A few weeks ago I got an email from my friend Betsy saying that some friends of hers were entering in the DC 48 Hour Film Project. She recommended that I go and be a part of a team called SwimFast, LiveSlow. The 48 Hour Film Project describes itself as “a wild and sleepless weekend in which you and a team make a movie—write, shoot, edit and score it—in just 48 hours.”
On Friday evening each team receives a character, a prop, a line of dialogue and a genre that all must be included in a 4-7 minute film. Then you work feverishly throughout the weekend to make the film and turn it in 48 hours later on Sunday evening. The elements that we had to incorporate into our film were:
So last Friday evening I drove over to Springfield, VA to meet with the team. I only knew Betsy and another friend Jeff from a play we did together last year. It was there that I met Sarah.
Sarah is 32 and lives in Northern Virginia with her husband Van and their 14-month-old boy Will.
When Sarah is not watching little Will or participating in zany weekend film challenges, she is teaching 4th grade students at a nearby elementary school. She says she likes 4th graders because, “they are old enough to understand occasional sarcasm but young enough to not be too cool.” Her school is very different to the one that she attended when she was a young girl growing up in Lynchburg, VA.
I went to an all-white public school, the school where I teach is very diverse. English is a second language to many of the students. You can clearly see students who are living in poverty – some have to wear the same clothes almost every day to school. – Sarah H.
Sarah and her dog Laredo, both starred in our film (Photo: Reed)
When I explained the Lend a Hand program to Sarah, she said that she would love to find someone who is talented in needlework and sewing to volunteer about once a week for 3-4 hours until the end of the school year. The school is located in the Falls Church, VA area. If you, or someone you know, are interested in this opportunity, leave a comment here and I will contact you.
I learned a little trivia about Sarah too! She has submitted a video application to be a contestant on the Survivor not once, but twice! I asked her to share some of the video here, but I haven’t received anything yet…keep your fingers crossed. And if anyone out there reading this knows how to get Sarah on the show – maybe there is still a chance for her!
Sarah’s $10 will go toward the cost of getting a baby-sitter for this coming weekend.
As for the film, we got it done and submitted it on time. They are showing our film on Thursday night at 7pm at the AFI Silver Theater, 8633 Colesville Road, Silver Spring, MD 20910. I am going to go see it. I have not seen any of it yet, so I have no idea how I did or how the film turned out after being chopped up, edited, and put back together. I am a little scared to watch myself bomb on the big screen.
Tickets are $10 for about a dozen short films starting at 7pm.
Year of Giving 