A creepy stalker finds a stop-clock that suspends time; a disillusioned office worker suffers an adulterous mid-life crisis; and a trapped student chews through his own arm in order to escape the clutches of a cola vending machine.

These were some of the winning entries from Warwick Shootout Awards 2008, where teams of budding film directors, producers, and actors have to write, shoot and edit an original short film in only 24 hours.

Armed with just a camera and their imagination, the students were set loose on campus. The judges expected the weird and wonderful, and they were not disappointed.

The Shootout, organised by the Centre for Student Development and Enterprise (CSDE) is now in its fourth consecutive year, and has gained so much popularity that it is now one of the main events of the Warwick Calendar. This year the competition attracted over 23 film entries.

Helen Blunt, from the CSDE organised this year’s event. She explains: “The Shootout has been great fun to do, and the quality this year has been excellent. The nice thing was that we had a mix of current students, staff and alumni, often with mixed teams.”

Many of the Shootout judges were University of Warwick alumni; and this year’s competition had arguably the most high profile judges, including author A L Kennedy, Associate Professor with the University of Warwick Creative Writing programme. The films were also judged by special guest Barrie Keefe, best known for writing the screenplay for The Long Good Friday. 

“The judges were strict when deciding on the winners,” says Blunt. “But I think that they were moved by what they saw. A L Kennedy was particularly rapturous about one of the entries, ‘Farewell to Arms’.”

The event was supported by the Students Union, the Learning Grid, the Photo Society, Warwick Students Arts Festival, and the Warwick Graduates Association. As Blunt explains: “The event is great for bringing together lots of people. There’s a lot of good will coming from these people and organisations to help make it happen.”

The winners of the best film was ‘The Rats Nest’ productions, who were offered two places on the Raindance Lo-to-No budget film course, worth £540. The prize was contributed by David Holloway, one of the Shootout judges.

“The winners of the shootout have all been chosen by outstanding people in the film industry,” says Blunt. “This will hopefully encourage them to continue in their film making.”

View the winning entry from 'The Rat's Nest' productions below.

• Visit the Warwick Shootout 2008 site to view more entries