With the Boston 48 Hour Film Project now wrapped up, I’ve had the chance to reflect on the incredible journey it has been. For anyone passionate about film or looking to step into the industry, I highly recommend participating in the 48HFP or a similar competition.
This challenge pushes you to think quickly on your feet, navigating unexpected hurdles, and it requires meticulous planning to ensure efficiency. In short, it serves as an excellent training ground for aspiring filmmakers.
In my role as the producer for “Reel Deal Productions,” I oversaw the pre-production phase. We conducted numerous meetings to strategize our approach, resulting in detailed documents outlining our equipment, available locations, team roles, and workflows for each day of the competition. We also met for a technical run: testing our equipment to determine what we would rely on the most.
Time was of the essence before and during the competition. Without our associate publicist, our approach to this whole project would have been underdeveloped. Without our director, the time spent filming each scene would have expanded, and we likely would have been shut out by the rain that came later in the day. Without our sound person, we would have had trouble getting quality audio. Without our actors fully embodying their characters, we would have been scrambling around to make them work. And without our video editor making the hard, quick decisions about which clips to use and how to sequence them, we simply would not have our film–let alone have it on time.
There were hiccups and curveballs, but our team adapted admirably. I am immensely proud of them. Thank you all for making this happen!
Here’s the film we created:
A special thanks to Andrew Osborne as well for answering my questions about the competition and helping me troubleshoot technical difficulties!
John Buday: Digital Storytelling 