The Making of Azazel: How to Write, Shoot, and Edit a Movie in 48 Hours

Teammates Max Internoscia and Dillan Lincoln complete editing as early morning sun comes through the windows.

Alexander Kuelling ’22, an Emerson Today photographer and Visual and Media Arts major, was on a filmmaking team competing in this year’s first 48-Hour Film Festival, September 21-23.

Kuelling documented his weekend as he and his teammates – fellow first-year students Rory Grady, Max Internoscia, Jakob Klein, Dillan Lincoln, and Chris Shen — scrambled to make Azazel, a 3-minute noir thriller/love story.

For the festival, students are given a set of rules and 48 hours to make a film that adheres to them. Everyone’s films are then screened on Sunday night, and prizes are awarded (none this year for Kuelling and team). Log and all photos by Kuelling.

Friday, September 21

3:00 pm: 48-Hour Film Festival begins

3:20 pm: Find out what our prompt will be, and our genre. Each film had to pertain to self-discovery, contain coffee as an object, the word “squash.”

3:27 pm: Group splits up to get costumes and camera equipment.

4:53pm:  Go to Equipment Distribution Center and ask if equipment can be loaned for the 48-Hour Film Festival. It can’t.

5:00 pm: Take three-hour break

8:00 pm: Get dinner as a group to discuss and divide workload

8:30 pm: Writers begin working on script

10:30 pm: Receive script from writers and perform revisions. Work on digital aspects of the film in the meantime

Saturday, September 22

12:00 am: Take a break

1:00 am: Begin making shot list and discussing cinematography

2:00 am: Go to bed

2:00 pm: Wake up (edit: !!) and gather final supplies

4:00 pm: Film the only daylight scene

8:00 pm: Proper film shooting begins

11:00 pm: One-hour break and begin editing

Sunday, September 23

12:00 am: Second round of film shooting

2:13 am: Final shot is taken

2:30 am: Download files and begin editing

6:33 am: Sunrise

7:00 am: Take one-hour power naps

8:00 am: Begin color correction

10:00 am: Head out for breakfast

11:00 am: Record voiceovers

12:00 pm: Master the film’s audio

1:00 pm: Watch film over and over to make sure everything is right

3:00 pm: Submit film at Piano Row

8:00 pm: Final screening begins