The Harpies directed by Rogan Lovse

The Harpies is a short film that we wrote, shot, and completed post production in a 48-hour time period as part of Run N Gun, Vancouver’s 48-hour film competition. This was the second short film I’d directed; and we brought on most of our crew from our previous film to shoot this project. The challenge with making a film as part of a 48 competition is that you have to work backwards. Normally I’d start with the script as a blueprint and figure out creative decisions, logistical needs, cast, etc. based on the story. In this case we needed to figure out cast, crew, location, equipment, and a rough idea of genre and cinematic style; before knowing the script. We committed to the idea of shooting a horror movie and secured our team.

Everything else we figured out on the day. This was a particularly challenging project for me because I wanted to maintain a high level of quality, despite the limitations. Because I was involved in every stage of production from writing, to directing production and post; I probably only slept around 5 hours in a 60-hour period. While we were all ecstatic with he final film; I would not recommend this filmmaking approach.

The best reaction we’ve been getting to the film, during the festival run, is the shock from learning the film was made in 48 hours. The film is a incredibly tight horror film coming in at under five minutes and still managing to tell an engaging and visually striking story. I love making horror films where you get to break all the rules of cinematography. This film has inspired our next couple projects, and we look forward to getting it in front of more audiences.