Continuing with our look back at the 24 Hour Video Race‘s first decade, here is the fifth best video as chosen by the race’s organizers: Scotty Don’t’s “Cover Story” (2006). And after the jump there’s an interview with co-videomaker Deva George.
To view all the videos in the countdown, go here.
FrontRow: Where are you now? Is filmmaker still part of your life?
Deva George: I’m a freelance animator/motion graphics artist (6 years going strong.) My team mate Amber is now an art teacher in Oak Cliff and loving it. I still goof around with movies here and there. A buddy and I wrote a feature script we have high hopes for and I’m trying to finish a solo animated short for 2011 festival deadlines.
FR: How did the idea for your movie emerge during the 24 hours you spent making it?
DG: We knew we had no live actors, so dolls made the best sense. After we hammered out the script we scrambled to toy stores to buy dolls that fit the casting. Amber was a fashion major so she crushed the outfits/hair /make-up while I worked on the graphics.
FR: What was the most frustrating part about filmmaking under the race’s conditions/ What were the most freeing aspects?
DG: Since I had experience, this time wasn’t frustrating at all, it was honestly like clockwork. I think not having actors was great, no conflicts, no complaining, etc. So we shot what we wanted, exactly how we wanted, except one of the doll’s arms kept falling off.
FR: Why did you originally enter the race – how did you put together your team?
DG: I’d entered twice before with an old friend and did some great pieces but won nothing. So, I was going to enter solo and do something insane but at the last minute I met a cool Kansas girl named Amber and figured, hey, come on board. We won it 2 years in a row, although I think she still doesn’t have a copy (it’s in my car I swear).
FR: Looking back at your movie, do you have any reaction to it/thoughts/things you would do differently?
DG: I can watch it every day and it still makes me laugh. That’s the beauty of kickin’ stuff out super fast, it’s still fresh, even to its makers. But I wish we’d kept up with it. The characters and show format were so fun and flexible, I wanted to turn it into a web series. Still might.
FR: Has the race had any lasting impact on how you view movies/moviemaking?
DG: I, like most creative people, do my best work with a gun to my head. Still, you look back and think, “Dang, wish we’d had more time to…” That’s what a big budget buys you – more time to get it right (hopefully).
