I decided it would be a good exercise to just do a full promo.
I watched a bunch of old Knight Rider videos and cut a 10 second promo out of the camera tests I did. I really want to make something that feels like it could have been on between Knight Rider and Max Headroom. Ideally, I want this to feel like someone found an old VHS with a show that got a pilot, but never made it past the premier. The sort of thing you'd have seen once, as a kid, and then wondered if you dreamed later.
I've learned a lot from just filming and cutting these 10 seconds. The lighting was really sub-par in a few of these shots, and if I'd done some blocking I could have made it flow better. I was very locked in on the guitar riff, but I think this needs synth and drum machine instead. Also, since it was only a camera test, the robot isn't quite done (it needs screws covered, some LEDs of its own, and a bunch of decals and weathering), and I think putting a 50" TV behind the building would given me a cityscape that looks more 'full', while also giving it that 80s effect where it's obviously a matte painting behind the action.
The idea is to film real robot fights, then build an episode around them like some kind of pirate cyberpunk robot fighting WWF thing.
Once I film the first fight, I think I'll be able to take what I've learned and do a much better job with all these elements.
As a camera test that's gotten out of hand, though, I'm actually pretty happy with this.