Film School: Self-Filmed Sci-Fi Short, ‘The Volunteer’

The Volunteer (2020) The Volunteer (2020)

A short film shot by and starring only one person – and a detailed look at how it was done.

The Film

During this catastrophic pandemic, many creators talked about taking advantage of their lockdown to shoot sci-fi / post-apocalyptic stories in newly unpopulated urban centres. Cinematographer Joe Simon actually did it – here’s his self-shot short film, The Volunteer:

Production

Joe shares helpful details about his process – importantly, the planning as well as the shooting – in this chat with Film Riot:

VFX

Film Riot’s Ryan Connolly demonstrates the compositing techniques, particularly “sky replacement”, used in After Effects to create the world of The Volunteer:

Try It Yourself

Here’s a collection of challenges for video production, by yourself:

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