There are a few rules: the entire movie must be written, shot, edited, and turned in within 48 hours. It must be no longer than seven minutes, plus one minute for credits, and there is a specific character, prop, and line of dialogue that must be included in each entry.
I had no idea what to expect from this, but I’d passed up the chance to work on the last 48 Hour that Viral Media Network and burntwire.tv entered back in February and then regretted it when I saw the finished movie, so this time around I was keen to horn in on the action.
The screening was last night at the Lumiere and it was extremely edifying hearing the audience reaction. Below is the whole thing, freshly uploaded to YouTube, and further down you can find my commentary on it, which I’m sure you were all just on the edge of your seats for, weren’t you?
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0:05 - "Dark Comedy": A big part of the catch with 48 Hour is that your genre is assigned to you randomly. We were a little worried that we might end up drawing "Family Film" or something else that just isn't our style.
Needless to say, when we got the text saying "Dark Comedy" we felt like we'd won the frigging lottery. Although reading that sentence back makes me think that I, perhaps, have a narrow perspective on just what it would actually be like to win the lottery...
0:20 - The catchy but creepy score you hear through this entire thing comes courtesy of Frank Slodysko, and I really can't say enough about how much it adds to the production. At some point during the script-writing process, I remember someone saying how important the music would be to this movie, and at the time all I could think was: "Wow, he's right. Shit, I hope somebody's gonna get on that..."
0:24 - "burntwire.tv": The name of the videocast from our producer and co-producer, siblings Marie and Jose Hernandez. Or, as one of our actors referred to them, "the Hernandi."
0:31 - "Viral Media Network": Principally Sam Jack and Colin Murray, without whom there would be no Variety Society (a couple of my acquaintances are right now making snide remarks in that vein, so I'd like to take this opportunity to say fuck you guys).
0:28 - Every time I see that Gay Pride flag flapping in the background I remember the discussion about what the weather would be like for outdoor shooting that day. According to Jose, sunny days look good on camera and cloudy days make for good atmosphere, but a windy day just fucks everything up.
So during the screening I could not stop assessing the wind level during every single team's movie, and sure enough, he's right, wind really does just fuck up your scene, including one case where it blew away the script the lead actor was surreptitiously reading from.
0:53 - Justin Lane Lutter, of course, being the head writer on “The Variety Society”, which primarily just means he’s in charge of me. When I see this credit I can’t help but think about his proposed on-air supervillain character called the “Head Writer”, who knocks people out and writes messages on their foreheads.
Yeah, I know, but trust me, it'll be funny when he actually does it...
1:04 - This porch plus all of the exteriors for the murder scenes are Jose’s place.
Crazy thing about this building is that inside there is a video intercom, and when you push the button expecting to just get voice you may be startled by the image that pops up on the screen. Even more startled is the person on the porch, who likely does not know they are on camera. If I lived here, I'm certain I would find some way to abuse this gadget within a week.
The interiors are from Peter Samuels’ place across town, whose very large apartment is probably too nice for these characters to be living in, but it looked good and was spacious enough to shoot in easily, so fuck it.
1:12 - Here’s Alec Ditonto as Dan Sagan, the debt collector. Dan the Debt Collector was the assigned character that every team had to include. Alec might have thought I was laying it on thick when I kept praising him for this thirty second part, but I really was happy with how natural his delivery was compared to some of the eleven other Dan Sagan’s we saw at the screening.
For the record, we’re quite aware that debt collectors don’t usually show up in person to deliver a summons, but we had to think of some reason why he would be at the door instead of just calling like most collection agents do. So to review, we explained away something he wouldn’t do by having him do something else he wouldn’t do. Did I mention we only had 48 hours to get this done?
1:18 - And here’s Erik Braa, the Variety Society’s announcer. Really though, I’m doing him a disservice by referring to him just as that, because Erik is an incredibly talented voice actor who is probably really too good for our show. I encourage you to stop reading me right now and instead go to his site and listen to his demo, because it’s blisteringly funny. Really, it left blisters.
1:38 - Finally we have Sam Jack, executive producer on the Variety Society, and alter ego of the California Crusher. Last time we saw Sam he was wearing shorts and a California state flag as a cape, rolling around on our stage singing karaoke, and threatening to bleach his hair in front of the audience (which he then did). Some day the world will truly appreciate our art.
If you watch the movie again (hint hint), pay close attention to Sam’s various reactions, because some of them are just inspired. And we learn so much from Sam in this movie! For example: no matter how shocking the news you’re receiving is, it’s probably not necessary to get up off the couch over it. And for the love of God, don’t stop watching TV or eating cookies.
In short, don’t do anything crazy.
1:45 - Once we’d agreed on the story, the washing bloody hands in the sink image was the first thing that popped into my head. I’d like to say that I immediately thought of it as a good way to clue the audience in to what was going on as quickly and easily as possible, but in truth that just occurred to me right this second.
