Film students use their skills for charity

The Liberty University chapter of the National Broadcast Society (NBS) sponsored an event last weekend known as Forty-Eight. The event was created in order to raise awareness for local charities and to give students the chance to participate in a friendly video competition that could be added to their portfolios.

Film making for charity — Participants had 48 hours to created a film for their charity of choice. Photo provided

The event consisted of two parts, the competition itself and the Black Tie Event on Feb. 24, which will conclude the affair. According to Devin Francis, assistant media relations personnel, the competition consists of students writing, filming and editing their footage to help increase awareness for local charities.

The competition ran from Saturday at 9 a.m. until Monday at 9 a.m., giving the students a mere 48 hours in which to create a video for the charity that they chose to represent.

Students assembled their teams prior to the competition, leaving only the charity that they would represent undecided until the beginning of the competition. The list of participating charities was released the day before the competition began, according to NBS Public Relations Coordinator Alicia Whitecavage.

Participating in the competition are Causelife, Interfaith Outreach Association, Habitat for Humanity and Special Olympics Virginia, according to NBS Treasurer Tasha Willett.

Each team was allowed to choose which charity it wanted to represent from the list of participating organizations, according to Dr. Carey Martin, the advisor for the campus NBS chapter.

At the beginning of the 48 hours, teams were given the chance to sit down with the representative from the organization they were representing and discuss what direction they wanted to take for their video.

“And then they’ve got 48 hours to script, cast, shoot and edit it,” Martin said.

While a good portion of the competitors are communications majors, the teams are made up of students from various majors.

One student, Bobby Blanding, jumped outside his pre-med major comfort zone and joined forces with three communication studies students and a cinematography major to produce a 48 hour film.

“I really like the project….I think it will be great for people’s resumes,” Blanding said.

The event, founded by Whitecavage, is the first major event of this type that the university’s NBS chapter has held, according to Martin.

“This is our debutante ball, this is our first big event we’ve had for the community,” Martin said.

The society was interested in holding an event that not only benefited the students, but also reached out to the community.

“We wanted to create an event that allowed students to use their God given talents,” Whitecavage said.

Whitecavage and Martin are pleased by the turnout for the competition, regardless of the fact that it is their first one.

“For the participating students, it’s the perfect opportunity to use their future career skills, provide the charity of which the Bible speaks and have fun under slightly more intense deadlines than the real world,” Martin said.

There are two levels for the judging of the contest. Students will be required to upload their videos onto YouTube where viewers can vote for their favorites. The video with the most votes will get one of the awards, according to Martin.

There will also be an award presented by a panel of judges. The panel will include judges such as Scottie Curlee, the producer and director of the Christian feature film “The Potential Inside,” according to Martin.

The judging committee will also include Ash Greyson and Steve Mason, according to Willett.

The winners will be announced at the Black Tie Event, which will take place on Feb. 24 at 8 p.m. This event will include chances for the attendees to get to know the charities that were involved in the competition. There will be opportunities for individuals to sign up for volunteer work or donate to specific charities, should they feel called to do so.

The NBS is looking forward to seeing the work that the students put into the competition and the positive results that the charities will get through this event.

“I think this is a wonderful opportunity on all kinds of levels for all our constituencies,” Martin said. “I think it serves the Lynchburg community because students are reaching out to do something for local charities.”

“We want to make this something that happens annually,” Willett said.

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