Swem Library, in partnership with the William & Mary Global Film Festival, recently hosted the 11th annual 24 Speed Filmmaking competition. The contest challenges teams of students and alumni to write, shoot, and edit a short film – within the space of 24 hours.
More than 130 students and alumni participated in this year’s event, submitting a total of 33 films – 20 in the student category and 13 in the alumni category. Each submission had to include the line of dialogue, “I’ve been looking for something to do with my life,” as well as a bottle as a prop. In addition to these common requirements, each team was assigned a different genre for their film. Entries that fit the festival theme of “Film and Renewal” were given preference by the jury. Films could be no longer than four minutes.
The films were screened to a packed house as part of the W&M Global Film Festival on Friday, Feb. 20 at the historic Kimball Theatre in Colonial Williamsburg. This year’s Jury Prizes, selected by a panel of visiting artists and others, were awarded to “Concert in Focus” in the student category and “Collected” in the alumni category.
The audience award for best film in the student category went to “Dad Dreams,” with “Hometown Earth” winning the audience award for the alumni category. Additional prizes were given in each category for cinematography, editing, best use of the assigned prop, and best use of the assigned line of dialogue.
Swem Library awarded high speed 1TB external hard drives to the student best film winners.
View the student films and the alumni films on Swem Library’s YouTube account.
Film awards:
Student category:
Best cinematography: “Don't Wait Up” by Mikan Media
Best editing: “Valentine's Day” by Team Ryan Vaughan
Best editing honorable mention: “Overdue” by Puns Not Guns
Best use of prop: “Concert in Focus” by Impartial Ostriches
Best use of line of dialogue: “The Point” by Porch Front Productions
Best film as determined by jury: “Concert in Focus” by Impartial Ostriches (pictured above)
Best film as determined by audience: “Dad Dreams” by Dad Dreams
Alumni category:
Best cinematography: “Collected” by Ziti Productions
Best editing: “Bottle Story” by Snowbound
Best use of prop: “Baby's Travels” by Kite Flying Society
Best use of Line of Dialogue: “Collected” by Ziti Productions
Best film as determined by jury: “Collected” by Ziti Productions
Best film as determined by audience: “Hometown Earth” by Terillionaires