Have you heard of the 48-Hour Film Festival? It’s a worldwide competition where filmmakers write, shoot, and edit a film in 48 hours. More info here: http://www.48hourfilm.com/
The reason I thought this might make a good article is because no matter what you do in this business, whether you’re an actor, director, or a writer, you always need material, which you created and/or contributed to. You need reels and samples to send to casting directors, production companies, etc. I recently competed in the 48-Hour Film Festival and it motivated and reminded me of how capable I am to create my own work.
Here is how I did it.
Friday, 5:00PM: Our producer and I receive the genre, prop, line of dialogue, and character we need to incorporate in our film from the festival producers (it helps to make sure people don’t shoot early). I spend 1 hour quickly writing down story lines that pop into my mind with those elements. We get to the car to drive back to our home base, and by that time I had decided the strongest idea to say out loud. The car ride then became a brainstorm session of how to make the idea even better, and an outline for the script had begun.
Friday, 7:00PM: I arrive at my workspace and began writing immediately. At the same time, the producer is calling actors and helping me pick out names of characters (I always ask for others’ opinions about character names).
Friday, 10:00PM: I finish the first draft. Our small crew is gathered by this time, and I let them all read it. They tear it to pieces. We don’t have time to sugarcoat what works and what doesn’t. With the notes in hand, I sit down to write a second draft.
Saturday, 12:00AM: I finish the notes. The script is “Final” (things will change as we go, just like every other movie). I email the script to my editor so she can start to get familiar with the story.
Saturday, 1:00AM: Actors have started to arrive so I can start shooting scenes that have certain characters involved. There isn’t much time to create a schedule, and no time to do a shot list. I like to ‘edit’ a film in my head before the day of shooting, so in this case I had to edit it in my head while also shooting it. No prep time is the hardest part of making a film in 48 hours.
Saturday, 4:00AM: We are on a roll. I am shooting scenes quickly, and I was smart enough to write the script all in one house location. I’ve also written it all to take place in one evening, which means the sun is going to rise sooner than later.
Saturday, 6:30AM: Yup, I’m running out of darkness, and some of our heavy dialogue coverage has been left to the end. I have about 30 minutes to shoot a page of dialogue. I pick the key characters to give singles to, and then shoot a master that will have to be good enough to use a lot of. Being a director who doesn’t love using master shots unless I have to has made this extremely difficult.
Saturday, 7:00AM: The sun is taking over our set and I call it. I have enough footage to make something work. The actors wrap and I call the editor. She arrives, and we talk about what I shot. She begins cutting right away.
Saturday, 12:00PM: By this time, a cut is starting to take shape. She makes a list of pick-ups that would help transitions. So I grab the camera and shoot various b-roll and inserts. Thankfully, everything was tight enough that the sun wasn’t a factor.
Saturday, 11:00PM: We have done lots of notes by this time. The film is just about picture locked and we start to make some choices of style and theme throughout. My producer and I gather music and sound effects. We also are creating credits and title cards to be dropped in.
Sunday, 2:00AM: We decide that our minds are mush and we take a break. I sleep for a bit, the first time in a while, but my mind needs it, and even more so my body needs a shower.
Sunday, 7:00AM: We all arrive back to my home office to finish editing this thing. The producer takes coffee orders, because we look like zombies who are capable of dying from old age.
Sunday, 1:00PM: We are locked on the picture and audio (just have some levels to fix). I’m stoked with how it’s turning out and we begin to color correct. The leads red lips were my inspiration to do a de-saturated look. It made her skin paler (which helps her character), and it made the film feel vintage and classic.
Sunday, 3:00PM: We’re exporting, and naturally my nerves kick in. At this point, we don’t have time to fix anything, so it needs to export and be perfect when I watch it. I am in my sneakers and ready to take off in the car that is already running to go to the drop location.
Sunday, 4:00PM: Wheels up. We have all the paperwork together and 2 jump drive options to give the festival folks. In LA, you can never predict how long it will take to get anywhere and we’re cutting it close.
Sunday, 4:30PM: We arrive at the LA Live Regal Theatre where the drop is happening, AND we are 30 minutes early! I hand over everything and feel a sense of relief as I walk back out to the car with my producer. We feel good, other than the lack of sleep.
Here is the film we made in 47.5 hours:
If I can do it…so can you. Do the festival competition itself, or just challenge yourself one random weekend to make a film in 48 hours.