THE HISTORY
The 8 Hour Film Festival was started as a fun exercise for filmmakers of all experiences. The goal was to create a quick, fun, inventive film festival that challenges the creativity of the participants and ensures all entrants are operating on an equal playing field.
THE BASICS
The 8 Hour Film Festival is a fun, one-day film festival focusing on creators and their ability to create regardless of equipment at their disposal. We seek to celebrate creators who make the most of what they have, and highlight how the creative spirit doesn’t allow circumstance to dictate its ability to make something beautiful.
The basic gist of the film festival is that it is an individual competition, so each entrant will have to write, direct, and edit a short film over the course of 8 hours. On the morning of the festival, judges will email participants with the day’s genre and sub-genre. Participants are encouraged to have fun with the projects, but to try to create something within the confines of the rules. That evening, we will gather to screen all the films and announce the awards.
THE GENRES
The Genres we will be pulling from are as follows:
- Action
- Adventure
- Bio Pic
- Comedy
- Dark Comedy
- Drama
- Family
- Horror
- Sci Fi
- Thriller
The Sub Genres we will be pulling from are as follows:
- Documentary
- Foreign Language
- Holiday
- Mockumentary
- Prestige
- Musical
- Young Adult
Entrants are encouraged to adhere as closely to the genre and sub-genre as possible, but the most important thing is to have fun with the project. For example, in a previous incarnation the genre was Drama and the sub-genre was Holiday Film, which created a range of films from the silent drama to the hilariously over-dramatized. As Holiday was the stronger indicator, all films included a holiday element, but how they chose to approach the drama side of it was left to interpretation.
THE RULES
- All films must be at least 0:30 seconds and at most 5:00 minutes..
- All films must be written, directed, shot, edited, colored, sound mixed, VFXed (any anything else) solely by the individual competing; no crew is allowed.
- One camera-person waiver is allotted per entry, to be approved pre-contest, and only in the instance the entrant is performing in the film.
- All camera equipment must be DSLR-level and below; essentially hand-held. No fancy cameras allowed.
- Drones are allowed, but only as non-primary shooting devices (establishing shots, B roll, etc.); you must have a hand-held for primary shots.
- Cast is allowed and encouraged. It is recommended you schedule your cast for the day as you won’t know when or how long you’ll need them.
- You may pre-shoot B Roll, or use any pre-available B Roll you have access to, provided the cast is not viewable in any of it.
- Animation is allowed, provided that all animation was done during the allotted time period. It is not recommended based on time, but of course all artistic expression is encouraged.
- All films must be uploaded to the 8 Hour Film Festival Google Drive by 6p on the day of the event to qualify. Please allow for appropriate upload time and any potential errors that may arise.
THE DETAILS
The Film Festival will start promptly at 9a PST on the day of the event, to be commenced via e-mail from the judges announcing the genre and sub-genre. At that point, all entrants are welcome to begin writing and planning their production.
At 5p PST the night following the competition we will hold a virtual ceremony showcasing all of the films. There will be a judging panel, who will nominate and then decide on the following categories:
- Best Picture
- Best Actor/Actress
- Best Story
- Best Cinematography
- Best Editing
- Best Application of Idea
Check out some examples of previous entries, here