Another 48 Hours

Alternate title: "How to make 48 hours seem like 48 minutes" or "Why I love Albuquerque."

Another 48 Hour Film Project has come and gone - the result of which to be shown tonight at one of three premieres at the beautiful Kimo Theatre in downtown Albuquerque.

For those not familiar with the process, you first form a team (cast, crew, etc.) to take part in the madness.  Friday evening each team draws one of a dozen or so possible genres.  We draw dark comedy.  Considering other options included musical/western, serial adventure, silent film and horror we are very happy with our draw.

Actor/Exec Producer Rachel Hroncich with the welcome draw.

All teams are then assigned three elements they must include in their film: a character, a prop and a line of dialogue.  This year the Albuquerque teams had:

Character: Lee or Leah Stephens, Electric Company Employee
Prop: A mask
Line: I can't get it out of my head.

Teams then have 48 hours to write, shoot and edit a short film (7 minutes max).  48 hours is a tad misleading really as our producer started getting things ready weeks in advance - scouting locations, lining up crew, logistics, etc.  It's no small task.  Producers do a mind-boggling amount of work.

A 90-minute brainstorming session with most of the team sets us on the path.  I toss out the idea of doing something on the recent Rapture silliness.  The group likes it and we go over possible story lines.  As a backup we come up with a second option - doing something set in an office (one of our prearranged locations) in the spirit of 9 to 5 but more violent.

The storming of brains.

At 10 I'm sitting in our executive producer's living room, writing.  The executive producer and director are there as well, helping.  We seem to get started and then another angle is suggested.  Then another.  At 11:30 I make the decision to go with the alternate story unless we have a defined framework in 30 minutes.  Twenty minutes later we have an outline.  :)

The next 4 hours are like a roller coaster in my brain.  Thoughts range from the good (hey, this has potential) to the bad (this isn't working) to the horrible (why the hell did I sign up for this?)

4 am and the script, for better or worse, is finished.  After some tweaking with the help of the exec producer I send it to our producer who's been waiting, somewhat patiently, to turn it into a shooting script and get the other wheels of production in motion.

In theory I could catch a couple hours sleep now but I want to be available should the producer or director have any changes.  I'm also pretty wired on adrenaline and caffeine so I stay awake until we meet with the cast/crew at 7.  Copies of the script are passed out and it hits me that this is the toughest part - waiting for the reaction.

An actor comes up with a big smile and says she loves it.  Then another.  Then a crew member gives his approval.  And another.  Not everyone likes it - usually no comment signifies the fact.  Some of the suggestions mentioned the night before didn't make it in.  This may have something to do with it.  I tell myself you can't expect to please everyone.  That said, it's a gigantic, gargantuan exhale when it's clear that, for the most part, it's being well received.

Our director, Scott Takeda, shows the calm, cool demeanor for which he's known.

Everyone dives in - even those that don't like the story - and does their part to make sure it's something we can all be proud of.  And this is perhaps the most wonderful part of this event - everyone does it for free.  Twenty-five people (just on our team) giving up an entire Saturday (most much more) simply because they are passionate about filmmaking.  It's a beautiful, amazing thing and a big reason why I go back year after year.

We shoot into the evening and semi-wrap around 10.  Everything is handed to our award-winning editor who, along with the director, will stay up through the night turning a bunch of scenes into a short film.  A few more shots are done the next morning and the final product - a dark comedy called The Rapture - is turned in around 7 - on time.

There are three premieres the following weekend with ours scheduled to be shown Saturday evening.  With any luck we'll make the Top 10 and maybe get some other awards.  I believe members of our team certainly deserve it but in the industry 'deserving' doesn't always mean 'getting.'  C'est la vie.

I'm back in Phoenix less than an hour when I start showing signs of what our exec producer calls PFEHFPD - Post 48 Hour Film Project Depression.  It'll pass, though it may take until we start talking about next year's effort.  I can't say enough about the film community in Albuquerque - a tremendous group of passionate, dedicated, talented, generous people.

For those interested in reading an actor's take on the 48 there is a wonderful article penned by one of the amazing actors on our team, Summer Olsson, found here.

The Game One team wraps a successful shoot.