Out of Curiosity - FILM TIME LIMITS - Vote in the poll

Out of Curiosity - FILM TIME LIMITS - Vote in the poll

  • 5 minutes

    Votes: 37 66.1%

  • 10 minutes

    Votes: 18 32.1%

  • 15 minutes

    Votes: 1 1.8%

  • 20 minutes

    Votes: 0 0.0%

  • 25 minutes

    Votes: 0 0.0%

  • There should be no time limit on entries

    Votes: 0 0.0%
  • Total voters
    56
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Luis Caffesse

Luis Caffesse

Admin
Just running a poll out of curiosity.
There seems to be alot of concern that 5 minutes isn't long enough for these Fests.
On the other hand, there seems to be alot of concern that going longer will make the Fests too hard to manage.

So - give it some thought and vote for your ideal running time limit for the next fest.

**NOTE**
This is being done to satisfy my own curiosity.
This is not any sort of official Fest poll, and the outcome probably won't have any affect on anything.
:)

Now aren't you motivated to vote!?
 
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Just occurred to me that 5 to 10 minutes is a pretty big leap (I mean, it is doubling the time)

So, if anyone feels the limit should be somwhere between those two, then just vote for 10minutes and then post in this thread as to what you think the limit should be.

Thanks.
 
Man I would love 10 minutes. I think most of the films I have seen could have used more time. I guess server space starts getting into it once we get past 10 or so.
 
I liked 6 minutes like it has been for 4 out of the last 6 competitions. Not counting adfest with its 30 second cuttoff.

It's not just server space, it's viewing time. 10 minutes is just way too long for server and viewing time.

30 films X 5 minutes = 2 hours 30 minutes viewing time
30 films X 6 minutes = 3 hours viewing time
30 films X 10 minutes = 5 hours viewing time !

and there are usually more than 30 films
 
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Yeah but 5 hours over a weeks time isn't that bad, how about since we lost a minute with the last one the next one is 7? BTW you are not allowed to enter.:smile:
 
10 minutes would be a lot better than 5. You can have a maximum file size so the longer films would need to just use a smaller frame size. That would keep the server space lower.

10 minutes is quite a bit longer than 5, but maybe not everyone will make a 10 minute film. 10 minutes will take at least twice as long to make and maybe not everyone actually has the time to make a 10 minute film.
 
bosindy said:
Yeah but 5 hours over a weeks time isn't that bad, how about since we lost a minute with the last one the next one is 7? BTW you are not allowed to enter.:smile:
Click to expand...

often there are much closer to 60 films, and then you are looking at 10 hours viewing time

it's usually a struggle for me to get to all the 6 minute films just due to time
 
I prefer the challenge of making a shorter short film, rather than a longer one. The "bite-size" 5 minute movies are ideal for internet viewing.
 
How about letting the people that want to make a 10 minute film go ahead and make them and have them be eligible in the fest. Those that want the "challenge" of making a shorter film can go ahead and make a 5 minute short and it will still be eligible. If my 10-minute film sucks you don't have to watch the whole thing... just move on to the next film. That way you can get thru all the films and get your vote in. The films always stay up long after the fest is over so you can go back and watch the rest of the ones you didn't like later if you want. Everyone's happy.
 
5 is best maybe 6, it's just optimum, a contest like this; lots of the films have small/no budgets, and it minimizes bandwidth and space issues. I also like the five minuets because it forces writers and editors to be very creative and selective you really have to come up with some pretty good stuff and pick only the cream of the crop of what you shoot.
 
flmmkr said:
How about letting the people that want to make a 10 minute film go ahead and make them and have them be eligible in the fest. Those that want the "challenge" of making a shorter film can go ahead and make a 5 minute short and it will still be eligible. If my 10-minute film sucks you don't have to watch the whole thing... just move on to the next film. That way you can get thru all the films and get your vote in. The films always stay up long after the fest is over so you can go back and watch the rest of the ones you didn't like later if you want. Everyone's happy.
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Except the people who don't have time to watch all the films.
All the people whose films didn't get watched or voted on.
And the people who run the contest who have to screen all the official entries in one weekend before going live with the contest.
 
Jack Daniel Stanley said:
Except the people who don't have time to watch all the films.
All the people whose films didn't get watched or voted on.
And the people who run the contest who have to screen all the official entries in one weekend before going live with the contest.
Click to expand...

I could understand that. To me, that seems to be the biggest obstacle.

How about a little more time to screen the entries and then a little more time to allow for viewing/voting? What is it now a week and a half? Why not 2 weeks or 2.5 weeks? If there were 60 films at 10 minutes each and everyone spent only 30 minutes of their day watching the films they could all be watched in 3 weeks (20 days to be specifc), and that's assuming all the films were 10 minutes long. Assuming nearly half the films would be in the 5 minutes range (about 50% prefer that length) then a person could watch all the films in only 15 days. So 2.5 weeks may work.
 
Yeah that's more plausible sounding.
But I doubt they will be expanding anytime soon since they just shrank from 6 to 5.
Maybe we will get six back if a magic butterfly lands on Barry_S's nose and sings him a lullaby, but not likely, and even less likely beyond that.
 
Why not make them 5m and if someone has more material they can make a 10m directors cut that others can watch later if they're interested. That's a more challenging exercise in editing anyway and challenge is good.
 
flmmkr said:
You can have a maximum file size so the longer films would need to just use a smaller frame size. That would keep the server space lower.
Click to expand...

Don't make it worse. I was already distracted by a lot of entrys at this fest because of their small resolution and bad quality. Whatching it on a video projector was sometimes a real nightmare. People should take more care about video compression.

I vote for 5 minutes. Maximum 6. It was really nice to watch them all at one night and have a great film fest showing at home with a few friends.
 
5 to six is perfect for this type of fest .. i like watching all the films and if one hapens to be boring or whatever then i know its only 5 min of my life :)
 
I think 7 minutes is a good length. I have yet to see an example of 5 min making someone more creative in one of these fests. Even Jack's new film is ex only because it is over the limit.

Likewise, I have yet to see the glass of wine, the names, etc do anything for these films but add unnecessary exposition...

Besides, it's easy to tell within the first minute if someone will not be able to fill up the 5, so just stop watching.

An exhibition category was a GREAT idea. Wherever did you guys come up with such an idea? I mean, it's so forward thinking, so ahead of its time. Really, really brilliant.
 
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