High Tide is a short 3-minute film submission created for the Emerald Broadband and the Eugene Film Society’s 10th Annual 72-Hour Horror Film Competition. The crew consisted of Elizabeth Lucas-Lucas (Director), Iman Zarlons (Cinematographer), Alan Zhou (Cinematographer) and Kaitlyn Maldovan (Producer and Production Assistant). Additional support came from friends and local businesses like The Racks Eugene as costume supplier, and the Oregon Cartoon Institute (OCI) as producer of this project.

Below is a brief interview with the director.

OCI: Could you share one challenging aspect about this project?

Lucas-Lucas: When we presented our project draft to the OCI, we were asked to use the ocean as a character, which we implemented since our filming took place at the coast. This definitely had our team scratching our heads, especially with the rule being that the prop we had to incorporate was a “tape measurer,” but it was a fun challenge to problem solve!

OCI: Did you have any memorable moments?

Lucas-Lucas: Definitely. Although the film competition is called a 72-hour Horror Film Competition, our team started filming on Saturday, and the submission was due the next day at 8 p.m.–making it a 35-hour film for us! Technical difficulties emerged like having no service, last-minute changes in actors and storyline changes due to factors like the weather. It was beautiful that day, the opposite of what the forecast said it was going to be. A great day to be on the coast… except maybe when you’re trying to shoot a horror film. 

OCI: What are you most proud of?

Lucas-Lucas: At the end of the day, what we were able to accomplish in a 35 hour window, with a team of people who made the drive to the coast to participate from different parts of Oregon was nothing short of a fun experience! If this project taught us anything, it was definitely about commitment and time. We knew certain aspects of our film would not be executed how we envisioned due to factors we couldn’t control. Still, we worked with what we had and did so again, in 35 hours! The project serves as a reminder that if we can accomplish this in the time frame that we did, imagine what we could do with a bigger timeline or a bigger budget, and our same passion. Most importantly, it also reminded us to lean on our community, whether it be friends or other organizations because the majority of people want to help you out if they can. So ask! And if you are met with no’s or outcomes you didn’t envision: process it, learn from it, don’t let that determine your potential as an artist and keep getting in your reps, but remember to try and have some fun in the process! 

OCI: When and where will the film be screened?

Lucas-Lucas: Our film High Tide will be screened at the McDonald Theatre on Sunday, October 26th, 2025 at 7 p.m. tickets can be purchased at: ETIX. Afterwards, we plan to have the film available for streaming on the OCI website.