Abigail Dunagan, Campus Carrier asst. arts and living editor
Over the weekend of February 17 and 19, Viking Fusion hosted the annual 48-hour film challenge. Participants were invited to write a script, film and edit a short film within a 48-hour time slot. Films must fall into the designated genre and include a specified line of dialog that is announced at 5 p.m. on February 17th. The challenge began at 5 p.m. and ended at 5 p.m. on the 19th. This year the genre was drama, and the line of dialog was “I take great pride in my craft.”
Last year, the genre was Sci-Fi, and the line of dialog was “Get over him girl- he’s a jerk! Let’s do shots!” All production of films must only occur within the 48-hour time slot after the genre and line of dialog are released. No filming, writing, or costume designing is permitted before the challenge officially begins at 5 p.m.
The films must be a minimum of 3 minutes and a maximum of 5 minutes in duration. There are two categories that the films can win. There is a fan favorite category where anyone can watch the films and vote on social media. The second category will be judged by a team of Berry Viking Fusion Alumni.
Annabelle Norton serves as the Public Relations Coordinator of Viking Fusion. She has not participated in the challenge before, but she has enjoyed watching the films from the previous years.
“It’s a lot of fun, and it’s more silly than serious. The films are always really high quality as well,” Norton said.
Norton said that last year, some of the film centered around aliens, cowboys and cannibals in the woods. The competition is open to students from all majors and colleges, and prior experience is not required. This year, a team from Shorter University will participate. The 48-hour film challenge is a huge part of the Viking Fusion community.
“We are very focused on having a fun and creative community as part of our staff,” Norton said. “The 48-hour film challenge creates a lot of team bonding, and it is a really wonderful experience that we all share.”
Senior Nolan Scoretz is the News Producer of Viking Fusion. This will be his second year participating in the challenge. Scoretz said that the best way to prepare for filming ahead of time is to make a schedule, check out equipment, and to be prepared to hit the ground running when the genre is released.
“Time management is the hardest part of the challenge,” Scoretz said. “I did it with my buddies last year, and we did not sleep the first night at all. It requires a lot of budgeting your time.”
Parker Luellen is the executive director of Viking Fusion. This year will be her first time participating in the competition. She said that the hardest part of the challenge will be getting all the team members together and on the same page about filming times and locations.
“People get very competitive about it,” Luellen said. “It is a lot of fun to compete against friends. I have always enjoyed watching the videos from previous years.”
According to Luellen, the best part of the challenge is working with friends and getting to brainstorm film ideas. Outside of the assigned genre and line, students have a lot of opportunity to get really creative with their films.
“Once they pull the genre and quote, the groups can start making their films based on that,” Luellen said. “I’m looking forward to working with my friends and spending time with everyone.”
The 48-hour film challenge is open to all students that are interested in film production. Along with students from Shorter, in the past students from various other colleges have been able to compete. A lot of Berry students who are part of the production team at Viking Fusion participate in the competition.
“We’ve got a lot of students that come from different areas,” Scoretz said. “It is a really important fun annual event that Viking Fusion hosts.”
After the weekend, all films will be post on Viking Fusion’s website. Students can vote for their favorite film there.