Vera Grbic is a volunteer for OIFF.
Get your quick-as-a-jet film skills ready – the Ottawa International Film Festival (OIFF) is asking you to shoot a short film (3-12 minutes long) in just three days.
That’s the premise behind the OIFF 72 Hour Film Challenge.
On February 6th, at 6:30 pm at The Lieutenant’s Pump, OIFF will kick off the event, providing contenders specific wildcard requirements they have to use in the films. These may include dialogue, props, locations and even music (local bands like Kalle Mattson, Fevers, and Boyhood have contributed in the past). The rest, like equipment and non-wildcard location arrangement, is up to your creative genius. What will get you through it: call-in favours and drink inordinate amounts of coffee.
From past experience, it’s anybody’s game. Nina Bains, Festival Director, says the Challenge provides “exponential opportunities for seasoned and new filmmakers alike.” Now in its 6th incarnation, some of the Challenge’s best films have gone on to be featured on CBC and in film fests around the world.
To provide inspiration to aspiring filmmakers, we’re taking a look at some of the previous winners.
Last year’s winner, Change, had to use the penny as a prop, the phrase “take a penny, leave a penny” and freedom as a theme. It told a lovely, relatable story that subtly, yet centrally, used the penny as one of the main characters in the evolution of the plotline. See the laundromat love story here:
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sN-U7tk0tYQ[/youtube]
The 2012 winner was Encore. Some requirements of that year include: having to use five prescribed music tracks, the use of “time to celebrate” as a theme, and a character had to say, “Damn right, your dad drank it.” The film was shot by Robin Léveillé and Jonathan Kischel. They describe their almost sleepless and fly-by-the-seat-of-your-pants process here.
To learn more, or to register online, click here. Registration can also take place at the event. RSVP on Facebook.
