It's not often that I get to highlight a film that comes from someone who works at KPBS. But New Media Production Assistant Ross Ching and News Production Assistant Iris Caffin have collaborated to make The Perfect Frame . The short film just won top prize at SDSU's end-of-semester film festival, beating out nearly a hundred other entries. The prize means automatic inclusion in the San Diego Film Festival that's coming this fall.
In the past, Ching has shown me some impressive time lapse and effects driven projects. In Eclectic , his time lapse (all done with a digital SLR still camera and edited together using Quicktime Pro and Final Cut Pro) often employed sweeping pans of nature or dazzling night skies. Think Koyaanisqatsi for the kind of breathtaking and powerful imagery he creates. Ching also showed me a more playful project involving a light saber battle (something any Star Wars fan would find hard to resist). Both projects revealed an amazing attention to detail and an incredible patience in the post-production phase of filmmaking.
On his website , Ching explains that he showed Eclectic to his professor at SDSU and "he was very impressed by the quality and skill shown in it. But then he went on to say that as far as real world applications go, if I could tell a story with that, THEN I'd have something. I really paid attention to that, and I began thinking about movie ideas to pitch to my film class."
Ching says he had gained a reputation as "time lapse boy," so he knew the project would have to involve time lapse in some way. Working with producer Caffin, they came up with what Ching says was "the most complicated, and visual effects intensive story I had ever written." This meant taking extreme care in pre-production and shooting so that post-production would go more smoothly. Ching calls that post-production "insane." He and is visual effects supervisor Dane Tellinghuisen spent around 150 hours going frame by frame through the film and applying the necessary editing effects.
But don't let this focus on technology lead you to believe that The Perfect Frame is merely a showcase for flashy effects work. Ching, who wrote and directed the film, has created a story in which the effects are in service of the story rather than the other way around. The story, which opens in crisp black and white, involves a young man painting a room, and accidentally discovering color and a kind of brightly hued parallel universe. Ching tells his story without a lot of dialogue - but be prepared for a brief bit of singing and dancing. The film captures a joyous sense of discovery on the part of the main character. It's a joy that mirrors Ching's own delight in the possibilities of the medium. What's amazing is how effortlessly the surreal tale plays out. You'd never suspect the amount of painstakingly slow and intense work needed to make a film of such visual delights.
It's inspiring to see this level of creativity at a student level and it makes me hopeful about the generation of filmmakers to come. You can get a sneak peek at the film online . But I also suggest checking it out on the big screen at the San Diego Film Festival in September to fully appreciate all the work that has gone into the project. You can also find more of Ching's work at his website . Kudos to these young filmmakers for challenging themselves, their budget, and the technology they had on hand.
