Genre, Elements and ULTRA 2018
Posted 11th May 2018
Hello New Zealand!
Here are your Genres, Elements and the ULTRA challenge for 2018!
Best wishes for the weekend and stay safe!
HP48Hours - Genres 2018
1. The Monster Movie
(THE FLY, CREATURE FROM THE BLACK LAGOON, GREMLINS, BASKETCASE, THE DESCENT, GODZILLA, TROLL)
Your film must centre around or feature a monster or monsters in any capacity. Generally, Monster Movies fit in a subgenre of horror or disaster movies, but there are many that buck the tradition like THE SHAPE OF WATER (which is a Romance). It’s up to you whether you want to go traditional or do something new and different. There just has to be a monster in it
2. The High School Movie
(THE BREAKFAST CLUB, JUNO, HEATHERS, EASY A, AMERICAN PIE, MEAN GIRLS, LADY BIRD or SUPERBAD)
Focusing on either High School as a location, or the young characters who attend, these movies typically revolve around themes of growing up and coming-of-age, the trials and tribulations of becoming an adult. Don’t let that stop you from going wild with it though, loads of High School movies pair these themes with extraordinary circumstances, like a bomb threat in HEATHERS or undercover cops in 21 JUMP STREET.
3. The Fish-Out-of-Water Movie
(MY COUSIN VINNIE, HOT FUZZ, LEGALLY BLONDE, COMING TO AMERICA or CROCODILE DUNDEE)
A character winds up in a place/situation/decade they don’t belong in, and must either find their way home, prove their worth, or learn to adjust to their strange new world. Fish-out-of-water movies are all about putting a person in an unfamiliar scenario and watching how they react.
4. The Wish Movie
(LIAR LIAR, BIG, PET SEMETARY, BRUCE ALMIGHTY, FREAKY FRIDAY, PINOCCHIO or ALADDIN)
A character makes a wish - through a genie, fortune cookie, wishing well or some other means- and we watch as the repercussions of that wish unfold. Sometimes it’s a “Be Careful What You Wish For” deal, like in BIG or IT’S A WONDERFUL LIFE, other times it’s a character making a wish which affects someone else like in LIAR LIAR, and sometimes the wish is actually a positive thing that changes the characters’ lives for the better like in PINOCCHIO. Be creative with it!
5. The Technological Thriller
(BLACK MIRROR, EX MACHINA, SOURCE CODE, THE TERMINATOR, MR. ROBOT, A SCANNER DARKLY or I, ROBOT)
Technology is the future and the future is scary! Often techno thrillers will present us with an alarmingly familiar not-too-distant future where our advances in robotics, digital media or social media have gone too far, like in BLACK MIRROR. You don't have the budget so you'll have to think smartly. Imagination costs nothing.
6. The Star-Crossed Lovers Movie
(ROMEO AND JULIET, BROKEBACK MOUNTAIN, GHOST, MOULIN ROUGE or ETERNAL SUNSHINE OF THE SPOTLESS MIND)
A romance in which two lovers are kept apart by physical obstacles, societal expectations, or their own self-destructive behaviours. Star-Crossed Lovers stories often follow these characters as they stop at nothing to finally be together. Sometimes they succeed and live happily ever after. Sometimes they don’t. :(
7. The Splatstick Movie
(SHAUN OF THE DEAD, MONTY PYTHON, HOT FUZZ, FINAL DESTINATION, EVIL DEAD II)
A combination of Slapstick and Splatter, Splatstick is all about blood, guts and brain matter- and having fun with it along the way. Splatstick classics are often quite tongue-in-cheek, fully embracing their garish nature like EVIL DEAD II or BRAIN DEAD, while others take themselves a little more seriously like FINAL DESTINATION. It’s kinetic physical comedy that leads to gore- like a domino effect which results in someone getting their head lopped off or intestines pulled out. It does not need to be horror at all.
8. The Time Travel Movie
(BACK TO THE FUTURE, LOOPER, ABOUT TIME, THE TIME MACHINE, RUN LOLA RUN, PRIMER or DOCTOR STRANGE)
In which a character or characters travel forward, backward, up, down or diagonally in time. Time Travel can fit into loads of different styles, so you can feel free to go comedic, serious or completely off-the-wall. Great time travel films are all about the established rules, and nothing is better than seeing a fresh new take on such a classic trope in fictional media.
