I wonder what the next fest will be?

Jared Meyer said:
If you can't tell a story in five minutes, you don't deserve fifteen.
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Not sure if that was directed at me personally. I did say that I could make a 5 minute film, I just don't want to. Sorry won 3rd place in SpyFest, so I think that proves it. I like my stories to be more complex and better developed than can be done in 5 minutes for the stories I have. I just don't like being limited. Sometimes if the film is too short it just gets boring or confusing.

I also don't think you would have 30 films at 10 minutes. It's a time limit, not a length requirement. Not everyone has the time or even wants to make a film that long... some could barely finish their 5 or 6 minute films. It's interesting how this was 5 minutes max and nearly all the films are actually 5 minutes long. I wonder how much better all these films are at their full uncut lengths.

For those of us that can make a compelling 10 minute or so short it would be nice to not be limited to 5 minutes is all I'm saying. The only reason I didn't enter this fest was because of the time limit. How many times have you watched a director's cut of a movie that was better than the theatrical release? They cut it down to keep it at certain length for the movie theaters to show the movie more times, but they take out some of the key parts or just some really good parts.

I had one film finished for this fest (the original script was 5 pages) that ended up being longer because of what I wanted to do with it. We wrote another that at the 5 minute length just wasn't to my standards as a filmmaker and what I thought the film should actually be, so we didn't shoot it. After revising it, it's now 10.5 pages and would probably be about 10 or 11 minutes long all said and done. Altho double the time limit, if you read the longer script it's much better than the shorter script because we were able to develop the characters, story, and scenes much more. Is the 4.5 page script bad? Of course not, but the 10.5 page script blows it away hands down.

Altho I wouldn't personally like it, perhaps there could be a qualification system to get entered into the fest. The mods can greenlight a script or even accept or decline films when they're entered, like in other larger fests. I think films should also only make it into the contest if they're actually finished. I believe there's 2 films entered in this fest that aren't actually finished. I personally don't like spending time downloading a film, start watching, and then find out it's not even finished yet. Take those out and you have 10 minutes off your total viewing time.

Keep in mind "A Little Mouth To Feed", made with participation of some mods, is 8.5 minutes long and is a quality film. That proves there's talent here to make a high quality longer film. Why limit that talent?
 
I downloaded and watched EVERY SINGLE Hallows Fest 2007 Entry today before voting! It was hard.
What a better way to spend Halloween! For fests like these 5 Minutes seems long enough. I guess it just depends on the topic.
Can't wait for more!
 
flmmkr said:
Not sure if that was directed at me personally. I did say that I could make a 5 minute film, I just don't want to.
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Nope, not at all. Darn the English language for not having a good way to express the general, plural form of the pronoun you. :) How about: If one cannot tell a story in five minutes, one does not deserve fifteen.

Either way, your opinions are all 100% valid. It was just my 2 cents.
 
SciTech Fest or Technoir Fest or "Blade Runner'esq Fest' or 'Crazy Old Lady with a Shotgun Fest' (The last one would probably produce some very interesting work)
 
Kholi said:
That made me LOL pretty hard.

But, you guys know it seems to be that the Fests are much more "open" now. A theme that can be wrapped up in different Genres looks like it works out well.

Darkness could've been comedy, action, etc. It's what you made of it. Good trend to continue.
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This is very true of these fests, and one of the things I enjoy. Personally, I think the 'Genre' requirement is much more open than the 'Theme' requirement, though. But that's my own interpretation perhaps.

For Hallows Fest, with a theme of Darkness (which I understood from mod posts to mean the general mood of the film should be dark, not a literal interpretation of Darkness...ie: a comedy film that was shot at night, would not have met the requirements) I don't think comedy would have worked, but anything else would have. But with Genre, like 'Horror', 'Spy', 'Sci-Fi' etc, as long as you have the basic elements from the main genre, your sub-genre can be whatever you like.

Again, this is just my understanding, and the kind folks running these fests seem to be very open indeed.

I look forward to November 11th, and the announcement of the next Fest!
 
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Geoff_R said:
SciTech Fest or Technoir Fest or "Blade Runner'esq Fest' or 'Crazy Old Lady with a Shotgun Fest' (The last one would probably produce some very interesting work)
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Um...Geoff, if you're not gonna use the 'Crazy Old Lady with a Shotgun' title...can I? :laugh:
 
flmmkr said:
I like my stories to be more complex and better developed than can be done in 5 minutes for the stories I have.
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I completely feel your pain on this - but personally I think its for the greater good that the limit be kept down to 5 or 6 minutes. It allows for more entries in the end, easier voting, less demand on server space, etc etc.

