Do You Want to Be a Millionaire?

About the Film

“Do You Want to Be a Millionaire?” is part of Babel’s 48 film competition, including 150+ films across schools in Asia. The challenge starts when three requirements are released (a line of dialogue, a prop, and a camera technique), and from 6pm that Friday, our group of 5 were given 48 hours to complete a 3 minute film. After deciding on a story and writing the script, we had to pull together locations and actors on such short notice. Filming overnight, it led to me fully taking charge and figuring out key decisions on the go, leading discussions with my group. The comedy heist aspect gave us room for improvisation, with me leading the cast and crew, and the other director focusing on logistics and the edit. Running a crew through the night on essentially no sleep taught me more about decisive leadership than any other experience I’ve had, but it all paid off when we came 1st place in the competition.

Director’s Statement

I’ve been told that “Do You Want to Be a Millionaire?” is the most “fun” film I’ve made, which taught me that a tight-knit and lighthearted collaborative group environment is essential to creating a strong product across every aspect of life, something I’ve carried in all my leadership and collaborative features. With such a time constraint, I decided to make the comedy focused on a single event rather than a more familiar character driven plot, having to push the pacing to its absolute limits to fit under a 3 minute timeframe. The music I collaborated with a group mate on is something I’m notably proud of, with it really helping to keep the “fun energy” of the film going. I like that the real twist in the film has nothing to do with the heist itself and everything to do with two people not looking closely enough at what was right in front of them. It’s a lighter film than most of what I make, but the instinct behind it, watching ordinary people talk themselves into something they should know better than to believe, is one I keep returning to.