Yet Another 48 Hours

Could you make a film in just 48 hours?

 

Put all memories of Eddie Murphy and Nick Nolte’s 1982 actioner far behind you. Come May 16, The 48 Hour Film Project arrives in Edinburgh, offering amateur filmmakers from around the country the chance to go global and compete for the title of Best 48 Hour Film of 2008.

Now in its eighth year, this event sees the full filmmaking process, from concept to completion, condensed into just two days. While the latest Michael Bay effort may sometimes feel like it’s been chucked together over a weekend, chances are they’ve had just a bit longer than anyone that takes part in this.

The rules seem quite simple, if not slightly terrifying: once you’ve paid your £45 registration fee and been accepted, you’ll attend the kick-off meeting at Edinburgh’s Cameo cinema on the evening of Friday May 16. You’ll then receive a genre, a character, a prop and a line of dialogue that you need to work into your film. Your team then have until 7.30pm on Sunday May 18 to write, shoot, score and edit your film. Winning films will then be screened at the Cameo on May 20 and 21.

The winning Edinburgh team will be invited to attend the Filmapalooza Awards Weekend and the winner is expected to be screened at Cannes 2008.

Quite what makes a successful short film is debatable. My own enthusiasm in the art form only stretches back as far as January, when I took a trip to Edinburgh’s GRV to watch the monthly Future Shorts (co-sponsors of the 48 Hour Film Project) film festival with around 40 others. These events screen a bundle of short films over the course of a few hours and are a great way to sample some superb mini-flicks.

The first few films did make it seem that twist endings were going to be a common theme, causing me to wonder if this was the only way a film that runs between 5 and 20 minutes could embed itself in the memory. By the end of the night I realised this wasn’t the case, that the short film is a way to tell a stripped down story without the extraneous material or padding that a 90 minute feature demands.

Take a trip over to the project website to find out more - we’ll keep an eye on things from a safe distance and report back on progress come May.