*******Prompt for the Fall 2013 Fifty Hour Film Contest*******
Your Genre: Mystery
A mystery film deals with a puzzling issue, question, or crime. Often, its depiction progresses with one or more character’s hunt for the truth. The genre is widely open to creative options, including various styles and subgenres. The classic ‘whodunit’ mystery begins with a crime being committed, leading to some detective work to figure out who did it. Recently, mysteries have cut across several genres including comedy, horror, thriller, romance, adventure, sci-fi, and fantasy. Whether classic, modern, or anywhere in between, the direction you take is up to you.
Example Mystery Films:
- Clue
- Shutter Island
- The Da Vinci Code
- Citizen Kane
- Psycho
- Vertigo
- Sherlock Holmes
- Murder on the Orient Express
- Chinatown
- 12 Angry Men
- Memento
- Silence of the Lambs
- The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo
- The Blair Witch Project
Your Prop: RETN Animation and/or Logo
This animation/logo must be clearly visible in your film and incorporated into the story in some way. RETN is our partner organization, helping us with advertising and featuring our films on their network. Based out of Burlington, VT, their mission is to make media and technology accessible for all students and lifelong learners to advance education and civic engagement.
Ideally, one of the below RETN animations will be seen in your film (for example, on a TV screen, computer, phone, or tablet). In the unusual occurrence where the appearance of one of these animations in your film is not viable, the RETN logo must appear.
1. Robot video: https://vimeo.com/77615477
2. Avalanche video: https://vimeo.com/77615478
3. Newton’s cradle: https://vimeo.com/77615476
These videos are password protected. The password will be sent to the email addresses you used to register your team. Please do not tell anyone this password except those on your team.
Logo if needed: http://retn.org/logo
Your Character:
Someone with an inverted memory. They remember the most random things but have trouble with recalling basic things.
This character in some way has to be shown and acted out in the movie. They don’t have to be central to the plot but they must appear in the film and not just be talked about by the actors.
Your Dialogue:
- “You’re telling me this now? After all these years?”
- “I think Congress is to blame!”
- “The 90’s were a crazy time.”
- “Kids these days…am I right?
- “Wait! I think there’s a better way.”
- “In the words of the great [name of a U.S. President], [a quote from that President].”
- “That is the most profound thing I have ever heard.”
- “There’s a time and a place for that, and this isn’t it.”
- “I’ll bring the snacks. Who wants [name of any food]?”
- “You have to pull yourself together, for everyone’s sake.”
- “You mean you don’t know what happened here?”
You must use at least five of the lines above! This dialogue must be kept in intact sentences, but the order, timing, and usage of these lines is entirely up to your group. These five lines MUST be clearly heard in your final film
A printable PDF of this prompt can be found Here. Also, it is not too late to sign up for this contest (just as long as you have a film submitted by Monday).
Good luck!