five minutes and voice-over

I'd just like to note that, while both have elements of truth, neither wilderworks or ej pennypacker addressed the nuance of my argument.. they presented broad strokes which I would generally agree with.

and (as a side parallel note) they were both writing a short message about a simple idea....

it's possible to make a 5 minute short film that makes sense (something I do not deny)... now, what about the rest of my argument.

"make a superhero film in thirty seconds"... also technically 'possible', satisfying their test, but not mine.
 
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let me just chime in.

The purpose of DVXfest is not to make a 30 minute marketable film.. the purpose of dvxfest is for people to sharpen their skills and improve after each film.

5 minutes should not be a problem.. if you think you cant do it because of a story issue, try and make a trailer instead of a short.. im sure if you made a 3 minute trailer that was very stylized it would do very well.

So sorry about the limit everyone.. but welcome to hollywood. At least im telling you to shave a minute off before you start, and not after your done :)
 
Jarred Land said:
let me just chime in.

The purpose of DVXfest is not to make a 30 minute marketable film.. the purpose of dvxfest is for people to sharpen their skills and improve after each film.

5 minutes should not be a problem.. if you think you cant do it because of a story issue, try and make a trailer instead of a short.. im sure if you made a 3 minute trailer that was very stylized it would do very well.

So sorry about the limit everyone.. but welcome to hollywood. At least im telling you to shave a minute off before you start, and not after your done :)
Click to expand...

Thanks for the reply Jarred. And, I think I can speak for everyone who will be working on a short, when I say, we're excited to tackle a new challenge! :)
 
While I would like to have an extra minute, I'm totally confident that it can be done in five minutes. I've come up with a pretty unique way to tell my character's backstory and set up the story for my Herofest entry... It will allow me to get the story up and running with 30 seconds and then get right into the action!
 
Gary the Llama said:
While I would like to have an extra minute, I'm totally confident that it can be done in five minutes. I've come up with a pretty unique way to tell my character's backstory and set up the story for my Herofest entry... It will allow me to get the story up and running with 30 seconds and then get right into the action!
Click to expand...

COOL! Looking forward to seeing your film! :)
 
briceman said:
COOL! Looking forward to seeing your film! :)
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Thanks! I'm incredibly excited but also very nervous. It will be my first film with the DVX so there's a bit of a learning curve. Not to mention, the whole idea is very ambitious.

But if I can pull it off... It'll be a very fun little film! (And it will destroy the competition.) :kali:
 
Gary the Llama said:
Thanks! I'm incredibly excited but also very nervous. It will be my first film with the DVX so there's a bit of a learning curve. Not to mention, the whole idea is very ambitious.

But if I can pull it off... It'll be a very fun little film! (And it will destroy the competition.) :kali:
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LOL! OK. There is a bit of a learning curve there. What is your experience with shooting stuff?
 
awesome, my question was answered. we can do a movie "preview" or as a lot of places are calling the extended ones, a "Featurette" this should open it up as far as storylines etc.... so all yall stop your whining :)
 
briceman said:
LOL! OK. There is a bit of a learning curve there. What is your experience with shooting stuff?
Click to expand...

My last short was shot with the Panasonic GS400. Different beast, I know. Some of you may remember it... I posted the whole thing a few months back. It was called Twin Falls Road. (The one with the cop getting killed at the end.)

I'm hoping to find a DP that's familiar with the DVX in 24p. If all else fails, I'll do it myself. But I'm looking... So if there are any Phoenix DPs that use the DVX, send me a PM!
 
Jarred Land said:
let me just chime in.

The purpose of DVXfest is not to make a 30 minute marketable film.. the purpose of dvxfest is for people to sharpen their skills and improve after each film.


So sorry about the limit everyone.. but welcome to hollywood.
Click to expand...


That's pretty much it. Welcome to Hollywood. =DDDD

Hope everyone's doing great so far.
 
Well.. there we go. Thanks for chiming in, jarred.

I guess in the end it's just about me attempting to make the competetion something it's not, according to your statement of purpose. Maybe one day you can expand these festivals to have multiple contests going on at once... one of which is perhaps longer-form (like, ten minutes or so)...

but for now... viva la cinco minutes!

