Between March 4-6, 2022, the 52 Hour Film Festival in Johnson City premiered for its first year, where participants were to create 5-minute and 20-second short films in just two days.
The films’ guidelines were given to a representative of the film on the morning of Friday, March 4, and the finished products were to be turned into the Wallace Theater, located at 215 E. Main Street, on Sunday, March 6, at noon. Presented by ETSU’s Media and Communication Department and ActionVFX, the films were shown at 5 p.m. at the Wallace Theater, with awards following.
Cameron Odom, a media and communication major studying film at ETSU, was a participant in the event and supplied some behind-the-scenes information about the schedule and processes for the filmmakers.
He said that at the kick-off of the festival, when the groups receive their film-making guidelines, they also were provided “team bags” that gave teams the resources required to create the film. The next step was for participants to find proper “casting, location, props and wardrobe,” according to Odom.
“Due to time constraints, the gathering of these materials in time to shoot is challenging: however, this is the point of the competition [that] brings out a film student’s resourcefulness and talent,” said Odom.
The next step in Odom’s group process post-filming was to edit.
“It is this process that we seek harmony in the recordings we’ve gotten to construct a final product,” said Odom. “Editing will include cutting footage and audio, color correction and adjusting aspects of our recordings to meet our preferences for the film.”
After finalizing the finished product, a process that varies per group, the completed films are turned into the Wallace Theater for screening and scoring.
“I am grateful to be a part of a group that is so dedicated, professional and passionate amidst all our obstacles,” Odom said.
This year marks the first year of the 52 Film Fest. Based on this year’s activities and events, next year may mark a second festival for filmmakers to exercise their talents for Johnson City.
