But is it a SPY film?

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Kyser my personal opinion would be yes all the way. Even though you don't have somebody ACTUALLY spying on someone else, you have spy preparations! And, it being a six minute movie, preparations are all you need. Rocky has a six-minute preparation scene for his fight, so... they're not really the same thing. But you know where I'm going. Also, they all made it into the fest. So, they all have something to do with spying; if they didn't, they would have been rejected!

I thought the one that was the least [traditional] spy-like out of all of them was Freeze Frame. Although I'm jealous of the pretty pictures they presented me with, I really didn't like it. Not as a film, but as a SpyFest film. But if it were something like DramaFest and they came up with that, it'd be different.
 
Another reason to call this Spyfest, when Larry watched and approved your movies, HE WAS SPYING ON THEM!!111

OOOOOooooOOooOoOoOOooOoOooOoo be amazed
 
-zach- said:
Kyser my personal opinion would be yes all the way. Even though you don't have somebody ACTUALLY spying on someone else, you have spy preparations!
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Actually, Robin does do some spying on the agent with the briefcase. He's just not very good at it. :)

Mike
 
Zombie fest did not have to have someone turning into a Zombie or eating brains. It only had to deal with Zombies. In fact they did not have to be Zombies even ... your film only had to feature the undead in some way. Mine had a zombie in it for only 30 seconds and he commits accidental suicide.

Sci-Fest did not have to have space ships or aliens or anybody actively doing anything. Only that somehow your story was set in world or dealt with circumstances that were outside of known or real science.

Hero Fest did not have to have some one actively hero-ing. It only had to deal with super heros. It could be a superhero at his retirement dinner. It could be someone that thought they were a super hero but maybe they weren't. Etc. You did not have to fly somewhere and save someone.

Horror Fest did not have to be scary, nor did it have to involve someone being scared. It only had to have some foothold in horror, be that gothic imagery, a married werewolf and a vampire having a domestic dispute. Anything.

My horrorfest entry was not really scary, and neither was yours, John (Cinealma). Mine was more of a gothic love story. And you ,in fact, took a VERY broad interpretation of that genre and the contest requirements for your film in that fest, and I am glad that you did because I liked your film very much and it reflected YOUR voice while still meeting the contest requirements ... though it perhaps wouldn't have if we put a definition on horror fest as strict as the one you are advocating for spyfest.

Now Movie Master's Awakening ... that was scary (kidding John, Kidding!) :)
 
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Robin the Spy works because although he doesn't do any "explicit spy-ing", he is clearly a "spy". This is the more traditional "James Bond" definition of a spy film.

I do have to agree with Keystoned on one thing...while it's ok to discuss things like this, I would caution anyone to use this as a reason to negatively vote a film.

Remember, the whole point of these fests is to get people out there making movies...so vote based on the same criteria that you use when you judge a major motion picture you see in the theatre. When you come out of the theatre you say it's a great film because it had a great story, it had great characters, it had great production value, great score, great sound, the protagonist had a clearly stated goal and utterly achieved or failed that goal, etc, etc...you don't say it's a great film because it 100% adhered to "your" definition of a particular "theme".

Peace,
Larry
 
Keystoned said:
Well it was discussed AT LENGTH as to what the requirements were before the festival.

The answer was that it had to do with secretly gathering information

Also as you say - the gate keepers have signed off.

Also, nowhere did it ever say that SPYING has to drive the film. That would be SPY-ING fest.


The other two criteria yeah, have a spy, or have someone gathering information through covert means. That was explicitly stated.


But your definition seems to be so narrow as to exclude the fact that someone at some point gathering covert information by covert means makes them a spy. Whether it was right before the scene starts, or a day or month before. Now if that person is just sitting down having a hamburger with someone and talking about the weather you'd have a point. But if they are dealing with the fallout of said spying and the spy is present then ... how can that not qualify?

Whether they are a little girl, or a cop, or a bookie, or hot chicks on an airplane. Some of your NO list is just boggling especially Ancient Chinese secret. How could there possibly be more spying in this movie?

By even at the strictest interpretation of the definition how you can exclude some of the films on the no list -- unless the only thing that will satisfy you is James Bond, is pretty boggling.

All of these films that I have scene meet the 1st two criteria - have a spy or have spying. And some even meet your extra caveat that spy-ing drive the story.

SPY FILM: NO
Ancient Chinese Secret
A film SOLELY driven by a guy that goes on a mission to infiltrate and obtain secret information from an underground organization. How is this possibly not spying?

Briefcase
A film where EVERYONE is being surveiled by EVERYONE else and false allegiances are formed all to OBTAIN the contents of a Briefcase? How can this possibly not be spyfest.

Cristo
It's a secret organization ... is one of them a spy? I think the girl at the end is a secret operative. Seems like that would fit SPY fest, if not SPY-ING fest. But would definitely fit James Bond Fest.

Ecclesiastes
Freeze Frame
Frozen River
Glass Jaw
Hoffnung

Imprint
Information is obtained and secretly shared on a person, the person is then observed covertly to ascertain information - namely the best time and place to kill her.

In The Machine

Schittekatter
There is absolutely a spy here and what drives the story is figuring out who it is. He is in the act of actively covertly gaining information about the others when he is discovered.

It definitely meets the criteria of having a spy, and having to do with covert information.

How ON EARTH can you claim a film with a guy wearing a wire IN THE SCENE does not have a SPY in it? Again. The FIRST TIME i have seen SPYING must drive the film is in YOUR post.

