Freshman experiences 48-Hour Shoot Out
By Megan Helgeson, writer
February 21, 2008 | 8 p.m.
At midnight last Friday evening, freshman Laura Reineke’s cell phone rang. No, it was not a friend drunk dialing. It was a person directing her to wear "court hearing" clothes. Reineke’s first experience of Ohio University’s 48-Hour Shoot Out had just begun.
Shoot Out is a “video competition that uses creativity and endurance, and [it] is team building,” said senior Katy Kelly, one of the student organizers for Shoot Out. Shoot Out is a required project for senior Telecommunication majors in the class TCOM 419: Advanced Video Project Design.
The competition lasted from 6:30 p.m. on Friday, Feb. 15 to 6:30 p.m. on Sunday, Feb. 17, at which time the films were screened at Templeton-Blackburn Alumni Memorial Auditorium. Before 6:30 p.m. on Friday, group leaders randomly chose a genre, prop and line of dialogue, which had to be used in their videos. Creative ideas, such as “genre pong,” “Pick-A-Celeb” and Valentines decided the fate of each group by providing a fun way to randomly obtain their genre, prop and line of dialogue.
Reineke’s group, Baby Hollywood, was dealt comedy as its genre, headache medicine as its prop and “Wait, he’s your brother?” for its line of dialogue.
As a magazine journalism major, Shoot Out is not in Reineke’s area of study. But she helps with “Fridays Live,” OU’s late-night comedy show. With many Fridays Live members participating in Shoot Out, she decided to also get involved.
“John Heeg, representing Anthony Fabiano’s team, asked me if I was already in a group,” Reineke said.
She had found her "shoot" mates. Reineke’s original role was production assistant in her group of 30. However, as the weekend progressed, she also took pictures for the film, helped with graphics and acted as an extra.
With the three requirements as their guide, Baby Hollywood decided the plot for their film would portray a steroid scandal between two bowling teams: the Breeze and the Razzle-Dazzles.
They wrote the script and scouted out locations on Friday,” Reineke said. “Then we started shooting at 1:30 a.m. on Saturday.”
Because bowling was the story line, Baby Hollywood needed a bowling alley to shoot some scenes.
“We asked Rollerbowl [Lanes],” Reineke said, “but they said we couldn’t shoot there.”
So, the group drove to Columbus.
“We had the time,” Reineke said.
Thus the group went to Thompson’s Capri Lanes, rented three lanes and started shooting. Other locations the group filmed at were the steps in front of the old Baker Center and inside the Radio-Television Building, where the prop and line of dialogue were used.
After a long day of shooting, Baby Hollywood began editing at 12:30 a.m. on Sunday. The film, “In the Gutter,” became the finished product.
When asked how she thought the film turned out, Reineke said she was “so pleased with the final result,” but she was “dubious” when watching the film at the screening.
Reineke had no reason to be nervous, though, because the judges thought “In the Gutter” was top-quality and awarded it second place. Reineke was pleased but also “wished they would have gone into more detail about what they liked.”
Reineke enjoyed the experience and wants to participate again next year.
“I really liked the team I was on,” she said. “Everyone was in a good mood.”
Despite the groups' lack of sleep and everyone being “hyped up on caffeine,” Kelly had previously stated, “some of the funniest films will come up.” Baby Hollywood, with their laugh-out-loud, award-winning film, proved her right.
---