Hey gang - I looked up the dates of the previous 48hfp weekends for the DC contest over the past 9 years. There were a few years where they chose a later weekend than the first weekend of May. The website says that the date announcements will begin in February, so I'm hoping we'll have an official weekend locked down soon. And I'm hoping it's going to be May 7-8-9 so Erin is home!!
2001 - May 4-6
2002 - May 17-19
2003 - May 2-4
2004 - May 7-9
2005 - April 29-May 1
2006 - May 5-7
2007 - May 4-6
2008 - May 2-4
2009 - May 1-3
2010 - (No dates released yet)
Thursday, January 21, 2010
48hfp DC 2009: From Behind the Cornhole
To see our low-res video on You Tube, just click the picture above or the link below:
Monday, January 18, 2010
T-Minus 14 Weeks...
South County United is revving the engines! We participated in our very first 48 Hour Film Project last year in the Washington, D.C. contest. Our cast and crew of ten folks had never made a movie, been part of a film contest, heard of the 48hfp, nothing!
Our Producer/Director of Photography/Cameraman/Writer/Editor, Sean Healey, heard about the 48hfp from a colleague of his during a job he had in D.C. Sean brought the idea to us all over dinner and drinks one fateful night in February 2009. He had very little details, other than the fact that you had 48 hours to make a film, you got a required character, prop, and line of dialog. Then your team had to pick a random genre from the Hat of Doom. Other than that, we had no idea what the heck we were getting ourselves into.
A few of us more adventurous types (like me!) were on-board immediately. You didn't need to convince some of us to spend a weekend with friends doing something totally out of our comfort zone. I got online and started researching like the mad fool that I am (thus, I was instantly elected without any formal vote to be the Production Manager type person who would organize EVERYTHING, even if a little too much).
Our Producer/Director of Photography/Cameraman/Writer/Editor, Sean Healey, heard about the 48hfp from a colleague of his during a job he had in D.C. Sean brought the idea to us all over dinner and drinks one fateful night in February 2009. He had very little details, other than the fact that you had 48 hours to make a film, you got a required character, prop, and line of dialog. Then your team had to pick a random genre from the Hat of Doom. Other than that, we had no idea what the heck we were getting ourselves into.
A few of us more adventurous types (like me!) were on-board immediately. You didn't need to convince some of us to spend a weekend with friends doing something totally out of our comfort zone. I got online and started researching like the mad fool that I am (thus, I was instantly elected without any formal vote to be the Production Manager type person who would organize EVERYTHING, even if a little too much).
I found blogs and forums from previously vetted teams, all over the world, who have lived through the 48hfp to tell the stories and share the sheer exhilaration that this contest surely provides. We only had to wait about 2.5 months but it couldn't arrive soon enough for our team. We were READY!
Even after the exhaustive research online, we still had no clue what to expect. And I'm glad we didn't to be honest. It made the experience that much more memorable and absolutely fantastic. We kind of just "winged it" and to be honest, it worked for us. I'm almost worried about this year's 2010 contest because we might over-think things or plan too much? Is there such a thing?My Type-A personality surely has never considered any such possibility.
In the 2009 D.C. chapter of the 48hfp, our little virgin team placed 18th overall out of 110 amazing and talented teams that entered a film. A handful of those were disqualified for voting due to late submissions or other technicalities. But considering none of us had any clue what we were doing, we were extremely proud at the end of the day. We made one of the top two "Best of D.C." screenings, people laughed at our film (even a few people who weren't on our team), and we are still talking about how much fun we had 8+ months later. That, in and of itself, is testament to how much fun the 48hfp can be.
Granted, it was an absolute exhaustion that I haven't felt since college when I had to cram for a final. It was frustrating that we didn't have time to do some of the creative or challenging things we wanted to attempt. There were short tempers at times, when the hunger/exhaustion/frustration started to boil over. We had a naivete that I think I am going to miss this year.
But all in all, it was probably one of the best weekends of my life. It was so different than anything I've done before. And I learned so much about some of the friends that I thought I already knew pretty well. We all got to showcase our teamwork, creativity, humor, seriousness, professionalism, competitiveness, drive, and passion in a way that I didn't know my own friends were capable of (no offense SCU teammates!!). And I got to meet a few really talented people who I didn't know before that weekend, and who I can't wait to work with again in just a few months.
Stay Tuned for more posts from the SCU team as we prepare to land on the 2010 edition of the Washington, D.C. 48 Hour Film Project. We certainly are not giving away any of our trade secrets, or the ideas churning in our heads. But we'll keep you up-to-date on some of the happenings as they unfold.
With the bar set so high after last year, we have a lot of work to do!
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