Your thoughts on LossFest so far?

I don't know if comedy is king, i think for sure there are some effective comedies (stupendous imo is among them) others are cute but a bit juvenile - and i think really the theme of the fest demanded a little more than frat comedy from some.

In other words im looking beyond the obvious crowd pleasers myself, and also blatant sentimentality too of course, there are some films here that have really captured the human spirit (in a variety of ways) either with stylised visual poetry/ or excellent drama.

This fest is imo a little awkward actually for some filmmakers, it casts an uncomfortable mirror. What tendencies there are for cliche or contrived material is absurdly magnified beyond the more exotic fest topics of the past. I think one of the fests great benefits is the maturity of some works and the maturity it has encouraged, and the amusing contrast it draws with those entries less mature.
 
I've seen some good stuff man. I thought the stories would be terrible but definitely some good stuff.

I don't know how many of you guys go to/have been to church but you know when the pastor is preaching and it feels like he's talking about you without saying anything directly? That's what this thread feels like. hahaha.

too much shallow dof, handheld, and the mirror reference lawriejaffa just made was ridiculous. haha. I'm not sure if you guys know what i mean or not.
 
and the mirror reference lawriejaffa just made was ridiculous.
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What was ridiculous about my opinion? Admittedly the wording could be clearer but my point basically is - that a gimmicky festival with a funky theme lends itself to greater superficiality and i think lets filmmakers get away with more without learning as much about their own film's weaknesses.

Lossfest - is tough because its theme is blatant, to grasp this kind of subject matter and produce effective mature works is really difficult. The point about the mirror, is that the work the filmmakers make will be a very 'clear' reflection of their deficiencies that might otherwise be hidden with say zombie fest haha.

Not that ridiculous is it?
 
I haven't seen any super WOWs in this fest, but I think the overall quality is pretty solid, compared to some past fests. And all in all, I feel like the overall attention to acting has much more so than previous fests.

I think if I wanted one thing in the next fest, it would be for people to push themselves harder. I've seen a couple of entries that were good, but did not really go beyond what I'd seen from the same people in the past.
 
I wonder what we would be able to pull of, if we all would work at one place on one major project together.

Are the most of us lonsome gunmen, used to have all the controll over every aspect?
Would we be able to pull on one string in one direction? Or are our egos to big to be only a little gearwheel in a big machine, cause lonsome one-man-show filmmakers need big egos?

With all the talent here, would we create the bigest, best indy film of all times or would we fail and fight each other cause we have to different styles?

Frank
 
lawriejaffa said:
What was ridiculous about my opinion? Admittedly the wording could be clearer but my point basically is - that a gimmicky festival with a funky theme lends itself to greater superficiality and i think lets filmmakers get away with more without learning as much about their own film's weaknesses.

Not that ridiculous is it?
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no, no haha. sorry dude I worded that terribly. I said that because I have a mirror scene in my short and I was talking about how I felt like everyone was talking about my short. sorry for the misunderstanding sir. haha. totally unintentional.
 
I have to agree with the wow factor. Some very solid films and good acting but there isn't a clear knock out this time, which does make it interesting.

in the past I knew 02 or RPDM would win as soon as saw them.
And when I first saw broadcast I said "that's the winner".

But overall I really enjoyed this fest.

And I aint complaining at all at least it levels the field a little. : )

Mark Harris said:
I haven't seen any super WOWs in this fest, but I think the overall quality is pretty solid, compared to some past fests. And all in all, I feel like the overall attention to acting has much more so than previous fests.

I think if I wanted one thing in the next fest, it would be for people to push themselves harder. I've seen a couple of entries that were good, but did not really go beyond what I'd seen from the same people in the past.
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filthrich said:
There were some good films here. The theme wasn't my favorite but some filmmakers nailed it.

I have watched 90% of the films and commented on almost all of them and strangely the comedies seem to be some of the best films.
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I would have to say your shorts are my favorites so far!
 
I'm curious how people judge/evaluate the films as they watch them. Does the way in which they manage/integrate the theme play highly for you? Or do you evaluate based more on the film itself? Is the technical proficiency a consideration or do you judge primarily based on story/acting alone?

It seems several people have mentioned how the films integrated the theme and it made me realize that I kind of forget about the theme when I am watching the films! :D
 
pia12254 said:
I'm curious how people judge/evaluate the films as they watch them. Does the way in which they manage/integrate the theme play highly for you? Or do you evaluate based more on the film itself? Is the technical proficiency a consideration or do you judge primarily based on story/acting alone?

It seems several people have mentioned how the films integrated the theme and it made me realize that I kind of forget about the theme when I am watching the films! :D
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for me its all about the filmmaker's intent and how well I perceive they executed it. so something like Losers in Excess is judged by a different thought process than say something more polished like, oh i dont know.... Placebo. I don't use the rating to rank the films against each other. i rate according to how successful the filmmakers were at making the film they set out to make. which is still subjective, but fairer. i think.
 
I am so trying to find time to watch them. I have more time since i don't have to bother messing with my dead thread. Looking forward to watching them all...
Pauly
 
I do take the theme into account when judging though, otherwise why should we bother with one?

If I don't feel the theme of loss you lose points. It doesn't have to rule the film, but I shouldn't have to wonder at the end what happened to it either.

I think as a whole the entries are getting better. There are less bad entries. On the flip side I wasn't blown away by some of the top films like I was the last few Festivals.

Still not done watching though.

MAH
 
I must admit the theme comes last ( unless pushed upon me during the film).
I watch each film totally open, letting it grab me ( or not)
a few films made me smile/laugh while I watched....the mockumentary and 1 up for instance.
I still havent seen all of them.....
 
i'd love to be able to acknowledge the great work of some people other than the submitting filmmakers. Herman got some well deserved recognition in the past. But I think it would be great for everyone to be able to write in Acting, Cinematography, Writing nominees. and if someone gets a significant number of mentions they get a nod as BEST ACTOR - DVXFest LossFest, that kind of thing would be fun.

eric meisner's cinematography might be one i'd throw out there. the editing of Acceptance is another that comes to mind. jessica sinclair's performances, etc...
 
I thought the theme was the whole point of these fests. Being able to take the theme and adhere to it, yet come up with something unique and powerful, or to simply tell the best story based to that theme. R.P.D.M did this magnificently in Timefest (Use the theme in a unique and original way), Broadcast (Twilightfest) used the theme very matter of factly and told a brilliant Twilight Zone story as best they could (which was very well indeed).

Embracing the theme should be encouraged and praised. Not even glancing at the theme... well...
 
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