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For Niko
A narrative short starring Alexandra Shipp, made with Amazon Studios and Macro and produced start to finish by C&I Studios. We built the sets in our Los Angeles studio, shot it over four days, and it went on to play the HollyShorts Film Festival.
Behind the Film
The Making of For Niko
For Niko came together as a partnership between C&I Studios, Amazon Studios, and Macro, the studio behind One of Them Days and GOAT. We produced the whole film ourselves, starting by building the sets by hand inside our Los Angeles studio. The shoot ran across four days with Alexandra Shipp in the lead, and from there we carried it through the edit, color, and sound to a finished cut that went on to screen at the HollyShorts Film Festival.
The Film
A Peek Behind the Curtain
There is a lot of love in this one. We had worked with Alexandra on other projects, and she came to us with this story. We connected with it right away. From there we pulled together our A team and got to work on the vision, storyboarding it, scouting locations, and casting the character of Niko. Everything started to come together. The crew stayed motivated the whole way through because we all connect with the work, and because we push each other.
Shot in Four Days on Sets We Built Ourselves.
Before the cameras rolled, the sets went up on our studio floor. Our team designed them, built them by hand, and dressed every room down to what sits on the shelves, so the shoot could move at the pace it needed.
Preproduction
Gathering a Plan
Our crew is driven and well practiced, and the planning starts on day one. Everything gets mapped out early so nothing is overlooked once the shoot begins. On this film we took our time with casting. The story runs on a short list of characters, so every performer had to carry their role completely. From there we scouted locations and drew up the plans for a set we would build by hand in our Los Angeles studio.
Set Design
Building the World
We put together the plans to build a set right in our Los Angeles studio. That meant gathering materials, mapping out where every wall and doorway would sit, and framing it so the camera could move the way we needed. One of the sets had to read as a stage that Bianca performs on. We used lighting and blank space carefully to sell it, and in the final edit the sound design finished the illusion.
Production & Post
Cameras Rolling
We shot for four days with Alexandra Shipp, who we had worked with before, and we ran the floor with the same crew we use on most of our projects. When the cast and crew already know each other, the bumps that come up on any set get sorted out quickly. That is the part people do not see.
Then the real hours started. Our director and editor worked side by side to get all of the footage uploaded to the server, then went through it take by take to decide what was going to make the final edit. From there we paid attention to every single moment in the film, going back and forth with the other producers on changes until the picture edit sat exactly where we wanted it. We tested palettes until the color felt right for the story. Finding music that matched the vibe took a while. New changes and additions kept showing up too, so we stayed flexible all the way to the end. We cut, colored and mixed the whole thing in house.
4
Day shoot in Los Angeles
2
Studio partners, Amazon Studios and Macro
In House
Set build, edit, color and sound
HollyShorts
Film Festival screening
Behind the Scenes
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We produced For Niko from the first set build to the final mix, all under one roof. If you have a film you want made, we can take it the whole way there.