Who should win the First DV-X FEST?

[J.R. Hudson]

The first monthly DVX Fest received 4 entries. The rules were simple enough; a two-minute short film with an underlying theme of:

Ever gotten the feeling you were being watched?


Please vote for your favorite after viewing each of them. Members who submitted a film cannot vote. This is a vote by peers and by MEMBERS ONLY. Please take the time to view them and submit your vote. Monday May 3rd at 9:00 am is the Deadline to cast your vote. The winner will recieve a DVX Battery and a free pair of shades from www.somaticoptics.com.

The winner will also decide the theme for MAY.

[J.R. Hudson]

The RESULTS ARE OFFICIAL...

Congratulations to "I am Loser" and his entry for SOLDIER! *IAL wins a battery and a free pair of sunglasses from www.somaticoptics.com.

IAL also get's to choose the theme for MAY!

Only 4 entries in the first DV-X Fest; let's hope there are more for the month of May! *It was a hard decision with the Dan Lahav and IAL going neck and neck to the wire in almost a photo finish.

Thank you to all of you and especially Dan Lahav for initiating this contest and making some of us get off our butts and dusting off the DVX! *I know I can't wait until the next one as everyone will get to see John Hudson's film! (Thats a shameless motivational committment on my part!)

[J.R. Hudson]

Feel free to discuss the films in this thread! :D

[Elvis]

I thought they all showed good cinamatic style that was only held back by the lack of equipment. But the camera angles were right on for the most part and visualy compeling. Good job guys and congrats to "Loser" Let us know what you choose for the May contest. 8)

[Neil Rowe]

well, i just want to say great job to all of the filmmakers for all the entries as well. everyone did a great job! and sincerely thank anyone who voted for my little depressing film(i have a habit of making them..). my actor will be excited to hear the news. i really think he made this film work. ill have this months idea by 3:00 my time (central) and thanks again. :)

[Barry_Green]

I was really impressed with how much work you guys put into these.

Let me stress again, I'd like to see no showing of the films or stills or anything until all entries are in. I'm certain Greg wasn't the only one scared off by the stellar stills posted! But that means we might have missed out on some brilliant storytelling out there, even if it may not have been technically quite as accomplished as some of the entries.

As far as running time, they all seemed to clock in right at two minutes. Is that a requirement, or is it any length UP TO two minutes? Would a 30-second film count?

[Beat Takeshi]

Congratulations!!! This was a fun experience. I tried to submit another one but I had the problem others had with too much info for 2 minutes.
They were all really good and I cant wait til the next one.

[J.R. Hudson]

I was really impressed with how much work you guys put into these.

Let me stress again, I'd like to see no showing of the films or stills or anything until all entries are in. *I'm certain Greg wasn't the only one scared off by the stellar stills posted! *But that means we might have missed out on some brilliant storytelling out there, even if it may not have been technically quite as accomplished as some of the entries.

As far as running time, they all seemed to clock in right at two minutes. *Is that a requirement, or is it any length UP TO two minutes? *Would a 30-second film count?

Yes, the MAY CONTEST will be that NO STILLS OR FOOTAGE RELEASED UNTIL CUTOFF AND THEN OPEN FOR REVIEW AFTER THAT.

ANY LENGTH FILM WILL SUFFICE FROM UP TO AND AROUND 2 MINUTES (NO LONGER THAN 2:15 AND THAT MUST BE FIRM)

[J.R. Hudson]

Here are my takes on the 4 films.

Oppressor_LOB

I liked the visuals. Very warm and soft. Easy on the eyes and almost surreal. I have already invested in a frosted shower curtain! I didnt feel there was that much story to it but did think it was 'cute' and 'fun'.

Monglane

Not that spooky was the goal; but I thought this one was the spookiest. The parking garage, the woman. I was just waiting for something to gank her in the elevator! Not bad at all but I confess I felt a little short changed in the end with no payoff. It had a nice DePalma feel to it.

iamloser

Very cool. Visuals were fun and kept my attention throughout. Nice use of framing and a superb job in post from color correction to fades to cutting. The only thing I wished was more attention to detail on the 'soldier' which looked like someone playing a soldier. I would have liked to have seen more detail in the wearing of the uniform; more military replication. The actor was superb considering there were no lines. A great job, with a great payoff. I especially digged the muliple takes the soldier does after shooting. Nice fades and definatley illustrated confusion and reflection. Great job! This is the second film by IAL I have seen and this dude has the skillies.

Dan_Lahav

I was torn on the musical choice for this piece. When it was just a score I was pleased; when it was the 'narration' I felt distracted as I would like to have made up my own mind about what was going on. I liked the use of muliple locations which opended up a little world in the film and especially liked the voyueristic touch. So little shown and so much said. Nice feel to the piece overall and some nice color correction and titles as well. I'd love to see this film with a more 'complimentary' score. Great job.

[Dan_Lahav]

First off, congrats IAL. Your piece was very well done. I really liked the imagery and fast pace that really kept my heart racing.

Secondly, I like how the submissions were a mix of comedy, drama, action, war, etc. It made things interesting. It's amazing what different people can think of. Great films guys, i look forward to seeing your next months entries. All your pieces showed professionalism.

John- I totally agree with you. It was a last minute decision to add the narration. From the start i actually had a score I practically based the film around and got rid of it... not sure why, i guess im impulsive :) BTW, I look forward to seeing your work next month!

