Why Horror Fest has been my favorite fest!

[Norm Sanders]

Okay, certainly not for the subject matter itself, because I'm not a huge fan of the genre.

That said, the process has been the best, and I believe has been the best for filmmakers who want to grow & eventually get into the business making films on a professional & profitable level.

The fact that they were ENCOURAGED to make threads in advance & pimp/market their films as much as possible was huge. That's the real world, baby. If you're not going to learn it here, then when? Filmmaking anymore can be just as much about marketing appropriately as it can be making the film itself. Perhaps your film isn't all that good (look at some Hollywood films for example), yet the marketing on it was sensational and they have a great opening weekend because of it. Sure, if the film's not that great they'll tank the following week(s) due to word of mouth, but the marketing plays HUGE into the financial success of the film.

Movie Master had a great gimick, and it got a LOT of attention to his thread, yet the movie didn't place as well in the final results. Jack's also had some GREAT marketing in it, but what he had going for him as well was a solid track record from previous fests in ADDITION to some fine graphics, posters, etc.

I think a lot can be learned from those varying films/threads as well as several others with regards to marketing, creating hype, etc.

Putting quotes in the banners: I know there were those that poo-poo'd (yes, I really typed 'poo-poo', the filter didn't have to catch me) the idea for various reasons, but ultimately they were GREAT because it encouraged folks to watch films they wouldn't have ordinarly taken the time to view (statements from actual users). Again, this is the REAL world, and filmmakers/marketing agencies use quotes all the time to build hype, give their product some legs, etc.

This fest was also better organized that past ones in that prizes were announced up front to build the excitement, mirrors were set in place (thanks to some great members/users in the community) to help with bandwidth issues, the mods listened and adjusted the score sheets, and everything for the most part went VERY smoothly pre, during, and after the festival! GREAT JOB JARRED AND BARRY_S, and everone else that helped out with Horror Fest ... THANK YOU!! :dankk2:

There's more I know I'm forgetting at the moment, but I just think as a festival, this has been one of the best experiences yet for DVXuser members that desire to be professional filmmakers, due to the REAL life experience it has offered.

[CallaghanFilms]

This was one of my favorite fests......right up to point where the winners were announced, that is.

I side with the "trial by jury" camp for future contests.

[Brandon Rice]

I side with the "trial by jury" camp for future contests.


hm. I disagree.

[Norm Sanders]

Well I can see both sides to that one. However, if the scores for our own films were taken out, it should help to even the playing field quite a bit.

That said, whether it's peers or a selected jury, there's still going to be natural politics involved and or social issues (i.e. how a filmmaker presents themselves on the boards and is either liked or disliked, the subject matter of the film, etc.) ... lots of things besides the actual quality of the film has the ability to skew results to a degree. And shoot, even the quality of a film with regards to camera, editing, etc. is TOTALLY subjective, or so I've learned.

I just got off the phone with Ryan, and we were surprised that some of the films placed lower than ours when we believed they would do better. We wondered if because we (well at least Ryan - 235 Studios) are generally liked, don't cause a whole lot of trouble, tend to have some knowledge/insight to offer from time to time, etc ... if that skewed the results any.

My final thought on that was that if so, then whether fair or not, that's life. The Oscars has a Jury, yet still has claim of being policital, etc. Even the theater going audience in general can be political in the films they watch because of who's starring in it & what that person's been doing outside of the film (i.e. Russel Crow throwing phones at people, Tom Cruise with his Scientology, etc.) ... so again, this fest is pretty true to life, IMO.

[Darkline]

well yes, I thought that being a total nobody who post a thread 1 week before the deadline that literally I would not stand a chance even getting my film seen by most people.

So I guess it proves that people really don't necessarily vote for those they know or like (at least not universally, im sure some do..). No-one knew me before this fest and I still managed to do well!

Meat is another example.

[spidey]

thanks calli.

[Weston]

If its still user vote I'd like to see best directing be on there. I dont see how that can't be a category

[jpbankesmercer]

I had a blast, thanks to everyone involved.
J.P.

[CallaghanFilms]

thanks calli.You know it, my friend:beer:




http://www.geocities.com/the_callaghans/emoticon-03.gif
I call 'em like I see 'em

[arielman]

Norm ..I think the HERO fest was the same . many of the shorts I liked finished near the bottom . Is it who you are ? I'm not sure .

Maybe we (DVX Members) see each film different and that is why they place where they do.
I suppose if we all saw the same films exactly the same we'd all be tied for first ..lol
How boring would that be .
Dvx members are really diverse and that is what makes us a great bunch .
I'm not discourage where we placed , I'm glad some enjoyed our short and to make them laugh a little.

As I said once before Norm I always enjoy watching your films .
If you haven't bought Norms Sparrow DVD ....shame on you.!
Ian

[cinealma]

If its still user vote I'd like to see best directing be on there. I dont see how that can't be a category

That's ok. They ran out of things to give JDS, anyway. :)


John G.

[Lingothree]

This was my favorite fest. Probably because I actually got more involved in all the online shenanigans leading up to the voting. And maybe a little bit because of Ted and his ladders. Okay, that's a lot of the reason why.

In general, I was a lot more impressed with the submissions to this fest than the previous two. And while a lot of horror conventions/cliches abounded in this festival, I felt for the first time like each of the movies was very unique, whereas in the other fests the movies seemed to follow a common thread - "Groan...not another one about (fill in the blank)" - I don't think I did that even once this time. Which surprised me. A lot.

I also felt a lot of love in this festival, and the sharing of it. A lot of encouragement, and positive feedback.

I'm all for a juried fest next time. Or maybe a jury accounting for 50% of final score, popular opinion counts the other 50%. Although this go-round, I don't think it would have really changed the results - the top scorers were all really great.