whats the 48 hour film project like?
- Thread starter Ponty301
- Start date
you pay, you submit, you see it on the big screen. (that's all your promised, other things might happen, but just seeing it on the big screen is a rush!)
Do it, you will learn more in that weekend then 6 months of browsing the boards. Gpforet's comments are spot on. You do a 48 and you are either done with film making, or you're hooked.
If your complete filmmaking noob, I suggest PRODUCING the project. Register a cool team name the first day registration is possible. Then just start putting the word out that you've already registered and you want a director, crew and team.. .. the rest will follow..
Do it, you will learn more in that weekend then 6 months of browsing the boards. Gpforet's comments are spot on. You do a 48 and you are either done with film making, or you're hooked.
If your complete filmmaking noob, I suggest PRODUCING the project. Register a cool team name the first day registration is possible. Then just start putting the word out that you've already registered and you want a director, crew and team.. .. the rest will follow..
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We actually submitted our 48 hour film today, 3 hours ago!
Oue genre completely threw us off... Im more of action type of the guy, but we got weirdest genre ever... "Period Piece" :-S Make a story, that is based in a different era.
I didn't sleep last night, edited the footage, and it looks awesome! We will be screened on tuesday at 7pm.
I do suggest to be a part of this project. I've learned so so much from the last 48 hours!
Do it
Zensteve: I was getting a bit nervous during rendering.. deadline was creeping up, and i couldn't get good resolution off video, and 1080p was taking way too long
Oue genre completely threw us off... Im more of action type of the guy, but we got weirdest genre ever... "Period Piece" :-S Make a story, that is based in a different era.
I didn't sleep last night, edited the footage, and it looks awesome! We will be screened on tuesday at 7pm.
I do suggest to be a part of this project. I've learned so so much from the last 48 hours!
Do it
Zensteve: I was getting a bit nervous during rendering.. deadline was creeping up, and i couldn't get good resolution off video, and 1080p was taking way too long
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It’s a blast. I’ve done it twice and had a lot of fun both times.
Reps from prodCo’s do not come to the screenings - this isn’t
about “breaking in” it's about the challenge of making a movie
quickly.
Now now, that's cheating!
My team just finished up our 13th 48 hour project - our 21st film including other competitions up to seven days long. We clearly chose the red pill! Like wheatgrinder said - it's a great learning experience. You're forced to make decisions and move forward quickly, which I think is a great thing to learn for filmmaking in general.
My main advice would be not to get too ambitious with the story your first time around - whatever you attempt will take longer than you think, so it's best to start with something simple and let it grow from there. Also, focus on story ideas, not just concepts - you'll find you have a ton of concepts but you really need to come up with something with a beginning, middle and e, something that takes the audience somewhere. Finally - Zensteve's right, leave some time for rendering at the end! I don't know what happened this year, but out of 55 teams only 35 made it on time - which is way lower than normal - and quite a few just ran out of time during the final render.
Here's our project - we tried to keep it really simple this time around: http://vimeo.com/25048645
If you've got a team, and even limited equipment, DO IT! Just getting ready to do my third year (Friday the 8th). When I started, the team I work with were in high school (couldn't find a composer they knew, so they found me online). Shot on camcorders, edited in iMovie. The end result, as you can imagine, was patchy at best, but we finished it on time, and all of us learned from it. So the next year, adding some people with more experience and better equipment to the team was met with much better results.
I agree with all those above, if you do 48 hour, you won't find out whether you can make a career out of filmmaking, but it'll definitely show you if you really want to! And you will, without a doubt, learn a ton!
I agree with all those above, if you do 48 hour, you won't find out whether you can make a career out of filmmaking, but it'll definitely show you if you really want to! And you will, without a doubt, learn a ton!
The 48HFP is a blast. I don't feel like repeating everything that's already been said, but yeah, all the advice given in this thread has been solid.
There are a couple things I'd like to comment on, though.
First, and this probably is pointless for me to say (because you're probably already planning on it), but make sure you go to the screening. And if it's possible for you to watch ALL OF THEM, do. It's so much fun to see what other people did with the same constraints.
