VF48Hours Lockdown Forum

I think the actors that we work with enjoy it - although for most of them its more like 12 hours rather than 48hours. Sometimes I think it's unfortunate that there is such a thing as post production as it means that some of the team feel less a part of the team than the team members involved in the story and post production.

Generally us warm meat props like the 48 hour. It's a bit of chaos and there tends to be a bit more creative input in to the scripting etc... due to the time constraints.

Let alone the fact that the 48 hour film festival can really put actors through their paces just due to the fast crazy nature of the comp, like for me this year I had a 2:10 monologue to learn.

Unfortunately it does seem to be one of the things I find lacking in quite a few of the shorts. I guess it's just like the cinematographers sitting there cringing at bad shots, us actors are also sitting there cringing at bad actors ;)

in reply to Jason Fitch:

Woa ! 2 min mon ! thats an ask,i'm guessing you were given it Sat morning.

Hopefully the not so good actors will keep at it and hone their skills !

I've been an actor, director, team leader, editor and D.O.P. in various teams. When I've been an actor, I've really enjoyed the chance to just come in and do the best at my job that I can do rather than have to organize a whole lot of production stuff, but depending on the team, you don't always get much influence on what you're going to be doing. For the last few years I've been a team leader and I like to get everyone in the team in on the action at the concept stage of the story development, 'cause that's what I would like as an actor, or any other team member. Also, I love that stage when everyone is firing ideas around.

I know as a director I can't comment from first hand here, but my actors seem to enjoy only having to do one day.
They don't like the uncertainty of it, not being able to know who they will play or what they will be asked to do. But in a sadistic way they also like this.

This year I was acting, co directing, co camera and did all the post... Which was a change for sure! Was a funny experience because it gave me half the experience of being in control, and half the experience in just having to trust that whatever the person on the other side of the camera was looking at was going well.

All in all a useful thing to have done I think.

I can now better see how actors who also direct their features and shorts get it done.

I also have a greater appreciation of the level of trust that actors place in directors and editors, as well as knowing the feeling of getting your performance right and that memory sticking around for a while (which leads to the inevitable excitement when it gets used or disappointment when it can't be used for some reason other than your performance, which isn't so bad when you aret in the edit suite and see why it isn't working, but must be a bit crushing for actors who don't see anything until a film is finished and up on screen)

Thankfully my acting required little more than zombie moans, some facial expressions and over the top limping. Getting lines right, and performing well, let alone actually staying in character as someone believable, is an incredible challenge and good performances are always impressive, even more so in the V48HOURS.

It think it could well be the best training ground and actor can have in New Zealand. Other than studying with Mike Saccente of course.

I got my role in this show: https://www.facebook.com/HoundsTVShow as a direct result of being involved with 48hours. Infact I think all of our team has gained some sort of work in the business from being involved.

If you want to act and you're not entering 48hours, you are missing a trick. I would put it up there with a good headshot and a trusted agent.

in reply to Toby W M Sharpe:

Great to hear mate! Fab to get an outcome like that ! I agree 48 seems like a great place to interpret and apply! If i'm doing casting as well again next year i will be sure to tell potential cast this story! ; )

in reply to Jason Fitch:

this year I had a 2:10 monologue to learn

sorry about that :P

I've been in a couple of 48 hour film festivals in the past as an actor, and found myself not really enjoying the experience. The past entries I was involved with, I'd be told to be at a place at a specific time, arrive with a group of strung out people holding cameras on their shoulders, V cans at their feet, and waving sheets of paper with lines on it.
Ultimately acting for me requires a bit of trust, especially if you're thrown into it, and have a camera pointed at you, and the bewilderment of not knowing what relevancy your part plays in the narrative has lead to some bad performances.

That was the past, but in recent years I've been involved with one group, and I've been really happy with the process! Getting round a table on the Friday of the competition, brainstorming a narrative with the cast, the director, the sound and music guys, having the honour to co-write a couple of entries, it really helped me as an actor to understand what the end to end product was, and really instilled complete trust for my wider crew to give as much as I could to the characters I'd been blessed to play.

I love the 48 Hour Film Festival, and as an actor I've enjoyed it the most these past three years because of the process, the trust everyone in our teams demonstrates to each other's role during the process, as well as getting together to see the final product during the heats, it's fantastic!

My voice work in our animated film last year (Meanie Pants) got me work outside of NZ. Joe Murray (creator of Rocko's Modern Life, Camp Lazlo) asked me to be in his latest cartoon based on my performance. You never know who's watching... it's such a great launching pad.

Just found out our team are city finalists and can now say it feels good!!....Recognition you could say!

I've won the female acting award in Wellington twice, and it's gotten me no work, outside of the comp.

