Viewing, Voting & Reviewing - A Discussion

[VersuS]

Also---on a side note----I noticed people were upset that conversation was occuring in the individual film forum. I do not understand this. Updates are not the only thing people want to see on your thread. They want to ask questions hear how to's, get to know you as a film maker. This is all used as promotion. Pointless dialogue about about what to eat that day, I can see as taking up space, but anything even semi related to film making is perfectly in line with that forums purpose.

I agree with Matt. I have started various conversations in my own thread (probably in someone else's as well) but that's because dvxuser.com remains a forum even during a Fest period. It's not the Cannes film festival, it's not the Oscars, it's a dvx users forum with the intention to get us together and discuss, and share, and work together as well. So if among the 250 posts in my thread, I have 30 or less that are in the mood for joking around, having a conv. with another user that I feel very comfortable with...than excuse me. When you watch the interview of a director or an actor about a project of his...do you care only if he talks about the tech stuff and the acting and the directing...or do you like to hear him say something Honest and Funny and Original about his colleagues, his life, his work environment...

Anyway, promoting yourself means putting yourself out in the open and saying 'bring it on, what do you want to hear?'...

ps. last night I was in a very difficult situation with the progress of my movie....having the opportunity to post even a stupid complaint about my life in MY OWN thread, just to feel that someone in here can sympathize was more important than putting a huge update with grabs and filters and posting tutorials on how I put a monkey eat a guy's head off....

 

[VersuS]

I would also like to add that it's rude to imply that people who may post something irrelevant to the actual filmmaking process of their movie in their thread is just a way to push their view counters or last post date so that it is up in the page...I have been a member of dvxuser for 1 year but through horrorfest I started talking with people in here, being an active member, before that I was just devouring all threads to learn stuff....so now that I have some people who know me and I like them, yeah I'll start covs. with them inside my thread, it helps bring down the tension that surrounds me all these days.

 

[Jack Daniel Stanley]

...i can already see the top few post getter topics in there taking the top spots , no one is interested in the others unless its something like MOVIE MASTERS thread.

It's an average so how many people see it doesn't mean everything.

In the past they keep the voting open until all of the films have had a significant number of views to get a sense of how people feel about it.

If film A gets 50 views and has an average rating of "7" ...
and film B gets 1000 views and has an average rating of "6" ...
film A wins.

And ...
Zombie Fest
1st Place = known user with very few posts but some film rep
2nd Place = completely obscure user with slightly more posts
3rd place = prominent member with lots of posts
4th place = most popular user with most posts on forum

Sci Fest
1st Place = known user with no filmmaking reputation with moderate posts.
2nd place = known user with moderate post count
3rd place = completely unknown user with very low post count (one of the lowest viewed threads in the contest too - I think 30th or 40th viewed)
4th place = completely obscure user with very very low post count

Hero Fest
1st Place = very well known user with alleged filmmaking rep
2nd place = unknown user with no rep
3rd place = known user with moderate post count

So anything goes.

There is always someone out of left field that places in the top three.

Buzz might be a tie breaker between two very competitive films, but I can guarantee you that members here don't vote popularity. I've seen it go the other way many times.

 

[Cynic821]

It's an average so how many people see it doesn't mean everything.

In the past they keep the voting open until all of the films have had a significant number of views to get a sense of how people feel about it.

If film A gets 50 views and has an average rating of "7" ...
and film B gets 1000 views and has an average rating of "6" ...
film A wins.
.

is this a typo?

 

[Jack Daniel Stanley]

uhm ... no.
It's not how many at bats you have (within reason). It's your average.

Like I said, in the past they have kept the gates open long enough to get a representative sample for each film.

But I can also tell you if a film only gets 50 views then there's a good reason beyond poor marketing or lack of popularity.

I exaggerated some for the sake of example, but that's how it works.

 

[Michael_Petro]

left field

left field

alot of people have told me i was in left field

 

[Charli]

I think to state that this is a popularity contest, I think it demeans us all as
working filmmakers. This isn't high school and I think we all should be given more
credit than that.

As for bumping threads up to the top, if a user posts something to my thread,
I will respond to it just like I do any other thread, not for the sake of bumping
but for the sake of responding, but to imply this is done by anyone
for the sake of bumping a thread to the top, again, we're not in high school.

For the one who said that we should see a film as a viewer and not as a dp,
director, etc., I'm sorry, but once you dp your first film, once you directed your
first movie, once you've written your first script, you cannot remove that from
within you.

When I watch movies I notice DIALOGUE. It would be nice if I could just sit
there and be mindless and ignorant of it all. But I see plot points, hero's
reluctance, crossing the threshold into act II, subtext, etc. I can't remove
the screenwriter within me from watching a movie.

The director will notice angles, the dp will notice lighting, the sound guy will
notice bad audio from the moment that first word is spoken. The more you
make movies, the more you notice the good, the bad, the ugly within film
shorts, within feature films, etc.

So if the dp votes for the best lit film, so what? So if the director votes for the
best directed film, so what? That's what was important to them and that's
how they viewed it as the best film on the market.

I will always notice a script within a movie, I can't separate that from me.

 

[Rubix³]

I think to state that this is a popularity contest, I think it demeans us all as
working filmmakers. This isn't high school and I think we all should be given more
credit than that.

As for bumping threads up to the top, if a user posts something to my thread,
I will respond to it just like I do any other thread, not for the sake of bumping
but for the sake of responding, but to imply this is done by anyone
for the sake of bumping a thread to the top, again, we're not in high school.

For the one who said that we should see a film as a viewer and not as a dp,
director, etc., I'm sorry, but once you dp your first film, once you directed your
first movie, once you've written your first script, you cannot remove that from
within you.

