By It takes months of planning, months of shooting, and months of editing to put together a feature film. Even shorts take loads of time to write, storyboard and shoot, not to mention the tremendous effort required to acquire gear, talent, money, cast and crew. Now trying doing all of that in 48 hours.
Hundreds of teams from cities all across the United States and abroad compete with each other and the clock to write, shoot, edit, and turn in a film in 48 hours. There are dozens of cities in the United States that participate, and many in foreign countries such as China, Greece, the UK, and India. Click here to find out more about the 48 Hour Film Project, and join us after the jump as we preview the madcap weekend ahead.
This year, with over 100 teams competing in Washington, D.C., I have undertaken the task of leading one of these teams in this monumental weekend of get-it-done filmmaking. Joining me for the journey is our very own Adam Dork, who will provide coverage over the weekend of this totally fantastic, exhausting, challenging, and fun endeavor. Once a year, filmmakers rush around the city to complete their film on time. It’s certainly not easy, but professionals and amateurs alike can get together and produce a film that will forever remind them of the most memorable weekend of their year.
On Friday evening our team, along with the rest of the DC teams in this year’s competition, will randomly draw a genre out of a hat. This genre, along with a required line of dialogue, prop, and character will form the foundation for our weekend’s film. Genres such as “Mockumentary” and “Superhero Film” are up for grabs, as well as the much maligned but often fun “Musical or Western”. Each year teams get together, pull their genre, and jump right in to the madness. With only 48 hours, every second counts. I hope you can join us as we provide coverage throughout the weekend, culminating with our post of the film some time next week. Last year, after a mad scramble and a bit of time-space continuum warpage, we managed to sneak in our film through the gates with nine seconds left. No joke, after the whole weekend, it came down to nine seconds. After the films have been turned in, they are screened for judges, and then for an audience at the AFI Theatre in Silver Spring, MD. There’s something magical about seeing the product of your own sweat and tears on a massive movie screen, and in the end, its worth every second of hard work.
We will have a post up Friday evening with our genre, required prop, character, and line of dialogue, and a bit of info on our gear and team. As Margo Channing in All About Eve famously proclaimed, “Fasten your seatbelts, it’s going to be a bumpy night.”