Making Two Films in 48 Hours (Part 6)

Paco Rosic & Scott W. Smith

Allow me to filibuster for one day before I post the two films that we made last weekend. (Need to double check the rules.) Since I’ve covered the major aspects of the production except for budget and equipment, let me cover that ground now. The total budget for both films combined was less than $500. with the majority of that being the $135 registration fee for two teams, River Run Productions & River Run Productions 2. Approximately, $150. was spent on food. And about $50 on misc. expenditures.

Of course, as the saying goes, “A number without a context is meaningless.” None of the talent or crew was paid and several drove 1-4 hours each way to participate paying for their own gas. We had one comped hotel room that was held for a possible location site and that one of the actresses used for one night. Thanks to Dan Tindall at The Blackhawk Hotel, in Cedar Falls. (Check out their website www.theblackhawk-hotel.com that was created by Spinutech featuring photography and videos by River Run Productions.

The equipment provided by River Run was as followed:
Panasonic HVX 200
Panasonic HPX 170
P2 Cards
Miller Tripod
Boom pole and Octavia mic
Dolly
Arri IV light kit
Apple Laptop computer (Older G4 for transferring P2 footage)
Apple  Mac Pro, Final Cut Studio
Various hard drives
Nikon D90
Stedicam Merlin (used only as a prop)

Co-director Josh McCabe provided his Canon 7D & his Apple iMac loaded with Final Cut Pro, Adobe Photoshop & After Effects.

Jon Van Allen brought his small trailer full of grip and lighting equipment. (But we actually kept that down to a few lights, white boards for reflecting, and some c-stands.) Neither shoot was very elaborate lighting wise.

I’m not sure what the actual budget would have been if the talent, crew, rental equipment, etc., were paid their full rate but it would have been a lot. We toyed with the idea of shooting with a couple iPhones just as a challenge and decided that two films at once was enough of a challenge. We heard at least one team in Des Moines used a RED camera and I’m sure that their are some people crying foul over that, but welcome to the real world.

I remember being in film school making a $500. film when another student with wealthy parents was making a $10,000. film. (For what it’s worth, that student has gone on to have the most successful career in Los Angeles of anyone I went to school with. He directed Johnny Depp on 21 Jump Street, as well as episodes of ER, Entourage, The X-Files and one of episodes of Band of Brothers for Stephen Spielberg and Tom Hanks.)

Embrace your limitations and know that there are always people with bigger guns than you. But don’t use that as an excuse not to make films. You have to start somewhere. Our first 48 Hour Film in ’06 was shot with a Panasonic DVX 100 DV camera and a couple lights. And if you ever think you need a RED camera or whatever the newest hottest thing out there is just watch Pieces of April that was shot on a Sony PD 150 years ago.

As an old coach once told me, “It’s not the tennis racket, it’s the tennis player.”

I just received two phone calls that the screening in Des Moines went well tonight.  I was told the film “The Masks We Wear” was a favorite among the directors of other films. That’s good news indeed and the kind comments appreciated. That film was shot with the Canon 7D, a HDSLR camera which lists for around $1,200 and we had a couple of lens. We had a low-cost pipe dolly that rolls on PVC pipes you get at Home Depot, four people as talent, and probably four Arri lights.

Half of the other film we produced, No Day at the Spa, was shot in our conference room and the other half again at Paco Rosic’s studio. (While the films stand alone, they also intersect as well. Something that wasn’t easy to pull off, but hey, if you going to try to make two films in a row why not try to create an enigma? Ideally No Day at the Spa would play first followed by The Masks We Wear.)

No Day at the Spa was shot with the two Panasonic cameras running simultaneously, except for various pick-up shots.  Josh McCabe took the lead editing on Apple Final Cut Pro.

So we spread the love around with a mix of cameras, people and editing systems.

The Film: No Day at the Spa

Scott W. Smith