Film Contests as a Model for Real Life

by Dr. Sandy Antunes

They had a team, they were about to find out what the project would require, and they knew they'd have to finish it in 3 days to be graded. Late work would not be accepted. Pretty standard for a class assignment or work week, but this was a different sort of challenge.

Capitol's "Creative Juices" club had decided to compete in the 72-hour Four Points Film Project (4PFP).

The 4PFP is a worldwide film contest where, during the assigned weekend, amateur and pro film teams have only 72 hours to create a film from scratch. To add to the challenge, teams are only given their requirements at the last minute, at 7pm on Friday night. That starts the 72-hour countdown to deliver a complete 4-7 minute movie. Every year the requirements include a randomly chosen genre, a required prop, line, and character they must use.

It's ironic that most students list 'group project' as their least favorite activities, yet are willing to throw themselves into a competition.  Whether it be a film contest or a cyber competition, somehow the 'avoid groups' gets thrown away with the dual lures of being a creative work, and of 'win win win'.

Did it go smoothly?  Does anything? Like real life, the team ran into deadlines, schedule issues, team availability, conflicting views on what direction to take, and the ever-present ticking of the clock. That they managed to finish the film is amazing (a recent similar DC event had only a 3/4 completion rate).

Oh, right, what's another thing students despise in classwork? Editing! Titled "Nothing Like Christmas", it went through an astonishing 12 edits before they shipped their tight 4-minute movie. "

"Nothing Like Christmas" is based on an actual event and fit the required 'mistaken identify' category they'd drawn on Friday. The movie was finished by early Monday. The students involved were Jacob Rush, Barron Botts, Jorge Rodriguez, Adekunle Adeyemi, Joshua Ferguson, and Jayln Dejesus.

This was not a one-off.  Capitol students have risen to this challenge for the past three years! Each year, a different roster of students willingly submit themselves to 72 sleepless hours of intense group work, editing and revision, and interpersonal dynamics, all to make a film.

I think the same kind of willingness to rise to a film project is what is needed for tasks like building a satellite, enacting cyber defense, coding real-time systems. Films may not always mirror life, but making a film is an excellent practice for the challenges life will throw at them.

You can read a little more about the Creative Juices Club here. And here are links to the previous two years of movies, including "Class Dismissed" (2017) and "Fighting the Odds" (2018). The Creative Juices club’s views and opinions expressed in these videos are their own and do not necessarily reflect the views of Capitol Technology University.