WCC video students win best film

Matthew Bartow
Contributor

The Bat Boiz, a team of about 15 people mostly consisting of current and former WCC students, won best film in the Detroit 48 Hour Film Project, as well as best director, best writing, best cinematography, best lighting and best villain.

As the name “48 Hour Film Project” implies, the entire video had to be shot, edited and submitted all in 48 hours of daylight. Each team could only scout locations, choose music and make the credits in advance, according to Jennifer Gentner, city producer for the project. Teams were also required to include three specific elements: a main character named either Phil or Phillipa Carter who is an insurance broker, a paperback book used as a prop and the dialogue: “Are you sure you want that?”

The Bat Boiz’s victory was a rare feat, according to Gentner.

“For them to win in their first year competing is basically unheard of,” Gentner said. “It never happens.”

Each group was assigned a subgenre, per Gentner. Some of the subgenres were supernatural, slasher, psychological thriller and cursed object.

Griffin Bergers, who was part of the main crew for the film, said that the group was assigned the supernatural subgenre.

“Our film, ‘Housekeeper,’ is about an insurance broker going out to a home to make an estimate on getting security cameras installed,” Bergers relayed in an email interview. “When the homeowner has to leave mid-job, the home gives our insurance broker an unwanted welcome.”

Colton Fromhart, the director of the film, said that while it was a challenge, the team had fun in the process.

“Producing a film in 48 hours is pretty stressful, because you have to go through drafting out a story, to shooting the story, then editing all the footage into something that hopefully looks good, sounds good, and makes sense,” Fromhart said in an email exchange. “In the 48 hours you’d be very lucky to get about 8 hours of sleep. Having a team where we all know everyone’s strengths, it helps keep us on track and it makes for a great time.”

The Bat Boiz will have their film advance to Filmapalooza, a four-day film festival where all the first-place winning films from around the world will compete against each other. The festival will take place in Orlando, Florida. The festival will feature 150 films, according to Gentner. The top 15 films as selected by judges at Filmapalooza will be shown at the Cannes Film Festival in France.

Alexis Saunders was a production assistant and part of the main crew for the film.

“I’m so blessed to be able to say that our film not only received first locally but is now in the running for an international competition,” said Alexis Saunders, the production assistant and crew member for the film in an email interview. “This is a big deal for college students since most students haven’t had work in any type of festival. Even if we don’t win anything at Filmapalooza, I think I says a lot that we’ve made it this far.”

“Housekeeper” is the short film produced in 2018 by “Bat Boiz” that was entered in the Detroit 48 Hour Film Project. The film can be viewed on the 48 Hour Film Project website.

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