Only Fools and Horses Competition Review
By John Bedford
Cast List:
- Del Boy / Gary – John Bedford
- Rodney / Scott – Sarah Bedford
- Councillor Murray – Shelia Bedford
- Dawn – Sarah Bedford
- Camera / Lighting – Derek Bedford
When I heard about the OFAH.net video competition, I couldn’t wait to start making a film. I am a budding filming maker and I have made many short films with my family and friends, when I told them about the competition we all said we should make famous scene and re make it. I have been watching Only Fools and Horses ever since I can remember and have them all on DVD I also attended the 2005 convention. When ever I think of Only Fools and Horses I always think of the famous Batman and Robin Scene in the episode Heroes and Villains. This is why I remade it for the competition, as you can watch it over and over again and it still makes you laugh.
I watched the episode and more importantly the scene well over twenty times to cement the scene into my mind. I then started writing out storyboards and drawing pictures of the different shots I wanted. This makes it easier when filming as you look at your storyboard and it shows you where to put your actors and where to put the camera. It also reminds you what sort of camera shot it is, i.e. close up, extreme close up etc.
In my films I usually beg family and friends to be in the film. They were all very patient and very hardworking, as telling people to stand in the cold for 5 hours filming and waiting around is true dedication which I thank them all for. They all like Only Fools and Horses and we all had fun filming the scenes, even in the freezing cold we still had a laugh doing it.
I brought the costumes on ebay, which caused a problem as there was a problem with ordering the batman suit. The first suit got lost in the post, so I had to wait two weeks for the second one to arrive, which didn’t leave me long to film the scene.
The funniest part is always the filming; we had all agreed to shoot the scene over two nights. We would shoot the mugging scene on day one and then shoot the batman and robin shots on the second day. I had not realised how cold it was but overall day one didn’t have too many problems but we were working against time as my sister had to work in the evening. We had to shoot all of her scenes first and then shoot everything else next. We didn’t shoot in sequence which can sometimes be confusing because you sometimes might miss a shot and if you do, then we would have had to go back and re shoot the shot. This is why I find it easier to do a storyboard. You film the shot and then tick it off. That way you know you have filmed it and you don’t have to go back and re shoot it. We didn’t want this as we are all working in different jobs at different times, so everything had to shot on these two days.
Day two was the most challenging day I have to say it felt much colder then day one but it probably was the same temperature, but this time we were wearing our batman and Robin costumes which are not the warmest of costumes. We first started with the shot of us running down the drive which was great fun as we had many people staring at us from the street and cars passing the house probably wondering why we were dressed like Batman and Robin!
It took a while to set up the lighting; I just used household lamps to light the shot. It had to be dark outside but enough light to see the actors. Another challenge was the smoke machine; I own a small one which is perfect for inside the house. Outside it more difficult the day which we shot was very windy so the smoke would go in the wrong direction or blow into the camera lense restricting the view. Overall it took about six hours to shoot day 2 and I lost complete track of time and we finished filming at 11.30pm.
Overall I was very happy with the result, editing it was a real pleasure and I felt proud of what we had achieved. When finished we had a mini premiere at my house.
I thank everyone involved for all their time and hard work, you were all stars! I also want to thank everyone who watched the video and a bigger thank you for everyone that voted for the video. It has been a great start to 2011 by winning.
If you still haven’t watched the winning video then take a look below:
well done, excellent work. if you would like to make anymore i would love to be part of it as i the van and props, if you do get in touch. regards, michael. http://www.delboysvan.com
Cant wait to see what you guys will come up with next time
great video and well deserved 2010 champions – i voted for you!
Well done chaps
You know you’ve made it when you make the fron page of OFAH.net
i spoke to zain the other day and he said he was going to put my video on but i carnt seem to find it can you let me know when it will be shown thanks del boy