At KSFC, we like to challenge our members to become better filmmakers, step out of their comfort zones, and take risks. We welcome anyone who wishes to participate in the challenges, whether you prefer to work alone or wish to get together with friends and submit as a team. These challenges are designed to build your skills in the key areas of filmmaking, while also giving everyone the opportunity to create content and get it seen. Each challenge is designed for participators to be able to make their submissions as big or as small as they can/want. Prizes will be awarded to the winner of each challenge.
Make an interesting short film that is less than 15 seconds. Anyone can be a filmmaker! Anyone with a smartphone can make a beautiful or funny little video on Vine or Instagram. This contest is designed to get you to start looking for stories everywhere and practice filmmaking you can start doing right now, no equipment necessary.
Re-cut any trailer. Make a comedy a thriller, a scary movie a romantic comedy. Switch up the music, the shots, and tell a different story. We ask that all video and dialogue lines come from the film itself, but the inclusion of music and sound effects is up to the participant. This contest is designed to look at things differently and strengthening your storytelling by redefining someone else’s.
Create a new poster for any film or TV show. You are allowed to use media from the original source material, but we do ask that the new design is something of your own creation. This contest is designed to challenge filmmakers to create interest in their work by summing up a movie in a single image.
Make a short film documentary showing real people’s (or animal’s) stories, examining a topic, or simply profiling a person. Great filmmaking can often involve exploring truth. This contest is designed to get you to understand adaptability, how editing shapes story, and to look for what makes for a good film subject.
Take any short film/scene/music video/commercial/trailer/etc. and try to recreate it in your own way, shot for shot. This means, try to mimic the shots, timing, tone, etc. of the original piece so that they sync up when viewed side-by-side. This contest is designed to get you to pay close attention to how different types of visual media convey meaning through cinematography and timing. By attempting to interpret and mimic these things, you may better understand what goes into achieving appropriate tone for the media you are trying to produce.
Make an interesting audio clip that is more than 30 seconds but less than three minutes. Use music. Use sound effects. Use anything imaginable to tell a story from your wildest imagination. This contest is designed to get you to start focusing on the importance of audio film making, and give you an outlet to do just that.
Tell a story in one continuous shot. For this challenge, the only rule is that the entire film must be done in one shot. This means that once you start recording, you don’t cut until the very end, and you don’t cut/edit the film together at all afterwards. This contest is designed to get you to plan action in your films and the technicalities necessary to achieving those things carefully, responsibly, and thoughtfully. A fun challenge to see what all you can accomplish without relying on the ability to cut and adjust.
Make a movie trailer for any existing or imaginary film! You must shoot all the footage going into your submission, and be sure that what you make is recognizably a trailer/teaser. This contest is designed to get you to observe how movie trailers convey a story and tell the audience quite a lot about what a film will offer in such a short period of time and in such interesting ways, allowing you to try your own techniques and see what you can come up with.
Make an entertaining narrative genre film! Now it’s time for all your skills as a filmmaker to come together. An interesting script, thoughtful directing, captivating cinematography, powerful acting, crisp audio, and impressive editing are all goals when working with narrative film. For this contest, we encourage you all to pick a genre and run with it to make your very own narrative film. This means you can interpret each of the cinematic elements listed above however you desire (that’s the best part about being an artist afterall, right?) and present to the club your masterpiece. This contest is designed to give those who have both learned a great deal in the art of filmmaking and who are eager to take risks and express their own voice the opportunity to make a short film.
Make a visual story with the use of no or minimal sound. The film should be more than 30 seconds but less than three minutes. Your film should be visually driven and not take cues from the diegetic or non-diegetic sounds underneath. This contest is designed to get you to start focusing on the importance of visual storytelling.