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48-Hour Film Experience Challenges San Antonio Filmmakers

Mistah Pete
/
YouTube
Frame from "Voodoo Daddy," a 48-Hour Film Experience 2009 submission by Pete Barnstrom.

Soon there will be intense groups of people running around the city pointing cameras at one another for the San Antonio 48-Hour Film Experience, and here’s how it works:

Filmmakers gather and pull parameters like subject, genre and character names, out of a hat.

"We’re given a few constraints, and then we go out and make a film in a weekend," said Pete Barnstrom, a 48-hour filmmaker here in San Antonio.

Is it more fun...or abusive?

"It’s fun," Barnstrom said. "I like to do it with my 10-year-old son, my 11-year-old son now."

It is interesting to imagine their challenge: From absolutely nothing to a finished product in 48 hours. It’s a weird process, for which a filmmaker really can’t effectively prepare himself.

"You might get hit with something you weren’t expecting," Barnstrom said. "You’re all geared up for a horror film and you get hit with romantic comedy, but that’s half the fun."

Barnstrom said the number of teams producing films varies.

The San Antonio 48-Hour Film Experience is the weekend of November 22-24 and all submitted films will be viewed on December 5 at the Guadalupe Cultural Arts Center.

"Voodoo Daddy," which was done by Pete Barnstrom for the 48-Hour Film Experience in 2009:

"Love After," which was part of the San Antonio 48-Hour Film Experience in December 2011:

Jack Morgan can be reached at jack@tpr.org and on Twitter at @JackMorganii