If you're in the U.K. and have always wanted to make a scifi movie in two days with a bunch of your pals, it's time to test your fast-movie fu. Scifi film geekfest Sci-Fi London is launching its "48 Hour Film Challenge" on April 5th at the Apollo West End. Entrants will be given a randomly-generated film title, some dialog and a prop. They have two days to turn those ingredients into a movie "no shorter than 3 minutes, and no longer than 5 minutes" by April 7th. Those conditions don't sound much worse than what B-movie directors of the 1950s and 60s dealt with.
Other than those restrictions, the sky's the limit. Well, there is one other thing. According to the rules:
Use of a time machine or other similar instrument to stop the normal passage of time, giving you say 3 weeks to make a film in what seems like just a weekend to the rest of us - well, that is cheating and we won't stand for it - unless of course you use some kind of mind control and erase any knowledge of this rule or your cheating or the fact that the time machine was invented...
So you could use your time machine for ill-gotten gains, or just slip the judges (including director John Landis) a roofie for the same results.
Winners get a video camera. What? No Dalek-shaped chocolate cake?
Sci-Fi London [official site]