BFT 48H FILM CHALLENGE
PROJECT REPORT
Written by Francesca Alberigi Quaranta
Submitted by Ben Wadey
BUDGET REPORT
Quantity / Description / Unit Price / Line Total20 / Medals (impact Trophies) / £0.65 (excl. VAT and delivery) / £23.94
Pre-production Advertising on Facebook / £11.84
Medal String / £4.00
Certificates / £5.00
Printing Contestant Scripts / £2.62
Refreshments / £12.62
Post Production Advertising / £179.98
TOTAL / £240.00
DESCRIPTION
The 48h Film Challenge was a creative one-week event coordinated by BFT Film Productions. Four teams competed and each team had 48 hours to film and released a short film. Each team was assigned a 48h period at random and only discovered the theme/film specific parameters (also known as JOKER) of their film on the first day of their 48h slot. The teams had 2 hours to brainstorm, 5 hours to write, 1 hour to plan, 8 hours to film and then 23 hours to edit.
The outcome of the project was incredible! All teams were able to produce a short film of tremendous narrative and stylistic quality in under 48h and all films were released at the Warwick Student Art Festival. Many students taking part in the project had never had a chance to undertake a film project before. Indeed, within the project we had 3 first-time directors and 2 first time producers. The challenge allowed these students to test their skills and undertake a challenge they normally wouldn’t have the confidence to face. Overall, the challenge was a great success with all teams stating they would participate again, and with 3 team members expressing interest in running the event again for next year.
The winners of the challenge were teams Stills + Motion (for ‘The Committee Favorite’) and The Magnificent 7 (for the Social Media Challenge). All winning teams received medals; all participating teams received official certificates.
To understand better how the challenge was structured, please consider the briefing below, which details all the information the teams were provided with.
Schedule:
https://www.google.com/calendar/render#main_7%7Cweek-2+23240+23246+23244
Guidelines:
Writing:
Make sure you include the JOKER.
At most 15 pages.
Properly formatted: http://www.simplyscripts.com/WR_format.html
Save in PDF.
Attach cover sheet: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1ffz50lh-zSKW4VbTnzMv83dkZ-JzIN12hoP9CN-rRJw/edit?usp=sharing
Send to Producer who sends to . Submission has to be received by midnight.
Filming:
Make sure you include the JOKER.
As soon as filming is finished TEXT the Challenge Coordinator.
Producer and ONLY the Producer returns equipment and retrieves footage by 7pm.
We DO NOT provide you with storage for the footage you produce so make sure you have a hard drive of some sorts on which you can store the footage.
Should you have any extras in the film who are not members of your team, you will be required to make them fill out this form:
https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B8Kuo85QpzcgWVBvcmcxOGpVbm8/view?usp=sharing
Release forms must be submitted by the producer by midnight of the filming day and be accompanied by a cover sheet (https://docs.google.com/document/d/1ffz50lh-zSKW4VbTnzMv83dkZ-JzIN12hoP9CN-rRJw/edit?usp=sharing). Should you not provide us with release forms your short film will be automatically disqualified.
Editing:
Make sure you include the JOKER.
Should you choose to edit online we advise you select footage you want to use beforehand and then upload it to www.wevideo.com to edit it.
Files must be rendered and submitted by 5pm of your assigned editing day.
To submit the files, save them to a google drive account (https://www.google.com/drive/ ) and then email the link to with a cover sheet (https://docs.google.com/document/d/1ffz50lh-zSKW4VbTnzMv83dkZ- JzIN12hoP9CN-rRJw/edit?usp=sharing).
The short film must be introduced by the opening credit ‘BFT Film Productions presents’ and must conclude with the BFT Logo (black background: https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B8Kuo85QpzcgUlB3cUpKcXFnNFU/view?usp=sharing or white background: https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B8Kuo85QpzcgdzN0UDllNTNWX2M/view?usp=sharing)
In the closing credits of the film, before the closing BFT title card you must include a slide which reads: ‘This short film was made as part of the BFT 48h Film Challenge in June 2015, which was possible thanks to the generous funding of The University of Warwick Lord Rootes Memorial Fund.’
What happens if my team finishes early?
Call me as soon as you are finished, even if it is before the 7pm deadline. You may be able to hand in equipment early, you CANNOT hand it in late.
What happens if I have a technical problem?
Contact the Challenge Coordinator IMMEDIATELY.
What happens if I break something?
Don’t. But if you do let us know straight away.
What happens if a team member cannot make it to set?
We can allow last minute additions to teams should you be short an essential team mate during the competition. However, if you have the minimum 7 members with all essential roles filled, we will not allow you to make a last minute addition.
What Happens After?
WSAF RELEASE is temporarily scheduled for Tuesday 23rd of June at 11:30am in the Warwick Arts Centre Studio.
(We will be in touch with you before then to receive posters and promotional pictures for the advertising of your short films. This is incredibly important as it will help your chances in promoting the film, and thus win the challenge.)
After screening the films go online automatically on the BFT Film Production Society Channel. Challenge Winner Score: YouTube Likes + Shares + Views up until 12:00 of Friday the 26th of June.
Committee Favourite Score: Each member of the committee (this will include external panelists) will have one vote and reveal their favourite on the 26th of June.
TEAM SPECIFICS
To better understand the projects that resulted of the project please see the team specific information below.
THE MAGNIFICENT SEVEN
Team Number: 1
Team Name: The Magnificent Seven
Film Title: Koansequences
Challenge Joker: The Long Take
Example of the Long Take: Boogie Nights opening sequence (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iiXtFyZqvQQ)
Notes: Team forgot to bring a hard-drive to back up their work, hence their footage back up time over-ran into their editing time. Editing was nonetheless completed promptly.
Total Views by Challenge Deadline; 1203 (making it the social media challenge winner)
YouTube Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K3Dgrw-WimU
ALDERAAN PLACES
Team Number: 2
Team Name: Alderaan Places Film Title: Parallel Views Challenge Joker: Flashback
Example of the Flashback: Up flashback montage (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wsG2S_1PRnk) Total Views by Challenge Deadline: 310
YouTube Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ejH5YyEu9C4
STILLS+MOTION
Team Number: 3
Team Name: Stills + Motion Film Title: Calling on Hope Challenge Joker: The Jump Cut
Example of the Jump Cut: The Royal Tannenbaums suicide scene (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K2GPBBxFpEw ) Total Views by Challenge Deadline: 420 (was awarded the committee favorite award).
YouTube Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-bb_VRVm9sc
ROYALE WITH CHEESE
Team Number: 4
Team Name: Royale with Cheese
Film Title: Marmalade
Challenge Joker: Voice Over
Example of the Voice Over: Mean Girls Mall scene (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3YTMdIune-8) Total Views by Challenge Deadline: 530
YouTube Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sSZ7kBj9jRI
RELEASE
All films were released at WSAF and viewed by all contestants giving all team members an opportunity to see their finished work and feedback that of the other teams. This event was a happy celebration of the end of the production part of the challenge.
FINAL THOUGHTS
Overall the Committee is very proud of the resulting films of the 48h Film Challenge. It allowed students within the society to gain a deeper understanding of film production and test their production skills, but also introduced filmmaking to over 15 non-member students. We are excited to continue to promote these films to students arriving at the University and are hoping to continue this project with a new version of the challenge for 2nd Term of the 2015/2016 academic year.