Overnight Movies: "In the Ring"

In the Ring - Another Great One From Instant Films 26! from Instant Films on Vimeo.

A couple times a year, I participate in Instant Films, a film festival where short movies are written, shot, edited, and premiere in the course of 48 hours. It's an adrenaline rush and nice to actually get out there and make some art, as opposed to just talking about doing something. The results can vary from unwatchable to brilliant, but because of the condensed timeline, they usually fall somewhere in between.

This particular festival was wedding-themed and on Friday night at 8 p.m., a group of 8 writers met to draw elements that would help them pound out a short film script. First, we all drew a cast breakdown so we knew what characters we would be writing for--I drew 1 man and 3 women. Then, we drew wedding-themed words to help inspire us. Mine were: Ring and Star-crossed. We then had to return at 8 a.m. Saturday morning with a completed script. Directors pulled names at random telling them whose script they would be directing. I ended up with a very nice, laidback director named Matthew "Smitty" Smith. He then chose actors names at random and I probably couldn't have asked for a better cast. They spent all day Saturday shooting and editing the film, and at 8 p.m. on Sunday night, it went on to be aired in front of a live audience.

The result? You can see for yourself above.

--Jenelle Riley