Some of the most grueling competitions begin with a rip, not with a bang.
Northwestern students competed over the weekend against 13 of the nation’s top film schools in the second annual Project Pioneer 2880, an extreme DVD-making competition sponsored by Pioneer Electronics. Pioneer supplied each group with a DVD burner, $500, a one-sentence scenario and 2,880 minutes — or 48 hours — to write, shoot, edit and burn onto a DVD a short film with special features.
On the line: a $20,000 prize, a trip to Las Vegas in January for the producer and director, and the egos of everyone involved. Last year NU’s team competed but did not place in the top three.
Most of the crew members this year were awake for at least 40 hours during the project.
“There’s only so much you can do in preparation for it,” said the film’s director, Communication senior Emily Petrone. “Then you just have to go with it.”
The competition began Saturday at 9 a.m. and was to end at 9 a.m. today, when the DVD was to be mailed to Pioneer. There it will be judged by a panel of industry professionals. Judging is based on cinematography, screenplay, performance, editing, use of technology and overall impression.
Four writers and two producers assembled in Petrone’s living room Saturday morning as project advisor Prof. Jason Betke ripped open the envelope containing the scenario the writers had to include in their script. It read: “While moving into a new apartment, Chris finds a pair of shoes and notices that they are the right size.”
The writers, seated on couches and chairs around a coffee table, immediately began throwing out ideas. Assistant producer Danielle Ongart, a Communication senior, began serving coffee. The ideas began to flow, and some of the writers stood acting out lines. For the directors and producers, that was the time when they just let the writing team go. In another room they began scouting locations and calling actors.
By 9:43 a.m. the writers made their first pitch of a story line to the director and producers. That was the reality check for the writers, where their creativity was balanced with the limitations of the project.
“I like the idea for the shoes,” Petrone said, but then listed aspects that wouldn’t work.
The crew settled on the details. The film, entitled “Sole Searching,” is about a man that gets kicked out by his girlfriend for being too macho. Then, he finds women’s shoes in the refrigerator of his new apartment, and the shoes help him get in touch with his feminine side, leading to a reunion with his girlfriend.
Filming began Saturday at noon, and by 5:45 p.m. the crew was at their third location — a shopping scene — at Possibilities, a knick-knack shop at 1235 Chicago Ave.
“We’ve lucked out so far,” said the producer, Kevin Welch, a graduate film student. Everything was running on schedule.
As the actors recited their lines, writer and Communication senior Min Xiu Wu, moved and swayed as if he were at a rap concert. During the funny parts, the whole crew smothered their laughter, even through the sixth take of the same line.
At 6:15 p.m. the crew moved outside to the corner of Dempster Street and Chicago Avenue. There, in the 10th hour, tensions began to simmer. The crew didn’t have permission to film there.
“It’s kind of like guerrilla filmmaking,” Petrone said. “We shoot and hope no one notices.”
Ongart and Welch were concerned they would be caught. As Petrone focused on technical aspects and ensuring camera angles and lighting were just right, Ongart got antsy.
“We’re going to get yelled at right now,” protested Ongart, as Petrone said to an actor, “Lean in, we need more of a moment here.”
Finally, at 6:50 p.m., the crew moved on to film an apartment scene, where they remained until filming was completed at 7 a.m.
The film editors began their job at 10 a.m. Sunday, and at 3:25 p.m., Welch was the only one who hadn’t slept yet.
“No rest for the weary,” he said, his green eyes bloodshot and rimmed by dark circles. “And no rest for the producer.”
While the film itself was being spliced together in a lab in Louis Hall, Ongart, a sound designer and a writer, began work in Fisk Hall on the special features for “Sole Searching.”
“This project kind of sucks you in,” said Communication senior Sarah Peters. “I said, ‘Sure, I’ll write for this!’ and now I’m attached to it creatively and want to make sure it turns out well.”
Unlike the speedy contest, judging for the contest will take least a month.
