The Canterbury winner of New Zealand’s largest guerrilla filmmaking competition has been crowned.

‘Spoiler Alert’ by Rabid Aunty Jean won the 48Hours’ regionals and will now go on to the finals in Wellington during Labour Weekend.

Over 500 teams of filmmakers enter each year with just 48 hours to write, shoot and cut a film with a given genre and a collection of assigned elements. Filmmakers compete for awards in their regions, culminating in a grand final event where the national winner takes the title of Grand National Champion.

More than 10,000 short films have been produced in the 48Hours competition over the 22 years it has run.

Creative Christchurch caught up with Shay Horay, an actor in ‘Spoiler Alert’, about the Rabid Aunty Jean crew’s 48Hours.

What was the very first idea or spark that set ‘Spoiler Alert’ in motion – and how close is the finished film to that original thought?

Once we got given the genre “Cat and Mouse” the brainstorming started. Lots of different ideas but the vengeful author idea was the winner. Ian Sweeney, the script writer and director, isolated himself for 35 minutes and came back with the script. He is the superman of script writing. Is it a bird? Is it a plane? No, it’s Ian Sweeney!

48Hours is all about embracing the brief, the genre, and the curveballs. Which element did your team love – and which nearly broke you?

One of the inclusive elements was a collection. Our props maestro Nick Lowry randomly comes out with – “I have a large collection of crystal dolphin figurines. I have a room full!” The silence was deafening. It wasn’t so much an element but an idea that I was gonna eat Granny Smith apples throughout the film. Oddly, it was actually my idea and I had no idea I was locking in to consume more than 4kg of apples in two days. Haven’t had an apple since.

Canterbury audiences know you as a big personality on stage. Did you find yourself slipping into performer mode on set, or did filmmaking bring out a different side of you?

I have spent a lot of time in front of the camera as well as onstage. The two different genres have different rhythms. Stage you build an energy over 1.5 hours, whereas film you stop-start. So keeping the energy matching from shot to shot is a thing to keep an eye on. Essentially you just have to be on the ball as long as you’re filming, which I kinda enjoy the challenge of.

Every 48 Hours film has at least one “we’ll laugh about this later” disaster. What was yours?

Two words. Granny and Smith!

The film’s title is ‘Spoiler Alert’ – have you had fun keeping the actual plot under wraps while everyone’s asking what it’s about?

It’s been really hard to keep it under wraps. From people peering through my hedge trying to get the info, and I had a family pull me aside at the supermarket in the fruit and vege section. I had to just do my best to keep from spilling the beans. But nothing can be said until after the Wellington finals in October.

What’s the most surprising skill or hidden talent someone on your team pulled out under pressure?

Well, not surprising really, but Julian Vares who is the team’s cameraman and editor really is a talented man. He has the most amazing eye for making film. Which compared to my skill of eating kilograms of apples is a pleasure to watch.

If your film had a soundtrack album, what would the lead single be and why?

I mean I wanna say the Top Gun soundtrack even though it really doesn’t match the film, but who doesn’t wanna pretend they were in Top Gun? On a sound front, a cool thing that happened in the film was the amazing actress I did the film with – Emma Brittenden, had this moment of genius when we saw Julian trying to hold a camera and boom pole for the sound at the same time. Emma said, “Maybe I can pull my dad out of retirement for the day? He used to be a soundie.” And he drove from Ohoka and was on set with us 30 minutes later. He was a great addition.

There’s a real sense of community around the Canterbury 48Hours scene. Which other teams or films this year impressed you most?

‘I MetaMan’ by An Evening With was really beautifully shot and the whole thing was very impressive, and ‘Hi Santa, it’s Charlie’ by Olax was a fantastic script, too. But honestly, at the finals, it was great film after great film. Especially considering the rules of 48Hrs. It’s no small feat to pull off a film in that amount of time.

The national finals are looming. If you had to sell ‘Spoiler Alert’ in one sentence, what would you say?

The national finals are gonna be amazing as the theatre is super iconic. Premieres of ‘Lord of the Rings’ happened there. One line for ‘Spoiler Alert’ … that’s tough. Maybe, “Don’t play games with a guy who loves apples.”

Finally, after years of surviving the all-nighters, the stress, and the insanity – you decided to come out of 48Hrs retirement this year? What’s the magic of 48Hours for you?

Yeah, this is my first year back doing 48Hours in quite a few years. But I think I have the bug again. Previous years I was involved in a heartbreak story called ‘The Escort’ of which we won the Ōtautahi comp and went off to the finals. I was nominated that year for best actor/performer. We also did a grindhouse film called ‘Bloody Vengeance 3’, that was wild. But it’s just great to make something from scratch with some talented mates. It’s a real thrill.

CREDITS:
Writer/Director: Ian Sweeney
Cinematography/Post-Production: Julian Vares
Production Design: Nick Lowry
Sound Recordists: Rob Brittenden and Leo Sweeney
Starring: Shay Horay, Emma Brittenden and Shelley Sweeney