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Joe Azzato and Joel Sarchet are preparing to shoot the electrocution of Elvis. The "Creep," as played by Azzato, wears gardening gloves and goggles as he calmly taunts the innocent pop star with his charged baton.
Then, he sends a jolt ripping through Elvis' body, and smoke billows from an electric chair. Elvis is frying.
This scene is crafted within the constraints of a 48-hour time limit, an assigned subgenre and weapon, and the physical limits of film crews as they work around the clock to complete an Alamo Drafthouse-worthy horror short for the Drafthouse's Bloodshots competition.
Sarchet, a production specialist at Exeter Studios, explains that they have been assigned electricity as their weapon, and their subgenre is "urban legend."
"This is my weekend break," Sarchet said. "We're just looking to pull it all together."
Friday evening amateur filmmaker and creative director for the Drafthouse Henri Mazza sat behind his black-veiled table distributing entry packets to anxious film crews. Once each team was assigned a mandatory subgenre of horror film, line of dialogue, prop and weapon for their film, they had 48 hours to return with a completed work.
"We have 45 teams registered, and I will be one," Mazza said. "This year, I didn't feel like making other people do this without doing it myself."
Here are the rules: Anyone can enter, professionals and amateurs alike. Any appearance of zombies results in immediate disqualification. Completed films must be at least three minutes but no longer than six minutes in length. The harming of animals or people while filming is not permitted.
Stolid glares emanated from each huddle Friday as teams tried to conceal their nervous energy from the competition. Many groups were already milling about, discussing tactics for the impending task.
While wandering through the mass of bodies, I bumped into Mike Simpson of team Thomas Pain. Simpson's 2004 entry, "Dos Blokes," took best film.
"A lot of people found it shocking," said Simpson. "But [this year] we want to surpass expectations. We want to make people uncomfortable."
On Saturday, I tracked down a few of the teams in order to get a better idea of what they were preparing.
My first stop brought me to the lair of DickVolcanoProductions. Approaching the dusty, decrepit garage, my hairs stood on end as I heard the frantic shuffling and scraping inside. Peering around the corner, I witnessed two actors outfitted in denim overalls and fish-net caps strangling each other. Richard Gallegos gave a satisfied look, called "cut" and began to outline the next scene.
Team members were shooting their second location, Gallegos explained, and were working the "backwoods" horror subgenre.
"I need more of that dumb look. You two should get in close when you hear the knock," Gallegos said, directing his actors.
Gallegos, playing an unsuspecting computer salesman (to incorporate his assigned weapon - technology and computers) knocks at the beaten door frame, and the two roughhousing henchmen appear with teeth bared from the lurching doorway.
Some of the teams, including Waco's Whirling Dervish commuted to and from Austin to compete. Director Christian Cisneros explained that their Waco-based studio was more suitable for the rigorous filming they were anticipating.
"We got about two hours of sleep this weekend," Whirling Dervish's Andrew Fields said.
"And we're going to win," added Cisneros.
On Sunday, the teams rushed their completed projects - and themselves - back to the Alamo Drafthouse on South Lamar to turn in their projects before the 7:30 p.m. cutoff. The black-veiled table again sat menacingly in the corner, as bleary-eyed crews gravitated toward the finishing line to relinquish their 48-hour labor of blood.
With about seven minutes to spare, the Dervishes rushed to the table to enter their film "FR 674345." Other film titles included: DickVolcanoProductions' "I Spit on Your Motherboard" and O'Doyles' "Tool Time ... to Die."
Many of the teams said production was "rather easy," with crews often complaining only of the flakiness of their actors and actresses. Forty of the 45 teams returned on Sunday with completed films, a staggering increase from last year's return rate at about half that number.
Sadly, Azzato and Sarchet's Elvis short did not meet the 7:30 p.m. cutoff for prize eligibility. However, their film will still be screened along with the all the completed shorts. Others found their original creative vision too daunting for a 48-hour deadline.
"I basically improvised the whole thing," said Mazza, who found that his "House of Torment"-inspired script was a little too complicated for filming. "It'll be funny for me to watch. And that's what I'm interested in."
BloodShots film crews and Austinites will be able to view the films on two separate occasions: Two screenings will take place on Wednesday - a group A screening followed by a group B screening - and a follow-up screening will take place on Saturday. Both screenings will be held at the Alamo Drafthouse downtown. On Sunday, celebrity judge Robert Rodriguez, director of "Sin City" and former UT student, will be present to rate the films. Prizes will be awarded to best film, best screenplay, best actor/actress and more.
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