The 48 Hour Film Project

This last weekend I did my second 48 Hour Film Project and, again, I had a blast!

This time it was Horror themed, one of the first 48 hfp of that kind. At 7pm last Friday, the team leaders gathered to get their designated genre(Gothic/Vampire), character (Dr. Lyle Pentegrass), prop(a pineapple), and line of dialogue(“That’s it! I’m going back to school.”). The writers wrote into the wee hours of the morning. I joined the team at 4:30am on Saturday to drive to our set location in Yelm, WA. The team assembled at 7am to start filming. We filmed until midnight. At that point I went home. The crew filmed a couple more shots and the editing continued through Sunday until our film, “Empty,” was turned in, 48 hours after the whole process began.  Tuesday night, all of us gathered at SIFF Cinema Uptown to watch what we had created. Of course, the quality ranged from “Huh?” to “Wow!” But whatever our reactions, we all had to admire that these films were made at all, and more so, in 48 hours. What a thing to celebrate!!!

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A friend of mine, outside of the industry, recently asked me how he could get started making films. My answer? The 48 Hour Film Project. Not only is it one of the best ways to get started doing film, it is one of the best ways to keep practicing.

As I told you in one of my first blogs, The 48 Hour Film Project was my first exposure to acting on camera. It was one of the most exciting and incredible experiences I’ve ever had…. and I learned so much as an actor! As a film maker, I think the experience would be even more valuable. There are a few advantages The 48 Hour Film Project has over starting out on your own.

• Time Limits: Everything must happen within 48 hours, from the first word that is typed to the last moment of rendering. This means you can’t labor over your decisions, just do it until you get it done!
• Content Parameters:  If you struggle narrowing down your ideas, the 48 hfp is great because it gives you limitations. Every team pulls a genre out of a hat (different for each teach) and a character, prop, and line of dialogue are each drawn randomly to be used by every team.
• Accountability: I don’t know about you, but knowing that someone is waiting for me to finish something, sure makes me work faster and harder.
• Reward: Your movie is shown on the big screen! How cool is that!? And… you have the chance to win awards, like Best Film, Best Acting, Audience Choice… etc. Pretty cool!

All THAT and it might be your first time making a movie. Whether or not your film wins any awards, I bet you will be glad that you did it! So, if you’re wondering how or where to get started, look it up. Chances are there one near year. Go for it! Make a movie!