Its quiet in the fest forums!

I think as long as the Mod presence in the Fest forum is stronger things will start to work itself out. It's nice to have some guidance from the powers that be for the new members.


Jason Ramsey said:
Right now, we're thinking about having a brief intermission between the main dvxfests in order to make some changes, rather than trying to rush right into the next one. In the interim, we are planning on doing a little 48 hour fest... which will also make for a nice change of pace for you guys, and allow us an opportunity to try some different things.
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I love that idea! Even some of the big guns might be tempted to step away from their features for a quick 48 hour fest.
 
ZazaCast said:
... or maybe more of the little guns can jump in! :thumbsup:
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Myself included. :)


I was referring to the big guns who are busy with paid work and Features. Like Fat Monster for instance.
A weekend to some of these guys might be doable.

Anyway, back to the 48 hour fest idea. I say Yay! :thumbup:
 
I love the fests! While I've only entered four (counting VillainFest) - I've watched every film in every fest and I've learned so much.

I always try to encourage my students to take part in them. One thing I hear from them (and this might sound a little strange), but as new filmmakers they are actually intimated by the high quality of some of the entries. Sort of a, "Who am I to compete with them".

Anyway, I think a 48 hour contest might be a really great challenge and something I could convince them to try (or even assign to them as homework). :)
 
Michael Anthony Horrigan said:
I was referring to the big guns who are busy with paid work and Features. Like Fat Monster for instance.
A weekend to some of these guys might be doable.
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Chris Messineo said:
One thing I hear from them (and this might sound a little strange), but as new filmmakers they are actually intimated by the high quality of some of the entries. Sort of a, "Who am I to compete with them".
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This was my point of having catagories for different levels of filmmakers...who here hasn't felt that way (be honest)?
Damn.. I'm intimidated by Michael's avatar, let alone Fat Monster! :shocked:
How could a 'little gun' compete with professionals? I think this is my 7th or 8th fest now without so much as placing...talk about an optimist. (or glutten for punishment)
 
in the spirit of sharing, and perhaps a little insight... here's a email reply from Larry on discussion about having an upload page that was individual to each entrant, utilizing their dvxuser credentials... something that would allow you to upload your film easily and repeatedly, and to see the final embedded playback of it... gte to a happy place, and then click final submit.

This was his response (posted with permission of course). give you a bit of an idea of some of the back end improvements we have planned:
That actually fits well into one of the key changes I was working to make.
I am designing the new system where each person has a "profile" page on the dvxfest.com site. So when they log in over there to upload/view/rate/etc, they also have a link to their own "profile" page. This page would have their info (address, etc) so they don't have to enter it each time they upload and would also list the fests they've entered and what their rating was. Since the new system has the dates in it for when things happen (uploads open/close, viewing open/close, etc) it will know when a fest ends and can instantly include the latest fest in their listing. This way they can get their results without my getting a bazillion PMs asking what their rating was.

I was also going to have their various entries listed there for them along with the permanent URL (going through the round robin distribution) so at any time they can look up any of their entries and get the permalink to the entry for passing around if they want to post it elsewhere. It will also allow them to hide their entry (for those that want to enter into other festivals).

So it makes sense to let them see their upload/conversion status, then review the final converted version, and either accept or reject it themself. Gives them more control over their own entry.

Of course the one missing piece in all this is proper conversion. The more I research it the more confusing it seems to get. But it is something we will be able to do. Controlling the process is easy, its finding the right combination of settings. Also having a setup that allows us to do the conversion. <snip>
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ZazaCast said:
This was my point of having catagories for different levels of filmmakers...who here hasn't felt that way (be honest)? Damn.. I'm intimidated by Michael's avatar, let alone Fat Monster! :shocked:How could a 'little gun' compete with professionals? I think this is my 7th or 8th fest now without so much as placing...talk about an optimist. (or glutten for punishment)
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i used to feel this way but now I disagree. Not that I could ever beat FM, but anyone can compete with them. Even win. Raising the bar of competition only pushes us to bring our A game every fest. Hell, Zaza. You have an advantage over me equipment wise and we are both solo filmmakers. I'm no pro. I think it would be impossible to determine who gets to compete in what category.
 
