Behind the Scenes
DP Lynn Fong and 1st AC Sarah Steffens on a DIY skateboard Dolly
Lead Rajiv basking in the sunlight
Supporting Talent Angel Diaz naps in between takes
1st AC Sarah Steffens holds an LED panel
Rajiv and Angel in between takes
SPFX Guru Devin Hollinger masking out a small gaff
Behind the Story
The story for Efficiency was born out of strong artistic stagnation. My love for the "process" was at an all time low as I struggled to find a story I would be consumed by. The opening shot - of Rajiv crawling across the floor - is literally how I moped around my room, rambling to friends, and looking for something to inspire or motivate me. In the end, I wasn't able to think of any thematically grand idea; instead, I developed a smaller story about someone finding a fleeting and unrequited romance. I liked this idea as I found it to be a parallel to my relationship with art and my struggle to find something worthwhile to make.
Behind the Edit
Working with Rajiv was a crazy experience because he was such a thoughtful actor. In the edit, this gave me the freedom to really play around and tweak how I wanted the character to be read. Each take could be an endlessly entertaining short on its own so finding the moments that carried a coherent character throughout was a fun challenge.
The main challenge in this edit was the sound. Since the entire film was shot MOS, Every sound within this film was placed in post. This made for a tedious editing process that I would say is nearly 100% successful (the second hit on the washing machine was a sound I was never able to perfect).
The voiceover - that sadly is my voice - is horrendous. My hatred for it may be biased but there are technical issues with it such as the volume. Partly because its my voice, I lowered the audio a lot more than I thought and made it quite a bit difficult to hear.