Again, no biggie. I was just saying "I think we'd get more subtle entries" not "ack!! chaos and fire!! noone will enter and the forum will crash!!".

though... maybe next time I'll take the dramatic angle and see what happens :)

so, since the official word has been spoken, I'm done with this thread. thanks to everyone who commented.
 
Jarred Land said:
let me just chime in.

The purpose of DVXfest is not to make a 30 minute marketable film.. the purpose of dvxfest is for people to sharpen their skills and improve after each film.

5 minutes should not be a problem.. if you think you cant do it because of a story issue, try and make a trailer instead of a short.. im sure if you made a 3 minute trailer that was very stylized it would do very well.

So sorry about the limit everyone.. but welcome to hollywood. At least im telling you to shave a minute off before you start, and not after your done :)
Click to expand...

Darn it Jarred, why couldn't you have left us hanging...When I thought there was even a .001% chance that you would raise the time limit I had an excuse to postpone working on my hero short. Now I HAVE to start my script. :)

But seriously, I think its awesome that you started a fest to help filmmakers improve.
The fact that there are almost no entry requirements as far as fees, fantastic prize incentives, a really cool system for getting audience feedback and a super quick turn around time between contests to help people stay off their butts....Its clear that you want to see the members here succeed.

Thanks, man.
 
I think the problem is that you are focusing on creating a whole world and explaining every detail. Focus on a small segment in time from that world and only describe what is needed.

If you use up 2-3 minutes of your time with some big action scene you are going to run out of time for story. Everytime you write something down ask yourself if it moves the story ahead. If you hesitate in answering it, scrap it.

You can try breaking it down like this to help:
5 minutes
beginning-middle-end

beginning-2 details
Middle- 2 details
End -1 detail

beginning- detail one- hero and characters introduced-30 seconds
beginning- detail two - conflict arises- 30 seconds

middle- detail one- Hero seems defeated by conflict- 1 minute
middle -detail two- climax -Hero overcomes conflict, saves the day-1 minute 30 seconds

ending- detail- anti-climax- Hero gets the girl or boy sappy music. 1 minute 20 seconds

ending- cliffhanger- Hero finds out the villian escaped. 10 seconds

TADA!!!!
 
Aram Bauman said:
I think the problem is that you are focusing on creating a whole world and explaining every detail. Focus on a small segment in time from that world and only describe what is needed.

If you use up 2-3 minutes of your time with some big action scene you are going to run out of time for story. Everytime you write something down ask yourself if it moves the story ahead. If you hesitate in answering it, scrap it.

You can try breaking it down like this to help:
5 minutes
beginning-middle-end

beginning-2 details
Middle- 2 details
End -1 detail

beginning- detail one- hero and characters introduced-30 seconds
beginning- detail two - conflict arises- 30 seconds

middle- detail one- Hero seems defeated by conflict- 1 minute
middle -detail two- climax -Hero overcomes conflict, saves the day-1 minute 30 seconds

ending- detail- anti-climax- Hero gets the girl or boy sappy music. 1 minute 20 seconds

ending- cliffhanger- Hero finds out the villian escaped. 10 seconds

TADA!!!!
Click to expand...

Hey that's not a bad breakdown at all. I jotted it down in my notebook to see if it'll help me space out the goods better.

Great advice, Aram. You're giving lots of it this contest. .=P
 
I'm in the helping mood I guess. Last fest I was also swamped with getting our pilot done and all the things that go with it. I have time on my hands this time around for now. Im glad it has helped. Since I do all this corporate work and everything I do has to be under 3 minutes I developed a way to break down the time alotted to get the idea across. The hard part of the break down is knowing when enough is enough for each scene and moving on without overlapping and borrowing time from the next scene. You run out of time quick doing that.
 
Judging from most of the SciFest entries, six minutes was too long. Most of the films could have been cut down to three minutes because they contained pointless backstory that should have been left out. When I want to fast-forward through a six-minute movie, something is wrong!

Rather than do a traditional story, instead show only the climax and let the audiences perception of the genre and typecasting fill in the blanks.

A look from an actor tied with a camera move (a "motivated" camera move) can replace an entire page a dialogue.
 
The 5 minute limit seems reasonable. It keeps the contest open to more people. Novice to expert and pro to hobbyists. It is a good balance of challenge for everybody. Some will have a hard time filling 5 minutes and others will have to find a way to cram something into 5 minutes.
 
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