Basic/Expert Films

Check out these 35mm film snaps from my camera while we were on location for Troubleshooting, our soon-to-be released short film!

-Charlie

Our upcoming short, Troubleshooting, was filmed using 100% natural light. We wanted a gritty, sweaty, hard-light look to really sell the desert heat. Because we only had three days to shoot we often had to “reverse the sun” to keep lighting continuity, shading the actor from the actual sun and bouncing sunlight back from the opposite side.

I’ve been working on promotional images for our new short, “Troubleshooting”. As the film nears completion and we draw closer to setting a premiere date we now begin to roll out our marketing campaign. I hope to have our website, IMDB, and press kit all ready to go by December 1st. Many updates coming soon!

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Some before and after shots of our 3d storyboards and the final shots from “Troubleshooting”. These previsualizations are made a with a software called Frameforge that allows us to shoot the movie with a virtual camera so we can get info on lenses and sun position before we actually show up on location. These also show how much production value the location adds to the final product. Spherical lenses with deep focus and a widescreen aspect ratio (2.39:1) also help show the isolated expanse of the desert locations.

Color-grading is finished on “Troubleshooting”! The folks at did an amazing job of transforming our footage into vibrant, filmic images. Thanks so much Cheeky Monkey! Can’t wait to show this off to the world!

Mort is finally out on Vimeo! Check the link in the bio and give it a watch!

Our award-winning short film, Mort, is out now on Vimeo! Go give it a watch!

Mort (short film 2022) This is "Mort (short film 2022)" by Basic/Expert Films on Vimeo, the home for high quality videos and the people who love them.

“Mort” streams tonight at 7pm (central) on Bloody Bites. Please sign up for a free trial on the Screambox TV app and give it a watch.

I’m filled with pride that this film is finding a permanent home after a year of work, promotion, and film festivals. This really takes me back to working on set with my amazing cast and crew of friends and family. The movie is FILLED with passion and creativity from an amazing group of people. Making and releasing this movie was truly one of the best experiences of my entire life. Thanks to everyone who helped make the film and promote/support it on its journey. I love you and I can’t wait to do it again.

Sometimes you have to be the director and a stand-in at the same time. Sometimes you gotta have a to be your stand-in. Other times there are no stand-ins an the actors get sunburned waiting for the camera to roll!

Troubleshooting is in pre-production now. More updates on the film coming soon!

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We had a blast hanging out with our film family and friends at in Indianapolis this weekend. One of my favorite things in the world is hanging with my buddy at the booth! Huge shout out to my talented friend for letting me mess around behind his booth too 😈

We got to make a bunch of new filmmaker friends, participate in filmmaker panels, and pick up some sweet horror swag along the way! Can’t wait for next time! Stay scary, Indianapolis!

Casting call for all Southern Illinois (and nearby) actors! Let us know if you’d like to try out for our next short film, “The Audition”, written and directed by Andy Farmer!