1. 50 Hour Filmmaking Challenge is open for participants from across the globe

2. Filmmaking hour for IFP’s 50 Hour Filmmaking Challenge is scheduled to begin from Friday, Sep 15, 2023, 8pm IST to Sunday, Sep 17, 2023 10pm IST.

3. Participants need to submit their film by the upload link provided to the Team Leader. The upload link will be sent as soon as the challenge begins

4. The entire film must be shot within the filmmaking period and the team needs to provide proof of the same as and when needed.

5. The finished film must be a minimum of 4 minutes in duration, and a maximum of 6 minutes —not including end credits.

6. Team members will get the theme and compulsory element online on IFP’s Instagram as well as on the registered Team Leader’s Email ID and SMS/Whatsapp.  
7. Along with the theme, 2 to 4 different genres will be provided. Teams are free to choose any one genre.

8. Film can be in any language of your comfort. All films, irrespective of their language, should have English subtitles. The subtitles must be provided separately in a properly formatted SRT file (Use this tool – aegisub.org or any other free tool to create Subtitles).

9. All team members must be volunteers.

10. For the Amateur and Professional category, teams have to use a DSLR or professional film camera with at least 1080p video capture. For the Mobile Filmmaking category, a mobile camera with a minimum capture of 1080p should be used. The film should be edited on laptop only.

11. Teams are encouraged to work with local composers and musicians to write and compose music for the films. Teams can use pre-recorded music if they have the rights to it. Copyrighted tracks can be only used upto maximum 15 seconds along with a compulsory mention to composer and music link in the end credit of the film.

12. Teams cannot use stock footage or footage created earlier. Photographs can be used in a film, only if the team has the rights to use them.

13. End credits at the end of each film are limited to a maximum of 60 seconds. These 60 seconds are over and above the maximum length of 6 minutes.

14. The teams should use the ‘Opening Slide’ ie. IFP Title Slate provided to the team leaders along with the theme. Opening titles are considered to be part of the film, and hence count in the total duration of your film.
Order:
   - IFP Title Slate (provided to you at the beginning of the challenge)
   - 1 second of blank
   - 3 seconds of black slate with Film Name
   - Your movie

15. Along with uploading the film, the teams are required to sign and submit the Creator’s agreement online which shall be sent along with the theme mail. Check out the agreement here.

16. The final video must be uploaded in MP4/MOV/MPEG-4 format. The uploaded video should be in 1080p and strictly below 2 GB. All the file names should be your Creator ID. For instance, if your creator ID is TA2130, your file should be TA2130.mp4 (Film), TA2130.srt (Subtitle), TA2130.pdf (Creator’s Agreement).

17. Teams are ideally expected to keep 48 hours for filmmaking and 2 hours for upload. We understand that some teams face genuine challenges during the upload due to technical issues. For teams who are genuinely unable to upload their films in the 50 hour period due to technical reasons, an extension of 4 hours will be provided. However, to keep the challenge fair, the teams who upload the film past the 50 hour deadline will face the deduction as below from their total jury scores.
   - 0 to 1 hours - 5%
   - 1 to 2 hours - 7.5%
   - 2 to 4 hours - 10%

18. For being eligible for the challenge, the film must not contain any material that hurts or violates someone’s personal rights, religious beliefs, incites violence or creates derogatory remarks about someone’s sexuality or belief. The film must not invade privacy or other rights of a person, firm or entity.

19. Teams are requested to keep the original footage and project files of the films for a period of 3 years after the submission. IFP may select to broadcast these films across television and theatre for specific needs and shall require highest quality to achieve so.

20. IFP team may add to or amend these rules at any time prior to the beginning of the filmmaking period, without informing the participants.

21. IFP and Project parties, in their sole discretion, can disqualify any film deemed to be inappropriate or otherwise non-compliant.

22. A compulsory element will be given to the team at the beginning of the challenge. It should not necessarily be the central part of the story but should be subtly included in it.

Q. I am not from India. Can I participate?
A. Indeed. IFP is a globally participated challenge and people from all over the world participate each year.

Q. Is there a registration fee?
A. The registration fee for each team is Rs. 3000 (USD 37) for Professional Category, Rs. 2500 (USD 30) Amateur Category and Rs. 1500 (USD 18) Mobile Category. Fees should be paid online to confirm your team participation. You will receive an email with your Creator ID upon confirmation.

Q. What is the evaluation critera?
A. Your film will be evaluated on the basis of the following criteria - Visual appeal, story and narrative flow, characters and on-screen performances, adherence to the theme and adherence to the genre.

