Two days, one film, go!

Adrenaline and team efforts render success in this stiff city-by-city competition.

The 48… Adrenaline and team efforts render success in this stiff city-by-city competition.

The 48 Hour Film Project tour is hitting Pittsburgh for the second year, attracting filmmakers, writers and stage crews who can compete under deadline and muster creativity and a high level of production in the team setting.

Pittsburgh is one of 65 cities the 48 Hour Film Project will tour nationally in addition to its 12 international stops.

Teams are given only 48 hours to try to create the best overall four- to seven-minute film.

A meet-and-greet at Cefalo’s Restaurant and Night Club aims to collect more 48 Hour Film participants at 7 p.m. Wednesday, May 14.

Individuals can go to the restaurant in Carnegie to hear a guest speaker, participate in a question-and-answer session for an hour and then be part of a casting call for producers and actors. Actors should bring copies of their bios and headshots. Teams only partially assembled should add clout to their team, and those looking to get involved should audition for a team.

The kickoff will take place back at Cefalo’s on Friday, June 6 at 5 p.m. Teams will blindly pick a character, a prop, a line of dialog and a genre before 7 p.m., when they are cut loose for two days of filming.

The genres include comedy, detective/cop, drama, fantasy, film de femme, historical film, holiday film, horror, musical or western, road movie, romance, sci-fi, spy and thriller/suspense. Teams also have the option to trade their genre for a wild-card genre, which includes political dramas and silent films.

Last year, slacker meter maids and camera zooms on calendars reading Sept. 11 caught the eyes of the judges for winning films.

“Most of the time, the teams will be scrambling within the 48 hours,” said Rick Frisco, producer of the Pittsburgh festival. Some teams leave to film in Ohio and West Virginia and return with their films on Sunday at 7 p.m. when the contest closes.

Because of the element of surprise inherent in the competition, teams have different strategies for preparing.

“I could find an office cubicle and shoot 10 different genres out of it,” said Frisco. While the teams sometimes think of locations or characters beforehand, it is best for the scriptwriting to be done in the two-day time period.

Last year about half of the teams were comprised of total strangers, while the other half were already acquainted with each other. Each type of team has produced quality work. Some teams consist of only two people, while others had 60.

Right now, 18 teams are already put together for the Pittsburgh event, though the organizers hope to attract closer to 60 teams.

The after-party and awards ceremony will be held at Cefalo’s on June 20 at 9 p.m. following a Best Of screening at Carnegie Library and Music Hall at 7 p.m. Awards in 11 different categories will be given away as well as an overall city winner, who will receive a trophy and a screening at Filmapalooza, the official 48 Hour Film Festival weekend in Austin, Texas, and San Jose, Calif.

A selection of city winners will appear on DVD along with eligibility for the Fall Shootout and HD Showdown. City winners will also qualify for the $5,000 grand prize and be named “Best 48 Hour Film of 2008.”

For more information, visit 48hourfilm.com or attend the meet-and-greet at 428 Washington Ave., Carnegie on Wednesday.