Drama-Fest Voting Instructions

khmuse said:
This is an elegant solution, simple and absolute.
yeah, I agree 100%. absolute, fast, concrete results.

I know I'm really asking for trouble here, but wouldn't it be just as easy to post a top 10 or 20 as it is to post a top 3? or am I just missing the point? I know the value of the feedback is what I'm really interested in, especially in my case with this being my first film ever, but I'm sure the 4th place team would like to know that they just missed the top 3 instead of thinking they placed 23rd or something . . .

ok, maybe I'm just too tired like everyone else, but this is the first thought I had about the new system, so I figured I'd share it.

good luck to all!
 
It IS simple, though for me also somewhat saddening, as it was great to see how you compared against your peers in overall camera, script, score, acting, etc. In the older way (although it caused stresses of different sorts), it gave the other folks who helped make the film a sense of their own achievement, even if the film didn't win, simply because they could see how their specific craft measured up against others.

I'm also curious, Barry, if folks are allowed to vote for their own films ... reason being is that there are quite a few films that have several, if not a good sized team, of DVXusers on a project. If they all vote for their film there could be an automatic 3-6 or more votes for their film compared to another film that perhaps only had one DVXuser on it. Hope that makes sense, but I feel it's an important issue to address.
 
Unfortunately no system is perfect, but there will be more than enough total votes to offset a crew of 5 or 6 voting for their own film. Most users, including those that submit a film, are pretty honest about voting for the best films. There's usually pretty good agreement on the top few films--below that you can't really tease out good information on why another film got a few more or less votes. I won't be releasing the totals because this sytem will produce an almost binary effect with a very small number of films getting most of the votes--usually there's a couple that stand out. We want to deemphasize the competitive aspects of this fest and highlight the great cooperative spirit we see. I encourage everyone to directly comment on the strengthes and weaknesses of each film within the film threads. Hopefully everyone will be respectful and thick-skinned enough to give and accept honest critiques.
 
Barry_S said:
Unfortunately no system is perfect, but there will be more than enough total votes to offset a crew of 5 or 6 voting for their own film.

True, if there's a BIG difference between the 1st & 2nd place film, or second to 3rd, etc., then no big deal. But if it comes down to the difference of one vote, and it's noticed by the Mods that the film that one by one vote had 5-6 of their own crew voting for it, vs. the one that lost out only having one crew voting ...

Well, you know what I mean. As you said, hopefully folks can get passed the natural bias they may have with their own product & vote as they would if their own film wasn't in the fest (unless their film truly rocks the house & there's just no comparison, etc.).
 
Here is a (3) simple question for a simple answer:
How do I know the number of post I have to submit to you? {1} Do I submit the number of post in the film thread or {2} the number of post I have as a DVXuser member? If {2}, how do I get that number?
 
Envision said:
In the older way (although it caused stresses of different sorts), it gave the other folks who helped make the film a sense of their own achievement, even if the film didn't win, simply because they could see how their specific craft measured up against others.

I'm kinda bummed that the sub categories are out on this one, hopefully they'll get added back in the next fest when everything get's automated.

Also I'll put in my feeble request in having a list of the top 10 (wishful thinking) maybe 20 (probably dreaming). I know this will make it harder but for some reason even knowing I got 39th place out of 40 would be a nice bonus.
 
This is a well respected sight with a lot of people that belong to it and if your film were to place 10th out of 40 films that would be huge as a resume builder. It could be really helpful to a up and coming to get a career going by beating out 40 other film makers and being able to prove it. Having a huge community of film makers pick you is a big deal. I'm sure the motive for everyone here is the love of film and getting to know others with the same passion for film, but knowing where you placed could go along way to help one grow. On multiply levels.

But then again if just one person told me they liked our film and it impacted them in a positive way, I would be very happy.
 
TeamSeaShanty said:
To AmbassadorTex,

Hey now! Who elected you leader of this here outfit?
Well Pete, I figured it should be the one with the capacity for abstract thought. But if that ain't the consensus view, then hell, let's put it to a vote.


And Kyle, you said: "i absolutely love your avatar, ambassadortex. wes anderson is an idol of mine. -- the life aquatic is a fantastic, beautiful film."

100% agreement from me. What a weird, heartfelt, addictive film...obviously we're quite taken with it...
 
AmbassadorTex said:
Well Pete, I figured it should be the one with the capacity for abstract thought. But if that ain't the consensus view, then hell, let's put it to a vote.


In that case, I'm votin' fer your's truley!
 
Wow! That is a simplified voting process! Dang... with only one film to name, you really have to have an undoubtable feeling about what you think is the absolute best film that you watched. That is going to be tough.

I understand and share some of the concerns that have been mentioned here and would like to comment.

1) Though the last system was a bit laborious, it was great to see how a film ranked in the individual catagories. I actually liked the last system and was hoping to see some tweaking done to it to improve upon it. Not scrap it altogether. Maybe this is in the works for future fests.... I did see that Barry S. elude to the fact that this was "temporary" system for dramafest.

2) A film that utilized a lot of dvxusers in the making and allowing them to vote for their own film "could" swing the voting results, (as Norm pointed out). But, as Barry stated and I agree, there is no reason to doubt the integrity of a dvxer's vote. I believe that most, if not all, will honor that single vote that they have and give it to the BEST FILM that they watched. I would also like to point out that, particularly in our film, several of the dvxusers involved have their own film in the fest or worked on several other films. (Norm, I don't mean to insinuate that were referring to TTN particularly... though we do certainly fit the bill!)

It will be an interesting voting period. I know that I am not looking forward to having the responsibility of saying, "X" was the best film and that is that! That is a lot of pressure! (unless of course, there is a film that just blows my mind and there is no question about it! :) But I am sure that we are going to see a lot of films that are worthy!)

-Ted
 
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LOL, Ted, I even thought about clearly stating that I was not referring to team TTN when writing that, as yours is possibly the biggest team in the fest (with regards to DVXuser's), but I didn't want to single out or exclude any particular film. Even our film technically has quite a few DVXusers on it, but as you said some of them may have their own films (Ryan Walters, for example), or could be a part of SEVERAL films (Justin Durban - composer), etc.

It was just a question I had to voice is all, and think it was soundly answered.
 
Theodore J Arabian said:
I believe that most, if not all, will honor that single vote that they have and give it to the BEST FILM that they watched. I would also like to point out that, particularly in our film, several of the dvxusers involved have their own film in the fest or worked on several other films.

haha. I think this is why 2nd and 3rd place is going to be a real wildcard vote.

I said it once and i'm saying it again(not to be a douche, I just want to put it out there) I think we should have a top three best film vote
 
I agree FatBird. I don't even want to think about how I am going to pick ONE clear favorite.

>>>>>>>>>>

Norm, I hope that you know I wasn't lashing out on your comment and I hate to belabor the point. I know that your question was answered.

I thought that it was a valid point that you made and I wanted to re-emphasize to everyone that their one, single vote has to be used wisely.

Sorry if you thought that I was hammering on you. I certainly didn't mean it that way! :)
 
I like the idea of BEST PICTURE

I think the older way, although nice to see how other elements of your film stack up, can skew the BEST PICTURE results with spread out categories. A film that is well done in technical fields does not neccasarily make it THE BEST PICTURE

This way; it'll be about story and the core ingredients that support it (The basics)
 
Theodore J Arabian said:
I agree FatBird. I don't even want to think about how I am going to pick ONE clear favorite.

Ted, I can make this easy for you - save youself the headache and just vote for my film. :-Laugh(DBG)-1
 
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