The Salt Lake City 48 Hour Film Project
What Happened During Your Weekend?
The Salt Lake City filmmakers share stories from their wild weekend of filmmaking. You can blog for 14 days after the 48HFP. Share your story!
One Delightful Super Heumann Weekend.
We drew Sci-Fi for our genre. Right away we knew we couldn't deliver the typical sci-fi fare, given our time and resources...So we developed a script based on altering time.
We hammered out our script until 4:30a, before starting our shoot at 8am. Our stellar crew all showed up ready to pitch in. We shot half a dozen scenes in one building for nearly 11 hours before grabbing some final scenes from a nearby house. Had a nice closing meal at Wingers-several of us got minor food poisoning, thanks a lot...I want my tip back.
I went back to my place to capture the footage. Flipped everything 180 deg. because of the camera setup, then exported out some scene AVIs so things would go smoother. I got 4 hrs less than the others. :-)
We started cutting by 7a Sunday morn.. Everything went smoothly, our composer was a few minutes away inventing Hendrix-like riffs and composing the other BG musics, it was dynamite stuff. We had hoped for some more exciting credits, but let it slide as 7p approached. Our lead actor stopped by with his daughter and brought us all Huge Slurpees. SWEET!
The entire ordeal was a delight, our cinematographer had a contraption he had seemingly frankensteined together that gave us a nice film look, with an amazing depth of field. We were really happy with the outcome.
The team was well-oiled and worked very well together, and I think it shows. We had a great time!
My favorite part? We set off a ton of alarms on campus, but no security came by. I found out on Tuesday when I chatted with the building manager, he had a print-out 3 feet long of doors that had been propped open and alarms that were triggered...
He even pulled up the security camera footage, and we watched together from above as I was blocking actors for a dolly move...
I told him the edited version was a lot better than his security footage. :^)
- AnDrew Tyler, Super Heumann Productions
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Hag no drag!
Wow!! Did we ever have fun this past weekend!! The five of us on our team were so looking forward to the experience of crankin' out a flick in the 48 hours allotted and we were not let down! It was a lot of work, but it paid off! Every one of us contributed in so many ways, it made for a really satisfying experience and one with a lot of laughs!! We're a great team you guys, thanks Crazy Parkites!!!
-Nate-
- Nate Sears, Crazy Parkite
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We're small but we crack ourselves up!
When we drew Detective/Cop as our genre, we thought "What do we do with this?" So we did what we do with everything we produce, we made it ironic and funny. The script evolved into the Simpsons meets Dragnet meets Jessica Fletcher from Murder She Wrote, and we came up with Hagnet.
Our script was done by 2:00 a.m. Friday night, we shot all day Saturday and edited all day Sunday (with the composer writing the original score as we edited). With only a team of five people total, actors were also boom operators, the cinematographer was the dead guy (and wrote the music), the director was the editor; everyone had multiple jobs. But through it all, we laughed A LOT. Our outtake reel is just as entertaining as the movie! (Or at least, we think so.)
Thanks to the SLC 48HFP was putting on such a fun exercise. We can't wait to do it again next year!
Stacy Dymalski
Team Crazy Parkite
"Hagnet"
- Stacy Dymalski, Crazy Parkite
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Holy wow...
I'm still recovering from the shoot. Everyone was great, and we had our share of scares- like when a police car checked out our dead body prop, curious onlookers, rich kids in convertibles blasting by and being obnoxious, protesters, hesitant property owners, aching backs and the Cannonball Run to the drop off... or trying to figure out what to do with 12 actors/actresses and a crew of 20 in 48 Hours.
And than I realized, I couldn't have done it without any of them.
Pietro was right, what an incredible weekend. Now I get to see it on screen! It's so worth the blood, bruises, sweat, sleep deprivation, bad calls and tears!
Thank you Lost Skies Cast and Crew, and to the 48 Hour Film Project for giving us a rhyme and a reason!
Juan Maestas
Director/Team Leader Lost Skies
"Maybe..." Comedy:Group C
www.lostskies.com
- Juan Maestas, Lost Skies
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Screaming at the Screening
The screening last night for Group A was a complete riot. Many of the films were a lot higher quality than I expected, from the fable about a dog that may or may not crap jewels (the music was absolutely fantastic) to a grisly horror tale about a serial killer who drags women out to the salt flats for a deadly run (the sound of the shovel dragging slowly across the salt flats sent shivers up my spine).
There was a smartly-written thriller about getting inside the head of a killer. The frenetic editing to flashes of the victim's final moments were excellently done.
And I loved the sci-fi film about an experiment that accidentally shifted the world to an alternate time-line. It included all sorts of fanciful details like the country being run by "President Walter Mondale, His High Excellency" and a news story about Marilyn Monroe who is 80 years old and married to Hugh Hefner the televangelist.
When our film screened, I couldn't have asked for a better audience reaction. When they started laughing the moment our logo appeared on screen, I knew it was going to go over well. They gasped at all the right places and laughed at all the right places. There was an audible groan from several people when we worked in our prop, which is exactly the reaction we hoped for. I couldn't have asked for a better time.
I didn't get to stay for the Group B screening, but I look forward to seeing as many of those films as I can get my hands on.
- Jim Henderson, Team Fire Pants
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A gynecologist, a beauty salon and a cast/crew of 30 or so..