The “Serial Killer Roommate” idea was one of about fourteen or fifteen initial story pitches we came up with (some of which were so good I wish we had a chance to still do them). It went through so many variations and permutations that I honestly do not remember whose idea it originally was (although that’s a pretty good indicator that it wasn’t mine). It might be the least original or clever concept on the list, but also the one that most easily lent itself to dark comedy. Originality is overrated anyway (said the would-be screenwriter...).
2:00 - In the script, one of the explanations Erik gives for the bloody hands and sink is “a bird flew into the garbage disposal.” All I can say by way of an explanation is that it was very late when we were finishing this up.
2:47 - “Do you have any questions?” was the required line of dialogue that had to be included. See, this is why you can’t put me in charge of a thing like this, because I would have forced people to use “This octopus is too buttery!” or something like that. Cuz I’m a dick.
3:06 - Jose cameos as the cable guy, which is appropriate, since the “kill the cable guy to get free cable,” joke was his idea. And that’s one of the best examples I can cite of how a seemingly small contribution makes a big difference in a collaboration, because once the idea that the character kills people just as a convenient way to get things he wants was introduced here, it almost immediately became the entire story.
3:30 - Oh God, the dead Girl Scout. When certain people see this, I’m just never going to hear the end of it.
Why a Girl Scout, you may ask? Well, here’s something I’ve learned about trying to make a movie or a TV show when you have absolutely no time or money: if you write a scene or a joke that revolves around a costume or prop that no one has at that moment, you can kiss that idea goodbye. But if someone actually has an unusual costume or prop on hand, it pretty much has to be used. To do otherwise would seem downright irresponsible.
So once we learned that someone had this Girl Scout costume leftover from Bay to Breakers, that clinched it, the Girl Scout was going in. At one point I even tried to object, but Justin overruled me with: “We already have the costume!” And I couldn’t gainsay that. It’s a solid argument.
That’s Melissa Davies playing the world’s tallest Girl Scout, by the by. Like Alec, I think she might have been skeptical of the praise I heaped on her miniscule role, but every time I see her peering into that window and then shouting “GIRL SCOUT COOKIES!” like a Tourette's outburst, I crack up.
3:42 - You wouldn’t believe the huge laugh this scene got in the theater, so much so that it drowned out the next joke. It’s nice to know that other people are not, in fact, better than I am after all.
Justin pitched an ending where the not-quite dead Girl Scout climbs out of the planter and gets revenge on Erik. I honestly don’t know why we didn’t go with that, it would have been hilarious. But for some stupid reason I didn’t like it at the time, so I guess you’ve got me to blame.
4:00 - Chalk was the required prop, and we thought of the outline very early in the process (we weren’t even out of the car, in fact). Lots of other teams had the same idea.
Suggested but unused ideas for funny chalk outlines included a marching band, Civil War re-enactors, a ventriloquist and his dummy, a weightlifter, and a guy in a mascot costume. The last line about the Chinese New Year parade was supposed to match a chalk outline of five or six guys under the big dragon costume they use for that, but I suspect it was too hard to draw.
4:48 - Alec’s socks are not an intentional wardrobe choice, they just happened to be the socks he wore that day. Happy accident, as they also got a huge laugh at the screening.
If the camera had pulled back a bit more, you would see that Alec is being towed in an old toy wagon that matches the color of his socks. Believe it or not, that wagon was just lying around the yard, apparently belonging to a neighbor who has a large collection of toys for unspecified Burning Man-related purposes...
5:00 - So, I got in from the scripting session at about three in the morning. At five that same morning I got out of bed, booted up my computer, and sent an email pointing out an oversight we’d all made: earlier Erik says he wouldn’t kill Sam because “Who would pay the rent?” but then at the end of the movie he appears to be ready to do just that.
This bit with the rent check was added the day of shooting, I assume to fill in that hole. I just bring this up because I’d like it noted that although I am dimly aware that to some people that five AM fresh-out-of-bed-after-two-hours-of-sleep email might seem strange, in my private little world this is what passes for normal behavior.
5:05 - I literally never get tired of hearing Erik say “Wanna help me bury a body? It’s gonna be super fun!” It’s the little things that help you get by day to day.
5:27 - We spent hours trying to figure out how to end this thing. We were pretty sure someone had to die, but we couldn’t figure out who or how. Does Erik kill Sam? Does Sam kill Erik? Hardly anything else COULD happen, but both resolutions felt predictable.
This ambiguous ending was kind of a compromise, and I don’t think anyone was really happy with it, but once I saw it on screen I couldn’t imagine it ending any other way (except for Girl Scout revenge, perhaps), and the audience seemed to think it was hilarious. I credit Erik’s delivery and Frank’s score for selling it.
5:33 - There are 17 different people credited, which is a pretty good indicator of how much more work goes into even a very short movie than I or probably you ever considered.
Talking to Melissa after the screening, I discovered that a scene of her hand bursting out of the planter box had been shot as a joke. I really wish I’d been there for editing, because I would have insisted on including it as a stinger after the credits.
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