48hrs and AD-ing

This'll be a bit long... its been a long weekend.

48hr shoot:
I spent my weekend helping Tom and George with their 48 hr shoot. If you aren't familiar with the concept, here it is: several teams have exactly 48hrs to write, shoot and edit a film. There are usually some stipulations (in this case, we had to spoof a film), and, if you get your film in on time, you are up to win approximately $750 dollars. The movie we drew to spoof was "Jaws."

Friday night, we sat down and watched the film. We wrote the script and did most of the pre-production work. Our version of "Jaws" was about a boy (Jaws) who couldn't take the hint that no one wanted him around at parties. The hosts of the party (Quinn, Brody and Hooper) took it upon themsevles to scare the boy away so that their party could survive. It ends with Quinn (played by VLo) killing Josh/Jaws (played by Box) with a bat. Magic.

Anyway, the next morning (after 2 hours of sleep) we woke up and bought props, built some equipment and began shooting. The shoot was fairly easy and mostly fun... minus the fact that I cannot drive a truck due to my size and the fact that I'm a shitty, unexperienced driver in general. I even got to smack one of our actors, Mike, in the face *giggle*. Mentally, the event was a trip. We were all exhausted and hopped up on several substences (beer, coffee, 5hr energy drinks, cigarettes, etc) in order to stay awake. (PS, out of all of those things, the only one that woke me up was beer... go figure). By 10pm, the boys set up shop in my room and started editing. I seized this opportunity to go play with our neigbors, Nick, Winn and Mike. When I got back, they were still working so the three of us spent the next 10 hours sleeping and editing and talking. They managed to get a working cut done around 4:30 (the film was due at 6:24) and were going to export a safe copy before they sent it into Color, but for some reason (probably dillusion) they didnt. By 6, they were ready to export. The problem? The computer was running so extremely slow by that point that the export didn't finish in time. Yes. We had a hilarious, completed and professional fim, yet were unable to turn it in because of the effing export.

They are still going to submit a copy just to screen and will submit the film into First Friday, so perhaps they'll make a little dough. All in all, the experience was worth it. The process was emtertaining and the film experience was useful.

AD-ing:
This morning I went in to interview with my professor for the AD job. The way it is going to work is two fold: 1. if she is able to get the funding, she will fly out my 'mentor' to be the 1st AD and either me or another girl to be 2nd AD. Because he is DGA, he cannot technically get the 1st AD credit, so the 2nd will get the credit. 2. If she isn't able to get funding, either me or this other girl will take on the role of 1st AD and we will work with the 'mentor' in order to be prepared. If I don't end up AD-ing, I'll be working with the Producer or the Art Director. In the mean time, I'm still working on the logistics of the film. Currently, I am looking up flight and catering information.

Overall, I feel that the meeting went well. However, I could definately feel the scrutiny and pressure of the whole thing. I've worked with this 'mentor' before and he is usually very helpful and sweet - very much a teacher. But, because we were discussing an actual job, he was much more harsh and scrutinizing. There is absolutely no problem with that, it merely reminds me that, in the real world of filmmaking, there is serious responsibility. It's hard work, actual work. There is no room for laziness or error for that matter. Student films are difficult sometimes, yes, but they are nothing in comparison to what's really out there.

After realizing this and hearing exactly what work I would be doing as an AD (which is mainly paperwork and set organization), I felt the need to prove myself. This, my dears, is a good step. Usually I would be terrified, thinking that if I actually got the job, I would fuck up in two seconds. But this time, I feel ready. I'm ready for the challenge and I'm ready to handle whatever shit may come up. That feeling is not only a necessity in order to work in film, but it is beautiful on its own.

That's all I got for you this time, loves.

Less-Than-Three You <3 Monique
Listening to: my stomache growl and my eyes droop from exhaustion (yes, drooping eyes do make a noise)