A faint-hearted filmmaker might have thought, "I wouldn't do that if I were you."

After all, writing, casting, costuming, directing, producing, shooting, scoring, editing and delivering a movie in 48 hours is almost crazier than Norman Bates. But 28 intrepid Pittsburgh teams tried, 20 completed the task on time and another five finished but were late, one due to a power outage that even prompted the rental of a generator.

	Annie O'Neill, Post-Gazette Previous coverage: 2 days of movie making mayhem Video: Movie making mayhem

And the winner of Pittsburgh's first 48 Hour Film Project was "Time's Up" by Joe Serkoch, 29, of Carnegie and his team of Christopher J. Lewis, Lauren DeMichiei, Doug Verosko, Jay Hogben and Bill Ehrin.

Many work producing commercials for Comcast Spotlight in Pittsburgh so they're accustomed to quick turnarounds and killer deadlines. Go to www.timesup.tv to see their film and to find a full list of cast and crew.

"Heart Failure," by Michael Fuller and his teammates at Mike Productions, was the runner-up in a very tight race.

Russ Streiner, one of three judges, said the field was bursting with talent but "Time's Up," the story of a mismatched pair of meter maids filmed in Carnegie, stood out.

"It was just the campy feeling of taking this quasi-Rocky story of a meter maid, a female maid, and juxtaposing that character against this slacker. I really appreciated the nuance involved, and the humor of it, as well," he said after yesterday's awards ceremony at the former Star City Theater in South Fayette.

Streiner and the other judges received the finished films on Tuesday, and he screened them that night, sketched out preliminary rankings, slept on it and looked at the work the next day.

The competition rules were: Each film had to be completed in 48 hours, run four to seven minutes, adhere to the genre picked out of a cap, and incorporate a camp counselor named either Julie or Jason Whittaker, a teacup and saucer, a sense of Pittsburgh and the line of dialogue, "I wouldn't do that if I were you."

Participants got their movie marching orders the night of Aug. 3 and most spent the weekend sleepless or nearly so and fueled by creativity, sugar, coffee, Red Bull and sometimes stronger spirits. To be considered for awards, they had to return their completed work by 7:30 p.m. Aug. 5.

Serkoch and his crew spent the first night writing, shot the next day from 6:30 a.m. to 9 p.m. and edited on Sunday. They turned in their finished product with 19 minutes to spare.

After 10 films were screened Saturday evening and the winners announced, Serkoch ushered his crew to the front and told the audience, "To be honest, I didn't think we had a chance, compared to the other films that were on here. There's a lot of talent that was screened today, and I was really blown away."

As winners of the city crown, they will advance to another competition against 65 other teams.

"Hopefully we'll do the best that we can in representing Pittsburgh. We'll be looking for help and hopefully a lot of the people on the teams here will join up with us," Serkoch said. "It's going to be a collaborative effort and I think we have the power here in this room to do anything we want. So, let's all talk, OK?"

While the 48 Hour Film Project is in its seventh year, this was the first for Pittsburgh and organizers who have been meeting regularly since February hope it will become an annual event.

"I think it went great. We had 286 people who actually participated as cast and crew," said Rick Frisco from RemNS Productions of Brownsville. He and Jay D. Kuntz from Video Communication Productions Inc. were the local producers for the project and key in bringing the competition here.

"I'd like to see if we gave them a week what they could put out. What they did in 48 hours, I was amazed," Frisco said, with Kuntz seconding the movie magic that happened.

Kuntz said he was impressed by the work he saw and the work he did not. He cited one unnamed participant who provided a master and a backup copy of his film, but both proved to be blank.

Although he would have been out of contention for awards, he still could have had his film shown, and he twice brought additional copies to Kuntz but they didn't play either. "I was really disappointed for him," Kuntz said, recounting the note attached to the discs, "Thanks for putting up with me. At least I tried."

The smallest team had five members, the largest, 21, and most films averaged six minutes.

Teacups and saucers were used in every way imaginable, from an object in dance choreography to a murder weapon. In "Whittaker's War," a cube of dissolving sugar and tea bag were employed to explain how the U.S. Army would treat a future recruit.