[Neil Rowe]

John, first of all ill pay you later for the props ;) ..lol seriously thank you though. i agree about the actor . he did an awsome job. espescially considering this was his first project ever! i really worked him over with constantly spraying him with water , and having him roll in the dirt, and he got his hands gritty, and face dirty, and had to wade though feet of mud in that stream, and really did an awsome job. ill certainly be using him again. i agree about the outfit as well. i was lazy and didnt get to the army surplus store before the shoot. and didnt have alot of gear for him. so i tried to pull off that viet-namish deep behind enemy lines with only a sidearm left look.. lol. it would've been nice to have dog tags, and other things like boots and belt and such. or a better prop gun. there is a funny part about the outfit though. check out the name on the army shirt. :)

[Brad_Thames]

Only four?!? Crap, I gave up 'cuz I thought there would be TONS of good stuff. Although, after seeing how good just four were maybe it was just as well. Next time tho. Congrats IAL.

[J.R. Hudson]

May Brad! May!

Hey everyone...

You might want to post your CLIPS in the Grabs section in case anyone missed it?

[Zoomforce]

All four of you kicked ass.. and im sending you all a battery.

[Dan_Lahav]

Jarred, you rock! ahhh, 4 hours and 11 extra minutes of bliss...


Seriously, thanks a ton for this one!

;D

[J.R. Hudson]

All four of you kicked ass.. and im sending you all a battery.

:o :o :o :o :o :o :o :o :o :o :o :o :o :o :o :o :o :o :o :o

You are the J dogg!

[Zoomforce]

no problem guys... It makes me happy to see people creating :)

[Terry_Lasater]

Is it possible these films could be made into QT files as well as Windows Media?

My Mac running OS 10.3.3, WM9 for Mac (latest version), cable modem and I still can't view most of the entries.

WM9 seems to hang up and not able to rebuffer on my computer. I have no problems with any QT files loading and playing.

I would like to have been able to vote but its kinda hard to pick a fave when you can't even view them. :-[

[J.R. Hudson]

Damn Terry

Its the Mac man! Throw that thing out and get a PC for crying out loud!

Alright, just kidding. ;D

[Monglane]

First, congratulations to all filmmakers who participated, and especially to IAL, of course. His short was very good and deserved to win the contest, no doubt.

Second, and further to John's feeling "shortchanged" (which I can understand), I'd like to go back to my storyline and explain the idea behind it. This was my first fiction film ever and I did bite more than I could chew, especially when I shot in very poor lighting conditions. Anyway, the idea was as follows : this woman walking in the underground parking garage suddenly thinks she is being watched/followed. She hurries to the exit and everything you see makes you think she's had ideas, and she wasn't in any danger at any point in time. There was nothing to it. Sje makes it to a well-lit, nearby restaurant where she knows she will be safe.

However, at some point, you very briefly see a felt hat in one of the cars parked nearby, but there's nothing threatening about it... It just sits there.

The next day, she comes out of her building and walks off to work. All her anxieties of the night before have been lifted (the music was supposed to convey that feeling). It's only then, when she feels totally safe and without a care in the world, that the audience (but not she) sees that she *is* indeed being watched by a man wearing the very same hat... So, she *was* after all, being stalked all the time...

I meant it to be a little tale along the "even paranoids have enemies" line, but it was too long and I didn't pull it off. I went for the "suggest, but don't actually show anything until the very end" approach. I still like the idea and will maybe try to do something better about it in the future.

Sorry for this very long post... and thanks so much to Jarred for his generous gift of a battery... Jarred, you rock ! :D

[Neil Rowe]

awsome!! batteries for all! jarreds the man! :) hey, do you need my address? i will pm it to you just in case.

[Beat Takeshi]

Thanks for the battery J-red,
I think this monthy contest will spawn some serious works judging by whats done so far. I think a quarterly DvD should be made with all the works. If you guys are interested I will take on this challenge.

[J.R. Hudson]

Another great idea Oppressor! :D

[Dan_Lahav]

it's funny that you mention a DVD because i was going to suggest that yesterday but never got around to it. It's an awsome idea.

[kai]

Excellent job boyz. It's nice to see actual work surfacing from this community here instead of all of us just talking about it all the time :)

(of course I didn't make a short for the contest this time... guilty I am.)

Looking forward to May's entries.

[Everdene]

I loved the contest entries. Great job. My only complaint would be that the voting needed to stay open for a few days. Some of us were busy over the weekend and didn't get a chance to vote. :( Not that I would have voted any differently, I just wanted my voice heard, too.

[shAi]

just wanted to say well done to the candidates.. each and every one had his great moments in his piece.. quite often i was very impressed. pity that not so many voted, but i'm sure that the may contest will draw some more attention!

[J.R. Hudson]

I agree Shai. I'd love to see you participate by the way. Im open for suggestions on the time frame of submissions and viewing and voting but if this is a monthly deal it will be hard pressed to squeeze it all into a time frame.

Perhaps if we know in advance when it is going down...

[Phil]

Sorry I've been busy...

GREAT JOB IAL!!
GREAT JOB GUYS!!

Can't wait for next month!

[Neil Rowe]

hey .. just wanted to say that i the pair of "SOMATIC OPTICS" sunglasses i got from Johns Hudsons wife's company are AWSOME!! polarized baby :). my wife likes them too!

[Monglane]

Like I said in some other thread, I received the battery from Jarred last week... Thanks so much, Jarred ! :D

[Zoomforce]

no problem, thanks to everyone that entered!