Oct 25, 2022

Amidst applause, the auditorium lights came back on, sparking a final celebration of 48 Hours Filming Challenge.

Illinois Filming & Video restarted the 48 Hours Filming Challenge open to all students at U of I after the pandemic and held the screening and award ceremony at 7:30 p.m. on Sunday, Oct. 16, at Wholers Hall.

All participants were assigned to three groups and worked for 48 hours to complete a film, which required to contain the specified line “We did it, right?”

Three teams were competing for three awards in the limited time frame: Best Actor, Best Director and Best Movie. They also shared their thoughts and behind-the-scene stories after each video’s screening.

The forms and plots of the three teams’ works were wildly different, said Michael Besler, Social Outreach of IFV, “I was so proud to see many of IFV’s young filmmakers presenting their art for the world to see.  ”

The challenge did not set up any thresholds for campus students, and the only requirement is to complete a movie from scratch in 48 hours no matter what.

“This means that people who are nervous or not sure about their own skills must push through to make something unique for them without the fear of overthinking,” said Besler.

The Executive Board of IFV invited a multi-Emmy Award winner, Professor Tim Hartin to the screening and award ceremony. He discussed his professional opinions with the student filmmakers through a question-and-answer exchange and published the awards.

Makayla Carson, the chief actress in “Maniac”, won the prize by giving a monologue. Ranon Herman led his team to win the Award for Best Movie, and he was also the winner of Best Director.

“Maniac”, directed by Stephanie Wayda, presented a comedy of two young couples trapped in a crisis of confidence but eventually making their relationship repaired by a prank.

“We found that normally there is always a male character who is not willing to say more, and the woman is or otherwise, that thing is a contract,” said Wayda.

Hartin gave comments on the dialogue writing of “Manic”, and said they should consider the audience’s view when composing text messages.

A similar suggestion also went to the team of “Two Bodies”. Aside from two other teams’ comedy movies, “Two Bodies” is more serious and directed under a dark tone, depicting a woman’s death at a stranger’s party. 

“In the past few years the world is so ridiculous, random without order,” said by main actor and writer Yichen Wang of “Two Bodies”, “so we come up with a murder case that seems like not with lots of logic, to represent the whole world in our eyes.”

Hartin said that they should consider the view of the audience because they would be confused by the too often back-and-forth timeline and transitions.

Though finishing without awards, the team of “Two Bodies” still received praise from peer competitors. “They have a good story and a lead actress that could cry on command,” said Herman, the director of the Best Movie.

“I think the award is kind of tricky,” Wang said, “because judges seem like put more emphasis on the visual effects, and the videos are not about whether your stories are completed,”

“but it is what actually happens in the reality, people care more about the fancy things you look like instead of the core of the story,” Wang added.

The Best Movie presented a serious comedy opening with a murder captured by a CCTV camera. 

Herman believed that their film was outstanding for its balanced quality of post-production. And he also talked about how the audience’s expectations weigh more on the final effects.

According to Herman, his team spent two hours making scene props which only appeared less than five seconds.

“The audience doesn’t really care about the struggles behind the scenes with the script or lighting the set or filming the movie. The audience only sees the final product, ” he said.

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