On the weekend of May 5th to May 7th, a group of enthusiastic filmmakers met at BC High to create a film in 48 hours. The story they came up with was a mellow comedy about a group of students trying to cheat on their final exam. This story would be written the night of the 5th, filmed on the 6th, then edited and submitted on the 7th. They were engaging in an event that happens across Boston and the world. The 48 Hour Film Project is a competition in which a group of independent film makers try to make the best under 7 minute short film. Every city has their own competition, with winners allowed to compete at Filmapalooza, then if successful, allowed to be screened at the esteemed Cannes festival in France.

Every team is given two genres out of a hat at 6pm Friday night, and they must create a film which is in one of those genres—BC High received school and comedy. After the announcement of the genres, the entire screenwriting team hopped on a call to start writing. They ended up debating what the film should look like until 9:30pm, during which time the prop and character were announced. Every film must also include one given prop and character: this year required a tattoo artist and pizza box. The team ultimately chose to do both school and comedy, and finally began writing. The story would revolve around a group of 4 friends who needed to pass history to graduate. With their final exam looming they decide to cheat. The film then transitions into an Ocean Eleven’s style heist in order to do this.

After the script was finished, they began filming. This started first thing on Saturday, the 6th, at 9 am. The process for filming was both exhilarating and laborious. The camera was not often rolling, as much of the time was spent setting up or fixing technical issues. They were able to complete filming for the entire film in only a few rooms: Q305, the M2 Bathroom, Romero House, and the L2 department. This process took the whole day though, even with it being a short film. Many behind-the-scenes aspects were also at play, such as camera equipment, lights, and even a boom stick.

The final day was much like the previous, except all work was handled at a computer. The editing was done scene by scene, with the editors dividing up the work per scene then splicing the film together. Many of the takes that were shot ended up on the cutting room floor, due to them being unusable. For example, if an actor in the background isn’t paying attention or is paying too much attention and thus gets into a staring contest with the camera. Nonetheless, the final product was greater than the year that preceded it. Thus, much progress was made in terms of film at BC High. And if you’re interested in seeing “Lesson Learned,” it should be up on YouTube under 112 Studios BC High as of Tuesday May 16th.