48 hours, one film and a hippo fish

A whole weekend spent making a film with the entire team, not for a client or a campaign, but simply because we wanted to find out what happens when you bring creativity, time pressure and a team full of makers together. As it turns out, quite a lot happens.

With FU, we took part in the 48 Hour Challenge Arnhem, a film competition in which you create a complete short film in just 48 hours. From genre and concept to script, shoot and final edit, everything has to happen within a single weekend.

This is what ours looked like.

Friday began at a beautiful location in Vreeland, but beyond that, we knew very little. Part of the team headed there early because it was where we would be filming the following day. That was our only certainty: whatever we were going to make, this was where it had to happen.

The draw took place that evening. Only then do you find out which genre you have been given, along with the compulsory elements every team has to work into their film: a line of dialogue, a character and a prop.

And while all of those elements matter, the genre really sets the direction.

Our options were Mockumentary or Single-room movie.

We chose mockumentary and, naturally, decided that such a genre called for a suitably serious subject. That is how we ended up with the hippopotamus fish from Botswana’s Okavango Delta, reportedly spotted in Vreeland.

It made perfect sense to us.

From that point onwards, everything started happening at once. We had to choose the concept, write the script, source props, build a shooting schedule and call actors, all while the clock was already ticking.

As the writing team developed the story in the hunting lodge, the rest of the team was already thinking ahead about shots, scenes and logistics. Sem, our DOP and the person who initiated the project, later described that moment perfectly:

“Our collaboration was incredible. It was extra special for me to have my father there, a real full-circle moment. On Friday evening, while the writing team was shaping the story in the lodge, we prepared the shot list. That was when I realised we were really doing this together.”

That feeling stayed with us throughout the weekend.

By Saturday morning, the focus had shifted completely to shooting, making quick decisions and keeping things moving. The entire team was together before sunrise, each person stepping into their own role. For some, it was familiar territory; for others, it was something completely new. In the end, that hardly mattered.

Just before everyone arrived, the script was more or less finished. From there, scenes were set up, actors learnt their lines, props were found and shots were checked, while costumes, sound, scheduling and coffee all had to be sorted at the same time.

Especially the coffee.

Somehow, it quickly turned into a well-oiled machine. Not because everything had been perfectly prepared, because that is simply impossible in 48 hours, but because everyone stepped in exactly where they were needed.

Nine, our stylist, captured that feeling beautifully:

“We’re colleagues, so we understand each other without having to say much. Everyone focuses on their role, and there was an immediate kind of magic.”

We started with all the indoor scenes, making the most of the time while waiting for the right daylight outside. After lunch, we moved onto the grounds in Vreeland, where the location turned out to be exactly what the film needed: green, spacious and cinematic, with just enough awkwardness for a mockumentary about a fictional fish with a very serious mission.

The final scenes were shot in the evening light, at that point in the day when everyone is tired but can also feel that something is starting to come together.

Along the way, characters and lines emerged that are difficult to forget. Claar, our screenwriter, had a clear favourite:

“I’d have to say Lodewijk van Basten Batenburg. His line, ‘What nature teaches you about leadership. The Fish. The Vision. Vreeland. It just comes to me,’ sounded even better coming from him.”

There is not much to add to that.

Once the shooting day was over, part of the team headed home, but for the editing team the weekend was far from finished. An entire film still had to be assembled. The story needed to flow, the strongest shots had to be selected, and there was still colour grading, sound design, music, titles, a poster, exporting, checking and double-checking before the final submission.

That is one of the strange things about a weekend like this. The shoot is the most visible part, but the film really comes together in the edit.

It was there that all the decisions from Friday, the energy from Saturday and the small coincidences that suddenly worked in our favour finally became one story. There were plenty of moments when we had no idea whether something would work, but with only 48 hours on the clock, there was rarely time to overthink it. You simply try, adjust and keep going.

So why would you willingly give up an entire weekend for something like this?

Donnie, our executive producer, summed it up:

“Because moments like these show you how well you can work together. Going through something like this builds a team. I’m happy to make time for that, even at the weekend.”

That is exactly what it was about.

And then, suddenly, it was done. In 48 hours, we had made a film from scratch.

Two weeks later, we attended the screening and awards ceremony, which brought a completely different kind of tension. You know what you made and you know how much work, energy, editing time and how many sandwiches went into it. Then, all at once, you are sitting in a room full of people who are seeing it for the first time.

And our work was rewarded more generously than we had expected.

We received nominations for Costume Design, Acting Ensemble, Original Score, Sound Design, Cinematography and Directing.

And we won:

Lead actor

Color grading

Audience award

And the greatest compliment?
Third place for Best Film.

We are proud of that. Of the awards, of course, but even more of the weekend itself: the quick thinking, the collaboration and the way everyone stepped in wherever needed, whether that meant carrying gear, acting, solving problems or adapting on the spot.

Because that was exactly why we took part. To make something together under pressure, to enjoy the process and to come away with a result we genuinely stand behind.

The film?