Film festival attracts insomniac students

Mike Cargioli and his team, Film CLub, have been awake for 21 hours trying to finish their film before the 9 a.m. deadline. "Before I knew it, it was 6 a.m. and I hadn't composed any music yet," said Cargioli, a freshman in pre-architecture.

Film CLub - the name was an initial typo that stuck - is one of eight groups from Ohio State to create film for Apple's Insomnia Film Festival. At 9 a.m. October 13, Apple posted the requirements for entries and the 24-hour countdown began for teams to plan, shoot, edit and upload their films. Film CLub made the cut; their film "for sale: bird cage, never used" was submitted at 8:58 a.m.

Apple's second-annual Insomnia Film Festival invited high school and college students to complete three-minute films in 24 hours. Teams of no more than five members were given complete creative control to produce a film on a Macintosh computer that adhered to PG-13 guidelines and contained three of ten secret elements, which Apple provided at the start of the contest.

Low-budget films on the rise

"Insomnia" is evidence of the film industry's changing tide. It wasn't long ago that filmmaking was an expensive endeavor, but companies such as Apple are making the opportunity available to anyone with a Handycam and Internet access.

"I love the idea behind the festival: Encouraging users to find out how much they can accomplish in only 24 hours in a medium that had traditionally been understood to require massive investments of capital, time and expertise," said Jared Gardner, a professor at Ohio State in film studies.

The challenge only seems hassling until the prizes are revealed: A MacBook Pro and a software package worth thousands of dollars for each team member. The prize package received the attention of Aaron Kunkel, a senior in marketing and video arts, whose team, The Best Day 2, produced the film "Frame" about a man living through an ordinary day until a friend stops by with news.

"Our motivation was to learn more about filmmaking...the MacBook Pro and all the software was a pretty excellent incentive as well," Kunkel said.

The real perk is the chance for student filmmakers to break onto the scene and share their work. "The reward of people actually seeing what I make and enjoying it is far more rewarding than anything physical," said Cargioli, whose team's film about a boy chasing birds has received high praises from viewers in the Insomnia gallery.

Nick Verzilli, a senior in film studies, heard about the film festival through a friend.

A still of "In Need," a short film submitted by Ohio State students, is about a dejected man faced with a generous offer.

"I first found out about it two days before it started," Verzilli said.

Verzilli and his team, Jasper Collins, produced a film titled "In Need" about a dejected man who is faced with a generous offer and a surprising twist. "A friend in another group is in the process of making a short film. I took one small aspect from his script and wrote around that," Verzilli said.

Filmmaking on the fly

Most teams entered Insomnia with few preparations.

"We felt that's the way it should have been," Cargioli said.

Verzilli, too, started writing the day the contest began with no prior discussion with his team. Billy Haynes, a student on the Mansfield campus, had planned with his team a week in advance, but their ideas changed once the contest began.

"Good Times," also submitted by a group of OSU filmmakers.

"We all met on the morning of the contest and changed everything," Haynes said. His team, Feel the Danger, ended up with the idea for its film "Good Times" about a day gone wrong.

At the end of the day - or in this case, at the beginning of the next day - teams had submitted its entries and couldn't wait to finally sleep.

"We were wide awake until we submitted the film, and once it was in we all crashed hard," Kunkel said.

Sleep deprivation aside, teams are looking forward to next year's Insomnia Film Festival.

"I can't wait for the next one; it was a lot of fun," Cargioli said. "Next time I think I'll try to make sure my team is a little more focused."

Online voting

The top 25 entries, as rated by viewers, will be judged by a panel of Hollywood filmmakers including Nora Ephron ("Sleepless in Seattle" and "You've Got Mail") and James Mangold ("Walk the Line"). Viewers registered on Apple's Web site can rate and comment on as many films as they want. The film gallery is open for rating until midnight on Friday.

Teams have been promoting its videos to rack up the ratings before the Friday deadline. To get the attention of the student body, teams have created support groups on Facebook, posted bulletins on MySpace, and hung posters around residence halls.

Apple is taking a lead in the movement of user-created media with Insomnia. The future of film may well be one in which Hollywood plays little or no part.

"Apple's festival is part of a larger trend, and one that should have both writers and producers in Hollywood very anxious right now," Gardner said "If the users continue to become producers of the films they consume then the next shutdown in Hollywood will be completely ignored by everyone outside of Hollywood."

Even with this year's festival winding to an end, some of its participants will remain in the spotlight with other film projects.