2007: The 48

This year, I arrived on the set of our 48-hour film early on at their second location, up by Carter Observatory in the gardens. In contrast to last year’s rainy mudfest, this was a perfect day for an outdoor shoot, with abundant sun and minimal wind. It was great. Within seconds of my arrival I was deployed holding a shade to help with light control; with great efficacy the team shot a routine involving Fraser and Jenni smiling to camera with a horrifying prop and grotesque make-up job adding some interest. I managed to corner Frank long enough to find out what was going on – we’d drawn ‘science fiction or monster’ as a category, and having done monster last year, the brainstorming had turned up the idea of doing an alien travel-show segment about what to do when you visit earth.
Around about this point I noticed the large plastic-wrapped object alongside Fraser and Jenni was actually another person. This was Giffy, just one of several indignities to which she would be subjected across the day.
We raced through shots up at the gardens, then relocated to a downtown apartment to close out shooting for the day. Everything went fairly smoothly. I had a bunch of simple jobs, lifting and holding and carrying and doing a run back to base with a tape. (Although hix yesterday claimed I made two crucial suggestions shortly after arriving on set; that’s not how I remember it, but I’ll take the credit for them nonetheless!) It was neat. There was a tension on set, but a productive and energetic one, without any of the nasty stress that was so frequently kicking in last year. Weirdest moment for me was being instructed in how to use a wax strip, in order to use it on the hairy chestal region of Fraser; I ended up not having to fulfill that particular duty, and I can’t say it bothers me overmuch…
So shooting on our film, Destination Earth, was completed in record time (for our team!) and in post-production was given sound and computer effects that turned it into a very neat piece of cinema. It is, I think, easily the best of the three Jenni’s Angels entries.
It played on Thursday night, in the last heat of the evening. This year Cal and I went along, and it was a treat. There’s a great atmosphere at the heats, lots of clapping and smiles and nervous excitement. There were great things about every film on display, but Destination Earth was better than the lot of them (I can say this because I was just a runner and have no creative investment in the film) – except for the one with the sheep.
(The one with the sheep was an ‘unnecessary sequel’ to March of the Penguins. It was absolutely incredible. Half the cinema were making baa-baa noises on their way out.)
And so that’s the 48 experience over for another year. We’re still waiting for results, finding out how our film did and there are final screenings and award announcements and so forth to come, but the making and the screening are the big events and they’re done. It was a very different experience this time – just being a lackey, instead of a writer + monster, meant it was exponentially less draining for me, but a similar amount of fun.
There’s something fantastic about the 48. Hundreds of teams racing to make a short film in just 48 hours, all those great little bursts of culture produced. It makes me feel good. Nice one, the 48. Nice one.