Low budget film shoots can be hell. Looking back it’s easy to laugh and say that things weren’t so bad but when it’s 10AM, you have taken control of your buddies house, blackmailed most of your friends into helping you and then your assistant cameraman casually walks up to you and hands over a mess of exposed film he just ruined it doesn’t seem like things will ever get better (or maybe that*s just me). Keeping this in mind DJ Summit’s “Doomed to Failure” adequately sums up in seven minutes the inherent frustrations of shooting a short when you are new to the film world.
Working off a script detailing the misadventures of several pizza delivery men DJ Summit and company quickly encounter a slew of problems ranging from human error such as loading the film in backwards (which side is the emulsion side??!), late starts and out of focus lens* to cruel fate such as a loose spring managing to slice up a good deal of what they have shot. Using documentary footage taken during the shoot along with interviews with the cast and crew reflecting back on the disaster DJ Summit has managed to take lemons and make a pretty funny glass of lemonade.
