Before the general public came in, I stared at the grandeur of the beautifully restored AFI Silver Theatre in Silver Spring, Maryland. It’s streamlined interior (left) seemed too grand a setting for what was to come: the screening of our 48 Hour Film.
What an experience, seeing something you made projected 30 feet high in a classic movie palace!
I don’t really want to denigrate any of the other films, some of which had great gems of an idea… but just needed a little higher standard of production. They all seemed just too long. And that’s why I am so surprised about tonight because I was terribly worried that our film, at 4 minutes 45 seconds, was too short. In fact, as it turns out, it was the perfect length, very refreshing after sitting through some films twice as long.
We got a couple of rounds of applause during the film itself, which was encouraging, and the credits got their own kudos from the audience. (I hate credits that are just words on the screen, I want something that gets their attention and holds it.)
One of the things I thought would annoy people was the stuttered, still-picture style movement. But in fact, during a Q&A after the screening, someone actually asked how it was done!
As we left, one of the project organizers let it be known that she thought it was our best effort yet.
It’s amazing to me that sometimes, when you think you’ve done a bad job, people will come out of the woodwork to assure you that you did good. I only ever see the flaws in things I do. Sometimes it’s difficult to see when I did good.
And then I got home and discovered in the mail one of those traffic tickets from a speed-activated camera, saying that I had been doing 36 in a 25 zone. You know, I love the city, but I never read the signs.
