24 HOUR UNCUT FILM SHOOT

Pressure? Trying doing a film for Sundance 2004 where no one, not even the director, is allowed to say "cut"---and all in real time! No re-shoots, no retakes, no second chances--- and above all else no rest. Get it right the first time or just go home-preferable straight to bed. One might compare it the old days of live television-it's acrobatics without the safety net. Even though we are using George Lucas cameras to film Morphine" it is not going to be enough to save you-unless you are absolutely perfect-and have a years worth of coffee in you.

"It's all about trust; you fail or succeed on the merits of your cast & crew. You are in the eye of the storm-you're team will determine if you survive the hurricane. Add to that the stress of shooting 24 hours in a row, shooting in real time (the actually events of Morphine" takes place in a 24 hour period)---add that up and now you have 10 pounds of trouble in a 5 pound bag." Says Gael Connors Producer of the feature film Morphine."

There are no other films that are following this protocol. Normally, its all about having the chance to fix your mistakes and filming it again and again and again. And certainly we do not believe anyone would think that shooting a Sundance 2004 film entry, without the chance to say "cut," was a safe or easy way to go. But, once you experience it you cant help but realize it was something that was very relevant to the process, to the movie.

According to Dave Mermen, one of the founders of O2 Studios -"Often, the very best defenses against any mistake is a way to stop the production in mid stream and fix the problem as you go along-there will be no stopping here, no pausing, no taking of any breathes for anyone--hardly even a bathroom break. If you have to 'go you better do it while your character is not on the set or forget about it-and some of the cast will not even get the luxury of ever leaving-they will have a camera in their face for 24 hours in a row. It is the best of a theatre production captured on film without any of the benefits topped with the bonus anxiety of having to do it for a day uninterrupted. Lets just say we don't expect Harrison Ford to come knocking on our door anytime soon."