Orange Media Filmworks’ Twisted Date: winner of four awards at the First Annual Cinesol 24 Hour Film Dash, May 2 and 3, 2009, including Best Sound (Rigo Montenegro), Best Original Music (Jason R. Johnston), Honorable Mention: Cinematography (Jason R. Johnston) and Second Place Overall. The nine total competing films were screened before the awards ceremony held May 8, 2009.
Teams had from noon Saturday to noon Sunday to create a five minute short film from scratch with the following requirements:
Prop: umbrella
Character: nerd
Dialogue: “You had me at hello.”
Action: spilled drink
Theme: twist of fate
Shot on a Panasonic AJ-SPX800P with an RNG35 v3.1 DOF adapter, with Nikon 50mm f/1.4 prime, mounted onto an AJ-D610WBP zoom. Recorded in standard def 1.78:1 (16×9) on P2, but composed and later flipped and matted for 2.39:1. Lowell tungsten lamps used, none brighter than 250W.
Director: Edward Cordero
Producer: Ivan Buenrostro
Writer: Bertha Gonzalez
Executive Producer: Erick Treviño
Cinematographer, Music: Jason R. Johnston
Editor: Gabriel Ramirez
Sound: Rigo Montenegro
Grips: Belit Martinez, Amanda Ramirez
Donald: George Magee
Gaby: Gabriella Gutierrez
Amy: Bianca Cantu
Drunk: Ivan Buenrostro
Waitress: Binky Cantu
May 4, 2009 – Making “Twisted Date”
Behind the scenes on location at Speakeasy in McAllen, TX for Orange Media’s “Twisted Date” (working title). I was DP on this short film submission to the Cinesol Film Festival’s first annual 24 Hour Film Dash competition, held this weekend, where teams had one day to create a five minute short film from scratch.
The production was plagued with problems from the beginning which stemmed from fragile egos behind the scenes. The director and crew tried to quell any hostility but in the end, the show suffered. I think there were a lot of great things that happened on set with our actors and there were some wonderful technical achievements for the team, but as a whole the film was too ambitious and deliberate to have been told well in 5 minutes. This project was a definite learning experience for everyone involved.
Originally titled “Twisted Date”, which may change due to a naming conflict with another team, the show’s premiere will be held at Cinesol’s 24 Hour Film Dash screening and awards ceremony this Friday, May 8, 2009. I will post the finished film here after the premiere.