Second, I'd like to comment on the brief exchange between Zensteve and ItDonnedOnMe, on the issue of going in with/without any preconcieved story ideas. I've actually put a great deal of thought into this particular issue.
Me? I'm a competitor. Maybe it's because I was raised with four brothers and three sisters. Whatever. I like to compete. And I like to win. But there's one very big caveat -- winning means absolutely nothing if you don't play by the rules. If you cheat, you didn't win.
Now, technically, there is absolutely nothing against the rules of the 48HFP if you want to brainstorm some potential ideas for stories, beforehand. There is NOTHING in the rulebook that says you can't think about it, and even exchange the ideas that you're thinking about, with your teammates. Hell, I've even seen PUBLIC ENCOURAGEMENT from 48HFP OFFICIALS to do just that.
However, I do believe that this act of thinking of ideas, in advance, is against the spirit of the competition. You might not be technically breaking the rules, but you're sort of killing the point of the whole thing.
Additionally, it will be obvious that you just forced the required elements into a pre-concieved story. Whenever any team does this (and it's common), the required elements just seem out of place. But when you build an original story around those required elements, all the pieces just fit. I believe every filmmaker in the audience can tell the difference between the teams that truly follow the spirit of the competition, vs. those who practically wrote stuff in advance.
All that being said, I must admit that I might convert to the Dark Side this year. I'm going to wait until that fateful Friday, to see what genre our team draws, but I'm considering the possibility of a pre-concieved story. Depending on the genre drawn, though, I might choose to stick with what I believe is the spirit of the competition, and create something entirely brand-new, on that day.
Disclaimer: The reason I'm considering a pre-concieved story, however, isn't because I want to get a leg-up on the competition, but simply because this idea that popped into my head would be freaking hilarious, and I couldn't resist the temptation of creating something that I think all the other filmmakers in the audience would be appreciative of.
There are a couple things I'd like to comment on, though.
First, and this probably is pointless for me to say (because you're probably already planning on it), but make sure you go to the screening. And if it's possible for you to watch ALL OF THEM, do. It's so much fun to see what other people did with the same constraints.
Second, I'd like to comment on the brief exchange between Zensteve and ItDonnedOnMe, on the issue of going in with/without any preconcieved story ideas. I've actually put a great deal of thought into this particular issue.
Me? I'm a competitor. Maybe it's because I was raised with four brothers and three sisters. Whatever. I like to compete. And I like to win. But there's one very big caveat -- winning means absolutely nothing if you don't play by the rules. If you cheat, you didn't win.
Now, technically, there is absolutely nothing against the rules of the 48HFP if you want to brainstorm some potential ideas for stories, beforehand. There is NOTHING in the rulebook that says you can't think about it, and even exchange the ideas that you're thinking about, with your teammates. Hell, I've even seen PUBLIC ENCOURAGEMENT from 48HFP OFFICIALS to do just that.
However, I do believe that this act of thinking of ideas, in advance, is against the spirit of the competition. You might not be technically breaking the rules, but you're sort of killing the point of the whole thing.
Additionally, it will be obvious that you just forced the required elements into a pre-concieved story. Whenever any team does this (and it's common), the required elements just seem out of place. But when you build an original story around those required elements, all the pieces just fit. I believe every filmmaker in the audience can tell the difference between the teams that truly follow the spirit of the competition, vs. those who practically wrote stuff in advance.
All that being said, I must admit that I might convert to the Dark Side this year. I'm going to wait until that fateful Friday, to see what genre our team draws, but I'm considering the possibility of a pre-concieved story. Depending on the genre drawn, though, I might choose to stick with what I believe is the spirit of the competition, and create something entirely brand-new, on that day.
