The 24 Hour FilmFest kicked off last Friday afternoon and voting is underway. The competition provides opportunities for students interested in film.
Teams producing films for the competition were required to include certain control elements in their films: One of four locations, one of four props and one of four lines of dialogue. Tom Craig, director of student activities, said this criteria for the films was released last Friday at noon via Facebook and email. Teams had from noon to 6 p.m. to plan their films, and from then until 6 p.m. on Saturday to shoot, edit, and submit them.
The films were submitted by being uploaded to YouTube. Teams then had to submit the YouTube link in an email to filmfest@acu.edu with a list of the control elements they used. Three teams completed films for this past weekend’s competition, Craig said.
Caleb Williamson, sophomore digital entertainment technology major from Thousand Oaks, Calif., participated in this past weekend’s competition. He said events like 24 Hour FilmFest are beneficial to students who are interested in pursuing film.
“[24 Hour FilmFest] allows the filmmakers to figure out what their personal signature is since they have to come up with it so quickly,” he said.
Williamson said he enjoys making films on campus for such events because he can receive feedback not only from peers but also faculty and staff who have had experience in the film industry. He also said he enjoys the opportunity to make films with friends and to utilize actors from the Department of Theatre or Seekers of the Word drama ministry.
Craig said voting for the films went live on Tuesday at noon and will remain active until Thursday at noon and is open to all faculty, staff and students. The link to vote can be found on the 24 Hour FilmFest Facebook page. The film receiving the majority of votes will be proclaimed the winner and the team will be awarded a $100 prize. The winner will be announced Friday. However, Craig said this will not be the end of the line for these films.
“The highest ranking films will advance to the ’24’ category for next year’s FilmFest,” he said. “[The FilmFest judges] will judge them on technical merit with the understanding that this was done on a 24 hour time frame.”
This category will be new to FilmFest 2014, and Craig said the Student Life office is planning to host three more 24 Hour FilmFest competitions before next year’s regular competition. The highest-ranking films from each competition will all move on to the new category.
