#48hfp

For our first 48 Hour Film Project in 2021 and our Sci Fi film, "Cleaners", I was 100% into preparing. I read the script over and over before going to bed Friday night. I read it soon as I got up Saturday morning. After a shower and getting dressed, I made myself comfortable in front of our living room windows, read through the script with pen in hand and made editorial notes. Read the script again and made notes regarding music. Read the script again and made notes about sound design.

After that, I gathered as many sound effects as I could before the morning's footage showed up at my door. I grabbed loops and sound I thought could be useful. Visual effects. Templates. A bag of things I could grab off the shelf should the need arise that calls for such specific solutions.

Since then, 2022 + the October horror film that Fall, 2023, and 2024, my process was the same... ish. Reading a bunch, making notes, and doing everything I can to be ready for the edit Saturday afternoon. Sort of making sure I have everything I need as well as a plan.

And this time?

I simplified.

Why?

Because this time around, the writers quickly committed to a genre the producer and director swore never to indulge again. There were two genre choices available and, given locations to which our production was already committed, the second genre simply failed to inspire. But horror? Yes. Absolutely. And so the question became How can we do this in a way that's ours? Instead of trying to embrace a genre, what would this horror movie be if we'd deliberately chosen to do one ourselves in the first place? What would inspire us to reach for this genre were we not involved in a competition compelling us to do so?

Hmmmmm.

Interestingly, I already decided that I wanted something I'd not done before. I wanted a different process for editing a film in 48 hours.

Why?

Because I don't like ruts. Don't get me wrong, ruts, rails, established protocol are great for speed. But they're confining to the thought process which is the point. Don't think... do. And so I changed my process for doing so as to tip the scales toward a different outcome than I'd otherwise conceive. Maybe not better. Maybe not worse. Just guaranteed to be different.

By the way... now that we finished it, yes.

It's totally better. 😁😁😁

And we're not regretting the horror like before.

The horror, in fact, makes our story even better.

This time around, I didn't prep my post-production process. I made no notes. I didn't relentlessly read the script. I gathered no effects, assets, or knowledge. I didn't even set up the project in which I edited. Nor did I establish folders for all the incoming content and outgoing scenes. Instead, the prep I did was more in the lane of preparing me, preparing my brain. Mental exercises. Thinking through editorial decisions I made before, whether they hold up, what I'd do differently and why. The prep I embraced was geared to shaping how I think.

Shaping how I think?

Yup.

Like (even though this was not my call), participating in the writers room Friday night to help conjure our story. Like reading the script twice first thing Saturday morning and then doing yard work... allowing the words to do I don't know what in the background. I even organized my project folders differently, naming each folder after the professional who provided the content. The music folder named with the first name of the composer. The sound design folder named with the first name of the sound designer. The camera footage folder named with the first name of the photographer.

Why?

To create a hitch in my process and force my thoughts down different neural lanes. Literally... to process information differently.

This is not, by the way, a repudiation of the creative process I employed the first time around. This is me choosing a different car with which to propel my creative process because I want to access something different within myself. An alternate superpower, if you will.

And this.

Because I'd not prepared anything other than the condition of my mental processes, I came to the edit with different editorial preconceptions than I'd otherwise have. What I had, of course, was the 90 minutes of story conference in my head from the previous night. I had the story, how it came to be, and where the passionate opinions of writers lay against different parts of that story. So when I started reviewing the first footage I had, the footage for scene 2, that footage wasn't informing a pre-existing genre framework in my head. Instead, that footage was declaring itself. Telling me what it's capable of. For example, the view from behind the main character at the start of scene 1 declares a personal occupation with appearance. The reverse single, meanwhile, communicates human indignity like gangbusters. Which is why I'm on it for so long. Each shot or each significant moment in a shot, declares something. The question for me is... What does each moment communicate and which moments flow together, conjuring the experience the director and producer wish to impart to a theater audience.

And so on.

Change the creative process. Reach a different outcome than you otherwise would have which begs the question Where was this film destined had I used the process I always use?

No idea. I simply chose to choose a different way of thinking that served me. For any project, there are any number of methods that can serve me. I pick one... then full throttle from there.

Whichever one I choose, fulfills the film that results.

It's a helluva thing...

But there you are.