Pittsburgh popped up on T-shirts -- an ailing, philosophical father in the film titled "Earl Grey" wore one commemorating Forbes Field -- and in its signature bridges, panoramic views from Mount Washington, a dash through Market Square and the Carnegie Mellon University campus.

"Best of Breakdowns" offered a special thanks to Mulligan the Alligator, who apparently played himself, and "Heart Failure" slyly melded reality TV and the shortage of organ donors. A killer was on the loose in "Hollow," and the jig was up for a lawbreaker in "Time's Up."

Judging the films were: Streiner, a producer of "Night of the Living Dead" and chair of the Pittsburgh Film Office board; Amy Lamb, a founder of Lumiere Films and award-winning producer; and Scott Burkett, an executive sales and marketing consultant for Hughie's Audio-Visual Productions.

Winners, announced yesterday at the former Star City Theater, now Screenworks:

Best of the city: "Time's Up," Orionvega Designs, Joe Serkoch.

Runner-up: "Heart Failure," Mike Productions, Michael Fuller.

Directing: "Heart Failure." Honorable mention to "Time's Up."

Use of character: "Camp Lambda," Galaxy454, Adam Taylor. Honorable mention, "Kill Camp," Master Gorilla, Adam Krayvo.

Writing: "Whittaker's War," Lot25, Bill Moore. Honorable mention, "Earl Grey," Gargoyle Entertainment, Matthew Bonacci.

Use of prop: "Whittaker's War." Honorable mention, "Earl Grey."

Editing: "Time's Up." Honorable mention, "Heart Failure."

Use of line of dialogue: "Camp Lambda." Honorable mention, "Sleeping Hero," Sherman's Brigade, Wayne Nash.

Acting: "Heart Failure." Honorable mention, "Love Addict," Aloomination Productions, Ted Haynes.

Cinematography: "Love Addict." Honorable mention, "Double Bind," Zeno Films, Justin Crimone.

Sound design: "Heart Failure." Honorable mention, "Double Bind."

Graphics: "Love Addict." Honorable mention, "Hollow," Team WIFM, Faith Dickinson.

Special effects: "Heart Failure." Honorable mention, "Pixie Dusted," Zoetifex, Michael Kadrie.

Musical score: "Double Bind." Honorable mention, "Heart Failure."

Choreography: "Crossing the Line," 482 Crew Productions, Michael Hough. Honorable mention, "Indian Territory," Hilarity Ensues Production, Adam Wright.

Costumes: "Indian Territory." Honorable mention, "Pixie Dusted."

Use of Landmark: "Love Addict." Honorable mention, "To the T," Monster Turtle Productions, Kelly Bumford.

Audience Choices: "Time's Up" and "Camp Lambda."

The first year was not without its minor controversies or complaints.

Participants invited to post comments on the project's Web site groused that only 10 films were being shown on awards day (all had been screened in two batches Wednesday and Thursday), that tickets had to be purchased for the screenings, and that Pittsburgh Women in Film and Media had been permitted to assemble a team, despite being one of 10 sponsors.

Organizers said WIFM's sponsorship consisted of a $30 donation for party refreshments, and seats for Saturday's event were cut from $7 to $2 due to healthy attendance earlier in the week. Still, the producers said they hoped to tap more sponsors next year, attract an even more diverse group of competitors and iron out other wrinkles.

Some filmmakers, however, were just as happy to share their exhilaration at seeing their work and that of others up on the big screen.

Michael M. Kadrie wrote of the audience: "They got my sense of humor (which my wife doesn't even get) and even through the scenes where the audio cut out of our film, they still seemed to get what was going on. To the winner of our great city I say this: WIN! Win and make us proud here in the Burgh! Man will that get people pumped for next year."

Others offered pointers for next time. Among them: Keep cold water on hand, choose air-conditioned locations, use high-powered computers to speed processing of visual effects, don't eat too much sugar and remember that sleep deprivation can make people cranky.

Winners received trophies, and "Time's Up" will be included in Filmapalooza, the official 48 Hour Film Project awards weekend held in the past at South By Southwest in Austin, Texas, and Cinequest in San Jose, Calif.

A selection of the city winners also will be distributed on DVD and those filmmakers also are eligible for a fall shootout.

The winner eventually will be posted at www.48.tv (where you also can watch other films). For more information, go to www.48hourfilm.com/pittsburgh and www.48hourfilm.com.