Been great experience though! I would recommend it as a great exercise for actors without much screen experience, as you get to see what you're doing actually looks like on screen and hone it in following years.

: )

My own point-of-view on this is I guess a bit hybrid, since I am both a sometime-actor and also part of the creative/production side for our team. Which in itself is perhaps a point worth making, being that when actors are involved in the writing and otherwise-creative roles, there will be more thought given to how easy or hard this thing you're planning might be for actors to actually pull off, which hopefully leads to happier actors.

Overall I think a team that are disorganised, and/or don't respect their actors, are probably going to have unhappy actors (and not great performances). And of course the opposite will generally be true also.

From a craft-of-acting perspective, one big thing I would encourage is for 48Hours actors to 'rehearse' their characters prior to that first take of the day being recorded, even if that just means being alone in a room in front of a mirror for five minutes. I was acting in one of our films a few years ago, and made some rushed character decisions in the first scene we shot, then later regretted some of them, but for continuity's sake was stuck with what I had done.

in reply to TheNimbleMarmoset:

As we know time constraints are usually the issue as far as rehearsals go but at the least a good character brief would certainly help !

I've actually found that there is plenty of time for rehearsals during the 48hours so long as you can get all your actors in one place on saturday morning then you use pre production time to rehearse the script and as an director I can also use this time to give some notes on the performances and receive feedback from the actors on their lines and make changes where necessary.
For The Unrested Soul there was a bit of chaos saturday morning getting actors organized and locations found so we never got around to doing proper rehearsals but in 2011 for Operator the actors seemed to get a reasonable amount of rehearsal time and I think I'll try and do that again in 2013.

This was the first year we specifically made time for rehearsals, because we were doing a 'serious' one instead of a comedy. It made a huge difference.

Sure, it meant we weren't shooting until 11:30am on the Saturday, but it meant we moved a lot faster during the actual shooting and it showed in the performances, too. I think it's more than worth the couple of hours.

Sun-Zu, from The Art of War says

"Time spent in reconnoittre in never time wasted"

I take it that time/labour invested by an actor in creating a character through language, movement, self education, reflection and rehearsal (individually and with other actors) is always considered an investment, never a cost.

On film, actors live forever. It is their work that we will recall and invest in, as an audience and as a society long after their deaths.

Rehearsal time is the natural equal to the technical testing of workflow.

Theres a new question for us: How many hours were invested in testing your workflow compared to rehearsal hours?

DISCUSS

Personally, I have only been acting for 3.5 years (although 1 of those was as an extra, but we all start somewhere, right!). I went to South Seas in 2009 and spent plenty of time rehearsing before shoots and getting in to the routine of the 5 W's, basically knowing your place in a scene etc etc.

Since then I have been in over 25 shorts, a couple of features, a few plays (I'm concentrating on screen for now) and an interesting little role on good old Shortland Street.

2009 was my first experience of 48 Hour and I think it's fair to say, I have not only been bitten by the acting bug, but also the 48 Hour bug!

Our 2010 entry got best DQ'd nationally and after it received some decent airtime on C4, I made the decision to go to the Grand Final that year, mainly to network. I managed to get a few good contacts there and ended up working with one of those Director's/Writer's this year.

My take on 48 Hour is that you are kind of at the mercy of the writer(s). I try and stick around as long as I can on the Friday night to lend a hand with ideas, but normally leave around midnight. So, the hope is that you turn up early on the Saturday and see something great.

My dream role would be something along the lines of Will Wallace' part in Glow this year, which I found very strong both in performance (I inevitably look at that aspect of the short, being a performer myself; as an editor would critique the cut, cameraman the shots' etc etc).

I am confident in my ability to portray a good emotional range now and although it's true all of my participation so far has been comedic, it was pleasing to see recognition for more 'serious' material this year.

As an actor, my simple goal is to 'change' myself on screen; to have a hurdle I need to somehow get over and achieve my aim. Furthermore, the audience needs to come along with me on this journey; if they don't then my character is not fully rounded (hopefully my performance isn't the reason) and the blame must lie at the story and/or this character development. It's simple stuff and there are always a handful of teams who not only 'nail' the genre, but stick to the simple structure of beginning, middle and end. It works!

From my point of view, I love the competition and hope to keep competing for years to come. Give me a role I can really sink my teeth in to please!

in reply to SeanOC:

Don't feel bad about being an extra mate! work is work and as far as i'm concerned if your given direction and perform to an audience your acting in my books!....It was being an extra on a certain movie with short dudes with hairy feet and going on about some gold ring that got me into the busO! more to the point a certain scene i was doing and a certain well known DIR said to me" thats great i love what your doing,you can do that again"...I was hooked from that moment! ; )

(Uruk Hai attack Aragorn at Amon Hen)