A DIARY: 72-HOUR FILM COMPETITION BRINGS JOKES AND YOLKS, FOLKS >>>
Thursday/What are we gonna do?
The text message lit up my phone a few minutes after 7 p.m. The message simply read: "Prop: an egg, line: What are you going to do about it?, location: dock or pier, one character must have a super power." The messenger, my friend Jeff Axtman, sent me this film recipe from inside The Grand Cinema on Thursday night. Marooned at work, I couldn't witness firsthand the kickoff of the 72-Hour Film Competition.
As I served customers their food and refreshments my mind whirred. ... So, our team's short had to center around the above four elements. I haven't participated in this contest since 2007, but that same old momentary flash of panic and confusion raced through me. As long as creativity comes with a deadline, I'll probably always feel this. The last item on the list troubled me the most: How would we visualize superpowers without resorting to time-consuming FX trickery? Despite my worries, I take comfort in the realization that somehow, for better or for worse, my friends and I will greet Sunday night with a finished film.
Axtman's old film school chums, Andy Case and Topher Ruxton, rounded out the rest of our little group. I finished my shift as quickly as possible and headed to The Rock, where my partners had already begun tossing around story ideas. During the 30-minute car ride I contemplated possible scenarios, but still no pieces clicked in place.
At almost 10 p.m. I entered the pizzeria, empty-headed and hoping my crew had something workable. Luckily they did. Case knew he wanted us to tackle comedy this year, yet he prefaced his concept, funnily enough, with, "Please don't laugh." As he explained the plot to me I knew within seconds it could work. It also came packaged with clear logistical perks - a cast of only two characters, minimal locations, and as a bonus, virtually no outlandish props to hunt down. The knots in my stomach loosened -we had our script. The hard part behind us, we spent the rest of the night thinking, Now how many egg-cruciating puns can we squeeze into five minutes? Let's get crackin'.
Friday/Come to Life (or Turn to Life?)
We commenced shooting Friday morning at Axtman's house, where the bulk of the script takes place. After a slow start of positioning lights, rehearsing lines and blocking actors, we found our rhythm, filmmakers again. At a certain point, all our collective energy and concentration begins to live only for the fictional microcosm we've created in this small space. The only reminder of the outside world's existence is a faint droning from the lawnmower next door (curse you, sunshine!). I returned to work that afternoon, leaving the guys to figure out how to photograph an egg dancing inside a carton.
The egg does quite a bit of traveling in the movie, and we wanted the audience to see the world through its "eyes." So Ruxton devised EggCam (patent pending): he attached a wire hanger to the base of a hardboiled egg, and taped the apparatus to the camera's lens hood. The egg manages to scurry through long blades of grass and launch itself at Case's character without looking hokey.
Saturday/Editing
(PHOTO: Case and Ruxton with director Jeff Axtman behind them)
"I came up with a title," Axtman told me in his car. He and I were returning to the Des Moines Marina to rerecord ambient audio for the epic man-versus-egg showdown. (The sea wind played havoc on the camera mic.)
"What is it?" I asked. So far we had all drawn a blank on a good name for our short that didn't give too much away.
"IT Came First," Axtman replied. The phrase references the classic riddle and, since our story contains strains of horror, also harkens back to the shlock '50s B-movies. So we ran with it. (Hey, it was either that or Hardboiled.)
We walked down the Marina's long pier to find a quiet corner and capture a good chunk of sound. No such luck - we had to contend with a steady stream of planes overhead, and crowds around us soaking up sun. The near-perfect weather may have given us optimal shooting conditions, but we had no time to enjoy it.
We headed back to Axtman's house, where inside Ruxton had taken over the tedious task of logging the several hours of footage in Adobe Premiere Pro. After a day and a half of shooting, we could all kick back a bit, enjoy a beer and watch as the story began to take shape on the computer screen.
(PHOTO: Ruxton editing footage of Case for the 72-Hour Film Competition)
Throughout the rough cut Ruxton, nestled under his headphones, would laugh when he cut two shots in a certain way or included an actor's expression, and made us all huddle around the small monitor to assess his handiwork. Eighteen hours of the contest remain - we still have to find the right music and sound effects, and Axtman has to record all his dialogue for Mr. Egg. Sleep comes after. ...
Sunday/The End
Fortunately we wrapped shooting yesterday - the rains have returned. I spend Easter with family in Federal Way, knowing that up in Burien my teammates have put the last touches on IT Came First. I chat briefly on the phone with Steph DeRosa, who got her own film into The Grand four hours early. It sounds like for her first time the weekend moved very smoothly.
For the more serious filmmakers, this contest is a vacation of sorts. It really demands your full attention, so that for three days all other distractions fade into the background. Already I want another holiday, and can't wait until the viewing party at the Rialto May 6.