When I watch movies I notice DIALOGUE. It would be nice if I could just sit
there and be mindless and ignorant of it all. But I see plot points, hero's
reluctance, crossing the threshold into act II, subtext, etc. I can't remove
the screenwriter within me from watching a movie.

The director will notice angles, the dp will notice lighting, the sound guy will
notice bad audio from the moment that first word is spoken. The more you
make movies, the more you notice the good, the bad, the ugly within film
shorts, within feature films, etc.

So if the dp votes for the best lit film, so what? So if the director votes for the
best directed film, so what? That's what was important to them and that's
how they viewed it as the best film on the market.

I will always notice a script within a movie, I can't separate that from me.

I wasn't trying to demean anyone and I didn't state that it was a pop contest. I said I was new here, and that it was a concern.

Viewier vs. DP: It's not about removing that from your inner soul. I'm talking about taking a step back and watching a movie for exactly what it is. Maybe I'm asking too much, but I'm able to do it, and I've done all those things you've mentioned (outside of actually being in charge of lighting, but I still recognize that). I didn't say "don't notice it."

But according to msconce, the scorecard negates this argument. I wasn't sure exactly how the voting was going to go. At the end of the day, the entertainment value will impact the scoring of each aspect of the film, so I'm happy. :thumbup:

 

[Charli]

Rubix, if you're happy, I'm happy. I didn't vote last fest, because of work I wasn't
able to watch many of the films. This time, summer season is over and I'll have
time to view. I think regardless of how they all came out, one thing I will
be proud of, is those who completed projects.

 

[Brandon Rice]

When I watch movies I notice DIALOGUE. It would be nice if I could just sit
there and be mindless and ignorant of it all. But I see plot points, hero's
reluctance, crossing the threshold into act II, subtext, etc. I can't remove
the screenwriter within me from watching a movie.

heehee... don't watch my movie Charli... as there's not any dialogue... lol

 

[Rubix³]

Yeah, I need to get my posts up so I can vote.

ah, just checked, 5 away, no biggie.

I'm proud of everyone too... it's exciting seeing all the banners flying up. Now if I could only get the cops to quit kicking me off my location, I might be able to finish and make a banner of my own...

 

[Ben Sliker]

Zombie Fest
2nd Place = completely obscure user with slightly more posts

Sci Fest
2nd place = known user with moderate post count

Hero Fest
1st Place = very well known user with alleged filmmaking rep

So if you place this time jack, what will you refer to yourself as? lol.

Sometimes it's really hard to say how films will do in these kinds of contests. Most of the time when people get upset about placing is when it didn't match their scorecard. What I take out of the contest as a whole is that improves your skills, and this time promotion is involved. I remember the fests when getting someone to score your film was a radical idea, but now it's commonplace.

So, if you are rocking on all cylinders, as they say, what do you have to worry about, you can't control what other people are going to think about your film.

 

[Jaime V]

I plan on viewing all the movies and voting, but I understand (depending on timeframe) not everyone will be able to.

And as a first time filmmaker (can I say that now that I'm almost done? ) I really wouldn't be offended if no one read my thread, watched my film, or voted for it.

I've learned a lot just doing this itty bitty project, and that's all I can ask for. For me, the deadline was a needed impetus to get my ass in gear and get it done. So, looking forward to the next one already.

Good luck everyone.

 

[Jack Daniel Stanley]

So if you place this time jack, what will you refer to yourself as? lol.

guy who doesn't know when to quit and whose girl friend left him for promising not to do the next fest after the last fest everytime but then doing it anyway

 

[Ben Sliker]

guy who doesn't know when to quit and whose girl friend left him for promising not to do the next fest after the last fest everytime but then doing it anyway

yeah, but it could be:

guy who doesn't know when to quit and whose girl friend left him for promising not to do the next fest after the last fest everytime but then doing it anyway WITH AN HVX

god ... we are all nerds here aren't we ...

 

[cinealma]

guy who doesn't know when to quit and whose girl friend left him for promising not to do the next fest after the last fest everytime but then doing it anyway

THIS MAN IS A TRUE FILMMAKER! :thumbsup:

(Sorry to hear about your girlfriend, though.)

John G.

 

[Brandon Rice]

Indeed, Jack is an inspiration to us all... He is the guy who inspired me to produce A Price Too High for Sci-Fest, and that in turn led to bigger things, as I went on to produce Smuggler's Ransom. Thanks for the inspiration Jack!

 

[cinealma]

It's an average so how many people see it doesn't mean everything.

In the past they keep the voting open until all of the films have had a significant number of views to get a sense of how people feel about it.

If film A gets 50 views and has an average rating of "7" ...
and film B gets 1000 views and has an average rating of "6" ...
film A wins.

If this is the case, there should should be at least a minimum number of rated views for a film, right?


John G.

 

[mameragex]

I'm gonna watch every film...I'll take off work if I have to. I'm gonna take notes though, so I can go back and vote for the ones who really had a good film or techniques. I just don't wanna make the same mistake I did at the zombie fest "randomly viewing and give a high vote for something, then later finding another that was better" I'm gonna try to be as fair as possible.:thumbsup:

 

[Robert Eldon]

I'm going to watch every film as I have done in the past. I'll rate each one and decide on my top ten, then I'll watch the top ten again until I've narrowed down the one I think is best (overall).

I didn't have time to post a promotional thread, with other projects going on at the same time and... spending so much time in pre-production, production and post on my entry, there was no time for promotion.

But I hope that everyone will watch my film and that I'll get good feedback. I'm hoping that you will be entertained. I can't wait!