Match Director's Blog
Thursday, June 26, 2008
HOW TO MAKE A FILM IN 48 HOURS
WEEKS LEADING UP TO 48HFP
Dave: Well, our girlfriends dumped us, our best friends moved to California and the four editors we know are all busy that weekend. Should we do it anyway?
Kyle: Who's going to write?
Dave: I can write.
Kyle: Shoot?
Dave: Me.
Kyle: Edit?
Dave: Can't your new girlfriend edit?
Kyle: She does it professionally.
Dave: Great.
Kyle: She'll be twirling fire at a rock concert that weekend.
Dave: Oh.
WEDNESDAY – 2 days before the contest
Kyle: Are we going to meet to talk about this stuff?
David: I’m playing StarFox.
THURSDAY – the day before the contest
Kyle: Are we going to meet?
David: Later.
Kyle: We're running out of time, aren't we?
David: The Land Master isn’t going to pilot itself, Kyle!
FRIDAY - ONE HOUR BEFORE THE CONTEST STARTS:
Kyle: Should we meet?
David: Probably. Dr. Andross wants to rule the Lylat system, but he just doesn’t have the resume or the political experience to head up such a diverse- Star Wolf, you cock!!! (throws the video controller across the room, pause) What should our movie be about?
FRIDAY - ON THE TRAIN TO THE KICKOFF EVENT
Kyle: You know what movie is really good? Oceans 12.
David: I think we should shoot the whole thing in the subway. That way we won't have to light anything and we might finish early.
Kyle: Shoot on the subway? Isn't that illegal?
Dave: No.
Kyle: Are you sure? You hesitated.
Dave: It’s not illegal as long as you don't put down a tripod.
Kyle: I'm pretty sure it's illegal.
David: Hey, I got a call from the organizers. A camera crew is going to be doing behind the scenes work. They might follow us around.
Kyle: Won’t they get in the way?
David: Probably.
FRIDAY - AT THE KICKOFF EVENT
The guy shooting behind the scenes footage is practically begging for volunteer teams.
GUY: Can you help us out? Please? We really need people.
Dave: Sure.
GUY: Awesome. (turns on camera) So, what makes your team so special that we should follow you around?
LATER
David: Like he’s doing us some big favor.
Kyle: What’d you say?
David: I said I didn’t have an answer to that question.
Kyle: Well I talked to Luis. He said it’s definitely illegal to shoot in the subway.
Dave: He's just saying that.
LATER - SIX FORTY FIVE
Kyle pulls ‘Suspense/Thriller’ genre out of the hat
David: Perfect – we can do our Oceans 11 on a subway type thing.
Kyle: If it were legal to shoot in the subway, which it isn’t.
David: Who are you going to listen to? Me or Luis?
Kyle: Well, Luis is older, and he knows more.
David: Oh.
SEVEN O’CLOCK
Character, Prop and dialogue are announced:
Character: Thomas Ellison, a former attorney
Prop: A string instrument
Dialogue: “I cancelled my plans for this.”
EIGHT O’CLOCK
Kyle and David meet up with Ryan. They spend the next six hours hashing out an outline. All agree the scenes should be improvised.
MIDNIGHT
Script is done. All go home to toss and turn.
SATURDAY
EIGHT IN THE MORNING
Cast and crew assemble. Lots of new faces. Ryan Homchick, fresh off ‘The Seagull’ with Diane Wiest and Alan Cumming, is quite an actor.
Bianca Marroquin, fresh off a starring role on Broadway (Roxie Hart in CHICAGO) is quite an actor.
Ruben Flores, good friend of Bianca’s. Astonishing comic chops.
Brian Athey, ‘The New Kid.’ Extraordinary musician. Even better than Kyle on the guitar.
Michael Lane, neighborhood chum. Couldn’t be more likeable if he tried.
