Science fiction movie produced in 48 hours

Precision is a great little science fiction short film that was written, shot, scored, and edited in 48 hours as part of a filmmaking challenge. It's an inspiring example of how digital storytelling is changing in the face of new, nimble tools that lower the cost of experimentation and production:

Precision was always going to be restricted by the nature of the 48 hour challenge, very short time to conceive, write, shoot, edit and score! Not to mention the restriction of a prop, title and dialogue that had to be included in whatever we created. We did not let that stop us though and thought ambitious thoughts.
With the 'All the Kings Horses' team assembled we registered for SCI-FI LONDON 2011. When the challenge weekend arrived I went along to the briefing and pulled out from a hat our three restrictions:
Prop: red or green liquid inside a clear bottle with no label
Title: Precision
Dialogue: It is just a glitch in the time continuum, it will sort itself out in a minute. Just hope it won't wipe you out in the mean time.

Paradox Malt - 'Precision' behind the scenes (Thanks, @sizemore!)

I write books. My latest is a YA science fiction novel called Homeland (it's the sequel to Little Brother). More books: Rapture of the Nerds (a novel, with Charlie Stross); With a Little Help (short stories); and The Great Big Beautiful Tomorrow (novella and nonfic). I speak all over the place and I tweet and tumble, too.

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Anonymous

Directed by Nathan Barley.
The Mudshark

Unable to pay any attention to the film. All I can think of is how bad I want to snuggle the actress.
- penguinchris
  
  She is indeed very attractive… but that doesn’t *quite* make up for the bad acting :) I have a feeling it was a problem with the script and the direction and not her, though.
  
  When it ended I felt like I must have missed something, such as the middle and end of the story. Not sure if it’s because there wasn’t a middle or end, or if I lost track because I was paying attention to the actress ;)
  
  Also it felt extremely Doctor Who to me, especially the drawings at the end, except with a gun :)
- simonbarsinister
  
  http://haruka4be.com/
  
  You’re welcome.
  She reminds me of the beautiful Stephanie Jacobsen (from Terminator: Sarah Connor Chronicles).
Anonymous

Cool film. Well done, especially in that time frame. One thing, that made me cringe. Quick shot, she fires the gun, then sticks it back in her pants. Now, I’m sure that could be explained away as gun from the future no muzzle heat. I cringed when I saw her put the gun back down her pants. Those things are super hot right after you fire them. My only issue, and I know I know, no gun accuracy in movies anyway so why start now.
sapere_aude

Really hard to follow the dialogue. I hate it when the background music drowns out the voices.

Besides, why are Mike Sizemore (the writer) and Haruka Abe (the actress) making shorts like this when they ought to be making the TV series they’ve been promising us since 2009: Slingers.

http://www.sleepydog.co.uk/slingers/

Is Slingers even happening? I fell in love with the idea for the show just from the “sizzle real” they put together back in 2009; but I haven’t heard much about it since then. This sci-fi short film is okay; but it’s no substitute for Slingers.
Zandy

For more SF short films from previous 48 hour film challenges see the Sci Fi London website. The winner of this years competition will be revealed on this site during the festival itself.

http://www.sci-fi-london.com/webtv
Editz

48 hours? Why not 48 minutes? I just don’t get these contests.
ilovejakeryan

here is ours – http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VBQXT0YS3RA
serraphin

I also entered the 48 hour and (tho im not watching any other entries yet to preserve my ego) I’d like to point out to detractors that this whole thing is harder than you’d think.

You not only have to script the thing, but try and get the appropriate cast, the right props and costume, let the talent learn their bit, light and film it…THEN you have to edit, composite, sound grade and render + burn it to DVD.

If you’ve ever tried to make a short film then you’d know how many things can go wrong, even when you have time.

Are there ‘errors’? Hell probably, but maybe you should try entering next year and see how well you do eh?

Props to all the kings horses, and Nathan.

Paul – variant 313
eoghank

Here’s my entry:: http://youtu.be/XxhefHcgtjE
The Mudshark

She is indeed very attractive… but that doesn’t *quite* make up for the bad acting :) I have a feeling it was a problem with the script and the direction and not her, though.

the bad acting makes her all the more adorable :)
Anonymous

Its an interesting concept to make a film in 48 hrs. The films I work on take 1 to 2 years. With the advances in digital cinema workflows, it is possible now for indie filmmaker to make the film, and with the advances in social media – distribution of the film is achievable. I commend you on taking on the 48 hr challenge. I always said that in order to make movies one has to make movies. Not talk about making movies, but getting out there and making it happen. With the 48 hr challenge – the challenge is finding the right people to work with. From my experience thats the hardest part of filmmaking. Here’s my thoughts on the subject: http://sergykal.me/post/1417386100/finding-filmmakers

Anyways, thanks for your effort, good job, and keep shooting!
Anonymous

It’s visually very nice, just too bad I couldn’t understand a word the actress was saying. Should’ve come with closed captioning. It seems to be popular in modern moviemaking to have mumbling, quiet dialog, and loud incidental noise.
Canary Girl

Here’s another entry from this year’s SciFi London 48 hour challenge; Temporary Status

This was made by my friends (I had a small job in the art department but can’t claim much credit)

title: Temporary Status

prop: A plain white cup with a broken handle, in the cup us some blue or purple liquid – we see a character put some powder (or granules) in it

dialogue: “In half an hour we won’t be able to see our hands in front of our faces in this”
optuser

Where was the red or green liquid? Was it the scotch?
shiftdelete

I liked the film for the most part. If it was a full length movie, I would totally go see it….

My few gripes: the computer girl’s voice didn’t work for me.

Also, Scotch doesn’t “age” in the bottle like wine. It only ages in the cask. So the comment about a 100+ year old scotch doesn’t work.

I also noticed the just-fired gun down the pants.. but with buzz she probably had, she may not have felt it.

The time warps seemed odd. They may need something subtle to notify the viewer when they happen.
spool32

Dialog was far too quiet to be easily followed, and the whole thing was… flat.
Mr Belm

She jammed a just-fired gun barrel down the back of her pants. That’s gotta hurt.
- Mister44
  
  Nah – it shouldn’t be hot after one round. Though one would think a time traveling alcoholic would have a holster.
Church

C.f. this time travel short, also produced during a 48 film slam.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lKaE3jWsKEw