SATO48

(04/30/2024)

By: Liberty Morreale-Arnall

In 2022 I did SATO48 for the first time. For those of you that don't know, SATO48 is short for Springfield and the Ozarks 48 hour film contest. You have 48 hours to create a 5 minute short film using a prompt they provide at the start of your 48 hours. I did this challenge in 2022 with what you know as The Dream Team. These were my classmates and best friends from film school. That was the last project The Dream Team completed together and it was a great experience. Our film has ammassed more than 100 thousand views on YouTube despite our own criticisms of the film. 

Two months after you finish the 48 hour film challenge there is an awards ceremony. I personally was nominated for both Cinematography and for Editing. Our film didn't win any awards but that wasn't a huge surprise to us. However I did get in the top 10 for Cinematography (this was a huge surprise to me). I could not tell you who ended up winning that category. I don't remember. What I do remember though is a name that made the top 10 with me. Karson Knudsen. The second the award ceremony was over I found him on instagram and I have followed his work ever since. 

Flash forward a litle less than two years later. Or about a month ago. Karson posted on his story asking if anyone wanted to lend a hand with SATO. Of course I volunteered. Then we were off. We had one production call before SATO weekend. I was so nervous to talk to everyone for the first time. This group is much more professional than anything I have ever worked on. I wanted so badly to make a good impression with the hope of being invited back again later on. The call went great. Everyone was super nice, and once they started talking about gear and how pretentious it could be I knew I was in the clear. 

Then it was SATO time. On the topic of professional. This set genuinely was the most professional one I've been on. But it was still the relaxed and friendly enviroment every set is. For the first time I wasn't filling every single role. I didn't have to write, produce, light, sound, film and edit a project. Instead I got to observe several departments and sit back and learn. It was an absolute privilege to learn from someone I have admired from afar. 

Let's do a fast recap for those that don't want to read a novel. Friday we all arrived. Got the promp. I still don't fully understand the prompt because I never had to give it much thought. Writers and actors worked on plot and script. Everyone unloaded equipment and organized gear. Then we all sprinted for sunset. Came back to the lodge and writers and actors went back to writing. Other crew just chilled and got to know each other. Filmed one scene that night. It's only 3 shots. Takes up maybe 8 seconds of the final film. Everyone tried to get some sleep at about 2am. Everyone woke up at different times. Karson had stayed up to make the script. Table read and pancakes. Filmed scene in the house. Took about two hours. Just main actor for this scene. I held negatives for the section of work. After this I built camp before starting the long haul of equipment to our last set. About 3 football fields worth of walking to get to new set. In between moving equipment actors blocked scenes and rehearsed. For all the filming from there on out I was the lighting. Most of the time I was holding a tube light on a monopod well over my head. The whole day was shoulder day. And I couldn't be happier about it. My arms still hurt...

We filmed until about 3am. Our actors never complained, neither did the crew (crew never complains). We really only finished filming at 3am because the batteries on all of the equipment were dying one by one. Once your light dies there isn't a ton you can do. Especially with that big of a time constraint. Luckily we had gotten plenty of footage by that point.  Then you get to the best part of production. And by best I mean the absolute worst. You have to bring back all the equipment you lugged out. In this instance it was pitch black and we were in the woods. A skunk had sprayed somewhere nearby and I already had found three ticks. It was not the most thrilling part of the weekend. 

Then I got to go home. I slept for twelve straight hours. An absolute blessing. In 2022 when I did SATO for the first time throughout that entire weekend I got a total of three hours of sleep. It's incredible the difference between the two years. (I am not saying 2022 was bad, it was a blast in its own way, it was just different.) Our editing team did their job on Sunday. And they did an incredible job. I can't wait until everyone gets to see the finished project. It won't be until early June when I can share it with everyone. But until then, just know it's one of my favorites I've worked on. 

Hopefully I'll have another soon.