TEN IN THE MORNING
David: OK, everybody. We’re going to shoot all of this on the subway. Don’t worry. If the police come, I will handle it. Thanks for trusting me, LUIS. But first we’re going to rehearse in the park.
Luis: What are you going to say to the police? What if they take our tapes?
David: Are you the director?
ELEVEN IN THE MORNING
Shooting in the park, ‘rehearsing.’
TWELVE NOON
Shooting in the park, ‘rehearsing.’
ONE IN THE AFTERNOON
Shooting in the park, ‘rehearsing.’
Kyle: Maybe we should just use this footage.
David: I don’t know, I really wanted to do this scene in the subway.
Luis: So we could reshoot the last three hours of stuff, or spend the extra time editing.
David: OK, everybody, that’s lunch.
THREE UNTIL TEN IN THE EVENING
Shooting goes really, really smoothly. Very little time is spent on the train.
NINE IN THE EVENING
Luis: Kyle, look. In David's room, there are 18 cords plugged into one socket by a clever system of surge protectors. David has also plugged two additional 1K lights into the same socket. (Pause) He expressed some surprise when the fuse blew.
David: (entering) Can you believe this?
Roommate Sarah: The way our apartment is configured, the breaker box is not in our apartment, but the basement apartment, where the box is hidden behind the neighbors’ refrigerator.
David: Cool. Can we get them to open the box?
Sarah: Well, their English is poor and they don't know how a breaker box works, much less that their fridge is concealing it. And they might be unenthusiastic about inviting strangers into their home at 11 at night.
David: Oh.
Kyle: What are you going to do? You have to start editing.
David powers his editing suite by running an extension cord from the kitchen into his room.
Luis: Good solution. Great thinking. I’m going home. I’ll be back at seven in the morning. You must lock picture by seven in the morning.
David: Piece of cake. Why don’t you give me a challenge?
Luis: It’s illegal to shoot in the subway.
David: You’re just saying that.
ELEVEN AT NIGHT
Dave and Kyle, Editing.
TWELVE AT NIGHT
Dave and Kyle, Editing.
ONE IN THE MORNING
Dave and Kyle, Editing.
TWO IN THE MORNING
Dave and Kyle, Editing.
TWO THIRTY IN THE MORNING
An actor who shall remain nameless drinks a bottle of tequila.
Michael Lane (aka Drunk Actor): Can I watch?
David: Watch the extension cord.
Michael Lane: Huh?
Michael Lane trips over the extension cord.
All three computer screens go dark. The hard drives power down. The CPUs power down.
Kyle and David stare at the screens, willing them back to life.
Michael Lane (aka Actor Who Drunk Too Much): Whoops.
THREE IN THE MORNING
Dave and Kyle, crying.
FOUR IN THE MORNING
Still crying.
FIVE IN THE MORNING
Still editing.
SIX IN THE MORNING
David calls Luis.
Luis: You’re done already?
David: Sort of.
Luis: What happened.
David: Well, the movie needs to be three minutes long.
Luis: How long is it.
David: It’s longer than three minutes
Luis: How long is it?
David: The movie is forty-five minutes long.
Luis: So cut forty-two minutes.
David: So, I don’t want to let you down, or Bianca or Brian or Ruben or Ryan, or the other guy who worked so hard yesterday-
Luis: Kyle?
David: Is that his name? Yeah. I just can’t do it anymore. I haven’t slept – I can’t see straight – I got it down from 180 minutes to 45 minutes.
Luis: You have an hour to cut forty-two minutes out of the movie.
David: I’m going to sleep forever. Good bye.
Luis: Pack up your stuff. We’re coming to get you.
NINE IN THE MORNING
Brian and Luis arrive and carry David on a gurney to the car.
TEN IN THE MORNING, LUIS’S HOUSE, NEW JERSEY
Luis: So, let's see, how do you edit? Are these the right buttons? Oh yes, I remember. Let's see, we can cut this out, and this out, and this.
David: I'm awake.
