2004
At the time I knew one person to start the team off, an old chum from Film school that works as an editor. Through her, we were able to network a full group of amazingly talented and way resourceful individuals. There was an Irish lass and her theatre designer beau, a handsome and skilled DP, willing and able PA’s, make-up folk and horses! Who else had horses? NO ONE!
Planning: We had several meetings at Emerson College (because all of us either were alum or grad students there) and it was a central location in the city. The castings went incredibly smooth. Our editor knew an incredible actress named Sharon Speer who just brought so much intensity and depth to a character that she was a must. We also ended up using a Starbucks barista named Shay who was young and vulnerable but with an edge. For the men we had Lukas (I call him Lukaplakia – from “Lucas” starring Corey Haim) who has a rough and tumble brut intensity to his persona but is a teddy bear at heart. The other male in our film was Peter, a Berklee student with an insane sense of humor and twisted smile. A great cast in all; we felt confident with our choices and we were ready for the show.
Kickoff: The kickoff party was held at Boston Beer Works near Fenway Park and about a mile from my house; a good location because I could get our genre and required elements and be home within minutes. Everyone piled into the BBW and awaited Ben Guarldi to start this thing. One by one he called a team name. A member of the team went up and drew the genre they would be making out of a bowl. Now, going into the weekend, I had ideas for almost every genre except Sci-Fi and what do my well lotioned hands pull? SCI-FUCKING-FI! You’ve got to be kidding me. Oh well. Deal. After all the genres were assigned, Ben and a lovely assistant pulled out our three elements. The prop: a garden hose. The character: Spudgy McGonagal – A Pastry Chef. The dialogue: “So what’s the plan this time brainiac?” For real, a pastry chef and that horrible line of dialogue had to be used in our film. What a treat. It was like being the studio making Godfather III and finding out that horse-face can’t act daughter of the director would be cast in a major role… Deal with it!
It begins: The weekend was a fucking blast. Everyone meshed well, no egos, no boundaries. Attitude: Do what you have to do to get this thing done! It was great. The actors were troopers while filming on a farm in the rain and chilly temps (even while being doused with a hose in 45 degree weather). No complaints!
Then we were late by 15 minutes turning in the film on Sunday night. So in our case it was the 48 Hour 15 Minute Film Project. I was bummed, but was not discouraged. We accomplished an amazing thing in those 48 hours. It was complete chaos (mostly organized chaos) and a blur, but we finished a film and it would then be shown twice (to sold out shows) at The Somerville Theatre. What more could you ask for?
The screening: Apparently it was monsoon season in Boston that night as the rains came hard and heavy. Lines formed down the block. There were not enough tickets to go around and people that had worked on films couldn’t get in, it was insane. Two by Two we filed into the theatre to witness the fruits of our 48 Hour copulation. 12 films screened that night. Some were great, some were good, some were eh… We were in the “okay” range if you judged on story. If you were judging style and visual representation we were fucking kick ass! The film looked unreal. Chris, our set designer/lighting guru just rocked the house and it showed. Visually this thing was stunning, the story… not so much. Regardless, it was so cool to see our film on the “big screen” and to know that two sold out shows just saw your work. I felt incredibly empowered and pleased with our group. Some of them did not however feel the same.
Tensions flared as the pressure of seeing your “not perfect” work on screen got to one or two in our group. There seemed to be this blame game happening and a couple team members seemed disgusted with the whole process. I on the other hand thought it was just the bee’s knees. After the films were shown, there was a Q&A with the filmmakers. It was festival style all the way and I thoroughly enjoyed our experience. The films that seemed to do the best were the ones that just rolled with the punches and got together with their buddies to make something doofy. But the 48 Hour Film Project is the perfect forum for doofy! Longer conceptual or dramatic pieces all fell flat. The quick, funny, and wacky films were the crowd pleasers. Food for thought.
My favorite reaction to our film was from my friend Matt: “Honestly Dan, what was that?”
Planning: We had several meetings at Emerson College (because all of us either were alum or grad students there) and it was a central location in the city. The castings went incredibly smooth. Our editor knew an incredible actress named Sharon Speer who just brought so much intensity and depth to a character that she was a must. We also ended up using a Starbucks barista named Shay who was young and vulnerable but with an edge. For the men we had Lukas (I call him Lukaplakia – from “Lucas” starring Corey Haim) who has a rough and tumble brut intensity to his persona but is a teddy bear at heart. The other male in our film was Peter, a Berklee student with an insane sense of humor and twisted smile. A great cast in all; we felt confident with our choices and we were ready for the show.
Kickoff: The kickoff party was held at Boston Beer Works near Fenway Park and about a mile from my house; a good location because I could get our genre and required elements and be home within minutes. Everyone piled into the BBW and awaited Ben Guarldi to start this thing. One by one he called a team name. A member of the team went up and drew the genre they would be making out of a bowl. Now, going into the weekend, I had ideas for almost every genre except Sci-Fi and what do my well lotioned hands pull? SCI-FUCKING-FI! You’ve got to be kidding me. Oh well. Deal. After all the genres were assigned, Ben and a lovely assistant pulled out our three elements. The prop: a garden hose. The character: Spudgy McGonagal – A Pastry Chef. The dialogue: “So what’s the plan this time brainiac?” For real, a pastry chef and that horrible line of dialogue had to be used in our film. What a treat. It was like being the studio making Godfather III and finding out that horse-face can’t act daughter of the director would be cast in a major role… Deal with it!
It begins: The weekend was a fucking blast. Everyone meshed well, no egos, no boundaries. Attitude: Do what you have to do to get this thing done! It was great. The actors were troopers while filming on a farm in the rain and chilly temps (even while being doused with a hose in 45 degree weather). No complaints!
Then we were late by 15 minutes turning in the film on Sunday night. So in our case it was the 48 Hour 15 Minute Film Project. I was bummed, but was not discouraged. We accomplished an amazing thing in those 48 hours. It was complete chaos (mostly organized chaos) and a blur, but we finished a film and it would then be shown twice (to sold out shows) at The Somerville Theatre. What more could you ask for?
The screening: Apparently it was monsoon season in Boston that night as the rains came hard and heavy. Lines formed down the block. There were not enough tickets to go around and people that had worked on films couldn’t get in, it was insane. Two by Two we filed into the theatre to witness the fruits of our 48 Hour copulation. 12 films screened that night. Some were great, some were good, some were eh… We were in the “okay” range if you judged on story. If you were judging style and visual representation we were fucking kick ass! The film looked unreal. Chris, our set designer/lighting guru just rocked the house and it showed. Visually this thing was stunning, the story… not so much. Regardless, it was so cool to see our film on the “big screen” and to know that two sold out shows just saw your work. I felt incredibly empowered and pleased with our group. Some of them did not however feel the same.
Tensions flared as the pressure of seeing your “not perfect” work on screen got to one or two in our group. There seemed to be this blame game happening and a couple team members seemed disgusted with the whole process. I on the other hand thought it was just the bee’s knees. After the films were shown, there was a Q&A with the filmmakers. It was festival style all the way and I thoroughly enjoyed our experience. The films that seemed to do the best were the ones that just rolled with the punches and got together with their buddies to make something doofy. But the 48 Hour Film Project is the perfect forum for doofy! Longer conceptual or dramatic pieces all fell flat. The quick, funny, and wacky films were the crowd pleasers. Food for thought.
My favorite reaction to our film was from my friend Matt: “Honestly Dan, what was that?”
posted by duckyxdale at 7:46 PM
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