This is really for me. A kind of debriefing and untangling of Seattle's 48 Hour Film Project event that was largely an experiential blur, especially Saturday night and Sunday all day. It's stitched together through Discord voice chats, Discord texts, traditional emails, traditional texts and, yes, actual voice to voice phone calls.

FRIDAY

715p-905pm writers chat, group conversation on Discord voice channel to conjure a story. It actually does take about 90 minutes to get the story on its feet and officically kick-off pre-production in preparation for location 1 shooting the next morning.

SATURDAY

855am text producer and director for behind-the-scenes footage.

911 photos, video, and text from our production at the first location starts showing up on our team's Discord channel. I keep my eye on this across the morning and early afternoon because once this part of the shoot is wrapped, someone's gonna be on their way over with footage.

941 from the director: "Quick question. - HD or 4K?"

that's gonna be 4K.

10:15 behind-the-scenes footage starts showing up in my email.

1030 texting composer about scene 1 music. composer texts back their film music roadmap for our film. we get on the phone and I pitch rom com music and a neutral "murder jingle", laying out my reasoning. I follow up the call with a text about scene 3 and the tech bro. the question: what would the music be for a narcissist?

1045 start working in the yard.

1243pm texting producer a title idea. producer texts back thumbs up, informs me they're wrapped at first location, moving to second location from which a runner will bring me the morning's footage. also, one scene dropped 'cause they ran into a hard out time at location 1. asked producer which moments/performances stuck out. scene 3 tech bro character for sure.

130 finish yard work. hit the shower.

159 director: "Half time. We're at the second location now. The morning went really really well."

210 runner shows up with footage I immediately copy onto hard drive. also turn in my pdf paperwork that's required for this competition.

230 I start the edit with scene 2.

310 quick text with composer about music for scenes 2 and 4. not soundtrack music but music that would actually be in the actual space of these scenes.

333 after playing through each clip from morning shoot, I inform director it's all good.

420 texting sound design that I'd like ambience replacement for all three morning scene locations. I ask if there's a way to make tech bro even more insufferable right up front and he suggests a voice from public address speakers in the office announcing corporate "wisdom". BAM. love it. I agree to pitch this to the producer when there’s a break in the shooting at second location.

447 I describe the public address idea to the composer. the composer loves it and reminds me that I asked for a reminder to cut scene 6 just as soon as it's in the door. the shoot's not over yet, though. I let the composer know to let the background music that's in the physical spaces of scenes 3, 4, and 5 run long. no need to cap, i'm just gonna dump out of that music when I cut to the next scene.

615 Texting the sound designer that producer's signed off on their idea and that additional script for the corporate "wisdom" is on its way so it can be recorded by someone connected to our team who's actually recorded announcements for spas.

perfect!

715 I send over the scene 4 (corporate) file to the sound designer through Discord.

8pm THE POWER GOES OUT! I've gotta battery backup on my workstation, fortunately, so I'm able to save and shut everything down without panicking. I text the composer that I'm dead in the water while they text me they're working on the music for scene 4.

803 director "On my way with the footage."

825 director arrives at my home with the location 2 footage while I'm out front texting the composer.

829 composer emails a rough track for scene 2.

830-900 I walk director through my Plan B while copying location 2 footage onto my drive. I get everything except the one shot from the FX3 camera shooting up through our "wood chipper". director leaves me with all drives and heads back to seattle.

900 texting sound designer about lost power, moving edit to seattle, and now we're all delayed ☹️

10pm sent scenes 2 and 4 to sound design and music. I ask for footsteps to be restored to scene 3 because my voice cleanup got rid of it. Inform both music and sound design that I'm now working on scene 6 (the big one).

1003 I text the director to let him know all's well. didn't have to relocate to seattle. and that I'm cutting with the new footage as we speak.

SUNDAY

1209am deliver cut of scene 6 to both sound designer and composer.

sound design's almost done with scene 3. will bang out 2 and 4 then get some sleep. asks about scene 5... for which nothing's needed.

thumbs up.

1am first batch of scene stems arrive from the sound designer in Discord. These are for scene 3. I return the favor with the scene 1 file through frame.io.

105 I email scenes 1 & 2 together as a single scene file to the composer because music will overlap these two scenes.

140 message from composer "I almost took a nap and then decided to just push through..."

145 second batch of scene stems arrive from sound designer. these are for scene 2. scene 4's gonna be first thing "tomorrow". goodnight!

