On Friday Oct. 18, a record-breaking 25 teams from across New Brunswick embarked on a mission to complete a short film in 48 hours.
The 48-Hour Film Competition happens annually for the past twelve years. Mackenzie Keirstead, a University of New Brunswick Media Arts and Cultures graduate, has participated in the competition every year since 2016.
“It’s really satisfying to have something done so quick, and if you like [how it turns out], done so well. Especially with film, because it can sometimes take forever just to get a project off the ground.”
Teams had to write, film and edit short films within 48 hours.Each film had to include the different object and location they were given in their “inspiration package,” as well as the phrase “It’s legal now.” Keirstead’s inspiration package included Queen Square Park and a rubber duck.
Keirstead was the project manager for his team Waifu Snafu who created the film It Takes a Toll. The story is about a troll kicked out of his home under a bridge by two bickering cops. He wanders around Fredericton with his wise Mandarin-speaking chicken in hopes of finding a new home, but wherever he goes, he is evicted.
The film placed third for the competition’s People’s Choice award.
Keirstead said the key to completing this competition is time management and teamwork.
“It’s been my quickest, fastest and easiest team ever. We wrote the script Friday night, finished shooting by 6 p.m. Saturday night, even had time for a wrap party, and then we were just editing [on Sunday].”
Keirstead said that editing is one of the most challenging parts of this process.
“If I’m trying to edit a one-minute video, I can spend up to three hours on that one-minute video. So a lot of this weekend is time management and giving up when something isn’t working and then finding stuff that does work. “
On Wednesday Oct. 23, all except one of the teams had created a finished product worthy of the screening gala. It was presented at Tilley Hall on the UNB campus. The room was nearly sold out.
The evening was filled with a wide variety of films from the comedic What is that? Is that a DOG?! and How I Met Your Father, to the dramatic Good King, to the frightening Special Delivery.
The team Special Victims and their film Welfare Check, a comedy about a woman who lives a messy life, took home the highest honour of the competition, winning Best Production.
