Film Festival -14yr- Team Movie Competition

For my daughters 14th birthday we found ourselves needing to invite a large group of very energetic and creative teenagers on short notice and we had very little time to prepare.  We had 27 kids altogether. 

The theme:  The HollyWood 45 minute Film Festival (Holly is my daughters name). 

As soon as the kids arrived, I labeled their hands with 1 2 or 3, dividing them into teams.  I put the teams together before they came to make sure they had an equal number of boys and girls, and I wanted to mix up the usually groups, and put the "hams" with the quiet ones.  Once they were into their teams I explained the rules.  Each team was given a video camera, a box of props and costumes, and a sheet explaining the rules and the theme of their movie. 

The themes were:  Star Wars meets Shangi Noon, Legally Blonde meets Lord of the Rings, Pirates of the Caribbean meets Napoleon Dynamite.  Each box had costume parts like wigs, pirate hats, light sabers, swords, etc… all relating to that movie along with some silly things like funny glasses, yellow rubber gloves, roll of tin roil, etc…  They had to develop a script and shoot their scenes in order since we would have no editing. 

Rules: 

1) PG at all times,

2) Everyone on the team must participate - script writer, prop director, actors/actresses, camera man, lighting, sound effects, make-up, etc. 

3) Each movie must included the line:  "Check this out.  It's totally hot."

4) They must all include the plunger that was in each box (I got them at the dollar store)

5) No crazy stunts, no water, no fire (remember, we had boys),

6) No shooting films in bedrooms. 

I gave each team a starting spot, but they were free to use run loose in the house, garage, front and back yard, and the street.  They had a blast!  We had originally planned for 1 1/2 hour to make the movie, but the volleyball game preceding the party was running late, and honestly, dropping it to 45 minutes made it much more fun for them because they couldn't get too wrapped up in perfection.  I had some friends help each team stay on task and remember the rules. 

At the end of each video, each team yelled Happy Birthday Holly.  While we were getting the films ready to watch, a friend was making another video in the back room where the guests would have each  say something to Holly in groups, they were really funny. My friend put together a group of chatty girls and they all talked over each other while saying something nice to Holly, then some of the boys together who said some nice things to Holly which was funny to watch, the intellectual group was hysterical. 

After we got the films hooked up to the TV, we all watched the films together.  The kids just laughed and laughed.  They loved seeing themselves on TV.  We took a cake break, opened presents, then had Academy awards for Best Use of Prop, Best Use of Line, Best Use of Character, and of course, my daughter won "Best Actress" and we played up that it was rigged by passing cash on the sly in front of everyone to the judge.  Then we showed as a gift to Holly the interviews (they were done on the sly)

The party lasted literally 1 hour and 45 minutes.  It was by far the best party we've ever had and it bonded the kids together.  We also had a friend filming the party while they were filming, so as a thank you, we sent everyone an email link on You Tube where the kids could view their films, view the interviews, and view the edited party video we set to music.  It truly was an amazing party. 

For decorations, I just went to Party City and got "Hollywood" type banners and put them up over the TV, and lined the entry way and the kitchen.  I went to Dollar Tree and bought about 16 blue star balloons each tied to a weight and put them like a runway in the entry way to the house. 

If I had time, I would have looked for a "red carpet" or just red fabric for them to walk on as they walked in.  When they came into the door we had someone taking a lot of pictures of them like they were on the runway.  I also had some "broadway" music playing in the background. 

Anyway, I hope you like our idea.  It was definitely the best fun we've ever had at a birthday party.  The kids still talk about it.