No even say that was somehow EXPLICETLY stated before the fest - the actively driving thing ... if gathering the information is the OFFENSIVE, then my short deals with the DEFENSIVE - the guys who have been spied on as they actively try to route out the leak. Wow what a narrow definition you see even of this notion if you cannot tell the story from the perspective of the spy-ee, rather than just spy-er.

Without Provocation
There is a little spy here that's leaking information throughout.

The ones I didn't comment on I have not seen yet.

What do you hope to achieve with this discussion?

Do you feel frustrated because you restricted yourself unnecessarily? (I haven't seen your movie yet.) I mean what's the point?

I busted my ass to make a movie that I was excited about that fit within the contest requirements and the people that run the contest agree that my movie qualifies.

It's very frustrating to me, and it concerns me greatly, that you would imply that people should "consider in voting" your narrow interpretation of the fest, which is CLEARLY not shared by the contest runners.

My understanding is that the idea is to inspire people to go out and make a movie they care about and have them curated around a central THEME. Not a plot driver.


:confused:
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I'm only making a personal observation of the films. Everybody is going to have their own opinion and I totally respect that.

Taylor, I KNOW you busted your ass making a film. And I am the first to say that it is one the best ones of the bunch. I don't mean to frustrate or confuse you. Again, I was just stating how I felt.

In retrospect, maybe it wasn't clear to ME, how loose the actual thematic rules were. Larry had made a good point I will probably rethink how I will actually go about voting.

And no, I'm not frustrated, nor did I restrict myself based on any preconceived notions. I'll be the first to say that I've been know to push a boundry or two. You can tell me right now, John, I think your film is in no way, shape or form a spy film and I'll respect your opinion and that's that. My goal in these fests is to make a film. As long as I do that, I'm happy.

Please, no disrespect to anybody or their films. I know that we all put our blood, sweat and tears into these films.

I was just making an observation, that's all.

I LOVE GUYS! :crybaby:
 
Don't see any harm in the list, either. This is to be expected when something is left so loose.
 
I think an interesting point to John's question is just to catagorize what films really fell where, but I'd certainly not want to be voted on based on how 'spy like' my film actually is ... nor will I vote on anyone else's with that regard.

If it made the screening process, then the powers that be clearly felt it met the guidelines. Granted they were loose guidelines, but they really NEEDED to be or we'd be all bored out of ou sculls watching 35+ films all with the same exact sub genre. Ugh!

I'm glad there's more variation than I thought there would be in the fest ... it makes the watching that much more interesting & enjoyable. That said, I'd prefer to go back to the broad based genres of Comedy, Drama, Horror, Action, etc.

I'd REALLY love for them to do a comedy fest next ... especially since I think the indie world has a tendency to go dark ... I know I do.
 
Jack Daniel Stanley said:
Zombie fest did not have to have someone turning into a Zombie or eating brains. It only had to deal with Zombies. In fact they did not have to be Zombies even ... your film only had to feature the undead in some way. Mine had a zombie in it for only 30 seconds and he commits accidental suicide.

Sci-Fest did not have to have space ships or aliens or anybody actively doing anything. Only that somehow your story was set in world or dealt with circumstances that were outside of known or real science.

Hero Fest did not have to have some one actively hero-ing. It only had to deal with super heros. It could be a superhero at his retirement dinner. It could be someone that thought they were a super hero but maybe they weren't. Etc. You did not have to fly somewhere and save someone.

Horror Fest did not have to be scary, nor did it have to involve someone being scared. It only had to have some foothold in horror, be that gothic imagery, a married werewolf and a vampire having a domestic dispute. Anything.

My horrorfest entry was not really scary, and neither was yours, John (Cinealma). Mine was more of a gothic love story. And you ,in fact, took a VERY broad interpretation of that genre and the contest requirements for your film in that fest, and I am glad that you did because I liked your film very much and it reflected YOUR voice while still meeting the contest requirements ... though it perhaps wouldn't have if we put a definition on horror fest as strict as the one you are advocating for spyfest.

Now Movie Master's Awakening ... that was scary (kidding John, Kidding!) :)
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JDS in the house!

Hey, I'll be the first one to admit that CFWB:N9 pushed the horror envelope a bit. And if someone were to say,

"You call that a horror film? The only thing that's a horror about it is that is was ever made at all!"

Well, I'd say, okey dokey.

I'm not advocating a strict definition for SpyFest, in fact it's pretty wide open. I guess I just didn't realize how wide, that's all.

Good to hear from you, Jack. And thanks for bringing up Movie Master, as I have nothing better to do than wash the vomit taste out of my mouth for the next couple of hours. :) :) :)


Take it easy.
 
Larry R said:
That and a JDS Original Spy Film!!! Come on, man...we need you back in these fests! :thumbsup:
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No, really, we don't. Everyone else would like a crack at first now & again, you know? :grin:
 
cinealma said:
... Good to hear from you, Jack. And thanks for bringing up Movie Master, as I have nothing better to do than wash the vomit taste out of my mouth for the next couple of hours. :) :) :) ...
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ROFL!!!!!

And not just an internet ROFL but a real one.

OK I did not actually fall out of my chair and roll on the floor.

But I did LOL for sure. (while I was ROFLing on the inside) :grin:
 
HEY! If Larry_R or Barry_S deemed the films fit with the theme, then they did!!! END OF STORY PEOPLE! SOMEONE CLOSE THIS STUPID THREAD! Watch the films, and CHILL OUT!
 
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