Hello fans!
Well on top of being the author of the posts you read here, I am also a filmmaker myself, as I have stated before. August 14 was the start date of this year's 48 Hour Film Project in Portland, OR where I currently reside. Myself and my two friends, Adam Peterson and Chris Rogers, decided to create our own team and after a generous donation from my own mother Claire Blajsczak, Limited Productions, Ltd. was formed. We enlisted the help of two others, Zack Henderson and Mitch Swan. Zack has been in the entertainment business for most of his life, movies, writing, and stand up comedy. Mitch is currently a digital editing student who is well versed in graphic design and music composition. Heather Graff gave a helping hand here and there, mostly providing us with food and drink when we needed it most.
Friday night was the kick off where each team, according to screening group, drew their genres. We are in screening group C, and we were fortunate enough to draw 'Superhero' as our genre. After all teams drew their genre, the 3 elements of every 48 hour film are revealed. A prop, character, and line of dialogue. Without knowledge of genre and these key items, it is virtually impossible to even begin.
Character: Brian or Briana Merryweather
Prop: a picture frame
Line: "For crying out loud!"
I raced home and we immediately began brainstorming. No idea is a bad one here, so we write or record everything. Adam, Chris and I covered every superhero idea we knew, which is extensive, and tried to filter it all down to something that can be done within 4 to 7 minutes, our allotted length. The most solid idea that came was to ground the hero in reality, with no super villain or terrible plot. I still wanted to do something flashy and fun. We eventually decided on a fantasy sequence to open the film, with the main character Brian daydreaming at a convenience store. We also knew at this point that Brian would move to become a more "real" superhero. From here we worked out our opening fantasy. Adam wanted a car chase and we agreed that would be a nice way to get every one's blood pumping. We also established that Adam would be the villain and I would be the hero. Using green screen is a surprisingly simple effect, on top of being highly versatile and in most cases safe. We had already done some test shots and were confident to use it. Most of the car chase was done using green screen with shots we filmed just driving around. The hero flies around the screen as the villain shoots at him and races away!
A slug fest ensues as the hero lands on the convertible sports car and the gun is lost. The villain is able to shake the hero and escape! Or so he thinks...
We wrote the entire opening and then some through the first night, with me catching about 2 hours of sleep and Adam about 1. In the morning we went on a last minute hunt for a good microphone. After a bit of searching and calling head we acquired one of value at the Portland Music Company. Putting together wardrobe is always fun, especially for a Superhero movie. We have a lot to choose from, lab coats, capes, trench coats, military equipment, false teeth, contact lenses, clothes for all occasions. In a whirl of creativity we almost don't remember, the superhero's name came to be 'POW' and stuck. Sporting purple, black, and white, POW is a stunning man to behold. The villain is in classic prison attire, leather cabby hat, striped shirt, dirty jeans, and unpolished boots.
Zack helped out Friday night and was cast as the Chief of Police, who would award POW his certificate, in a nice picture frame. We shot the green screen stuff early too, using every fan we had to create wind effects. At the park down the street from the base, our house, we shot the finale for the fantasy sequence. After uploading the video we were very happy. Mitch came over and did some specialty work on a few of the shots, adding a bit of flair to the opening.
The flow of the movie continued to change as we discussed our options Saturday evening. We already locked down a location for the convenience store scenes, and our house was more than suitable for 'home' shots we were going to do. A motorcycle had been planned to show progression and technology, but we lost that when it wouldn't start. Chris and I wrote out some dialogue between Brian and his roommate. We know Brian is a lab tech, he is nerdy with thick Coke bottle glasses. We were able to transition well into a sequence where Brian decides to take matters into his own hands. We shot those two scenes quickly and prepared for the convenience store.
Shooting in a convenience store is tough when you can't just close it down for 10 minutes. And at 10 pm on a Saturday night not everyone is interested in being quiet for a minute, so it took us awhile to get those shots, but they came out well. At this point I don't really know what the time line was, accurately anyway. After the convenience store was done Zack and Mitch were both done with the film as they had to work the next day. Chris, Adam and I hashed out some last minute shots between the 'real' hero and a criminal. The last shot was filmed at about 4 am, but we felt we needed at least two more, so we didn't really know it yet. Once editing began Chris went to sleep for a few hours. I stayed up with Adam, discussing sequences and story. I also helped look for sound effects as he needed them. Time ticked by quickly, the second edit seemed to cause Adam the most trouble, being incredibly exhausted never helps. At several points it seemed bleak we would make it in time. We were able to determine that no other shots needed to be filmed, which relieved us very much. There is a process called rendering, where the film is cleaned up significantly as it is transferred to a form of media. Many times this alone takes up to 5 hours, so to be on the safe side editing should be done by about noon. It was well after 3 o'clock when everything was as well as it could be and we began rendering. After 3 failed attempts we successfully packed up all our paperwork, diligently collected by Chris, grabbed our DVD and headed to the drop off.
In order to be considered on time your media had to arrive with all paperwork by 7:35. After that you are disqualified and cannot be judged. Your film will still screen and be eligible for 'Audience Favorite', however. In order to be a "true" 48 hour film it must be in by 7:00. We arrived and turned in our film at 6:59. Adam and I ate some provided pizza and cracked a beer, still having not slept since our 2 and 1 hour naps Saturday morning. It was glorious, we're proud of what we accomplished and I can't wait for the screening!
Hollywood Theater, Portland OR
Wed Aug. 19. Group A 7pm. Group B 9:30pm
Thurs. Aug. 20 Group C 7pm (That's US!). Group D 9:30 pm
Tickets are $8 and they recommend buying online.
More to come, along with a link to the film! Thank you to all who supported us and good bye!
The Movie Doc
