© Paul Lee, 2006 Note: This guide is intended for current and former film student and teachers, as well as anyone who has had the privilege of viewing a large number of student films. Ideal settings for game play are graduation parties, production classes when the regular instructor is away, and marathon grading and judging session for the faculty. Unless otherwise noted, the player is to take one healthy drink from the beer, wine, or cocktail of his/her choice whenever one of the following items occurs. Keep in mind that more than one item may occur at the same time and all players must drink to account for coinciding items. • A young man in boxer shorts stares at himself in the bathroom mirror. Drink twice if he wears a white dress shirt. Drink three times if he puts on cologne. • A young woman in pajamas stares at herself in the bathroom mirror. Drink twice if she wares a black evening dress. Drink three times if she puts on lipstick. • Drink five times if the above man and woman are in the same film. • A young man or woman slowly wakes and rises from bed (usually filmed in the middle of the day). • We see more than one close-up of a clock in the same film. • Extreme close-up of dead leaves or limbs in the fall/budding flowers or grass in the spring. • Fire. • Extreme close-up of a cigarette smoking. • Someone racks-up or breaks pool balls in close-up as a transition. • An attractive young woman enters a bar in slow motion. • The drinking scene (jump-cuts of young people taking shot after shot of liquor, usually set to a popular song or a song from the soundtrack of a popular film released in the last three years [note double points]). • Someone gets into a fight not long after the drinking scene. • Location-specific outdoor recreation is featured (skiing in Colorado, etc.). • Someone almost dies doing the above activity. • Voice-over. • Voice-over that describes exactly what we see. • Voice-over includes words so large they are mispronounced in the recording. • Black leader. • Black leader for more than 5 seconds. • Black leader for more than 15 seconds. • The sound of wind accompanies the black leader. • Someone hates the global economic and social climate of the entire modern world. • The college campus on a sunny afternoon represents the entire modern world. • The film appears to have been shot in one night. • The film appears to have been edited in one night. • The sound mix appears to have been done in one hour. • Drink again if the above three occurred in one film. Drink three times if it is way better than most of the other student films. • The sync beep is correct but the film is still out of sync. • The projector refuses to project the film. • A shot is too dark to see what is happening. • A dramatic camera movement resulting in a close-up is out of focus. • You see a light stand or light. • You see an equipment case. • Drink three times if you see the tripod in the background of an annoyingly shaky hand-held shot. • An extra is looking at the camera. Drink twice if a principal actor is looking at the camera. Drink three times if he/she is obviously waiting for a cue. • You see the camera operator’s hand near the lens. • Color and black and white film stocks/effects are used in the same film. Drink again if it is to denote dream/memory from reality. • Time-lapse or slow-motion are done without compensating for exposure. • The same smudge on the lens is visible in more than one film. • A goofy guy ends up with an attractive woman. Drink again if you think it was the film maker's girlfriend. Drink once more if you think she was cast in the film in order to be the film maker's girlfriend. • Nudity. • Drug use. • Gun play. • Blood. • The same film contains the four above points and is good. • You think the film has ended several times but keeps going. • Drink twice if the film actually ends before you expect it to (this item may be negated if the ending consists of black leader and the sound of wind). • Something that is obviously supposed to be sad or scary is funny. • Something that is obviously supposed to be funny is sad or scary. • Drink again if you can’t decide between the two above. • You figure out the trick ending immediately. • You don’t understand the trick ending. • You don’t know that it is a trick ending. • A non-actor gives a performance better than an actor. • Techno music is used for no reason (the obligatory techno music rule). • The music was obviously done by the filmmaker or a friend. Drink again if it is techno. • The opening title sequence is better than the rest of the film. Drink again if it is actually longer than the rest of the film. • The party scene (a bunch of the film maker's friends are drinking at a party and trying not to look at the camera [featuring shots of the ‘cool guys’ and the ‘pretty girls’]). • Tacking a bed sheet to the wall creates a colored background. • Party Gels (a scene is lit with strong colors created with lighting gels in lieu of actual lighting design). • A text message on a cell phone serves as an inter-title. • Hit men • Hit men and cocaine in the same film. • A blatantly fake/toy gun is used seriously (could also be a fake knife). • An intentionally distorted voice over cannot be understood • Use of a skateboard for a dolly is evident because the front of the skateboard is visible in the shot. • An actor flinches before being hit by something • A couple falling in love is shown tickling each other on the couch. • Someone walks alone on the sidewalk. • A gross continuity error (such as a scene being re-shot at a different time of year). • Fake mustache • Drink 3 times if there is more than one fake mustache in the same film. • Over-the-shoulder driving shot. • Fake blood that is the wrong color. • The same guy is in the ‘party scene’ of more than one film. • A skateboard/snowboard/surfboard sticker is visible on the set even though there is no logical reason for it to exist within the narrative. • An actor looks remarkably comfortable in a “nerd” costume. • A complex system of representation is clearly evident but totally ineffective. • A close-up of a doorknob. • Heavy-handed literary reference/product placement (such as a voice-over with a quote from a Significant book or an actor reading a Significant book). • Someone is shown smoking from a bong who obviously has never done it before. • Someone is shown smoking from a bong who obviously has done it before (and may, in fact, be doing it for real in the film). • The set decorator/filmmaker prominently displays a collection of recent beer/alcohol bottles somewhere in the film. • Someone walks with headphones on. • Someone goes to the wilderness to escape a tortured situation. • Tapping on a microphone creates the sound of a heartbeat. • An actor is obviously too young to be playing a given character. • You can clearly read the full name of the patient on a real bottle for prescription medicine. Drink again if you think it is the filmmaker. • A shot displays obvious symptoms of a 'roll out' approaching (the end of the reel of film in the magazine), but has been used in the film anyways. • A character in the film writes in a journal. • A scene takes place at a bowling alley. Drink again if the scene is part of a larger montage sequence with an upbeat pop song as its soundtrack. • A mirror breaks. Drink again if we see an extreme close-up on the cracked glass . • Cross dressing. • A character drinks red wine to look sophisticated. Drink again if it is not in a proper wine glass. • A character waits by the phone. • An actual pot plant is featured in a shot. • Finish your drink if an actual pot plant appears to have been accidentally photographed in the background of a shot. • A male character wears an ill-fitting suit but tries to look completely serious about it. • The facade and/or street sign of a local hospital or police station is featured, but no interiors were actually shot there. • A scene takes place in an office, but the location is obviously a private home or apartment with a few office related props. Drink three times if the before-mentioned ill-fitting suit character is in this scene. • A shot is flipped (mirror image), apparently by mistake in the editing process (may be noticed by backward writing, etc.). • A character is wearing a wristwatch that shows a time and/or date that breaks continuity with the film. • Flashlights have obviously been used as a light source, often motivated by a prop such as a torch or lantern. • A character in modern times types on a typewriter. Drink again if it is a male character wearing suspenders. Drink again if there is a bottle of liquor near the typewriter. Drink once more if the typewriter is actually a late 1970's model, perhaps as owned by the film maker's parents. Finish your drink if all of the above criteria have been met and the film is black and white. • Production equipment and/or cases are used as props (such as a tripod case to hold a gun). Please email and additional items you may want to contribute to the link below. 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The Student Film Drinking Game v3