Competitors make films in a flash for 48 Hour Film Project

In a conference room at Creative Edge in Jackson, local film producer Jason Gibson and the members of Doctor Deuce Productions had an important decision to make. With only a few minutes to decide, Gibson asked his team "musical or western, or wild card?"

"A musical could either be really good or really bad," said audio technician Craig Marshall. "But I think we can do it."

On Friday night, the Doctor Deuce Productions team frantically set out to write, direct, shoot and edit a short musical for this year's 48-Hour Film Project. While the average film production takes several months or even years, the 48-Hour Film Project gives filmmakers 48 hours to make a movie. The genres are drawn blindly, meaning that Gibson's team had no idea it would be making a musical until 7 p.m. Friday.

Seventy-four teams of aspiring filmmakers from the area converged at St. Louis's kickoff event Friday night to draw for genres that included fantasy, thriller/suspense, comedy and 11 other random possibilities.

While Gibson's team drew musical or western -- an unfavored genre for many -- Dogs and Cats Living Together, another team formed in Cape Girardeau, got mockumentary at the luck of the draw.

"That was a genre we were already kind of shooting for," said the team's producer Louie Benson.

Before they draw genres, the Project announces a character, a prop and a line of dialogue each team must include in their movie to ensure no film is written and produced ahead of time. This year, the line was "Have you ever seen anything like it?"; the character name and occupation was Ashley or Ashton Brown, "expert"; and the prop was a picture of mom and/or dad. Te teams' finished films, no longer than seven minutes, had to be submitted to a panel of judges in St. Louis by 7:30 p.m. Sunday.

Gibson's team had been throwing around ideas since last year, and Gibson proposed an idea he and Marshall had been joking about for weeks. They decided on "TIME MAN," a story about a man who travels back in time to relive his lunch -- an amazing pizza -- from the day before. The team finished the script and retreated for some sleep around 1 a.m. Saturday.

Benson's team also spent Friday night writing. Director Scott Elsey said the script, about a man and his quest to build a big pyramid in the Midwest, wasn't finished until almost 6 a.m. Saturday. But by early afternoon the team was shooting video in Scott City.

"The perfect location for a 500-by-500 mile pyramid," said leading actor Patrick Sullivan.

Doctor Deuce Productions team filmed at Creative Edge in Jackson. Marshall and composer Chase Wright, produced music to go along with the movie. The songs, Gibson said, turned out to be a lot of fun.

"The experience was hilarious and we really made each other laugh," he said. "I think our group really clicked personality-wise."

Though they filmed extended ending credits sung by actor/writer Ben Sample and shot with a made-up music group, the team didn't include it in the final production. They also cut a scene of the lead character's failed attempts at time travel to fit the 7-minute length requirement.

After a long night and day of editing, Gibson and writer Tyler Burk arrived in St. Louis by the deadline Sunday to turn in their film.

"We're all more than pleased with what we came up with and are more than excited to see how it plays out," Gibson said.

Benson and Elsey submitted their final version of "The Great American Pyramid of the Midwest" at 7:20 p.m. -- 10 minutes before deadline.

"TIME MAN" was screened Wednesday night and "The Great American Pyramid of the Midwest" will be shown today at 7 p.m. at the Tivoli Theatre in St. Louis. The victor -- "Best of St. Louis" -- will go on to compete internationally for prizes of cash and film production gear and a chance to be screened at the 2010 Cannes Film Festival.

Other honors include "Best of" awards for all the films in areas such as directing, script, cinematography, editing, acting, music and effects. Winners should be announced within the next week.

Regardless of the awards, Benson said he enjoys the challenge.

"Everyone wants to be that chef that can cook the best meal you've ever eaten in 30 or 45 minutes. It's basically that same kind of concept. You want to see if you can make this great movie in 48 hours. It's really challenging yourself. Making yourself better is what it's all about for me."

Pertinent addresses:

Creative Edge

160 North Enterprise Lane

Jackson, Mo. 63755

Tivoli Theatre

6350 Delmar Blvd.

St. Louis, Mo.