Last weekend, Capital’s annual 48 Hour Film Royale granted a variety of students — film majors and non-film majors alike — the opportunity to participate in creating three-to-five minute short films based on a randomly selected prop, genre, and line of dialogue.
Dr. Betsy Pike, who served as the student advisor for the event, said she saw how the Royale benefitted participating students and hoped the students enjoyed the creation process.
“This is a good event for students because they get to practice a craft,” Pike said. “You start it, you turn it in, and it’s done. They can’t overthink anything.”
This year’s 48 Hour Film Royale took place in Mees Hall, a change from its usual location at the Drexel.
In addition to judges’ opinions of their work, the teams of student filmmakers also got audience feedback, as the audience had the opportunity to vote for their favorite short film towards the end of the Royale.
Out of the 12 participating teams, three winning teams were selected:
1st place: ISO 3600 — “Free”
Line: “Contrary to popular belief, I know exactly what I’m doing.”
Genre: hero
Prop: swivel chair
“Free” opens on a worker in a student debt agency (? I’ll look again) who undertakes a covert scheme that he’s been plotting for years–a scheme against his company, but with a heroic purpose.
Team members included juniors Tommy Bruning, who directed the short film; Liam Bruce, who served as the sound designer; Alex Keckler, the team’s cinematographer; and sophomore Robert Cumberlander, who edited the short film.
2nd place: THE FIRST YEARS — “A 48 Hour Disaster”
Line: “Contrary to popular belief, I know exactly what I’m doing.”
Genre: mockumentary
Prop: oatmeal
“A 48 Hour Disaster” follows four first-year students as they struggle through creating a short film for the 48 Hour Film Festival, operating under the leadership of a director who may not be as qualified for the job as he believes.
Team members included first-year students Gage Stiffler, Caleb Long, David Pease, and Cam Martin.
3rd place: COLLABORATIVE SPACE — “Malevolent”
Line: “I have this way of getting people to do exactly what I want.”
Genre: horror
Prop: purse
“Malevolent”
Team members included sophomore Travis Williams, junior Lily Benedetti, senior Ishan Thapa, and sophomore Tyler Miracle and starred junior Josh Kraynek and sophomore Taegan Meredith.
Prizes for the winners included SD card holders and mugs designed to look like camera lenses.
If you’re bummed you missed out on the Royale, fret not: Some of the short films — including the three winners — can be found on YouTube by searching “48 Hour Film Royale 2019.”
For last year’s winners read our previous Film Royale article.
Editor’s note: An earlier version of this article misidentified Tyler Miracle in a photo. We regret this error.
