Romance? A colander? And W. Fritz Bean, farmer? HELP!!!

Don't panic. These are just examples of the genres, props and characters that you may be assigned for your film. And don't forget the required line of dialogue. In the very first 48 Hour Film Project, the line was "I made you who you are, and I can just as easily break you."

Below is more information about the Genres and Required Elements.

Genres

We've done our customary genre shake-up again. Anniversary/Birthday, Period Piece and Superhero have been retired for the year. In their place we've brought back popular genres Drama, Silent Film and Vacation or Holiday Film. And it wouldn't be the 48 Hour Film Project without those three beloved words: Musical or Western!

Each team will get a choice of two of the genres below

• Comedy
• Dark Comedy
• Detective/Cop
• Drama
• Fantasy
• Film de Femme
• Horror
• Mockumentary
• Musical or Western
• Romance
• Sci Fi
• Silent Film
• Thriller/Suspense
• Vacation or Holiday Film

If you are the lucky team that draws Musical or Western, you have the choice of making either a Musical or a Western. Or a Musical Western. (Or even a Western Musical!)

Your film must be true to one or both of the randomized genres.

Film de Femme

Never heard of a Film de Femme? That's because we invented it! This genre is specifically designed by the 48HFP to encourage strong roles for females in 48HFP films. A Film de Femme is a film featuring one or more strong female characters. Romantic comedies or "chick flicks" are included in this genre, but are only a subset.

What's a strong female character? Think Ellen Page in Juno, Salma Hayek in Frida, Reese Witherspoon in Election, or Julia Roberts in Erin Brockovich. Smart and complicated. Try to see if you can make your film pass the Bechdel Test. Try to avoid having a woman doing a man's job like a man would do his job. And contrary to public opinion, strong women characters are not required to kill someone!

Silent Film

From the dawn of cinema to the early 1920s, films did not have synchronized sound—they only had the live piano player. We're reliving that, but in 48 hours! A silent film made as part of the 48HFP may have music and sound effects; however, it may not have dialogue or nat sound (that is, sound recorded while shooting). So if a door shuts in your movie, you can use any sound effect you please as long as it's not the actual sound of that door shutting. And if a person talks, you can use any sound effect you please as long as it's not the sound of any person talking. Sound good?

REQUIRED ELEMENTS

On the Friday Kickoff each time zone is assigned a character, a prop and a line of dialogue. These elements must appear in your film in some way. All teams in the same time zone will have the same required elements.

Here are some examples from previous years:

Character

* Bitsy Ballou, Advice Columnist
* Ignazio del Fuego, Cab Driver
* Hugh Simon, Bouncer

Prop

* Large Suitcase
* Snow Globe
* Electric Fan

Line of Dialogue

* Is that the best you've got?
* I was lied to and very much deceived.
* When you say it like that, it's almost poetry.