Thanks for making these! Shorts are such an underrated medium. It opens you to a whole new audience, and serves as a valuable learning tool for the director to experiment. Maybe these will convince other directors to use it more :)
People watch movies and think they know the full story, but the greatest story lies behind the picture. That’s always the case for ponysmasher’s productions, and I love them!!!
I've been a fan since the Lights Out short was released and it essentially introduced me to the world of RU-vid horror shorts and I just have to say: you've easily become one of my favorite RU-vidrs/directors. The fact that you still come on here and do shorts, give advice to aspiring directors, all while being "in the business" now... a lot of respect for you, Mr. Sandberg.
I know, right! I didn't think horror shorts could work so well until I discovered David's and tried to make my own after seeing that it can actually be quite entertaining :)
I truly agree with you, he's my daily inspiration on making film, he's the reason why I wrote and directed my first short horror.... ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-a4x28asMWxg.html
i was literally just watching the making of Shadowed and thinking "can't wait for the making of Not Alone in Here"... _shows up in recommended_ _uploaded 6 minutes ago_ nice
Dude!...You and Lotta HAVE to start a Podcast! It would be so interesting to see you two dive deep into your process and ideas of your short films, features and other films in general. 🔥💯
Film Riot has a few interviews with David, here are the links; ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-Eql9VLm0n3A.html and ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-RR-QVyxP2L4.html
I love the thought that goes into these shorts. I have a question though, does the DGA care if you still shoot independent shorts for RU-vid? Are there rules about that stuff? Love your channel.
Why would there be? Shooting a Hollywood film is just another contract for a project. You can do whatever you want in your own time. We do live in a democracy
@The Filmmaking Channel Well with rules like "don't you dare even literally touch the camera", it's hard to be sure what else might be asinine as well. And contracts have various conditions, I knew a musician who was basically forced to quit YT and delete all his uploaded work because the contract demanded him to do the music ONLY with the publisher. And I'm not even starting on the "everything you do while you're employed is our property, yes even if you did it on your own, in the free time after work, for your own pet project" bullshit that's also pretty common. And while all you can do is either accept the terms or turn around and leave, democracy it isn't.
Your shorts are always so beautifully made ♡ Some of them are just so terrifying yet I can’t seem to look away 😬 Also yasss I love the dr who reference!!! That episode by Peter Capaldi was one of my favs!
Thanks for this! I love your videos because you not only teach about filmmaking but you also give me so much motivation to go out and do something creative.
Bro we used to watch lights out in my highschool, we would put our coats over us and watch from our smartphones. It is interesting that you talk about it like no biggie, but it reached to us, other side of the globe(Turkey).
About voice over: I think that most of all it adds personal identification and intimacy with the protagonist. Yes, some images speak for themselves in terms of understanding what's happening: Yes she closed the doors and now they are open, but the point of view of the spectator is more objective, separated from the protagonist. Voice over changed that, accelerated, boosted the process of identification at the range of seconds or less. More over, the title is supposed to have two meanings: "Not alone in here" where "here" is the house and (spoiler alert) her own body at the end. With the voice over I think it adds one more meaning: she is not alone because we are listening to her thoughts, also! Loved the short. Huge love and kisses from Argentina.
This was a great BTS of a great short. I have a been a huge fan for years now, way before Lights Out the full feature, and have appreciated all that you do to put together your films and make them come to life. I actually shot my wife and I one night our power was out and when I discovered your work it just reminded me that you don't need an expensive rig or a huge crew, just a good idea and a couple of actors, or just you and your wife and a camera. Thank you for all that you have done and continue to do for film making and I look forward to seeing what the future has in store for you. Btw, if you would like to check out our film, it's called Blackout and you can find it here. It was a long time ago and put together with short notice (about an hour), but it was fun and I would love your honest feedback. ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-mFEiMx87kak.html
Everytime I'm really unmotivated to film something because I can not figure out what my film should be about I just need to have a look on your films. Love the simple approach you take and the final result even more! Lotta is also doing really well as an actress. Hope I can enjoy watching her in upcoming cinema movies again. David you might be the first example for a YT Filmmaker who proves that this generation has chances in Hollywood. Must be a great feeling, you deserve it!
I’ve decided that when my would-be novel series be adapted to film, I’d want no one else to direct it but David. Lotte would have to be in it, of course (spoilers- she wouldn’t die from a monster attack). And knowing that Benjamin Wallfisch has composed all of his films thus far... I’d be more than okay about that.
