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On Saturday, I snagged an early morning ride to Santa Cruz to check out Cinemasports, a "competition" in which teams of filmmakers are given a list of ingredients and are sent off to make a three and a half minute film to be screened that evening.
About twenty teams, ranging from 2 man crews to 12 person posses, headed out into the streets, hills and beaches of Santa Cruz to make a movie.
Teams also contributed to the Cinemasports blog throughout the day.
Here's some of what I saw down there:
SANTA CRUZ, California -- Digital video cameras, PowerBooks and wannabe filmmakers were stress-tested on Saturday, when teams of filmmakers raced to make movies screened hours later at an international film festival.Saturday's event was the latest from Cinemasports, which dubs itself the Iron Chef of filmmaking.
As in the cult cooking show, teams were given a short list of must-have ingredients for their movies: a close-up of a street sign, the words "spirit world" in conversation and someone stepping on something.
Teams then had a few short hours to channel adrenaline and cinema skills to write a script, scout locations, find music, shoot scenes and edit the piece into a 3 1/2-minute movie.
Just minutes into filming, Anna Fizyta found herself borrowing Kun Shin's cell phone to convince a local friend to be their bicycle stuntman, while Alex Vlacos was filming the movie's star having a conversation on a street bench with an elderly passerby and Arnaud Dressen, a Parisian in town for the competition.
Andrew Shoneberg, a market research analyst by day, hovered over Vlacos' shoulder, giving the trio acting directions.
Shin, an administrative assistant in Oakland, was the team's veteran. In his first Cinemasports adventure, he was called on to make out with a girl, wearing only his underwear. This time around his team had him edit most of the film, including the scene where he had an intimate moment with a blow-up doll behind a shopping cart.
This is Team Lost, which might have been better named Team Found, since none of the members knew each other before Saturday when they found themselves working together to make a movie in nine hours.
It is a feat that would be unimaginable in the days before digital video cameras, sleek laptops and powerful editing software. With those tools, the task is adrenaline- and ulcer-inducing.
Full story here.
There's links to a couple of films in the piece.
There's also this film about finding your true calling, from freelance writer Paige Bierma and her team.
And I got so into the whole thing, that during the down time when teams were editing, I decided to make my own film. Thing is I only had my digital camera, a Canon A70, that's meant for photos, not movies. I had just enough room for this 2 minute movie on the camera, but the video function on the camera doesn't support multiple takes or pausing the action or zooming or panning.
So here's my one take, one focal length, one person CinemaSports film for your enjoyment.
Posted by Ryan Singel at May 10, 2005 10:51 AM
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Fantastic! My brother has been helping out with these as they happen in Europe, especially in London. It seems to be taking off. I'm glad you had fun.
Posted by: Beatrice M at May 11, 2005 10:47 AM