Michael Anthony Horrigan said:
i used to feel this way but now I disagree. Not that I could ever beat FM, but anyone can compete with them. Even win. Raising the bar of competition only pushes us to bring our A game every fest. Hell, Zaza. You have an advantage over me equipment wise and we are both solo filmmakers. I'm no pro. I think it would be impossible to determine who gets to compete in what category.
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I get the concept....but there are professionals...and amateurs. Big difference between the two. We would be amateurs as we don't make films/video for a living (or at least I don't). As far as gear, we both Know the gear doesn't make the movie (or the professional) so that's a moot point.

Films by Fat Monster, JSD, McGreagor, Zac, Timur, Barry, etc. ARE great inspiration but they are on a whole different level. Personally, I love the challenge to make the best film I can with what I have available to me...will one of them ever place or win? Probably not, but I have one hell of a time making them...and learn something new each fest. It's fun...and when it stops being fun...I won't make films anymore.

Levels would be easy even if it was just based on past DVXUser Fest results...they have all the numbers....it's kind of like positions in a car race...or your handicap in golf....level playing field.
 
ZazaCast said:
Levels would be easy even if it was just based on past DVXUser Fest results...they have all the numbers....it's kind of like positions in a car race...or your handicap in golf....level playing field.
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Based on that logic I would be competing with the pros. At least I believe so after placing in the top 3 a couple of times and being in almost every final.

Yet really, I'm not a pro and no different than you. How is that fair? If you lower the bar of competition you'll never grow as a filmmaker. I truly believe that. Yes, I know the chances of beating some of these guys is next to impossible but it's fun trying. :)
 
Michael Anthony Horrigan said:
Based on that logic I would be competing with the pros. At least I believe so after placing in the top 3 a couple of times and being in almost every final.

Yet really, I'm not a pro and no different than you. How is that fair? If you lower the bar of competition you'll never grow as a filmmaker. I truly believe that. Yes, I know the chances of beating some of these guys is next to impossible but it's fun trying. :)
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You should be proud to be in that group... :)
 
ZazaCast said:
You should be proud to be in that group... :)
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If that was the case I would be. But there are golf players in the pros that never win but they keep plugging away. Yet they are still considered pros. :)

You are definitely worthy to be competing with the rest of the pack. Just keep learning and apply it to the next one. Eventually you could place. Anyway, best of luck with this one.
 
Initiating 2 bits procedure:

So here's why I haven't entered. (I haven't entered any yet)

Life gets crazy. I work 2 jobs. I have 4 kids. I volunteer at my church. I wanted to enter the last fest, but I got a promotion at work and it changed my schedule....so my little project/idea went down the tube. (I'm sure that this could be the theme song for indie film makers the world over.)

With that said, I have 2 comments.

1. Quote: "Oh... and for the record. We will do these fests whether there are 2 entries or 100. This is a non-profit endeavor for us, and it's meant for the benefit of the members... So, the fests will be here for whoever wants to participate..." Jason Ramsey (link here: http://www.dvxuser.com/V6/showthrea...fest-forums!&p=2378233&viewfull=1#post2378233)

PLEASE tell me that you REALLY mean that!!! It made me sad when I saw how few put in for this fest....especially because I was afraid that you all might stop doing it. I want to thank you for putting these on...and for the time and effort that it takes to do so. I know that it is a personal goal of mine to enter...JUST ENTER....even if it SUCKS....But even that takes time. So....I just hope that I can still try (to enter)....even if it's 3 years from now. :) I'd just like to continue to have the chance to participate with other members of this great community. So thank you...and please don't STOP!!! :)

2. (I LOVE the 48hr fest BTW....great concept/nice addition if we did it here). I'd also like to propose THE OPPOSITE. So I'm really busy (like I already said)...and I come up with this concept...(good or bad, it's my concept and I'm getting my brain around it). But by the time I get around to getting anything done, the fest expires, and now I need to get my brain around another concept. Now I think that this works fine....BUT....this is the negative side of it: Maybe my schedule doesn't allow for me to get it done in a 3 month window. So, with that in mind....I propose a CONCURRENT DVXfest that lasts 6-12months.

