LDS 24 Hour Film Festival

For the last nine years the LDS Film Festival has held a 24-hour film competition.

The basic idea is you have twenty-four hours (from 10:00 A.M. Friday to 10:00 A.M. Saturday ) to write, shoot, edit, score, and turn in a three -minute film.

The Rules Were:

1. You can only have five people in your group total (meaning only 5 people to act as your cast AND your crew).

2. You must use the given theme, prop, and line of dialog in your film (Our theme was generosity, our prop was a dollar bill, and the line of dialog was "What more can...").

3. Your film can only be three minutes in length.

This year four colleagues from the UVU film department and myself entered the competition.

Our Group Consisted Of:

Jorden Nash

Brittney Johnson

Jeremy Prusso

Eric Lawrence

and

Neil Hiatt (Myself)

We all worked hard and pulled together a really great short film.

Our Schedule Went As Follows:

10:00 A.M. - 12:00 Noon. - Get theme, prop, and dialog from LDS film festival. Come up with idea and write script.

12:00 Noon - 6:00 P.M. - Film entire script in three different locations.

6:00 P.M. - 5:00 A.M. - Film green screen in garage, synch sound clips to film footage, and edit the film together.

5:00 A.M. - 6:00 A.M. - Film pickup shots in garage, record songs for film, and record voice ADR.

6:00 A.M. - 7:00 A.M. - Color correct footage and mix audio.

7:00 A.M. - 9:00 A.M. - Finish mixing audio and synch it up to final film edit.

9:00 A.M. - 9:30 A.M. - Add After Effects lightning to fifteen frames of footage.

9:30 A.M. - 9:50 A.M. - Export film to DVD.

9:50 A.M. - 10:00 A.M. - Turn in final product to LDS Film Festival.

This was our first time entering the competition, and honestly I couldn't have asked for a better group.

You know why?

Because...

WE FREAKING WON!!!!

Here is us accepting our award:

(From left to right: Jorden Nash, Jeremy Prusso, Neil Hiatt, and film festival sponsor Christian Vuissa. Not pictured: Eric Lawrence & Brittney Johnson)

Here is us taking a picture in front of the LDS Film Festival Sign:

(From left to right: Neil Hiatt, Jeremy Prusso, Jorden Nash)

Here is a picture of me next to Boss Nass from Star Wars:

(From left to right: Boss Nass, Neil Hiatt)

Anyway, our three-minute short titled MUFFIN TOP took 1st PLACE out of twenty-nine entries and it also won the Audience Choice Award.

That means we beat out one-hundred and forty film makers working on their twenty-nine separate projects!

The logic:

29 groups x 5 film makers per group = 145 film makers

145 film makers - 5 (our group) = 140 film makers

And there were some really great films in this competition!

It was a wonderful feeling to meet so many talented individuals and to walk away with our heads held high.

So, without further ado, I give you our short film...

(NOTE: Remember we only had 24 hours to make this, so please forgive some of our editing and continuity errors)

MUFFIN TOP:

All-in-all it was a great experience, and I can't wait until next year's competition.

Things I Have Accomplished or That Have Been Accomplished In The Amount of Time It Took Me To Find A Parking Space

Eighty dollars!

I'll say it again,
EIGHTY DOLLARS!!!!

That is how much it costs for a yearly parking pass at UVU.

Fifty minutes!

Once more,
FIFTY MINUTES!!!!

That is how long it took me to find a parking space today! The only parking available was the "Free Parking Lot" that is so far away from the school it requires an airport-style shuttle.

To demonstrate the distance between where there was parking left and where my classes are held, I have made a diagram.

Diagram

I arrived at school like I always do, twenty minutes early. I didn't find a parking space until thirty minutes after classes had started. This is not beneficial to my education, my finances, or my faith in the new university status my college has been given.

Here are a few things that I could have accomplished (or that have been accomplished) in the span of 50 minutes or, in some cases, less.

50 Minute List

1. I could sand and mask the entire front end of a mid-sized sedan. (Approximately 50 minutes)
2. I could have gotten to class on time, taken notes, and not missed a quiz. (30 minutes)
3. I could have avoided the lecture about punctuality that followed. (At least 5 minutes)
4. The Anglo-Zanzibar War. An entire war that was over in less time than it took for me to find parking at a university in Orem, Utah! (A little over in 45 minutes)

5. I could have gone through the McDonald's drive-thru 5 times. (10 minutes each time)

6. I could have jogged off the fat from the McDonald's meal at the gym. (30 minutes on a treadmill...but who am I kidding?)

7. I could have watched all of the first act and most of the second act of The Departed. (50 minutes)

8. I Photoshopped Thomas The Tank Engine into a hoopty in less than fifty minutes. (Less than 50 minutes)

9. I wrote a letter of complaint that will never be read by school administration. Yeah, I'm that guy. (50 minutes)

10. I could have loaded 16 individual bullets into a 9 mm clip and blown out the back of my skull. (50 m...BLAM!)

Now here is the list of things I could have bought with eighty dollars.

$80 Dollar List

1. Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 for the PS3. ($59.99)

2. One pair of jeans from The Buckle. ($72.50)

3. 8,000 penny candies. ($80)

4. Sauteed duck in Port reduction sauce, a Gulf Shrimp cocktail appetizer, and a whole bottle of Cabernet. ($65 for the meal $15 for the tip)

5. I could have paid for a massage for both Erin and me. ($40)

6. I could have paid for one massage with a happy ending for me. ($80)

7. I could have bought twenty previously owned DVDs. ($80)

8. Donated $80 to a charity of my choice. ($80)

9. Taken Erin out on a nice...ish date. ($5, no tip)

10. Bought the gun and bullets (see list item #10 on 50 minute list above). ($80)

Either way I was screwed out of almost an hour of my day and $80 from my bank account.

DAMN YOU, UVU PARKING!!!!