48Hours of furious filmmaking

The V 48HOURS: Furious Filmmaking is back to give first-timers and established filmmakers a chance to create an entire short film from scratch in less than 48 hours.

The shoot weekend is on May 16-18 and registration finishes May 1. However with a prize pool worth over $100,000 spaces fill up quickly.

More than eight thousand cast and crew will participate this year and the short films will be shown in cinemas throughout New Zealand. The winning shorts from each city will finally compete against Peter Jackson's Wildcard picks during a two-hour C4 Television special.

This year the rules allow more animation and special awards for teens teams and all girl teams and there is also a special 48 second promotional competition.Last years Grand Champ Johnny Barker and the Lense Flare team, have not been sitting idly counting all their loot, the team have produced music videos, short films and are working on a documentary about Barker's life as the Shortland Street serial killer.

They offer the following pointers "Think simple, don't think too grand, and keep it achievable. Downsize as much of every aspect as you can - i.e. small team, simple concept, and minimal locations. Bottom line - have a simple idea and have fun!"

The 2003 and 2005 Grand National Champs, Crash Zoom (creators of the upcoming sitcom The Jaquie Brown Diaries) say, "Make sure you don't ignore any of the crucial elements, a cohesive story, great actors and a good cameraman. Do as much prep as is legal beforehand".

On the other hand the winners of 2006 The Downlow Concept (TV series and features in development), have laid the gauntlet down to this years competitors, "Film is for people who know what the **** they're doing. Don't waste our time with some story about a guy who can't find something. I know he's going to find it, and so does everybody else in the ****in' theatre. It's not a surprise".

This year Animation will be a force to be reckoned with, as the rules loosen up to allow more teams to have a go using all forms of animation. There are also special awards for Teens and all Girl teams.

Also this year a special warm-up competition is being launched for those who can't wait for "V" 48HOURS to start. The "V" 48SECONDS is for all ages and sizes. Anyone with access to any old camera, including mobile phones can take part.

Organiser Ant Timpson calls the wildly successful annual event "A cinematic boot-camp where the drill sergeant is a ticking clock" and that the event, now in its 6th year "is all about having fun with friends but the $100k in prizes is not a bad reason for entering either".

"V" 48HOURS: FURIOUS FILMMAKING

02/04/08