Thank you!! It's been driving me nuts trying to figure out why I was getting that 'multiple image' in the motion blur...it's the LED lights I had in my back yard!
To be fair, a good tripod is often cheaper than a gimbal these days. Especially those DSLR sized gimbals are pretty affordable. I see why they get overused so much. haah
All I'm saying is, Lotta's characters always live in some level of haunted or demonized apartment/house, clearly this woman is making weird real estate choices.
Paused at 5:21 to see what books about filmmaking you have! Maybe you can make a video about your recommended books? :) Thanks for the awesome content!
Btw I REALLY liked the use of voiceover in the short. You pulled it off well. I think voiceover can be bad but only if used instead of showing. It was done well here. Reminds me of The Pursuit of Happyness where the voiceover was done well in my opinion.
It was honestly pretty necessary for parts of this video to work (mostly the ending), and really would have been jarring had it just shown up in those. It also, at least for me, gave a sense of hopefulness that his other videos just don't have. Even though Lotta's characters aren't explicitly shown dying at the end of Cam Closer or Lights Out, that's a pretty obvious implication. Here, she's narrating, so it seems like she might still be alive...which she is. Technically.
Voiceovers are often badly done which gives them a bad name - they are not inherently bad. It requires a combination of good writing and an actor that can deliver it well. The VO in this short was well done, and appropriate. Lotta is also a very capable actress, and she always delivers a solid performance. Case closed... :)
I really hate how directors have to explain their reasons for doing things in their film because the casual viewer doesn’t think it’s a good idea or they would have done it better. Then go direct a movie yourself and do your own thing. I think the voiceover was a lovely touch. I really felt like I was immersed in the character’s torture. I know what it’s like to feel like someone (or something) is watching me and I related so much to this film thanks to the voiceover. Great job David and Lotta! My favorite people in the world.
1. I love Lotta so much. Drool and all. You are a lucky man. 2. What I liked about the voice over in this short was the resolution, the fact that you had heard her "from the beyond". It was a nice twist.
oh fu**! I thought you are a broke-ass-film-maker like me too. You are a big film-maker now! just read about you on google; so, hopefully, I will never hear from you again, at least not a yes-message anyway... So, I'm gonna go now and cry a little bit burying my face inside the pillow. By the way, me and my wife loved that Shazam movie. Rest of your films, we didn't see yet. I just don't like horror movies.
I became a huge fan of this guy. Love the way he shares behind the scenes of every movie. It's unbelievable he could pull of this short film all by himself. Most importantly he is passionated and down to earth. Way to Go man. Waiting for your next short films and those BiG hollywood films.
wow, I wish I could shadow you, or even get to call you to ask about this, I loved your lights out short, it was SO great and one of the first times I fell in love with the direction of horror, if your in nashville let me know :D
The voiceover on the short was a good call, not only did it make it stand out against most of the other dialogue-less shorts on your channel but it definitely did add an extra dimension to Lotta's haunted house character that we've been missing in the past, plus, you have every right to experiment, even if it's not good, it's your channel! Perfect place to try out new things
I fucking loved the voice over in this short horror movie. It added so much and made me feel like i was seeying things though her whoch made it much creepier.
This is what filmmaking is all about. Figuring things out and being creatively ambitious. I completely relate and agree with what is mentioned in the very end of the video. SIMPLICITY can do wonders for you.
4:12 - This is exactly what they did for the speeder bike chase scene in Star Wars: Return of the Jedi. ILM mocked up a forest scene with junk, and then they shot stuff, tried out different scenes, and then cut together the chase sequence before they filmed anything for real: ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-YKhGkiHSlAA.html
Yeah, it's more about the angle, lighting, framing, camera movement, etc. I've seen great films shot on 16mm, and crap films in 4k. Resolution means almost nothing.
David, you and Lotta are the dream team! As much as I love your movies on the big screen, I love your YT channel even more. Each video is a MasterClass in filmmaking. Thank you for keeping on making RU-vid movies and BTS for us to enjoy and learn from. 🧡🧡🧡
LOVE LOVE LOVE these shorts and their breakdowns. Is that an Alex Kidd t-shirt? LOVE IT Could you spell the name of the manga artist? Would love to check him out.
A voice-over can be its own art or character development. In a longer movie, they could serve to emphasize or reinforce the personality of the character. Dune comes to mind, "My name is a killing word." You could use that internal line to express dismay or wonderment or glee, while showing a different expression on the actor's face.
I love this so much. It had me at the edge of my bed, and seeing the making of is so interesting and helpful. But honestly: Lotta, drop the hair tutorial, because I love.
