Gainesville High School's Digital Media and Film students (also commonly referred to as Audio Video Technology or AV Tech) participated in this year’s 100 Hour Film Race, an annual international film competition in which filmmakers from around the world are challenged to create an entire film in 100 hours using a surprise theme, prop, and action provided at the beginning of the competition.
All participating teams were given the same theme, prop, and action requirements on December 6 at 8:00 p.m. and had until midnight on December 10 to complete the competition which entailed creating a story, writing a script, shooting the film, editing the film, and uploading the film as well as any additional required documents. Teams were only allowed to secure equipment, filming locations, permissions, and actors. Dr. Joseph Miller, an AV Tech instructor at GHS and part-time actor in the Atlanta metro-area, was able to utilize several of his personal contacts in securing professional actors due to his direct involvement in the film industry.
Several students met on December 6 at 8 p.m. when the requirements were revealed and immediately developed a concept. The next day, a team of writers consisting of Tristan Lyon, Ian Mallard, Justin Espinal, Chandler Thornton, and Matthew Penado developed the script for their concept and on December 8 the writing team as well as Hugue Byderi, Kevin Corona, Meriam Medina, Antonio Solorio, Clay Sayre, and Dr. Miller met at the home of Ronnie and Beth Hintze to meet the actors for the first time.
The team worked the entire day until 2 p.m. and on Sunday, December 9 to complete filming. On the final day of the competition, team members Matthew Penado (First Director, Second Editor) and Chandler Thornton (First Editor, Second Director) completed a full day of editing of the film. The completed film was uploaded at 7:30 p.m. on December 10, four and a half hours ahead of the competition’s deadline for submission. The team will receive notification within the upcoming weeks on whether the film advanced to the second round of the competition. All films will be judged based on ten categories: Originality, Creativity, Plot, Writing, Structure, Characters, Cinematography, Direction, Entertainment Value, and Acting. This is the first time that digital media and film students at Gainesville High School have participated in this event.
Several local businesses and families extended their support by donating food to feed the team members during the competition. The school district appreciates the generosity of Longstreet Cafe, Chick-fil-A of Gainesville, Mellow Mushroom, and Mr. and Mrs. James and Bivian Thornton for their contributions.
