SLEEP IS FOR THE WEEK

The 48 Hour Film Project is coming up. I love it. It is one of my favorite things to do. The name says it all. You have 48 hours to write, shoot, and edit a film. It’s fun. It’s Stressful… but it’s fun. It’s the most stressful fun you’ll ever have. You never know what you’re gonna be making until you pull a genre from a hat (pray you don’t grab musical or animal film.) Next, they give you a line of dialogue, a prop (which is usually something simple like a key ring or a rubber band), and a character name and occupation. Then it’s off to the races. Everyone scrambles back to their groups where, if they’re lucky will figure out a script by the end of the night. Giving them all day Saturday to film and Sunday to edit. At this point, this will be the third film I’ve done on my own. I originally started out as an actor for a friends group. Together with them, I have done almost 10. Like I said I love the 48.

Initially, I was hesitant to participate. I think I skipped out on two films before finally agreeing to do On The Ropes (My first 48hfp.) I didn’t know anything about it but my friend assured me it was fun. He was right. I had little acting experience before then, I mean I was a pro wrestler, and while theater is a component of professional wrestling, I had never really acted in this capacity. Sure, I had done some extra work back in my day, but nothing like being the lead in a film. I was nervous and it was awkward, working with people I had only just meet the night before. Thankfully this film was about an independent wrestler trying to make it to the big league while at the same time struggling with his relationship as well as his health. Something I was familiar with. The film wrapped and we turned it in on time. I wasn’t behind the camera then so I didn’t fully grasp the situation.

The following week we got to see our film on the big screen along with all the other 48 hour participants. We sat in a packed theater as each film was introduced, announcing each of their genres. Everyone was supportive of one another’s work as we all shared the same struggles of making a film with such a tight turnaround. We all voted for our top three favorites, well it’s really the top two plus your own. Then we wait for them to announce a winner. Whoever wins moves on to the regionals and then it goes to state and so forth. Honestly, I don’t know what happens after it leaves Louisville, I hear it ends up in Paris. I guess I could do a quick google search to find out, but Paris sounds lovely.

After that first one, I was hooked and started getting more involved in the production side of things. I helped writing on some of them, I would offer a hand lugging equipment around, anything I could do to help turn this vision into a reality. I was all in. With each new 48, people would come and go. We would work with new people on every project. My friend who initially asked me to join was no longer there, due to an on-site squabble. But I had become friends with the rest of the group and so we soldiered on. Eventually, my original group was beginning to move on to other things, life was getting in the way as it tends to do, but I wasn’t done yet. The only problem was I had little to no experience behind the camera.

I was having a blast making movies and I wasn’t ready to stop, so I decided to take a course on digital filmmaking at my local community college. Going to film school is way different than taking a few classes on digital filmmaking. I know this now. Do I feel like I was misled? A little bit. Do I regret going? Absolutely not. While the program itself was a mess, I did meet other people who were just as excited to make movies as I was. I also got access to equipment that I wouldn’t have otherwise. Going back to school also gave me structure and with that came deadlines to help keep me on track. And it was because of this that I entered the 48 hfp for the first time as a director. I was going into this with a group of 48 hr first-timers, and I was an inexperienced director. What could go wrong? A lot… A lot went wrong. But we got it done and we turned it in on time. I loved watching my crew get excited to see their work on the big screen the same way I did when I first started.

I participated in a few more 48’s since then. I’ve grown so much as a filmmaker as well as a person. I want to believe that I’ve gotten better with each new film. None of them are without their flaws of course, I’m still pretty green, but I am able to see how much I’ve improved. I fell in love with filmmaking. It’s what I want to do with my life. And it’s all because of the 48 Hour Film Project.