By Valencia Gaete
Imagine having just 72 hours to create, shoot, edit and submit a movie. That’s exactly what participants in the 72 Hour Film Fest did for the festival on Oct. 7-8.
Films, which were shot the week before they premiered, were screened at the Weinberg Center for the Arts in downtown Frederick. On Oct. 8, there was an award ceremony and after party at JoJo’s Restaurant and Tap House.
This year there were 42 films that played ranging from student, amateurs, and professionals. This year they had a unique challenge of being paired with another production group and working on connective features between their films. Some teams used props, storylines, actors and themes to connect the two films. Some groups even did a part 1 and part 2 films together.
On day two of the film festival, all the finalists were screened and the winners were announced. There were a range of category winners from best acting, cinematography, and writing. There was even best student film, amateur film, and pro film. The winner of the best film in the festival was “Dog Years” produced by Shrug Productions.
Frederick Community College student Madalyn Piotter, and graphic design major, attended the screening even for the first time and really enjoyed all the videos.
“It’s nice for the class I’m taking right now to get some ideas for the films I’m doing,” she said,.
Madalyn discussed how she went to the event to gain some insight on other films and what type of equipment they used so she could incorporate that creativity into her own work.
Something she said she really looked forward to the event was the, “pro videos just to see the quality and I really wanted to see my classmates’ films, too.”
Another Frederick Community College student Austin Baker, who participated in the event discussed his perspective of what it was like behind the scenes.
A part of production team 6 Tier Production, joined to create the bewildering film “Crooked Smile “and was paired with group One Way Production to also create “Crooked Smile Part 2.”
“Collaborating with another group was frustrating but we worked it out anyways,” he said.
6 Tier did end up becoming a finalist for the first block and got nominated for the Best Student Award but instead Lemonhead Productions won that category with their film, “Bruno and Devyn.”
“We were capable of winning the student class but skills wise, we wanted to gain that ability to work in a shorter amount of time,” Baker said.
To see this year’s entries, go to https://72fest.com/
