48-hour film contest focuses on horror

By: Addley Fannin

Posted: 10/17/08

"You're on a break-neck pace," radio, television and film junior Brent Coble said. "The level of stress and worry and nervousness - you're always worried about what the other teams are doing with the elements, so you're trying to be creative. It's really stressful, but it's also a blast."

Coble and his team will participate in the Texas Filmmakers' second "48 Hours of Hell" event, which is being held in association with Art Six coffee house.

The contest is a 48-hour video race. Teams of three to eight individuals will meet tonight around midnight. Each team will recieve a list of four elements. The teams are given the task of making a video that incorporates all four elements,said Joshua Butler, the Texas Filmmakers member in charge of organizing the event.

Because the event begins tonight at midnight, the films must be completed and submitted to the judges by Sunday at midnight.

"It can get pretty crazy," Coble said. "You have 48 hours to make a movie, and it's pretty stressful, but the more that you do, the better it gets."

Keeping with the event's name and supporting a general Halloween theme, the four elements must be used in each film will have a horror theme.

"Those elements are a theme, a location, a prop and a line of dialogue," Butler said. "For example, last time, the line was something about the hounds of hell. Figuring out how to incorporate something that's kind of campy and kind of cheesy is just a fun part of horror movies."

Besides the fact that everything will have a Halloween or horror movie twist to it, the participants know nothing about the elements or what kind of story they could be incorporated into.

"It's good to have an idea, but you shouldn't fall in love with that idea," Coble said. "We know it's going to have a horror element, and we've been brainstorming about zombie movies or serial killers, but everything changes when you get the elements. You can have everything ready, but then you have to change everything."

This horror theme sets the "48 Hours of Hell" apart from other 24- to 48-hour national video races.

And while some of the event's teams, such as Coble's, have already formed and signed up as a group, individual applicants are also being accepted.

"Generally, in these races, you have to have a team already," Butler said. "But for us, anyone can sign up, and we'll put them in the team. We make sure that each team has access to a camera and the all tools they need to complete their film."

Allowing individual contestants and coordinating talents opens the event up. The only thing that may restrict membership is the $15 fee.

"As much as possible goes back to the winners in the form of cash prizes for first and second place," Butler said. "As long as they follow the rules and are submitted before midnight on the 17th, they're eligible for the final competition."

Once the films have been completed and submitted, the next three days will be used for judging.

The following Wednesday, the completed films will be screened and prizes will be awarded in a free event that is open to the public.

"The coolest part is the screening because everybody has their 'war stories' of what they go through, and it's cool to see what everyone did with those elements," Coble said.

The final screening of the "48 Hours of Hell" projects will be at 8:30 p.m. Oct. 22 at Art Six coffee house, 424 Bryan St.