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K-State Today

December 15, 2015

Filmmakers unite, launch film festival for students

Submitted by Patrice Scott

A group of K-State video producers, faculty, staff and students are uniting to launch the inaugural K-State 48 Film Festival this spring.

K-State 48 Film Festival, scheduled for March 31, 2016, earned its name quite literally as it allows students 48 hours to create a film. The goal is to offer K-State students an unprecedented opportunity to showcase their work, and all films will judged by professional filmmakers throughout the Midwest. Prizes will be awarded in several categories at the awards ceremony on April 9 including the Audience Choice Award.

Matt Blomberg, video news production specialist and event organizer, believes this is a natural extension of learning in the Digital Age.

"As film supporters here on the K-State campus, we believe that knowing how to tell a story in an engaging and intelligent way is an important element of a student’s education," Blomberg said. "This film festival will provide K-State students with a collaborative and creative venue for making short films."

Student filmmakers will have just 48 hours to create an original story that is between two and six minutes in length. While the students can select their genre, films must include three creative elements that will be revealed at the start of the film festival. These elements could be anything, such as a prop, a line that must be spoken in the film or footage from a specific location. Students must submit their digital films, which will be judged and prepped for the film festival exhibition and awards ceremony.

Rusty Earl, documentarian and videographer for the College of Education, expects highly creative works from the students.

"We (event organizers) believe that creativity is often born out of constraint," Earl said. "By limiting the amount of time students have to complete a project and requiring a few surprise elements to each film, we hope to spur a lot of creativity."

Jay Woofter, senior in digital media and political science, has high expectations for this inaugural event.

"Every student on campus no matter their skill level will have the opportunity to be creative through film, and I can't wait to see the results," Woofter said. "This is a great opportunity to be creative, network with people who also love video, and learn new video production skills."

For more information, please visit the website or Facebook.