By Scott Thompson
At 10 a.m., on what happened to be Friday the 13th, Jacob Moffat and Jared Cardon, along with about 200 other people, gathered at the SCERA Center for the Arts in Orem for registration and instructions regarding this year''s 24-hour Movie-Making Marathon.
The 54 teams, of no more than five people each, were to create a completely original film based on this year''s theme of mercy. The film had to be written, shot, edited and turned in within 24 hours. Due to the high number of entries this year, almost 20 more teams than last year, Christian Vuissa, the director of the festival, decided to cut the maximum length of each film to three minutes, from four minutes last year, in order to allow screening time for all the movies.
The majority of the $30 entry fees from each team would go to prize money for the overall winners. First prize this year will be $500, with second and third places pulling in $200 and $100, respectively.
Last year''s winner, and BYU graduate, Mark Hedengren delivered a little pep talk before the starting gun was fired. 'Art, and the creation of art, regardless of the medium ... is performance,' he said. 'There is no reason why you couldn''t make a film in the next 24 hours that will get you into a national festival.'
In order to ensure new, original work and foster creativity, all film entries were required to contain certain elements. The artists had to use the line, 'I should have ... ' and include a candle somewhere in the film, while building their piece around the common theme of 'mercy.'
As the meeting adjourned and teams rushed to begin this artistic blitz, Moffat and Cardon were not letting stress get to them.
'We''re going to get something to eat,' said Moffat, a junior from Mesa, Ariz. majoring in film, as they headed off to get creative.
At 1:30 p.m., with 21 hours to go, Moffat and Cardon have met with the third member of their group, Jackson Barlow, at another friend''s house located south of BYU campus. The French toast and orange juice on the dining room table were cleared away to make room for three Macintosh PowerBooks, used to jot down any and all ideas that crossed their minds.
Their brainstorming session, accompanied by episodes of 'The Office' in the living room, covered topics ranging from the good Samaritan and 'Les Miserables,' to hairstyles and Reginald Snickersnack, one of Cardon''s alter egos from the Laugh Out Loud comedy troupe.
They tried to find a merciful theme for their film by relating personal anecdotes and confronting racial and other social stereotypes.
With the time limit of each entry down to three minutes, the team felt they wouldn''t have time to convey a serious message in a serious fashion.
'Humor has to happen,' said Cardon, a senior from Mesa Ariz. majoring in film.
With their background and experiences in Laugh out Loud, Moffat and Cardon decided it was only with comedy that they could convey their positive message in so short a time.
'Man, this is hard,' Cardon said, as the ideas spilled over into the fifth hour of collaboration and the team had still not settled on a story. 'This is always the hard time, the ''banging your head against the wall'' time.'
At 6 p.m., entering the seventh hour, the team finally had a solid idea of what they wanted to do. As the story unfolded, thanks in part to Jacob and the great root beer explosion, the three filmmakers became more and more excited about realizing their idea.
As soon as everyone was on board, the team members began to divide themselves up and work on specific roles. Cardon sat down to write, and the other two left to gather the required equipment and props.
Barlow, a senior from Draper majoring in film, was voted by the others to be the director. Since he had the most directing experience, he definitely felt up to the task. Barlow had also participated in last year''s festival.
'It was kinda obvious to have Jackson direct us,' Moffat said.'He made one of the best batches of French toast that any of us have had.'
At 2 a.m., with only eight hours to go, the script was complete and the team had entered the third hour of shooting. They were really struggling with a difficult scene involving rather volatile sparkling cider.
When filming had begun, the men on the team were joined by their last two team members, Emily Moffat, Jacob''s better half, and Eleanor Rossell, a friend of the guys.
The temperature had dipped below freezing as the team reluctantly headed out into the night for another outdoor scene.
'Fortunately we only had to do two takes, it was great,' Emily, a senior from Mesa Ariz. majoring in Music Dance Theater, said while trying to warm herself by the fireplace.
As they entered the 18th hour, carefully acted scenes began to give way to slurred speech and painful, physical performance as the crew began to grow tired.
'Now it''s the point where I don''t even care anymore,' Barlow said. 'I just want it to get done.'
By 4:30 a.m., the women cast members had gone home and Moffat had sat down to begin the arduous task of editing. Downstairs, Barlow and Cardon cleaned up after a scene that had a Christmas tree bursting into flames inside the house.
'I did a commercial that was a minute long and it took me about a month to edit,' Barlow said. The team had less than six hours to edit their hour and a half of video down to three minutes.
The three men took turns in the editing chair as the deadline drew near. One would edit until he could no longer keep his eyes open, and then rudely pass the task onto another who was trying in vain to catch some sleep.
'It was kinda like a tag-team wrestling match, but without the rope,' Moffat said.
At 9:55 the next morning, with only a half-hour left until the deadline, the team was still editing.
'It''s crunch time,' Moffat said, for the first time with a little worry in his voice.
Meanwhile, at the SCERA center, only a third of the 54 groups had turned in their final product. Most stumbled in and with very tired eyes shuffled over to hand their film to Vuissa, the festival director. Most had not slept at all. Some managed a few fitful hours.
Even young Brandon James, who, at only 11 years old, was one of the marathon''s youngest competitors, didn''t get to bed until 5:30 a.m. The Springville boy, accompanied by his friend James Anderton, also 11, shot a film with only their friends, though Dad helped in the editing process. Both boys plan to be back next year.
At 10:23 a.m., well over half of the entries had been turned in. The team still had not arrived at the theater.
'That was really exhilarating,' said Jeremy Hemingway, 22, a junior communications major from Hollister, Calif., as he turned in his team''s project.
At exactly 10:29 a.m., seconds before the deadline, Jacob rushed through the door with the final product in hand and teammates fast on his heels. They were so tired that they had a hard time speaking in coherent sentences.
'This is an experience akin to hiking the Grand Canyon or, I hear, having a baby,' Cardon said. 'You just think ''Why did I do this?'' Then, like two days later, you realize it was so much fun.'
Their completed film, 'Light the Tree,' can be seen during the 24-hour Movie-Making Marathon screening, which starts at 7:30 p.m. Thursday at the SCERA Center for the Arts in Orem.
The entries will be judged and prizes awarded at the screening Thursday night.
(For comments, e-mail Scott Thompson at mwasa254@yahoo.com)