Woody Cavenaugh

Last night at the Carousel I attended the first screening of the Group "A" teams. We had ten films shown total with seven eligible for judging.

On a whole I can say with complete honesty that we have upped the bar of what we can do in 48 hours in Greensboro. The worst film I saw last night was way better than the worst thing I saw last year. That says amazing things about the big movie making town that no one has ever heard of. (I believe this is going to change in a hurry thanks to things like the 48 Hour Film Project.)

I will say many things about the films I saw last night, but will definately borrow wise quotes from those who are clearly more experienced at film making than I am. I also feel ok doing so since neither of them have weighed in yet on what we saw. With that said, it was Sara who brought to my attention that the worst of last night was way better than the worst of last year.

The next observation which segways into my own observation was by Ike Quigley, and it was a good enough observation to try to quote him on. "You've only got 48 hours to make a film, everyone is going to feel like they have to give up something." While I think he is exactly right, I think that it was more a matter of being ok with not having something rather than leaving something behind. The only thing you really have to have to compete in the 48 Hour Film Project is a camera. Beyoned that everything else are "nice to haves" (Including really knowing actually how to USE the camera.) If you have these other things you end result is going to be more polished with a higher production value, but it doesn't automatically mean it will be better overall. Many of the films I saw last night didn't even have a tripod to put the camera on, and sometimes I did have to turn away from the screen to keep from getting motion sick, but it in and of itself didn't mean the film had no value. On the other hand one team had a well trained crew, good equipment, and wiz-bang special effects, but by no means did that mean they were the best there.

I have been trying to avoid talking about these films by name to protect feelings, but if I can't say something a little critical then it also means I can't heap on the praise, and by golly I want to praise and if I have to pan a little to do that I hope no one takes offence.

"Pink Slip" by Big As A Jugg Productions, was a superhero film that I had already seen before. Drawing elements from the BBC sitcom "My Hero" and Disney's "The Incredibles" they really started the night off with a bang with outstanding special effects, that didn't go overboard and draw attention away from the story. What they "gave up" due to time was a strong script, and tight editing. I worry that they will lose points for their use of the required character.

"Slice of Life" by The Dirt Bags was a mystery that was "stabbingly funny". When the mystery was solved, it was clear that had it not been a comedy it wouldn't have worked. The crowd really liked this one, and we laughed from the opening sceen to the closing one. This was a team who seemed to have only a camera and a tripod, and what they lacked in technical merit they made up for in storytelling. In seven minutes they told a complete story from start to finish. This got my #3 pick.

"Terrarium" by General Pictures was a Sci-Fi truly inspired by shows like The Twilight Zone, and Outer Limits. Had I been able to pick my top four favorites rather than my top three favorites I would have picked this one as my #4 pick. I liked the story, and they clearly had some post production available to them. I wasn't wild about their foley work, but then again, as a boom operator, I tend to focus on these things beyond what is really necessary.

"Unhinged: The Sly Stephens Story" by Hyperactive This comedy mocumentary pretty much stole the show. It got my #1 pick and for good reason, terrific script, great use of character, great use of prop, great music, and great acting. This team didn't sacrifice very much at all in 48 hours.

The Interrogator by Honey, It's Not What You Think. A detective/cop film, they had great cinematography, good use of character, good lighting and good acting, they sacrificed sound. As for their story, this is a tough one. In my notes I wrote "not stunning, slightly confusing", later I went back and crossed out "slightly" and replaced it with "very". The more I thought about what I saw the less since it made until it just unraveled in my mind. I think others might have liked it more than I did.

Triggerfiger The Jive Mechanics did it again, this time with a buddy film (They chose the wildcard). I was impressed by their work last year, and they impressed me again. I think if these guys could actually get their project turned in on time they would take home a prize. In my notes I wrote less than one minute into the script that this was a "Tater" script. For those who know the guy that I am talking about, during the course of this film both Ike and Sara turned to me and said the same thing to me. Obviously this was one of my picks, and it was my #2 pick. They didn't seem to have much beyond a camera and a tripod to work with (the sound was pretty rough throughout), but it got a huge audience reaction and for the Group A audience, their overall favorite without a doubt will be this or "Unhinged".

Three Little Furies & A Golden Lock by Mercury I believe that this team was the youngest overall team that showed in this group. That said it is difficult to compare to the others due a different maturity level. I think this group had only a camera and did their best to tell an action/adventure story.

Bad By Design from New South Pictures, was supposed to be a mockumentary, but wasn't. They had good sound, great acting, a very clever script and nice music. Infact I noted they had the best sound of the entire night. I know they had better sound equipemnt, not only by how it sounded, but because my heart fell into my stomach when in one of their shots the boom shadow appeared predominantly. Had this been an actual mockumentary then the boom shadow would have been a sight gag and not an unfortunate screwup. The whole audience ended up gasping outloud and I heard more than one "awwww.." when it appeared.

Espionne by The Offbeats a spy movie drawn by another group of young people. It featured predominately a Belgin beauty who was only in the states for two weeks. I personally thought they nailed the "Spy" genre. It was exactly what you would expect to see. So that in and of itself might be one of this story's biggest drawbacks. This team didn't even have a tripod. There are few who can hold an extreme closeup on someone's face with a handheld shot without wavering. I also liked their closing credits even though it was exactly the same way that Saturday Night Live does it. Thus, it was more comical then it needed to be.

Once More by Triad Film Duo. This team fearlessly tackled the "musical" genre armed with only a camera and a boombox. They had an uplifting story of carrying on with a "Cats in the Cradle" feel. I almost though they had two camera crews at work here. Someone with a good camera who knew how to use it and someone with a lesser camera who only really knew how to press record. More than any film I saw tonight, this was the one most hurt by the lack of equipment. Attention future teams who draw musical, you had better have some sort of place to record vocals later on to ADR in. The microphone built into the camera simply won't do. It doesn't matter how talented your singers are. (And this team had a very talented singer.)

So to sum up. (For the two or three of you who slogged through this long post.) Of the ten films I saw four of them featured children playing catch with the softball, three of them featured the locksmith as their main character (And had his name written on his red toolbox), two teams wrote the line "It hurts when I do this" on the softball. One team, rather than have a locksmith named S. Stevens, had a character named S. Stevens Locksmith. I guess after careful research of earth language and customs also decited "Ford Prefect" was probably a perfectly non-conspicuous name as well.

Of "Group A" my favorites were Unhinged: The Sly Stephens Story, Triggerfinger, and Slice of Life.

If you can, please come out to the Carousel Theatre tonight and tomorrow night at 6:30 or 8:30 to catch the Group "B", and "C" films. The team that won last year is showing their newest film tonight in Group "B" (alongside my team, Team Underexposed). And of course, come back tomorrow for my reviews of the Group "B" shows, and Friday for the Group "C" films.

48 Hours to make 7 minutes to impress.