What do you get when you mix a jump rope, a white cross and two people out for a countryside bike ride? The answer: Rob Orlowski’s winning short film of this year’s 48 Hour Film Festival.
On Sept. 28, Assistant Professor in SOC, Kylos Brannon and Associate Professor Jeff Middents, who oversaw the competition, announced that first prize went to “Never Say Goodbye,” a dark drama directed by Robert Orlowski, and co-written by Jack Chappen and Noah Friedman, who are all sophomores in SOC studying film and media arts.
Each group blindly chose a genre, a prop and a line of dialogue to include in the short films. Orlowski, Chappen and Friedman were assigned a jump rope as the required prop, drama as the genre and the line of dialogue.
Their winning film focused on a young man, played by Jeffrey Fetzko, battling with the loss of his younger brother. During one of his weekly visits to his brother’s roadside memorial, he meets a young man, played by Joe Carter, who represents his conscience. After the run-in, the main character finally becomes at peace with his fate, creating a surprising and somber ending.
Orlowski’s idea for his contest entry was inspired by his hometown in New Jersey where he would frequently bike around his house and the surrounding farmland.
“When I heard that I had to go home for the festival, I knew I wanted to film it there,” Orlowski said. “And then as soon as I heard the story line and the prop we were assigned, it just all came together.”
The contest was Orlowski’s first win. The first place prize this year was a $150 gift certificate to the Adams Morgan restaurant Napoleon Bistro.
“I was just thrilled by the end of the contest,” Orlowski said. “I didn’t really care if I won, I just wanted to be a part of it and just the fact that I finished in time was good enough for me.”
Orlowski has also filmed, edited and directed two music videos for L.A. shoegaze band The Tennis System, for their songs “Hey, We Tried” and “Arcane.” Both videos have attracted nationwide attention, and last week the official video for “Arcane” premiered on the front page of Filter Magazine, a well-known music publication.
“Anyone who knows me knows that I really don’t watch movies,” Orlowski said. “I watch a lot of short films but not many feature length films.”
His main source of inspiration comes from Tyler T. Williams, who has directed music videos for bands such as Coma Cinema, Craft Spells and Youth Lagoon.
“I don’t know what I plan on doing with film in the long-term,” Orlowski said. “I’m looking forward to doing more music videos, but also I’m looking forward to doing more short films that actually require a budget and planning things out. I really just want to try new things in film.”