315am the sound designer's asleep but I've gotta text before I forget that I also need some sound for the credits and for the production company logo that could use a little help being brought to life. I also email the composer the scene file for credits/logo.

317 texting the composer "you still up?"

324 the composer emails the tracks for the scenes 1 & 2 scene file.

354 texts with composer about scenes 1 & 2 music lengths and track separation.

4am I ask composer for an estimation on the work left to do so I can give the producer and director a sense of how the day's gonna unfold once they wake up in a few hours with no first cut waiting for them in their emails.

447 texting the composer that it's lights out for me. will rejoin sustained conscious interactions around 9am.

9am sound designer thumbs up on my credits/logo request

913 composer texts back on 1 hour of sleep that they're sending tracks soon.

945 scene 4 stems arrive from sound designer.

10:03 director: "How are things this morning? I trust you got some sleep. I didn't get a rough cut - I hope the edit went well."

10:09 I let the director know that picture's good but I'm missing a lot of sound because of my previous night's home electrical calamity. both composer and sound designer will continue their availability this afternoon to continue working as well as polishing and making changes at the director and producer's direction in real time.

1030 I check in with sound designer on what work's left to do.

1036 I text the director to hold off coming up a little because there are currently dead moments in the film where music or sound design WILL be.

1043 music for scenes 1 & 2 shows up in my email.

1103 "We'll be there around noon. I'm going to the French bakery - can I bring you and Kimmer a pastry?"

not on our diet... but I surely loved that offer. :-)

1121 scene 1 stems arrive from sound designer.

1225pm scene 3 public announcement corporate wisdom stems arrive at the same time the producer and director arrive at my house. we have a literal BLAST listening to these. winning announcement basically's the one that gets the hardest laugh from each of us. and yes. it's the one about AI that we absolutely put at the top of the scene.

1237 composer's been out for a coupla hours for a previously scheduled meeting. back now. working on credits.

1pm three minute phone call with composer to plot afternoon.

114 credits music shows up in my email.

125 composer calls with quick question.

126 sound designer sends a frame capture of a shot with part of the spray bottle (used for the blood splatter) showing in the lower right corner. there's even a hand drawn thick red line pointing to the frame intruder. :-( at the same time I get a quick update on what the sound designer's working on right now as well as the sound effect for a wood chipper arriving for producer/director approval. it's the most HORRIBLE thing imaginable. so yeah.

perfect!

127 composer's "murder jingle" shows up in my email. I immediately place it into the timeline and it's a huge freakin hit with the producer, especially, who spends the next half hour unconsciously (or perhaps very consciously???) humming it.

136 a quick prank phone call to the composer that starts with "YOU SUCK" because now the producer's behind me humming the murder jingle relentlessly. which, actually, is the sign of a job well done by our composer. :-)

143 I call back to project where we're gonna be over the next few hours.

2pm composer's Logic Pro freezes.

Edvard Munch's "The Scream" goes here.

205 a scene 6 stem from the sound designer shows up including the current plan for additional work on this scene.

215 I ask the producer who's behind me in the suite to text the sound designer that we now have an extended version of scene 6.

219 version 2 of credits music in my email.

228 scene 4 music shows up. then I text a status check on where we are on music given we're at the 5 hour mark 'til deadline.

230 status check on what sound designer's working on just now. answer: logo sound design.

230 "five hours."

314 I deliver lengthened version of scene 6 to sound designer and composer. also, conference call with producer and composer on how music might best fit into scene 6 since now we're in love with what the sound designer's proposing. our advice? stay at lower frequencies. keep out of the way of the sound design frequencies. create something that itself is more sound design than melody.

327 phone call with sound designer for status check.

332 follow-up phone call with composer.

337 logo sound arrives.

338 scene 3 music arrives.

344 composer calls. more discussing of scene 6.

406 sound designer sends over a split screen image of an exposure change mid-shot, asking if that's something in need of a click or a light switch sound effect. nope. it's just a stupid editor mistake. i'm now sending scene files created from a timeline assembly stringing all seven scenes together. inexplicably, instead of embedding a color correction adjustment layer inside each scene sequence, I added it to the final assembly. so now if any timings change in any sequence, the color corrections stop lining up properly which is why the sudden exposure change in the middle of a shot that previously landed on the cut to the next shot. booooooooooooooo.

