The Soldier
It Started with a Script
In February, my friend and actor Lucas Hogan brought me a script and concept for a short film centered on a medieval soldier. After talking through the story and his vision for the piece, we refined the script together and locked in a shoot date.
Planning the Shots
Once the script was locked, I turned my focus to crafting the visuals that would bring the story to life. From the start, I envisioned a gritty, grim realism with a dark, cool-toned color palette. I dug into references on ShotDeck and built an inspiration board before diving into the shot list.
Action!
To keep the production nimble and local, we chose Prospect Park in Brooklyn as our primary location. Its dense wooded areas gave us just enough wilderness to create an immersive, cinematic backdrop—without ever straying far from the city. Lucas brought the character to life with a striking costume and prop sword that felt like they were pulled straight from the script. I shot mostly handheld on the Sony FX3, moving quickly and intuitively through our setups. The shoot wrapped in just a few hours and went off without a hitch—unless you count the moment I wiped out hard while chasing one of the running shots (worth it).
In Post
Jumping into the edit, I expected the process to be much easier than it actually was. Getting to the final cut and color grade came together fairly smoothly—but I learned an important lesson along the way: don’t half-ass something someone else could do better.
The sound design was flat, and I didn’t have the tools or expertise to bring the film to life the way it deserved. After some digging, I found Miguel Oliveira, a sound designer based in Portugal, who absolutely nailed it. He gave the film the energy and impact I’d been imagining ever since I first read Lucas’s script.
