Ohio University students shouldn't be surprised if they run into a film crew on their street this weekend.
The School of Telecommunications is holding its 48-Hour Shoot Out student competition today. The competitors' efforts will culminate in a screening of the films Sunday at 6:30 p.m. at Templeton-Blackburn Alumni Memorial Auditorium.
The contest, which is in its sixth year, gives telecommunications students 48 hours to write, film and produce a 3- to 5-minute film on an assigned genre, said Katy Kelly, a senior telecommunications major who organized this year's shootout.
Students are given a specific genre, such as science fiction or musical, as well as required props and a quote they must use in their film, she said.
It really takes its toll by Sunday; the whole weekend involves a lack of sleep and a lot of coffee for the teams
Kelly said. Everyone's a little wide-eyed by the time of the screening.
The event began in 2003 with only four teams participating, said Frederick Lewis, an OU telecommunications professor and faculty adviser for the event.
This year 31 teams are competing in the Shoot Out. The event peaked last year with 35 teams. Teams can be any size as long as all members are students at OU.
Although the screening has been held in several places across campus, this year's Mem Aud location will best accommodate the volumes of people that come to the screening every year, Lewis said.
The auditorium also has a huge screen and better sound for a higher quality screening, he said.The contest's stringent rules and high demands can result in a bonding experience for participating students, Kelly said.
It's a real community builder for our school because many people haven't worked together before she said. It's a weekend of frustration but ultimately fun. The teams must have written permission to film on private property or use prerecorded music, Kelly said. This means that students assigned the musical genre must compose music and write original lyrics.
The goal of Shoot Out is to give students a sense of community and bring awareness of the School of Telecommunications to the rest of the university
Lewis said.
The college has rights to submitted films and often uses them as promotional materials for the program, Kelly said.
The 2007 competition featured the first animation entry from students in the School's new Digital Media sequence. The winning production, Vicious Cycle, was shown at the Scripps College of Communication celebration in May.
Awards are given for an underclassmen team category, as well as first, second and third place. Four professors in the School of Telecommunications and one professor from the School of Theater will judge the films. Winners will be announced shortly after the screening.
The screening for the Shoot Out is free and open to the public.
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