Crowd pleasure.

James was ill and Linda didn't want to so only Simon and I went to Sydney on Friday. We stayed with Andrew and Anna and met Ben, John, Katie, Marija, Paul and Ryan. Then we made a film. Andrew had asked everybody to help him make a film from concept to premiere in twenty-four hours. It started at half past seven on Friday (shortly before Simon and I arrived) with a brainstorm over dinner, which was being recorded, and the concept of a failed reality television programme emerged. Then we set about trying to record boring dinner table conversations however the improvisation tended to cause gales of laughter so the concept evolved into a parody of a reality television programme. Of course, as soon as we deliberately tried to be funny it wasn't interesting, but actually we had enough material to build on from when we were being boring so that wasn't a problem.

Three cameras had produced nearly four hours of recorded material, including a road trip. This all had to be logged for editing and by five o'clock on Saturday morning the last of the not-Andrew said goodnight and left him to start transferring it to the computer. As Saturday elapsed some scenes to round out the production were arranged (including a cushion fort) and despite absenteeism and limited time restricting our options Andrew was talking about forty-five or fifty minutes for the final product (up from estimates of three to five minutes at the dinner table). But then the editing software starting failing and the rest of the day was a hard slog for the technically competent while the rest of us who didn't have homes to go to had a dozy engagement with Tropfest 2003, Futurama, and Porco Rosso.

At half past seven on Saturday the remaining five participants ordered pizza and crowded into the office to watch the result of the twenty-four hour film challenge. We laughed, but then we knew all about it. An unsympathetic audience might not have been as tolerant of the unrefined pussy*. Even so it was an amazing result for only twenty-four hours and Final Cut Judas. Best of all, it was exceedingly good fun.

On Sunday, Simon and I went to a geekfest. I spent most of my time at the guest seminars. Now I want to be an actor, draw a comic and write a novel. Also, I realise that if I immediately launch into an intensive schedule I might get a lucky break and achieve one of these goals before I'm fifty.

*How Paul pronounces the word usually spelt "footage".  ¶ 21:20