Luis: We don’t need this shot, or this shot, or this shot.
David: I don’t think all of us need to sit here and watch you edit.
Luis: And this, and this.
David: You guys can do music for the opening, can’t you? And I can work on this.
Luis: But you’re so tired.
David: I hate you.
Luis: You should rest. (pause) You’re going to thank me for this.
David: This really isn’t funny.
THE NEXT NINE HOURS…
are a blur. Cuts are made, music is composed, more edits are made, DVDs and data DVDs are burned, we send Brian off to the train with the DVD. He almost misses the train. Kyle, Luis, Bianca, David and the guy who filmed us all weekend pile into the car at 6:15. Luis drives like a madman towards Manhattan. The Holland Tunnel is closed except for one lane. The clock is ticking. We get into Manhattan. Canal street is completely clogged. Brian calls from the drop off spot, Fontana’s (a bar).
Brian: (on phone) I turned in the DVD, but she says we have to have all the paperwork here, too. In the next eight minutes.
David: We have the paperwork here. The traffic is terrible.
Kyle: What a shame.
David: Hey Kyle.
Kyle: What?
David: You are the smartest, funniest, most talented person I know. I really admire you.
Kyle: What do you want?
David: You’re also in the best shape.
Kyle: So?
David: So how long will it take you to run the last ten blocks to the bar?
Kyle: (pulling on his running shoes) In this traffic?
And that, ladies and gentlemen, is how Kyle saved the day.
Now you can make ours.
WE ARE IN SCREENING GROUP D
Our screening will take place Thursday, June 26th, 9pm
Place: Landmark’s Sunshine Cinema, 143 E. Houston St., New York, NY
Notes: Tickets can be purchased at the door half an hour before the first screening. Tickets will sell out, so be sure to get yours early.
Here's the link. Tickets are $10.
http://www.landmarktheatres.com/tickets/
Hope you can make it --
David and the Match Crew
David J. Stott
Match Production Team
david@matchproductions.com
917.596.4155 ¶ 12:53 AM 0 comments links to this post
Dave: Well, our girlfriends dumped us, our best friends moved to California and the four editors we know are all busy that weekend. Should we do it anyway?
Kyle: Who's going to write?
Dave: I can write.
Kyle: Shoot?
Dave: Me.
Kyle: Edit?
Dave: Can't your new girlfriend edit?
Kyle: She does it professionally.
Dave: Great.
Kyle: She'll be twirling fire at a rock concert that weekend.
Dave: Oh.
WEDNESDAY – 2 days before the contest
Kyle: Are we going to meet to talk about this stuff?
David: I’m playing StarFox.
THURSDAY – the day before the contest
Kyle: Are we going to meet?
David: Later.
Kyle: We're running out of time, aren't we?
David: The Land Master isn’t going to pilot itself, Kyle!
FRIDAY - ONE HOUR BEFORE THE CONTEST STARTS:
Kyle: Should we meet?
David: Probably. Dr. Andross wants to rule the Lylat system, but he just doesn’t have the resume or the political experience to head up such a diverse- Star Wolf, you cock!!! (throws the video controller across the room, pause) What should our movie be about?
FRIDAY - ON THE TRAIN TO THE KICKOFF EVENT
Kyle: You know what movie is really good? Oceans 12.
David: I think we should shoot the whole thing in the subway. That way we won't have to light anything and we might finish early.
Kyle: Shoot on the subway? Isn't that illegal?
Dave: No.
Kyle: Are you sure? You hesitated.
Dave: It’s not illegal as long as you don't put down a tripod.
Kyle: I'm pretty sure it's illegal.
David: Hey, I got a call from the organizers. A camera crew is going to be doing behind the scenes work. They might follow us around.
Kyle: Won’t they get in the way?
David: Probably.
FRIDAY - AT THE KICKOFF EVENT
The guy shooting behind the scenes footage is practically begging for volunteer teams.
