48 hours, part 1

According to the producer, he's been in charge of this for the past nine years.
There was only one year, the very first one, before Anthony Paderewski took charge.
That means the 48hr Film Project Savannah has hit its ten-year mark - bravo!
This time, they're in a new venue, off West Jones, near Garrison Elementary School.
It's a big warehouse of a place - Savannah Film Company.
I do hope that will be it's permanent home!
Meanwhile, here's what the "menu" held tonight (and in the order screened):

* Fresh Take Films, "GETTING TO FIRST"
* The Mongooses, "The Exchange"
* Hillbilly Films, "Vampir de Canalizare"
* Fix It In Post Productions, "A Great Day"
* Top Ten Productions, "Fam Bam"
- - intermission - -
* Irish Pizza Productions, "The Session"
* Onslaught of Aussies, "The Agreement"
* A.C.T. Out - "Command Post 9"
* Mojave 4 Films, "The Dame, The Diplomat, & The Detective"

All films had to meet these three criteria:
1) Character: Thomas or Tina Chello, Foreign Visitor
2) Prop: a pair of pliers
3) Line: "It's going to be a great day. OR It is going to be a great day."

Beyond that, they had to meet the film genre the team drew from a hat.
Then they could let their imagination run wild!
And they did, coming forth with some very creative work!

"Getting To First" incorporated a lot of baseball jargon into their romantic comedy of a teen lesbian trying to make her first date. And where was she trying to do this? At her mom's birthday party! Thanks to Grandma, for helping out the team! LOL!

"The Exchange" was sci fi, with the lovely Cree Michelle Rogers in a serious role as a kind scientist trying to help an alien that was under attack. This was the only film to have both Tina and Thomas Chello. Way to go, y'all!

"Vampir de Canalizare" was classified as horror, but it could also have been 'comedy'. How so? Well, we had my brother Smitty's friend, Tom Nelson, reprising his role as Slick Sneed for the fifth time! Remember the aging rock star who first appeared in 2013? Yes, that one! The character then died in 2014... and 2015... and 2016... and did not appear at all last year. But he was back this time, and baring a haunch with two fang marks to boot! Hilarious!

"A Great Day" felt like a 'romance' at first, but then we found out it was thriller! In the foreground, we have a wedding near, but the backstory is the groom-to-be is an assassin with plans to avenge a death in Panama. The team even had brief footage from there!
Of course, I loved that, having lived in that sun-kissed country -
and basked on its tropical beaches - for two years.
(smile)
I also loved the ending of this one!
Nicely done!

Then, it was time for a superhero flick!
"Fam Bam" revolves around a young girl,
the daughter of superhero parents...
but she is normal.
Will she never have special powers???
Then an evil stranger arrives and attacks...
what will she do with those pliers???
Stay tuned...
(smile!)



But, now, take a few moments and get up and stretch!
Intermission, y'all!

*
*
*

... and we're back!
My northerner friend, Bill Cooper (the tall man in the middle) was part of the large cast in "The Session".
This was definitely a comedy, though it was centered on group therapy for first-world woes.
(Oh, I'm addicted to my phone!
Oh, I'm afraid of dentists!)
Oh, what a delightful twist at the end!


This next one, "The Agreement", even came with a rap video in the end credits! A true fish out of water - i.e., stranger in a strange land - romp, with a woman returning unexpectedly from abroad to find her flatmate had rented out her room to a soccer-loving chap who didn't hardly speak English! Definitely fun!

Time for another sci fi flick, this one featuring my PFS friend,
Mike Rendeiro, as a guru helping Tina Chello, an alien, find a safe harbor in a strange land.
As we find out in "Command Post 9", the best hide-out is in...
New York City, where everyone seems odd!
Very nice story!

But this was my hands-down, all-out favorite!
"The Dame, The Diplomat, & The Detective" - notice the use of alliteration in the title... delightful! - was film noir in my book! However as that is not one of the genres, then perhaps it was silent film combined with thriller/suspense... whatever it was classified, it was a fabulous black-and-white film!

And what did we learn at the Q & A session after this slate of entries?
Well, those splashes of color in that last film turned out to be the only ones that 'stuck'! It was pure serendipity that they had served so well to enhance the film and catapult its status! Good work, Mojave 4!
In fact, good work to all of the cast and crew of these first nine!
I am so very impressed with the creativity output over a mere forty-eight hour span...
wow!
I look forward to the back nine on Sunday.
See you then!