48 Hour Film Project-Jury Member Sarah Knight Adamson Reflects

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Yes, in just 48 hours, filmmakers around the globe compete in teams to create a film that will wow judges and audiences. Launched in 2001 in Washington, DC as a competition among friends by filmmakers Mark Ruppert and Liz Langston, The 48 Hour Film Project is now the world’s largest timed film-making competition. The 2013 tour makes stops in New York City, Chicago, Los Angeles, Johannesburg, Paris, Beijing, London, Mumbai and over 100 other cities. The grand prize is $5,000 and the chance to screen their film at the Cannes International Film Festival in 2014.

Film-making teams begin at 7PM on a Friday and deliver a finished 4 to 7 minute film by 7:30PM Sunday. The teams are assigned a genre, character, prop, and one line of dialogue. They must complete the entire film-making process in two days.

Judging was done via an online link to the films and a scoring spreadsheet that contained 16 categories. The process to evaluate 22 films took a little over 12 hours. Some films were reviewed 3 to 4 times. Score sheets were turned in and the awards were held on August 27, 2013 at Lincoln Hall in Chicago.

I presented 2 awards; Best Directing and Best Editing to a packed house. For myself, the experience was very rewarding and a worthwhile approach to promoting the art of film-making.

The 2013 Chicago winners are listed below:’

Best Use of Character
”Boron 48″ by Honest Bloke Films
Best Use of Prop
”Fin in the Fog” by Flim Flam Films
Best Use of Line
”Pre-heated” by ARGO
Best Art Direction
”Dwindling Numbers” by Qualia
Best Costumes
”The Pinochle Club” by Green Shoe
Best Special Effects
”The Transferants” by Back 40 Productions
Best Sound Design
”Figure 1A.” by Done > Perfect
Best Musical Score
”Dwindling Numbers” by Qualia
Best Cinematography
”HORSES OF A DIFFERENT COLOR” by Rascals & Rogues
Best Editing
”An Awkward Situation” by The Red Snack
Best Actress
Angelica Acebedo-Frint in “Figure 1A.” by Done > Perfect
Best Actor
”Boron 48″ in Jimmie Tolliver by Honest Bloke Films
Best Writing
”An Awkward Situation” by The Red Snack
Best Directing
”The Pinochle Club” by Green Shoe
Second Runner Up for Best Film
”An Awkward Situation” by The Red Snack
Runner Up for Best Film
”The Pinochle Club” by Green Shoe
Best Film
”Dwindling Numbers” by Qualia

For more information visit http://www.48hourfilm.com

Sarah Knight Adamson © September 7, 2013