instant films

so it's about 9pm here in LA on a friday night and i'm sitting at my roomates office computer writing. What am i doing you might be asking, a single woman as myself should be out in the clubs, dry humping some 25 year old and getting it on! well, a few months ago my friend recomended me to this thing called instant films. earlier tonight, i went to downtown LA, a trip not made by most Angelenos, to the LA film center and met up with 6 other writers to pick a noun and an adjective out of a hat. I now have to use these words as inspiration to write a 6 page movie script that has to be written by tomorrow morning at 8am. Actually earlier as I have to be in downtown LA (that'll be twice this year) at 8am. So right now instead of writing the script, I am writing in my blog. so then i hand the script in and director pulls it out of a hat and the director gets 4 actors and goes off and shoots it all day saturday. then its edited on sunday and we have a film festival on sunday night. the film when completed will be put up on the internet so all of you who can't make the festival in LA on sunday night can still see it. Below is all the instant film info. They do this like 8 times a year and have done 20 of these festivals so far.

The Instant Films Story

Instant Films takes all the conventional wisdom about filmmaking and turns it on its head. Taking advantage of new technologies Instant Films creates a intense and exciting environment where filmmakers don’t have time for pretension, ego or second thoughts.

Here’s how it works:

DAY ONE
At 8pm Friday night, 7 writers each select two random words and a cast breakdown (for example 2 woman, 2 men). Each writer has 12 hours to complete an eight page script which incorporates all of the above.

DAY TWO/THREE

At 8am Saturday morning, the actors and directors assemble and the writers deliver their scripts.
The directors randomly pick one of the completed scripts.
A cast is chosen randomly from the pool of actors.
Production begins. The Directors have less than two days to shoot and edit their films using the cast they were assigned.
SHOWTIME
Directors bring their finished films to the theater by 6pm Sunday.
At 8pm the films are shown to a live audience!
Instant Filmmaking is about invention, inspiration, innovation and insanity in the face of what didn’t seem possible just a few hours before. Normal filmmaking is about careful planning and design, carefully crafted scripts and cautious casting decisions. Instant Filmmaking is about instantaneous creativity and on the spot decisions. Casting is random, the budget is zero, writing is one draft and everything is done in as little time as possible.

The funny thing is that the end result is sometimes more entertaining than movies that were years in the making.

But we are not trying for quality, the rules are not set up to ensure quality, we are trying for an atmosphere of playfulness, ingenuity and sweat that is the fountainhead of creativity. Past participants have said it is the most fun they have ever had and the experience left them inspired and energized. If you can make a movie in 48 hours you can do anything!.