Sweeping Changes 2

Tim plays a vacuum owner who brings home another super cool full size vacuum that has a remote control option, only to find out that having control is fleeting.

Staring: Tim Fegan and Ryan Gallagher

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Producer Notes:
Thanks to all the fans of Sweeping Changes for your support and comments over the years. I really appreciate it.

After the success of Sweeping Changes, I decided to make a sequel. Of course, I had some push from fans to do this as well. In this version, I added some cool special effects, employed other family members for roles, worked with a fan to provide some V.O., and shot in two different locations.

It was challenging writing a new script that was different, fun and still had meaning. My first version was about promises which Hilda talked about in the first version. But then with all the lack of control feelings everyone had during the Covid lock downs and the masking rules, I decided to make Control the topic for this one. Given that I was adding another real person who lives in a different state than I, the idea of remote control came up, and that evolved into the video game for the remote controller.

I had never worked with a green screen (and even a green suite), or had two locations to film at, or had used two different cameras to match up, or had to use a 3D model application which I had never used before.

Adding the special effects took a lot more time than I expected. I had to learn Blender well enough to get the vacuum hose effect (Thanks Blender Guru for the YouTube tutorials).

The green screen set up went well, but the green suite was trickier to work with than I expected. You have to light the green screen set really well, but you have to light the green suite even more. Then there are issues with it at the edges of your body, because, from the camera's point of view, the roll off tends to change the color of the edges. In my case, I did not light the suite all around enough and there were times when the edges appears black. So, instead of keying out the suite, like I did easily with the set, I had to draw a mask around it - very tedious. So, I learned a lot about using both so next time will be easier, faster and more precise editing of the green screen/suite work.

Thanks to the family members that helped out - it was fun working with you.

I don't promote the equipment or software that I use, but people always ask. So, here it is:

Equipment used:
Panasonic FZ2500 - location 1 with owner
Panasonic FZ1000 - location 2 with boy
Zoom H1 recorder
Azden mini shotgun mic
Green screen setup
Green suite
Vacuums

Software:
FinalCut Pro X
Blender 2.9