder for one of the other characters and a few chairs.

Script
Edd - Did you secure the take off ramp?
Joel - No we didnt have time
Edd - ... Coool

Edd - Soul of an eagle

Jack - Oh S**t

Jack - How are you feeling?
Edd - I need to go to my quiet place.

Initial reflections; I found using the camera and tripod relatively easy. The cameras are easy to operate and on a normal tape can store a lot of video. The tripods are easy to set up and quite light so its easy to move them around. The problems with the equipment are




1: The battery on the camera can go quite quickly so i had to turn the camera often to save battery, this left me with not mainly takes.



2: It was tricky to pan with the camera on the tripod without the camera jumping around.

The software "Imovie" is very easy to use as well. It was quick to use and provided me with all the tools i needed.
From this task i have learnt a few things about filming making that i need take into consideration when i work on my main filming.

- The background sound can be a problem so i need to find a way to get around this. E.g using a boom mike.

- When filming my swede it was getting dark. If i am going to film in a semi dark environment i would need to find a way to get stop the film from looking gloomy. Unless this is what i want.

If this was my main production i would spend more time on the filming and take a larger variety of shots, Spend more time and effort and money on getting the perfect location and props. Instead of my makeshift reference to a cape.

In general from this task i have learnt that a few things are very important, Time planning and planning because this makes the whole filming, editing and evaluation run smoother.