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F

orty-eight hours. You can do a lot in 48 hours: clean your home, go on a hike, have dinner with friends (twice).

You can also write, shoot, edit, and produce a film.

That’s the premise of The Old Theater’s Unofficial Official 48 Hour Film Project.

The idea is part of a larger, national event held every January – but Oriental is too wee to participate in the national event; towns must have a population of at least 10,000…hence Oriental’s ‘Unofficial’ Official.

A call was put out. It was described like this:

The Official Unofficial 48 Hour Small Town Film Project
Write, shoot, and edit a short 4-7 (maximum with credits) minute film over the weekend
• Be at the Old Theater for the kickoff on January 19th at 5p
• Three elements will be chosen at random – and must be included in every film.
• Team leaders choose 2 genres from a hat (crews only have to use one, but can use both).
• After leaving The Old Theater, teams have 48 hours to write, shoot, and edit a short film.
• Films must be uploaded to YouTube by Sunday, January 21st at 7p to count for awards.

The three elements were a prop, a character, and a line. At the kickoff, audience members reached into a bowl of paper slips and randomly picked the elements. They were: a hammer, an officer of the law, and the line “Well that didn’t work, did it?”

Genres that were pulled from by team leaders included: horror, swashbuckling, thriller, western, romance, heist, sci-fi, and zombie.

Six films were submitted. This past weekend they were shown on the Old Theater big screen, and viewers cast their vote for a variety of categories.

The event drew a crowd both nights. On stage, Teresa Conrad. She explained how the festival works.

The results:

• The Sherlock Society / Best Picture, Best Director, Best Storyline or Script
  
• Periphery / Best Cinematography
  
• Glitter / Best Lead Actor, Best Use of Character, Best Use of Sound
  
• Love on the Docks / Best Use of Prop, Best Use of Line
  
• Outsmarted / Best Lead Actress
  

The award statuettes. (Erich Huber photo)

The films:

Outsmarted by We Tried Productions. Genre: Science Fiction

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The Sherlock Society by Fluffy Cat Studios. Genre: Heist & Western

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The Tale of Sir Jeff The Valiant by False Pretense Films. Genre: Swashbuckler

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Periphery by Rachael Applebee. Genre: Horror

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Love on the Docks by Penny Goblin Productions. Genre: Romance & Documentary.

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You have been warned.

Glitter by Immature Adult Productions. Genre: Zombie

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