Genres

We’ve done our customary genre shake-up again. Buddy Film, Drama, Film Noir, Road Movie and Silent Film have been retired for the year. In their place we’ve brought back popular genres Dark Comedy, Detective/Cop, Period Piece and Superhero. To celebrate our tenth birthday, we’ve created a genre: Anniversary/Birthday.

After genres have been selected, filmmakers will be given the option to trade in their genre for a Wild Card Genre. Once you switch, you can’t switch back! Wild Card Genres will be randomly assigned to each city. (See the list below)
At the Kickoff Event, each team draws one of these genres from a hat.

• Anniversary/Birthday (see below)
• Comedy
• Dark Comedy
• Detective/Cop
• Fantasy
• Film de Femme (see below)
• Horror
• Mockumentary
• Musical
• Period Piece
• Romance
• Sci Fi
• Superhero
• Thriller/Suspense

If you are the lucky team that draws Musical or Western, you have the choice of making either a Musical or a Western. Or a Musical Western. (Or even a Western Musical!)

Your film must be true to the genre you have selected—and no trading with other teams! You may combine genres (e.g., a silent comedic buddy film).
2011 Wild Card Genres

• Adventure Serial
• Coming of Age
• Drama
• Family Film
• Heist
• Silent Film (see below)
• Time Travel Movie
• War or Anti-War Film

Anniversary/Birthday

This is a film in which the story surrounds an anniversary or a birthday. (Please note: The song “Happy Birthday” is copyrighted, and you must purchase the rights to it if you wish to include it or parodies of it in your film.)

Film de Femme

Never heard of a Film de Femme? That’s because we invented it! This genre is specifically designed by the 48HFP to encourage strong roles for females in 48HFP films. A Film de Femme is a film featuring one or more strong female characters. Romantic comedies or “chick flicks” are included in this genre, but are only a subset.

What’s a strong female character? Think Ellen Page in Juno, Salma Hayek in Frida, Reese Witherspoon in Election, or Julia Roberts in Erin Brockovich. Smart and complicated. Try to avoid having a woman doing a man’s job like a man would do his job. And contrary to public opinion, strong women characters are not required to kill someone!

Silent Film

From the dawn of cinema to the early 1920s, films did not have synchronized sound—they only had the live piano player. We’re reliving that, but in 48 hours! A silent film made as part of the 48HFP may have music and sound effects; however, it may not have dialogue or nat sound (that is, sound recorded while shooting). So if a door shuts in your movie, you can use any sound effect you please as long as it’s not the actual sound of that door shutting. And if a person talks, you can use any sound effect you please as long as it’s not the sound of any person talking. Sound good?

Elements

In each city, at the Kickoff Event, we will draw a character, a prop and a line of dialogue out of a hat. These elements must appear in your film in some way. All teams will have the same required elements.

Here are some examples from previous years:

Character

• Bitsy Ballou, Advice Columnist
• Ignazio del Fuego, Cab Driver
• Hugh Simon, Bouncer
• Danisya Mamat, Salesperson

Prop

• Large Suitcase
• Snow Globe
• Electric Fan
• Golf Ball

Line of Dialogue

• Is that the best you’ve got?
• I was lied to and very much deceived.
• When you say it like that, it’s almost poetry.
• Okay, tell me what’s your problem now?