I think you'd get 2 outcomes here (maybe?)....you'd get some of the heavy hitters producing some "even more exceptional work". Some stuff that takes more time. The other effect would be people like me could focus on the SAME concept for a longer space of time (on the calendar)....(same amount of time when you add up actual time on the project). As it stands right now for me (I'm settling into my new position at work)...I'm waiting for the next fest announcement to see if I can even make it happen. It might be nice if there was the "Annual DVXfest" and I knew that I could focus on it throughout the year...and chip away little by little ON THE SAME PROJECT....without having to shift gears.

To think of it....you COULD get the same effect by announcing all 3 fests for this year NOW....then I could work on the Fest that completes this time next year!! (Same idea...it just gives me time to focus on it little by little.)

Just my 2 bits. No clue if anyone else feels the same way...but those are my 2 bits.

2 bits procedure: Terminated. End.

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EDIT: Simple version of the idea.

GIVE US MORE TIME:

Either:

1. Announce all 3 DVXfests for the next year NOW so we can work on it.

OR

2. Do a separate/concurrent DVXfest that is "Annual" to give us a year to work on it.

(DANG! I thought I terminated that 2 bits procedure!!!) :)

ps....I still like the 48 hour idea too. As busy as I am....I can dig up 48 hours!! :)
 
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I think the idea of potentially announcing multiple fests up front, each with different dates set in the future is something worth considering...

But, a simpler thing to do would be to try to have some of the mini-fests going at any given time... smaller things where people can jump in, get their feet wet, not feel as intimidated, etc...

Once we get a more automated back end, I think these kinds of options will be able to be discussed more readily... right now, mini-fest, full fest... it's all about the same amount of work for larry for the time being... but, with a more robust back-end in place, things like the smaller fests would not increase the workload in the back-end... also, they could kind of run themselves, and be as community driven and controlled as folks wanted to make them as far as I'm concerned...
 
I just wanted to add - it's nice to see all the last minute surprise entries. Now, it looks like we will have about as many entries as the last fest. Also, the talk in the forums has picked up again.

Hopefully, that means the audience is still out there and eager to see all our films (at least I know I am). :)
 
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ZazaCast said:
This was my point of having catagories for different levels of filmmakers...who here hasn't felt that way (be honest)?
Damn.. I'm intimidated by Michael's avatar, let alone Fat Monster! :shocked:
How could a 'little gun' compete with professionals? I think this is my 7th or 8th fest now without so much as placing...talk about an optimist. (or glutten for punishment)
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I've been making this argument for a long time now. It's pretty easy to have categories when you look at resources.

Lemme' put it in the most basic, easy to understand terms possible... if one guy is shooting his entry with a RED, and the other guy is using an $500 cam from Costco... Do you think it would be hard to figure out which category he goes in? And more importantly... do you honestly think that would have to be monitored by anyone? Who is going to shoot their project on a RED... or whatever... have it all well lit and look amazing... and then aim to compete with the sub-$1K total budget guys? It will be pretty obvious whether he belongs there or not... and jeez... if a guy does that and loses? Ugh... ultimate disgrace. If he does that and "wins"... he also wins a douche label. I think the honor system would take care of 99.9% of it.

Why do people in Hollywood have terms like low-budget, micro-budget, etc.? It's because typically... one's resources have a big impact on the results they can be expected to achieve. EVERYBODY asks "what's the budget" when they sign on to a project... it tells you the approximate scale, or actors, etc. that you can expect.

I think that's one of the biggest problems with the fests... and many people not having FUN in participating... + there's almost certain to be a rising star in the lower categories anyway... which would be a lot more interesting (at least to me). I'd love nothing more then to see a great story well told... for peanuts. Now THAT'S impressive.

As for the BTS requirement? Why not make it optional? Entries with a BTS get to include that with no time penalty (on that part)... plus I'd think a BTS would help endear an entry to the audience. (If I entered a fest I'd like having a BTS reel to help sell the crew and concept to the viewer.)
 
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