GUY: Can you help us out? Please? We really need people.
Dave: Sure.
GUY: Awesome. (turns on camera) So, what makes your team so special that we should follow you around?
LATER
David: Like he’s doing us some big favor.
Kyle: What’d you say?
David: I said I didn’t have an answer to that question.
Kyle: Well I talked to Luis. He said it’s definitely illegal to shoot in the subway.
Dave: He's just saying that.
LATER - SIX FORTY FIVE
Kyle pulls ‘Suspense/Thriller’ genre out of the hat
David: Perfect – we can do our Oceans 11 on a subway type thing.
Kyle: If it were legal to shoot in the subway, which it isn’t.
David: Who are you going to listen to? Me or Luis?
Kyle: Well, Luis is older, and he knows more.
David: Oh.
SEVEN O’CLOCK
Character, Prop and dialogue are announced:
Character: Thomas Ellison, a former attorney
Prop: A string instrument
Dialogue: “I cancelled my plans for this.”
EIGHT O’CLOCK
Kyle and David meet up with Ryan. They spend the next six hours hashing out an outline. All agree the scenes should be improvised.
MIDNIGHT
Script is done. All go home to toss and turn.
SATURDAY
EIGHT IN THE MORNING
Cast and crew assemble. Lots of new faces. Ryan Homchick, fresh off ‘The Seagull’ with Diane Wiest and Alan Cumming, is quite an actor.
Bianca Marroquin, fresh off a starring role on Broadway (Roxie Hart in CHICAGO) is quite an actor.
Ruben Flores, good friend of Bianca’s. Astonishing comic chops.
Brian Athey, ‘The New Kid.’ Extraordinary musician. Even better than Kyle on the guitar.
Michael Lane, neighborhood chum. Couldn’t be more likeable if he tried.
TEN IN THE MORNING
David: OK, everybody. We’re going to shoot all of this on the subway. Don’t worry. If the police come, I will handle it. Thanks for trusting me, LUIS. But first we’re going to rehearse in the park.
Luis: What are you going to say to the police? What if they take our tapes?
David: Are you the director?
ELEVEN IN THE MORNING
Shooting in the park, ‘rehearsing.’
TWELVE NOON
Shooting in the park, ‘rehearsing.’
ONE IN THE AFTERNOON
Shooting in the park, ‘rehearsing.’
Kyle: Maybe we should just use this footage.
David: I don’t know, I really wanted to do this scene in the subway.
Luis: So we could reshoot the last three hours of stuff, or spend the extra time editing.
David: OK, everybody, that’s lunch.
THREE UNTIL TEN IN THE EVENING
Shooting goes really, really smoothly. Very little time is spent on the train.
NINE IN THE EVENING
Luis: Kyle, look. In David's room, there are 18 cords plugged into one socket by a clever system of surge protectors. David has also plugged two additional 1K lights into the same socket. (Pause) He expressed some surprise when the fuse blew.
David: (entering) Can you believe this?
Roommate Sarah: The way our apartment is configured, the breaker box is not in our apartment, but the basement apartment, where the box is hidden behind the neighbors’ refrigerator.
David: Cool. Can we get them to open the box?
Sarah: Well, their English is poor and they don't know how a breaker box works, much less that their fridge is concealing it. And they might be unenthusiastic about inviting strangers into their home at 11 at night.
David: Oh.
Kyle: What are you going to do? You have to start editing.
David powers his editing suite by running an extension cord from the kitchen into his room.
Luis: Good solution. Great thinking. I’m going home. I’ll be back at seven in the morning. You must lock picture by seven in the morning.
David: Piece of cake. Why don’t you give me a challenge?
Luis: It’s illegal to shoot in the subway.
David: You’re just saying that.
ELEVEN AT NIGHT
Dave and Kyle, Editing.
TWELVE AT NIGHT
Dave and Kyle, Editing.
ONE IN THE MORNING
Dave and Kyle, Editing.
