DBC film students claim two awards at competition in Pittsburgh at the 48-Hour Film Project
DUBOIS – Students from the John Russo Movie Making program of study at DuBois Business College’s Main Campus arrived in Pittsburgh on July 11 in the evening to receive their instructions for the annual 48-Hour Film Project.
The team then returned back to DuBois to complete their film before its trip to Pittsburgh on July 13, to deliver their film. The results were a film that won awards for Best Cinematography and a runner-up for Best Film.
The 48-Hour Film Project was a wild and sleepless weekend in which the DuBois Business College film students made a movie—wrote, shot, edited and scored it—in just 48 hours.
On Friday night, students got a character, prop, line of dialogue and a genre to include in a movie. The genre for this year’s movie was film noir.
The requirements for this year were: a ticket as a prop, “I’m not at all surprised” as a line of dialog, and Victor or Victoria Carr as a Human Statue/Living Mannequin.
Forty-eight hours later, the movie, Heels on Wheels, was completed. It was shown at The Hollywood Theater in Pittsburgh on July 18. The DBC group competed against 47 other film teams at this event.
The mission of the 48-Hour Film Project is to advance filmmaking and promote filmmakers. Through its festival/competition, the Project encourages filmmakers and would-be filmmakers to get out there and make movies.
The tight deadline of 48 hours puts the focus squarely on the filmmakers—emphasizing creativity and teamwork skills. While the time limit places an unusual restriction on the filmmakers, it is also liberating by putting an emphasis on “doing” instead of “talking.”
Back in 2001, Mark Rupert came up with a crazy idea: to try to make a film in 48 hours. He quickly enlisted his filmmaking partner, Liz Langston, and several other DC filmmakers to form their own teams and join him in this experiment. The big question back then was: “Would films made in only 48 hours even be watchable?”
The answer was a resounding “Yes.” Now 12 years later and more than 25,000 completed short films under its belt, it is remarkable to consider the outstanding success of the Project.
The 2014 DuBois Business College team not only competed against filmmakers from all over Pennsylvania, but they also competed against their predecessors from the John Russo Movie Making program.
Each time that a team from DBC competed in the film festival, they come away with some type of award or recognition. In the past, students won awards for Best Cinematography, Best Costume, First Runner-Up Overall and an Honorable Mention.