Keep in mind - I don't think anyone here is hoping to make their living on a 5 minute short film...what I mean is I think its a safe bet that the vast majority of us like our stories to be more complex and better developed than can be done in 5 minutes. But I don't think these fests are really designed or intended to showcase the limits of our storytelling ability, but more of a taste of what this forum's members have to offer. I like the short running times because it gives me a peek at what everyone can do.
I know that isn't a very articulate way to phrase what I"m trying to get at, but hopefully it's coming across.

Sometimes if the film is too short it just gets boring or confusing.
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Absolutely - an sometimes if it's too long it also gets boring (maybe not confusing, but definitely boring). The thing is, knowing the limitation on time it's up to us to construct stories that can be told engagingly in 5 minutes... not take a 15 minute story and try to cram it into a 5 minute structure.

I also don't think you would have 30 films at 10 minutes. It's a time limit, not a length requirement. Not everyone has the time or even wants to make a film that long... some could barely finish their 5 or 6 minute films. It's interesting how this was 5 minutes max and nearly all the films are actually 5 minutes long.
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While in theory you may be absolutely right - it's interesting to look back at some of the past fests...and when the limit was (I believe) 8 minutes, nearly every entry was 8 minutes long. Time limitations like this are like blank canvases...while we may say it's not a requirement, just a limit, I think most people will tend to still fill the space that they are given. Give a 10 minute time limit, and the vast majority of films will be 10 minutes long.

I wonder how much better all these films are at their full uncut lengths.
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I do too, and hopefully some of the filmmakers will eventually upload some 'directors cuts' for us.
There is nothing stopping anyone from being able to do that (I don't think).

For those of us that can make a compelling 10 minute or so short it would be nice to not be limited to 5 minutes is all I'm saying.
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I hear you - on the otherhand, there isn't anything stopping any of us from making a 10 minute short.... you simply wouldn't be able to compete in the fest. Look at Jacks' film, for example.

Altho I wouldn't personally like it, perhaps there could be a qualification system to get entered into the fest. The mods can greenlight a script or even accept or decline films when they're entered, like in other larger fests.
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Personally I think that would kill the spirit of these fests.
Right now, the only qualification is that you be a member of this community.
No entry fee... no screening...anyone who can get it together and make a film gets in, then we all decide which are the best, as a community.

And that's the problem with getting into longer running times, it winds up leading to things like qualification for the festival, and screening systems...etc...

I totally agree with you about timelimitations...5 minutes makes it very difficult to do anything that feels...substantial. I think we would all prefer 10 to 15 minute films....but if we did that then the fests wouldn't be what they are now.
So in that respect I think it's probably for the greater good to keep them short.
Again, not ideal, but a compromise that I think probably has to be made to keep these fests both open to everyone and free, which is really what this site is all about (in my opinion).

I think you made some good points....and I think this is a topic worth discussing.
Just want it to be clear that I'm not trying to argue with you here, just exploring the different pros and cons of time limitations. Just responding to you directly because I thought you raised some interesting concerns.
 
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I like the idea of everyone have the same script/log line and seeing where everyones vision goes with the same material to work with. I also like the idea of having a prop mandatory in the flicks. Maybe more mandatory props, or interaction with said props. Or perhaps a phrase has to be in script.

I like the idea of
ComedyFest
ForeignFest (no subtitles, audience is moved by delivery of the lines and actions)
SilentFest
FilmFest (anything goes, but have a mandatory list of props and 5 min limit)
GreenFest (everything shot on Green Screen)
MockumentryFest
...MusicalFest


Anyhow, I could go all day with these...but I have to get back to work...Boss man is watching me :eek: LOL later


Dustin
 
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My vote goes for Post Apocalyptic Fest! Who doesn't like a good film about a few lonely survivors after everything is over. Maybe challenging but I've seen some done well on tiny budgets.
 
Ok here's the next 10 fests:

Deathfest

Scarefest

SpookyFest

GoreFest

BloodFest

EvilFest

ZombieFest...Oh wait that ones already been done..Ok then.. Return of the Zombies Fest

HorrorFest...dammit that ones been done also! Ok then...GruesomeFest

ShockFest

and FrightFest
 
Something entirely new:

NewsFest

Jarred and the kiddies film a ten-second clip from a TV newscast. The clip could be about anything - a murder, a disaster, a corrupt politician, an escaped mental patient - anything.

And then they make us download it and incorporate it into the entry - which can be on any theme as long as it shows all or substantially all of the clip.

Just a thought ...
 
I've been pretty inspired by Macgregor's work. He's the local master of telling a story or conveying mood with little or no dialogue. It's a limitation which really emphasises using sound design (+ score) and visuals to sell your message.

So my vote goes to "Dialogue free fest".

(And it means I wouldn't need to find a boom op :) )
 
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