407 because I'm feeling time closing in, I shoot a follow up text to the sound designer: "call if i don't get back to you right away". we're inside three and a half hours and voice to voice is gonna be most reliable and fast.

414 scene 6 sound design stems mostly done. credits are up next. I ask about the logo sound design not realizing it already arrived about thirty minutes ago. after some mild confusion on my part, i'm set straight and drop the logo sound into my timeline where it's a BIG HIT for me, the producer and director. we laugh ourselves silly. a sudden and involuntary laugh. perfect!

430 "Three hours."

438 scene 7 sound design stems arrive. wants to know if that's it. is he done?

444 I tell him we're watching the whole film. will let him know in six.

453 I send the sound designer the following directive: "you're good to go. RUN. RUNNNNNNNNNNNNN!!!!!!"

454 "Hell yeah! See you next year!"

519 composer allllllllllmost has scene 6 done.

530 "Two hours."

600-624 four quick calls with the composer on the last track coming my way. we're about an hour from deadline.

615 scene 6 music arrives.

624 scene 6 music take 2 arrives. the composer is now officially done and we're taking a last watch of the film, the three of us standing right in front of the monitor and speakers.

630 "One hour."

700 left thank you voice message with composer while producer and director are reviewing the film file before uploading it. the composer is the official award winner for team member with the least amount of sleep this year.

((The End))

AFTERWARD

I'm reminded of my work at KOMO-TV as a Chyron Operator in the booth. Before a news cast went live, I'd be on the phone with reporters and Paintbox. I'd catch quick conversations in the booth with producers, directors, and TDs. That didn't really change once we actually went live. It was doing the work of Chyron Operator while maintaining a web of conversation that was a combination of what I needed to know and execute... and what the director needed to know from me. It was looking at the monitor wall and making predictions about what would be needed. It was listening to conversations in the booth and in my headphones for the same reason. All. At the same time.

In the case of this 48, I'm single tasking from Friday night to Saturday afternoon at 230. After that, I'm editing a particular scene... but I'm also keeping an eye on my email, on Messages, and on Discord. I'm answering calls and texts as they come in. Any assets that are delivered go right into the timeline. The first of these show up at 829 Saturday night, pick up a little in quantity at 1am o'dark Sunday, and kick into high gear around 1230pm Sunday. From that point, with producer and director in the room, there's now a full blown running conversation between the three of us regarding changes, fixes, particular attention to extending the dragging of bodies, and polishing all the way to 630 ish. We're also getting thumbs up/thumbs down in the room on everything coming in. So change requests are immediate when something doesn't work. Also, as time tightens up, I ask the producer to handle some of the information I need to relay to the sound designer or the composer. So it may be that, once upon a time, editing was a solitary experience.

But for the 48?

No. It's all editing, all communicating, all tetris-ing of that editing and communicating that definitely gets real once the edit kicks off. In this case, from 230 on Saturday until 650 on Sunday night when I hand over the finished file on an SD card to the director for review and upload, it's the full responsibility of a film edit run through with the ADHD experience of real-time communications with four other people (two in the room, two out) while executing the full responsibility of a film edit. It involves a weird sort of concentration. A kind of eye of the storm focus. Definitely an effort that taps into my old ability to do my work, communicate real time information with multiple colleagues, whilst being conscious of where I am on the clock. Not... to freak myself out or cause anxiety... but to order and pace the work that's in front of me. To keep me in sync with my post-production colleagues so that, even though we're running late into the afternoon, even though we're cutting closer to the deadline than ever before, we are, in fact, making a controlled descent. We are intentional. We are executive functioning like crazy. We remain decisive about what this film needs to look like, why, and how.

And when we're done?

When the file's uploaded with 12 minutes left on the clock?

We know that we've created the absolute best film we can make in 48 hours. Because as its first audience? Yeah. We love this thing. We polished the hell out of it. We've baked no regrets into our final cut that became complete with a last pair of tweaks on my part just a shade after 630pm Sunday. By my count, we invested two to two-and-a-half hours polishing. Before that, producer, director, editor, sound designer, and composer were making changes and fixes in real time. Judgements on the spot. Requests for changes. Changes executed immediately and delivered not long after.

I won't lie. I could get used to this.

That is, if more sleep could be, you know, involved.