24 Hour Film Royal challenges filmmakers in a tightly timed test

ANCHORAGE, Alaska (KTUU) - Time, as Albert Einstein theorized, is relative and this weekend a full day may not feel like enough time for moviemakers here in the 49th state.

The yearly run Alaska Filmmakers event, 24 Hour Film Royal, challenges teams to write, shoot and edit an entire story in the course of just 24 hours. This year’s competition will begin at noon Saturday and end at noon Sunday.

To ensure no one cheats or works before the start of the competition, there are three prompts that must be followed. Those prompts won’t be announced until the start of the competition. The prompts can be anything from lines of dialogue to actions to props that must be used, even specific camera shots could be a requirement.

“You don’t have a lot of time,” said Quinton Oliver Smith, an organizer who has competed in the 24 Hour Film Royal in the past. “And the biggest trick too is making sure you have enough time to edit. Because you may have an idea where we can shoot this in eighteen hours, but if you can’t edit it in six then it’s not going to workout for you.”

Event organizers said the prompts tend to foster innovative final products due to the unknown variables involved.

“We really like it when people come up with a totally creative twist that we never would have expected and they make our corny jokes into something cool and serious,” Smith said.

Only 25 teams are allowed to participate in the event and you must register in advance on the Alaska Filmmakers website.

The organization said they plan to share the films of those who competed at a drive-in screening on April 24. The location had not been determined yet.

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