Dante Nahai/Contributing Writer
On Oct. 5 and 6, the FIU Film Studies Program held a 48-hour filmmaking challenge from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m for both days.
Students were given that time to find a location, make a shot list for locations and write a screenplay. Given that we, the students, had to create a five-minute short film, we had to have a clear picture of what we would shoot.
On day one, I met with other students who were also taking part in the challenge.
FIU professor Andrew Strycharski and Film Studies president Mario Avalos showed us past films made during the challenge and then explained how the next 48-hours would go.
We spent about 15 minutes discussing film ideas, eventually leading to just two options to choose from.
Students discuss film ideas for the 48-Hour Filmmaking Challenge. Dante Nahai/PantherNOW
After finishing discussions, I got into my group of six people and made a general idea on what we wanted to do for the film.
We then assigned each of us a role: two of us would co-write the script, two would co-direct and two would act.
However, we did alternate roles. I, for example, directed one scene, while one of the actors contributed more ideas onto the script.
After we assigned roles, we spent a few hours location hunting, made a shot list for the next day and created a list of props to bring to the shoot.
The second day of filming was more productive.
My group and I met and summarized what we were doing for the day. We had a tight schedule of filming from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m.
We spent most of the day filming in the FIU Nature Reserve by the Riccardo Silva Stadium.
What was cool was we had access to professional filming equipment, like a boom mike and a camera that could do weird shots, like a Dutch angle, which is a camera angle that looks like the shot is tilting to the side, much like how a person would bend their neck.
We had students and alumni come in and help with the equipment since everyone in my group had no prior experience on how to handle these things.
Through sweat and dirt, we finished the film around 5:20 p.m.
I did not have to take part in the editing process but after seeing the finished result of the film, I’m pretty sure we’re going to enter it to the FIU Film Festival.
The whole weekend was an experience I would recommend to anyone interested in filmmaking. You don’t have to have any prior knowledge of acting, writing or directing. I have experience in writing scripts so I thought this would be a good way to meet people with similar interests.
The goal of the weekend was to make connections with students who have worked on short films and encourage others to learn a new subject in a film making environment.
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