48 Hour Film Project/Festival

Ask the local producer. Some cities mandate the SD requirement to keep a level playing field. In our city, the SD requirement is viewed more as a "minimum level" and you aren't penalized for exceeding it. It is basically to open it wide up without limiting the competition to those who have a certain level of equipment.

Christopher.Gros said:

Also, if your film cannot be viewed on 48HFP equipment, it may be disqualified.

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I couldn't say for sure but this might be a reason.

Here in Los Angeles the screening is done in a major theater so we
can submit a DCP. Perhaps the venue holding the screening doesn't
have HD capabilities.

I would offer the same advice as Mannie; ask the people running the
event in New Orleans.

Every city is different - it may have to do with the projection system or their post workflow. For a while they did seem to be keeping it SD across the board just to keep more of a level playing field, but that's changed in most cities over the past few years now that HD has become accessible for most. I'd say reach out to the city producer and ask - they're usually pretty good about getting you answers to stuff like that.

I can tell you that (at least the way it used to be run) in the Twin Cities, films could be provided as SD or HD, but everything was mastered onto a standard def DVD for screenings... even though the theater has a 2k projector. I was responsible for creating those screener DVDs one year about 3-4yrs ago.

I just did this in New Hampshire and submitted in 1080p as per the city page's requirements. They did not release the local specs until very last-minute but I had the exact same concerns. Plan to shoot in HD, and downgrade if necessary.

Also, your film will get most of its exposure on the internet, where viewers expect HD video to begin with.

Most likely related to their post workflow where they move all the films to a single hard drive (or some other media) for screening. They don't want to have to do the down rez, they want the filmmaker to do it.

I'm going to try and co-opt this thread rather than creating a new one. I'm doing the London 48HFP this weekend, my first every go at a 48-hour competition.

Firstly, I was wondering whether any of our UK based members wanted to get involved. I'm mainly looking for Composer, 1st AD and Production Manager, but do get in touch if you feel like you could help out.

Secondly, does anyone have any tips? I'm not sure I've read anyone talking about the specifics of their schedule, but I've been working under the assumption if will go like this:

Friday afternoon – get the specifics, sit down with key team and work out roughly what we want to do. I will then get to work on the script and send it over to everyone on Friday evening, including composer who can start thinking about themes. We will then make sure we have all the relevant actors (I have a pool of actors at the ready), props, locations, crew and gear. (Most of that stuff I'll have arranged beforehand, we'll just try and tailor it to the shoot).

Saturday – Shoot all day and start piecing together a rough edit of the piece. Aim to send a rough edit of what we've got to the composer in the afternoon/evening.

Sunday morning – Pick-ups if necessary and completion of edit, any VFX, grade, sound design...etc. Music in by lunchtime – render, export, deliver.

Does that sound about right? I'd be grateful if any of the veterans on here could give me some tips that might make the shoot run smoothly!

Sounds about right to me, although "Friday afternoon" seems early - usually the kickoff is at 7pm when I've done it.

So our normal schedule is something like:

Friday 7:30pm - 12am: brainstorm ideas, come up with an outline/treatment, let actors know we need them and when
Saturday 12am - done: Write script
Saturday 8am - done: Shoot
Saturday evening - early Sunday morning: sync audio, rough cut
Sunday morning - 2pm: final cut
Sunday 2pm - 6pm: final audio mix, color correction, titles
Sunday 6pm: Export
Sunday 6:10pm: Panic when a corrupted file crashes export
Sunday 6:15pm: identify corrupted file and export again
Sunday 6:25pm: doublepanic when the export audio sync is off
Sunday 6:30pm: fix sync issue and export again
Sunday 6:38: Pace nervously while waiting for the file to copy to a thumbdrive
Sunday 6:49: Split traffic across town on my motorcycle like a I just robbed a bank
Sunday 6:58: Drop off finished film.
Sunday 7pm: Drink

ItDonnedOnMe said:

Sounds about right to me, although "Friday afternoon" seems early - usually the kickoff is at 7pm when I've done it.

So our normal schedule is something like:

Friday 7:30pm - 12am: brainstorm ideas, come up with an outline/treatment, let actors know we need them and when
Saturday 12am - done: Write script
Saturday 8am - done: Shoot
Saturday evening - early Sunday morning: sync audio, rough cut
Sunday morning - 2pm: final cut
Sunday 2pm - 6pm: final audio mix, color correction, titles
Sunday 6pm: Export
Sunday 6:10pm: Panic when a corrupted file crashes export
Sunday 6:15pm: identify corrupted file and export again
Sunday 6:25pm: doublepanic when the export audio sync is off
Sunday 6:30pm: fix sync issue and export again
Sunday 6:38: Pace nervously while waiting for the file to copy to a thumbdrive
Sunday 6:49: Split traffic across town on my motorcycle like a I just robbed a bank
Sunday 6:58: Drop off finished film.
Sunday 7pm: Drink

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Awesome, thanks for the info!

I had thought kick-off was 5pm but you're right, it's 7pm. I think I'll try and follow your plan pretty closely – do you advise definitely ensuring everything is shot on Saturday? Or is it possible to leave little bits until Sunday morning?

What are the crew positions that you think are essential? And who do you advise being at the Friday brainstorming meeting?

Sorry for haranguing you

No problem!

We've occasionally done pick-ups on Sunday morning. I wouldn't leave anything critical for then, just because you're cutting it really close if anything goes wrong on the shoot. As long as your editor doesn't need to be at the shoot you should be fine.

For Friday a lot depends on the people you're working with. We usually have the whole team there, including any key actors if possible - but we've also done this a lot and everyone knows how the process goes. Someone definitely needs to be in charge of wrangling everyone and keeping them focused. It's hard to say without knowing your crew and their normal working dynamic - you'll have to make that call yourself.

For crew you obviously need someone on camera and sound, a director and a 1st AD - probably the most critical part of the production. You don't have time to waste or get too hung up on any one shot or scene - it will be their responsibility to watch the clock and keep everyone moving forward.

Anything additional depends on how your crew members like to work and what your resources are.

For instance I typically do double duty as director/camera working with our other cameraman. The two of us work together on lighting with the 1st AD, so we don't have someone dedicated to lighting. We then have dedicated sound, wardrobe/makeup, and two people who do general PA duties - additionally one of them usually handles 'craft services' (really just taking lunch orders and picking it up) and the other acts as our producer, scheduling actors/locations/etc as well as taking care of all paperwork. That's a critical part actually - put one person in charge of making sure all releases are signed and various forms are completed, so that once the film is done you already have a packet ready to go with everything you need to turn in.

We don't specifically have anyone acting as script supervisor - we don't usually work from a shot list or storyboards because we rarely have time to do them. Since I'm also editing I basically have the whole film in my head from the beginning and just call the shots we'll need as we go. If you don't work that way, or have a dedicated editor who may be working independently of the director, it may be worth having someone act as script supervisor to make sure you get all the material the editor will need.

Good luck!

I usually don't end up at the friday meeting (since I can't really do anything until there is a script), but I went to the last one, and while it was pretty chaotic, our team leaders were pretty good at keeping people on point, letting the wild ideas flow and then paring them down. They also had headshots of actors and pictures of locations they already had releases for, so that helped keep the resources focused.

Best of luck! Have fun (and grab a nap when you can!)

... and that was last week.. return and report please

I've participated in six 48HFP events here in Orlando. The first one back in 2008 I was on another team. Since then I've had my own teams. It's a ton of fun. We won in 2013 for our city and went to Filmapalooza in NOLA this past February. Anyone in here attend?