9. The Heist Movie
(OCEAN'S ELEVEN, LOGAN LUCKY, THE ITALIAN JOB, FAST FIVE or INCEPTION)
Heist movies are all about taking something that doesn’t currently belong to you. Typically these films involve an elaborate plan to break into a secured vault, or steal some precious artefact, or plant an idea in someone's subconscious or something completely inane like stealing an apple. The question is, will everything go according to plan?
10. The Anti-RomCom Movie
(ANNIE HALL, THE BREAK-UP, (500) DAYS OF SUMMER, ANOMALISA, KRAMER VS KRAMER or CLOSER)
While still dealing with the topics of love and relationships, Anti-RomComs differ from RomComs in that the two love interests usually end up deciding they shouldn’t be together. Sometimes this allows for closure like in (500) DAYS OF SUMMER, sometimes it’s a sad reality of life like in KRAMER VS KRAMER, and sometimes it’s affirming an existential dread of eternal loneliness like in ANOMALISA.
11. The Last Day on Earth Movie
(THIS IS THE END, DEEP IMPACT, SEEKING A FRIEND FOR THE END OF THE WORLD, THESE FINAL HOURS or THE HITCHHIKER'S GUIDE TO THE GALAXY)
Whether it be a cataclysmic meteor, or the biblical judgement day, or an unexpected denouement - the end of the world is coming and there’s no way to stop it. This genre is what it says on the tin: Your film must be about the last day on earth. Interpret that how you will - i.e no need for to be all gloomy.. you could go out with a bang.
12. The Back from the Dead Movie
(THE REVENANT, YOU ONLY LIVE TWICE, DAWN OF THE DEAD, BEETLEJUICE, FLATLINERS or THE PASSION OF THE CHRIST)
Despite having been apparently dead for however long, a character or characters in your film must seemingly rise from the dead and rejoin the land of the living. Will they regale us with stories of the afterlife? This genre can go in so many ways and tell so many different kinds of stories.
13. The Film That Spans More Than 10 Years
(FORREST GUMP, 12 YEARS A SLAVE, BOYHOOD, THE SHAWSHANK REDEMPTION, THE GODFATHER PART II, CLOUD ATLAS or BACK TO THE FUTURE, technically)
This genre is all about how you can use the passage of time to tell your story, and loads of very different types of films have spanned decades, or centuries or even millennia. Sometimes the passage of time is literally the film’s narrative device like with FORREST GUMP or BOYHOOD, sometimes flashbacks are used to inform the story like with THE GODFATHER PART II - or any film that shows characters ten years older or younger. You don’t even need to show time itself passing if we just see at least two distinct decades like in BACK TO THE FUTURE or CLOUD ATLAS, that totally counts too.
14. The Musical + One of the other 13 genres
(SWEENEY TODD, REPO! THE GENETIC OPERA, GREASE, HIGH SCHOOL MUSICAL, THE PHANTOM OF THE OPERA or LITTLE SHOP OF HORRORS)
Lucky you! You get to pick any genre you want…. It just has to be a musical. It’s the old 48-Hours classic baseball-bat-to-the-face with the added on challenge of combining it with one of this year’s other genres. It sounds hard but it’s not impossible: SWEENEY TODD is a splatstick musical, LITTLE SHOP OF HORRORS is a monster musical, and HIGH SCHOOL MUSICAL is a High School musical, for example. Have fun!
HP48Hours - Elements 2018
ACTION: A door slamming
We either need to see it happen, hear it happen, or with the amazing technological advances in audio/visual technology, both!
TECHNICAL: A Silhouette/ Shadow
A silhouette is created by an object or character moving in front of a light source so that any discernible features are mostly obscured, and a shadow is caused by light shining on an object or character, which then casts onto a surface behind them. Yes, I just explained to you what shadow means.
THING: A Puddle
Your film must feature a puddle of water- or some other liquid- in whatever depiction you choose. Try to be creative because we’ll all be seeing a lot of puddles this year- so the ones that stand out will really pop. Or splash.
HP48Hours - Ultra 2018
Your film must feature children and/or animals as the main character(s)
One of the oldest rules of filmmaking is “Never work with children or animals” They’re difficult to work with and outshine everyone else. This year we want you to break that rule.
Clarifications:
- A child is under 18 years old.
- The main characters must be children or animals - this does not mean actors need to be children or animals, we are happy for creative approaches to this.
- Supporting characters can be adults/anyone else.
- For solo/duo teams - yes child actors count as part of the team - no animals don’t.
- For solo/duo teams - yes you can use footage of one of you as a child.
Please see our HEALTH AND SAFETY page which has some additional information about children and animals on set.