Q. Are Special Effects allowed?
A. Yes, you can include special effects. However, no stock footage may be used for this. Inbuilt plugins and effects of software may be used.

Q. What will be the duration of the films?
A. The films are to be made between 4 to 6 minutes. This is because, for a good film produced in this challenge, 4 to 6 minutes is an ideal duration.

Q. Does the maximum length of the film include end credits?
A. No, the end credits are not included in the duration of your film. The end credits can be a maximum of 60 seconds.

Q. Can I modify the film after the challenge?
A. Of course, you can modify the film post the challenge, but keeping the following in the end credits – ‘This film was conceptualized for IFP Season 13.’

Q. How do I upload my film faster?
A. We would recommend you to render the film at 1080p for faster upload results. Also, keeping the file size below 1 GB would make it faster.

Q. Can I participate in multiple challenges with IFP?
A. Yes, with the same email ID and password, you can participate in other IFP challenges.

Q. What can be the team size?
A. The team can have a minimum of 1 person and a maximum of 20 people. Each team member receives an e-certificate from IFP.

Q. Can I modify my team after I have registered?
A. Yes. You can modify your team anytime before Sep 18, 11:30pm.

Q. What about our film after the Challenge?
A. You can use your film in various ways, only to keep in mind that the film bears the credit “This film was made for IFP Season 13” in its title and end credits. For more details, read the team leader’s agreement sent to your team leader at the beginning of the 50 Hour Filmmaking Challenge.

Q. Can I sponsor this challenge?
A. Please mail us at ritam@ifp.world

Q. Is any footage allowed in the end credits?
A. Yes, but the narration of your story should end before it.

Q. Can I use a stock photo?
A. If you own the rights to the photo, you can use it.

Q. Is animation allowed?
A. No, animation in any form is not allowed in the film.

Q. Can we include a title animation or our company logo in the film?
A. Yes, you can. Provided they are only on screen for less than 10 seconds.

Q. What should be the shooting quality, aspect ratio and sound for the film?
A. The final output should be a MOV or MPEG4 file with a resolution of 1080p. The aspect ratio should be 16:9. The sound has to be stereo.

Q. What language must my film be in? Do I need to add subtitles?
A. Your film can be in any language. Subtitles are compulsory for all films. You can refer to rules for more specific details about subtitles.

Q. I am a participant from out of India. What standard time should we follow for the 50 Hours?
A. The standard time for the challenge will be Indian Standard Time.

Q. I can’t find a team member. Can IFP help?
A. You can find relevant team members from our Instagram post by clicking here.

Q. Should my story revolve around or be based on the compulsory element?
A. No. Compulsory element should be a part of your film, but it should not necessarily be the central part of it. For e.g. - Compulsory element is a comic book so you can include it by showing how it is lying around somewhere in the frame,or how a character is reading it.

Q. What is the Creator's Agreement?
A. Each team leader has to sign an agreement, which is legally binding. The agreement will help protect your rights as a creator and our rights as a platform. This agreement will be provided to the team leader at the beginning of the challenge through email along with the theme. Any team leader not submitting the same will be disqualified along with the team.

Q. Can my film have no dialogues?
A. Yes, your film can have no dialogues and only music. You will have to explain the mood of the scenes in your subtitles.

Q. Do I need a 'Location Release' to shoot on public property?
A. No, you need a location release only on a privately held property. But we strongly recommend taking permits wherever necessary in the case of public property.

Q. Where do I upload the film?
A. Link to upload your film will be sent to the team leader at the beginning of the challenge along with the theme.

Q. Can I use mobile to upload my film?
A. We highly advise you to use a laptop to upload your film. Mobile connections tend to be inconsistent, leading to delays. Use of a high speed broadband is definitely a plus!

Q. How do you judge so many films?
A. Each film, according to its category of participation, is sent to three different pre-juries for evaluation, consisting of two people each. The cumulative score from the pre-juries is used to prepare a list of merit. The top 30 films from each category are sent to the final jury for viewing and ranking.

Q. Is the judging process transparent?
A. Being one of the leading festivals in the continent, we at IFP strive hard to make sure that justice is done to each and every film submitted. To make sure we do not miss out on any films, the IFP team also watches these films simultaneously and raises an issue internally if any flaws or biases are found in the process. We do not entertain any requests for paid awards, neither have in the past and nor will in the future, to keep the spirit of competition alive.