Wow this place is *ahem* dead... who turned in on time?

Jason Ramsey said:
I only received two entries...
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That's really unfortunate. I came here in 2008 and my goal was always to place in the top 3 but not like this.

I know that the little short fests are not the bread and butter of this site but is there an overall down turn in activity?
 
Jason Ramsey said:
I only received two entries...
Click to expand...

That's very disappointing in terms of the (very) low turn-out. Though to be fair to those who did follow through and actually made and submitted their films, the competition should still proceed. It is proceeding, right?
 
Back in 2008 I believe there were at least 50 (or more) films entered...so yeah, it has slowed down a bit. Seems the focus of the community has shifted from flimmaking to camera specs, all well & good...just different. Personally, I miss the old days where we supported & pushed each other into making a film. Good, bad or indifferent...we were actually MAKING something, using the tools & creativity we have...making it happen and helping each other along the way. A big part of it for me was that we each kept a film production log as we went along. It was great to read about how each filmmaker overcame the hurdles of 'no budget' filmmaking. Just knowing you weren't the only one running into problems put you at ease. If you had a problem you couldn't solve, fellow DVXer's would jump in and offer to help any way they could...great community!

This is an example of a film thread from days past... my second film entry from the "Twilight Fest 2008" (a lot of us back then shot & entered 2 films). Give it a read & see what I mean (the Sheriff & Llama incidents):
http://www.dvxuser.com/V6/showthread.php?141411-quot-TWISTED-quot-A-ZazaCast-Film
 
I dunno, there's 8 threads open on films. Sure not all could finish but they should still turn in something this week so we can see some zombie goodness. Or post some of the stuff from Zombiefest I.

Back in the day, I keep hearing about Texas Fortune but can't find it to watch anywhere.
 
I think Barry's comment pretty much sums it up. Gear talkers. I think a lot of forums eventually experience a slowdown. Too bad. I never entered any of the film fests here so maybe I should not criticize. But this forum has been an incredible resource none the less.
 
I will certainly own dropping the ball on getting prizes posted, and the part that played in an overall lack of interest.

But, we can't make anyone make a film, and (i'm not saying it's necessarily a bad source of motivation, but...) if a prize list was the thing folks were waiting on to make a move, then I don't think the turnout would have been much greater in the end.
 
Just want to put in an actual "I'm sorry" for failing to get the prizes listed sooner for you guys. That was my bad, and I didn't want to minimize that fact. So, I apologize for that. I don't have a good excuse.
 
No worries Jason...we all know that you do this for the community. Not sure what we can do to get people amped up for the contest...maybe it was the Zombie theme?? everyone burnt out on zombies?? I for one am super appreciative that you started this one. I did not submit my film because I am waaayyy over the 10 minute mark...sitting around 15 now, but I got a great film out of this that I am going to submit to a lot of festivals. I would never have came up with this story line had it not been for that post several months ago " ZOMBIEFEST". So thank you for running this site and for these contests. I hope that you will still find time to keep them going. I posted some rough frame grabs from my film on my thread "Were Safe NOw" Check em out and let me know what you think. I will post the film in here when we go live with it :)
 
Ryan P. Kelly said:
Not sure what we can do to get people amped up for the contest...maybe it was the Zombie theme?? everyone burnt out on zombies??
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I suspect there may be some truth to this. I love the genre but it just seems every low budget filmmaker is making a zombie flick these past few years.

What about running a competition in which we provide a simple but open title (e.g. Life Inside) and ask filmmakers to create a 3 minute film in whatever dramatic film genre they wish (except documentary/factual)? Ask them to feature the letters D, V, X somewhere in the film and away we go...?
 
Maybe Just something simple to get participation up. Every two weeks a 2-3 minute skit about various things... Creative use of light, Unusual angles or lensing, Everyone uses a specific prop, (fork, match, watch etc)

What cha think....huh, huh
 
I'm not sure that the influx of "gear talkers" (nice coinage!) on DVXUser fully explains the lack of interest in this fest. I think the zombie theme is a bit played out after years of TV shows, low-budget films, big-budget films, and amateur shorts beating that undead horse to a pulp. If the fest had gone with a more open-ended horror theme, the participation probably would have been at least a bit higher. (I was up to shoot a horror short--just not a zombie short). Also, the lack of prizes, and the unfulfilled promises to announce those prizes, were a big deterrent. It just felt like this fest was running on autopilot. I think a lot of users sensed the lack of center to this festival, and never managed to work up enough enthusiasm to put a production together.
 
When do we get to see the entries? I know there were only two but I'd still like to view them and see what they came up with.
 
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