TWO IN THE MORNING
Dave and Kyle, Editing.
TWO THIRTY IN THE MORNING
An actor who shall remain nameless drinks a bottle of tequila.
Michael Lane (aka Drunk Actor): Can I watch?
David: Watch the extension cord.
Michael Lane: Huh?
Michael Lane trips over the extension cord.
All three computer screens go dark. The hard drives power down. The CPUs power down.
Kyle and David stare at the screens, willing them back to life.
Michael Lane (aka Actor Who Drunk Too Much): Whoops.
THREE IN THE MORNING
Dave and Kyle, crying.
FOUR IN THE MORNING
Still crying.
FIVE IN THE MORNING
Still editing.
SIX IN THE MORNING
David calls Luis.
Luis: You’re done already?
David: Sort of.
Luis: What happened.
David: Well, the movie needs to be three minutes long.
Luis: How long is it.
David: It’s longer than three minutes
Luis: How long is it?
David: The movie is forty-five minutes long.
Luis: So cut forty-two minutes.
David: So, I don’t want to let you down, or Bianca or Brian or Ruben or Ryan, or the other guy who worked so hard yesterday-
Luis: Kyle?
David: Is that his name? Yeah. I just can’t do it anymore. I haven’t slept – I can’t see straight – I got it down from 180 minutes to 45 minutes.
Luis: You have an hour to cut forty-two minutes out of the movie.
David: I’m going to sleep forever. Good bye.
Luis: Pack up your stuff. We’re coming to get you.
NINE IN THE MORNING
Brian and Luis arrive and carry David on a gurney to the car.
TEN IN THE MORNING, LUIS’S HOUSE, NEW JERSEY
Luis: So, let's see, how do you edit? Are these the right buttons? Oh yes, I remember. Let's see, we can cut this out, and this out, and this.
David: I'm awake.
Luis: We don’t need this shot, or this shot, or this shot.
David: I don’t think all of us need to sit here and watch you edit.
Luis: And this, and this.
David: You guys can do music for the opening, can’t you? And I can work on this.
Luis: But you’re so tired.
David: I hate you.
Luis: You should rest. (pause) You’re going to thank me for this.
David: This really isn’t funny.
THE NEXT NINE HOURS…
are a blur. Cuts are made, music is composed, more edits are made, DVDs and data DVDs are burned, we send Brian off to the train with the DVD. He almost misses the train. Kyle, Luis, Bianca, David and the guy who filmed us all weekend pile into the car at 6:15. Luis drives like a madman towards Manhattan. The Holland Tunnel is closed except for one lane. The clock is ticking. We get into Manhattan. Canal street is completely clogged. Brian calls from the drop off spot, Fontana’s (a bar).
Brian: (on phone) I turned in the DVD, but she says we have to have all the paperwork here, too. In the next eight minutes.
David: We have the paperwork here. The traffic is terrible.
Kyle: What a shame.
David: Hey Kyle.
Kyle: What?
David: You are the smartest, funniest, most talented person I know. I really admire you.
Kyle: What do you want?
David: You’re also in the best shape.
Kyle: So?
David: So how long will it take you to run the last ten blocks to the bar?
Kyle: (pulling on his running shoes) In this traffic?
And that, ladies and gentlemen, is how Kyle saved the day.
Now you can make ours.
WE ARE IN SCREENING GROUP D
Our screening will take place Thursday, June 26th, 9pm
Place: Landmark’s Sunshine Cinema, 143 E. Houston St., New York, NY
Notes: Tickets can be purchased at the door half an hour before the first screening. Tickets will sell out, so be sure to get yours early.
Here's the link. Tickets are $10.
http://www.landmarktheatres.com/tickets/
Hope you can make it --
David and the Match Crew
David J. Stott
Match Production Team
david@matchproductions.com
917.596.4155 ¶ 12:53 AM 0 comments links to this post