06 May 08 Tuesday
There has been a whirlwind of activity since Friday. I got off work, grabbed all my clothes and some other stuff, jumped in my car, and drove down to Salt Lake City to work on the 48 Hour Film Project.
I arrived Friday evening around 19:30 and sought out my friend Steph. Soon, I was in a room with a group of strangers and then met the Director of our film, Juan Maestas.
The premise is simple. We had 48 Hours to write, cast, shoot, and edit our film and we had to utilize key elements that we were given at the kickoff event.
We had to do a comedy with a character named Jacob or Janice Simon who was an Instructor and also tie in a prop. Our prop was a jewel.
Within a couple of hours, the idea was firmed up and Jaci Lawler, a local Actress, hammered out the initial script, with a lot of help from the rest of the team.
The Director asked me to grab the reins as a Producer. I started breaking down the script. We had to use the available locations we had available, the available Actors and crew and make sure we had wardrobe, props, effects, vehicles and everything else ready to go and plan the day accordingly.
Call time was 05:30. The cast and crew arrived. We assigned them their roles and responsibilities and started our day. First stop was a local coffee shop (Cafe Marmalade), then the Utah Pride Center, an Exterior at the Utah Pride Center, back to base Camp, with another Exterior shot, followed by some sets we created inside of an old shop, then on to a mansion and then our final location, a beauty salon inside the mansion.
The day consisted of 23 scenes, an 8 page script, 11 Actors, a crew of maybe another 20-25 people, special effects makeup, vehicles, stunts, four locations and non-stop activity. We managed to fit in a true meal break, had craft services and wrapped the day around 22:00.
It was a long day and it was incredibly fun and rewarding. By the end of the day, we all felt we had known each other forever. As one of the Producers, and also an Actor in the film, I felt truly blessed to work with such a talented and committed group of people. It also felt great to work under pressure and be a driving force on such a fun project.
All of the cast and crew was wrapped. Now we had about 19 hours left to edit the film, which was done on time the next day. The Director dropped off the finished film titled "Maybe..." shortly before 19:30 on Sunday night.
We made the cut off point and qualified for the competitive phase of the project. We even completed the SAG paperwork on time and the end credits, which were only allowed to be one minute, looked great.
The film screens Thursday night to a paid audience so it will be eligible for IMDB inclusion, which is great for some of the cast & crew who may not be listed yet on the IMDB website.
The film will screen at the Broadway Theatre in Salt Lake City. I will send out a bulletin this evening or just check out the 48 Hour Film Project website. Our team is called Lost Skies.
- Pietro D'Alessio, Lost Skies
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to chicken or not to chicken
At the opening ceremony we all sat on pins and needles, waiting to hear the details we would weave into our weekend. We had already drawn our genre: "Road Movie", and now we just needed to know about character, prop, and line of dialogue.
Then there was a flurry of activity as everyone realized the moment had arrived. The first announcement: "Your character is a guy in a chicken suit." There were groans from the audience and several calls of "What did he say?!?"
Later, when we got back to base and met with the rest of our team, there was a disagreement. I thought the chicken suit was intended as a joke, because right after that announcement they announced that the real character was Jacob Simons, and instructor. But others who were at the meeting weren't sure if it had been a joke or if we were expected to use both characters.
We decided to throw the chicken suit into our script, whether it was required or not. The next morning we started calling around to every costume contact, and found out we weren't the only ones looking for chicken suits. There must have been plenty of other teams using chicken suits in their scripts because chicken suits were in high demand all over town.
Now I'm looking forward to seeing all these chicken suits in action.
See you all at the movies!
--jim henderson
- Jim Henderson, Team Fire Pants
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It’s that "CRAZY" time of year again...
Yeppers, it’s that time of year again, time for the 48Hour Film Project in SLC, Utah.
This year I am part of Josh Samson's team. His company "Mishu Productions” are in "Group C" of the lineup and our screening will be Thursday May 8th at 7:00pm. There are 4 groups of 11 teams competing, and the films will be screened at the Broadway on the 7th & 8th with a wrap party and awards on May 12th.
BROADWAY CENTRE CINEMAS
111 East 300 South
Salt Lake City, UT.
(801) 321-0310
Tickets can be purchased at the door.
Tickets will sell out, so be sure to get yours early!
We almost didn’t get in to see our film! We ended up waiting at the door for scalpers! So definitely get them right NOW!
I think everyone who played last year learned a lot and will take that knowledge and put it to good use this time out, so I’m excited to see how much improved this years entries are.
Our team pulled "Road Movie" as the theme or genre. The ideas were flowing on the drive home and the script was written within the first few hours. Josh called me ad told me that we would not be filming Friday night, but to be at his house early Saturday morning, and we’d go from there.
After picking up a few items and a very lovely lady, we headed up Emigration Canyon to shoot. We started shooting somewhere around 9:30 am and finished just before 3:00 pm. It was a beautiful day and I have the sunburn to prove it! This is a fun little story and I cant wait to see what Josh has done with it. He was done editing at 1:00 am, and ended up lounging around all day Sunday.
I am sure it will be a crowd favorite!
In summary, there were 44 films being made in Salt Lake City for the 48 Hour Project this weekend and that means there are at least 44 local filmmakers and actors to come support, probably more like a few hundred locals to come and support. It's a very fun & exciting experience, plus you'll get to see lots of local talent and how they all work under some pretty intense pressure.
See Ya,
Bill
- Bill Gillane, Mishu Productions
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