48 Hour Film Project -
8:00 AM to 12:00 PM Saturday

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There wasn't much I could do after 11:30 last night. I did help Keith black out windows with thick black plastic sheeting, but I ran out of wheels, and thought I'd better get some rest if I was going to be able to hit my marks as an actor. Kyle, Nathan, Jim and Jay were working out scripts, and setting up lighting in the rented warehouse that would serve as our location. I bolted for home, set my alarm for 6:30, and warned my nephew G.J. that we would rise early. G.J. initially thought this whole project would be 48 hours of lameness. I guess the movie-dust got in his eyes, because he was excited to start the next day.

An ENORMOUS amount of effort was thrown at this project. About 30 people were involved, all of them scurrying around like soldier ants devouring a water buffalo. The absolute last thing I wanted was to have the whole project tank because I screwed up and forgot something or overslept. This anxiety prompted a restless night. Saturday morning rolled around and I woke at 6:24 AM, beating my alarm clock to the punch.

We arrived on location with our gear, my wardrobe, and various sundries. I had agreed to bring a bow-tie, a paper hat (for the ice-cream man) and paint a sign. I brought my brushes and a hat from the Billy Goat Tavern, but was unable to find a bow-tie. Producer Nathan was cool about it and didn't order two grips to give me a wedgie. Anticipating not only my failure, but the failure of others who promised bow-ties but failed to produce, he had made redundant requests. When time came to shoot, we had one.

It is a testament to the quality of the leadership on this particular team that EVERYBODY seemed to have the mindset that "It's not going to fail because of me". Grips hustled, often breaking out into a full run to fetch a cable or a bottle of fluid for the smoke machine. Mistakes were corrected almost before they were noticed. When Kyle shouted "quiet on the set!", things got quiet, and stayed that way.

The first scene was complicated, and I am rusty. I didn't have the lines down like I should have, and about the fifth time I screwed it up, Jay shooed us away and said, "You have 10 minutes to get your lines straight". We four actors scurried off the set to run through our lines with Kristine, the script supervisor. She made damn sure we had it straight, and we all hustled through the same scene about 20 times. The energy and commitment to not fouling up on camera was palpable. We really wanted to hit the scene like Jay wanted. Once we had our lines down — back to the set. The scene was in the can in about four takes. It was almost noon, and we had a dozen or more of scenes to shoot.

Tim McNabb

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