Disclaimer: The reason I'm considering a pre-concieved story, however, isn't because I want to get a leg-up on the competition, but simply because this idea that popped into my head would be freaking hilarious, and I couldn't resist the temptation of creating something that I think all the other filmmakers in the audience would be appreciative of.
huh, my friend suggested that we write a very broad synopsis for every genre listed. at first it sounded like a clever i dea to help us get the ball rolling but, theres no point then in doing this whole thing in 48 hours with a story already in mind. so i guess ill just sit around until i draw a genre.
im also hoping it isnt like a musical or a western ^ and also horror...i cant stand horror
im also hoping it isnt like a musical or a western ^ and also horror...i cant stand horror
Part of the fun (and the challenge) is coming up with the story
when you get the assignment. Don't miss out on that because
you want a bit of an advantage.
My last one I was hoping for "musical" - we got "Holiday Film"
and made a musical anyway.
when you get the assignment. Don't miss out on that because
you want a bit of an advantage.
My last one I was hoping for "musical" - we got "Holiday Film"
and made a musical anyway.
My team drew Musical Or Western, and had a blast. Just go with it. There is no real "winning" just doing the best you can and making some new friends along the way.
Focus on finding and SECURING good locations that fit each genre. Good locations seem to set off the good from the bad. Too many 48's take place in some boring apartment.
Have a leader, its very important to make fast decisions early on. The first decision you have will be to keep the genre as drawn or put in for a alternate draw... I let my team vote on that one, after that, any decisions that wernt imiedately unanimous we made a fast call with either the producer or director deciding. No looking back.
Focus on finding and SECURING good locations that fit each genre. Good locations seem to set off the good from the bad. Too many 48's take place in some boring apartment.
Have a leader, its very important to make fast decisions early on. The first decision you have will be to keep the genre as drawn or put in for a alternate draw... I let my team vote on that one, after that, any decisions that wernt imiedately unanimous we made a fast call with either the producer or director deciding. No looking back.
RESISTANCE IS FUTILE, WHEATGRINDER!!!
My 48 is tomorrow; tonight I go out to stock up on Jolt and candy! Actually, unless we draw Musical, I'll probably be able to take a nap Friday evening until the script is ready. On one hand, I hope we don't because that puts a HELL of a lot more pressure on me (and I'm not a fan of musicals), but on the other hand, I do this for a challenge, to force myself out of my comfort zone and (hopefully, eventually) to become a more flexible composer.
But I agree, the number one most important part is having someone in the lead with CRAZY organizational skills. Someone who can stay on top of the paperwork, rather than pushing it off to the end. Nothing worse than not finishing because you didn't finish the paperwork!
My 48 is tomorrow; tonight I go out to stock up on Jolt and candy! Actually, unless we draw Musical, I'll probably be able to take a nap Friday evening until the script is ready. On one hand, I hope we don't because that puts a HELL of a lot more pressure on me (and I'm not a fan of musicals), but on the other hand, I do this for a challenge, to force myself out of my comfort zone and (hopefully, eventually) to become a more flexible composer.
But I agree, the number one most important part is having someone in the lead with CRAZY organizational skills. Someone who can stay on top of the paperwork, rather than pushing it off to the end. Nothing worse than not finishing because you didn't finish the paperwork!
I'm thinking about entering the one in my city (next month), but the website isn't too clear on all the genres. Are there several different, specific genres? Or is it action/Western/horror? The general stuff. (And also, for a musical, do you actually have to have actors sing? I'd be totally screwed if that's right)
The genres are explained pretty well here:
http://www.48hourfilm.com/filmmakers/genres.php
Western and Musical are lumped into one (for the non-singing crews!) and if you don't like it, you can always draw a wildcard instead.
We got Detective Movie this year. They're working on the script now; going for a sort of Memento-type thing. I've done a couple musical sketches, but won't be able to do the real work until they finish the script. Much fun to be had!
http://www.48hourfilm.com/filmmakers/genres.php
Western and Musical are lumped into one (for the non-singing crews!) and if you don't like it, you can always draw a wildcard instead.
We got Detective Movie this year. They're working on the script now; going for a sort of Memento-type thing. I've done a couple musical sketches, but won't be able to do the real work until they finish the script. Much fun to be had!