By KEVIN HOOVER
To make a movie is to shake hands with the clock: planning, shooting, re-shooting and editing is a time-intensive affair that directors wrestle with every second spent anywhere near a project. Countering the mainstream box office deluge is a spate of film challenges that require creatives to deliver a finished product in a much shorter period of time, sometimes even just days.
One of the most popular such events are 48 Hr. Sparks, created by Dallas-based Little Spark Films, in which a mere two days are afforded for directors to turn an idea into a finished film. It’s an exercise that pushes the most skilled of hands to the brink, but which yields results as authentic as they can be: first visions unhampered by second guesses.
Earlier this year, Jacob Harper decided to test his movie-making mettle and entered into a horror-themed 48 Hr. Sparks challenge. His short film won that weekend’s event, and part of his prize winnings was the following interview conducted with RUE MORGUE. Because who wouldn’t want to know the story behind a filmmaker conquering the real-world horror of shooting a film and with only two days to do it?
Who is Jacob Harper?
I’m a 25-year-old horror fan, filmmaker and film critic, from Dallas, Texas. I’ve lived in Texas my whole life and I’ve always had a huge affinity for horror films. I love movies in general–I’m a total cinephile nerd–but horror has always been the thing for me. I think that started when I was six years old, watching the Universal Monster movies.
The classics are always a good place to start!
They’re a beautiful gateway because there’s no nudity or blood. They’re all about that gothic expressionism. I started making movies when I was 18 or 19. Because I’ve always had a thing for horror films, I started writing my own and then finally shot a couple a few years back and thought, “I love doing this.” I love telling these stories and coming up with new ideas. Getting to see them come to life has always been a big rush.
Jacob Harper on set of his award-winning short, Music to My Ears.
Little Spark Films competitions challenge directors to create a screen-ready film in only 48 hours. Explain the format and how it forces even an adept filmmaker like yourself out of your comfort zone.
I’d never done a 48-hour film challenge prior to this one. And I feel like the system I’m used to–whether it’s efficient or not, I don’t know–but my usual process is I get so hung up on the writing. I’m kind of like writing and then rewriting. What was so great about the 48-hour format was that there wasn’t any time to overthink–there’s hardly time to think at all! You just have to go with your gut.
We’re given four things: a subgenre, a prop, a line of dialogue and a piece of music. Once we had those, we started throwing ideas around, even on the drive home. Our theme was the ’80s. When I think of the ’80s, I think of satanic panic, rock music, that kind of cultural phenomenon. And (co-writer) Arianee was holding our prop, which was a bag. She’s looking at it and she’s like, “It’s got the city of Mansfield’s government logo on it. What if we made a government conspiracy movie?” I loved that. From there we just started writing.
And after those 48 hours, you’ve got a completed project that’s ready to be screened for the masses?
The kickoff was Friday evening and that’s when the race starts. We turn in our flash drive on Sunday night and they check it on the computer, to make sure it could play. It kind of adds to the pressure, because you’ve got to have it all downloaded, exported and ready to go. I was thinking, “Can we get this exported just this one time?” because I’m editing on free software on my laptop.
Tell us about your winning film. What’s the name, and what’s it about?
The film is called Music to My Ears and it’s about a woman named Lamda who is implied to be a prominent figure in the counterculture punk rock scene in the mid-‘80s. She finds herself held hostage by a shadow government experimentation type of group. And a doctor-type is holding her captive and trying to rid the world of rock music with a new device that, if you play a certain musical note, could melt your brain. He’s trying to kill the leader of this rock movement.
Is Music to My Ears available to view anywhere?
At the moment, we’re working towards doing a cleaned-up director’s cut. In post, we tried to sync up some scenes that needed improved audio. We got to a point in the edit where some of the scenes had really good audio and some only had camera audio, which wasn’t terrible, but there’s an obvious difference. Once we get that cut with the clean audio finished, we’re going to upload to my YouTube channel. (Writer’s note: Since this interview was conducted, Little Spark Films has uploaded the winning version of Music to My Ears to their own YouTube channel.)
You mentioned having a co-writer. Who all was involved in getting your film across the finish line?
First and foremost, I want to shout out Arianee Pascua. She was my assistant director and co-writer. I signed up for the 48-hour event alone, hoping I would find a team by the start of it, but I signed up a week before it happened. And then I was kind of running dry. Everyone was busy. So I called up Arianee–we’re co-hosts of a horror podcast called Talking Terror–the night before the challenge and asked if she wanted to do this with me.
Amanda Huerta and Tristan Trujillo were our cast. They were both last-minute additions. Tristan was brought on the day of shooting! When I was looking for actors, I had to preface every text with, “This is for a 48-hour thing. I’m usually not this last minute and hectic.”
Co-stars Amanda Huerta and Tristan Trujillo.
Now that you’ve got this accolade, what does that mean to you as a filmmaker and for your art?
It’s a huge honor. This is the first time I think I’ve won something for one of my films. I previously had another college short that was nominated for best student film back in 2022, but this is my first official win for one of my projects.
The win and the 48 Hr. Sparks event itself are huge motivators and inspiration. When it was all said and done, I looked at what we had and it made me realize that if we did this in 48 hours, imagine what we could do in a week or a month. Imagine what we could do with actual planning. Prior to this, it had been a little while since I’d last directed anything. This was me diving back into it and getting back in that headspace. And it was a quick kind of uplift. I’m getting back to the wheels turning, which is always a thrill.
Where does your path lead next?
I love making horror movies. I love working with people on a shared vision. I think that’s the real high of filmmaking–turning nothing into something. When you’re watching the actors say these words that you and your team wrote and seeing it play on a big screen, it’s amazing.
I’ve been writing a few projects. I have some other short film ideas, but the big thing I want to do next is a feature film. I keep telling myself that before I’m 30, I’m going to have a feature done. Hopefully it’s sooner than that.
Follow Jacob’s work on his YouTube channel, which includes the Talking Terror podcast.
