Just a little piece of info....

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Zim said:
Has there been much of a problem in the past. So really the mods,,,sorry studio can pick or chose the films that make it in the fest?
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No. we will not bee selecting who does and does not get into the fest. We have never done this, and it's one of the things that sets us apart from most other fests...

We were a little concerned that folks might take it this way, but let me reiterate. we have absolutely NO desire to do that.

but, at the same time, it's kind of a fun exercise that encourages the inclusion of other aspects of filmmaking. In this case, marketing and selling your idea.

also, it allows us to encourage folks to really put some extra thought into the theme and build their story around it, rather than think of the theme as an after thought. It should be central.

It will NOT be some rigorous screening process. Again, we just want to see that you can express a clear and concise vision of your film as well as illustrate to us how it embraces the theme.

At worst, most we will probably tell you to go back to the drawing board and try again... Meaning, we didn't get it.... think about it some more, and pitch it to us again a little more clearly.

Make sense?

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Details on where and how to pitch your idea will be included in the rules, which I am working on now. Stay tuned for that. I'll try to get them up tonight, but if not, then tomorrow almost for certain.

later,
Jason
 
i don't mean to speak for the mods, but i presume no one will be screened out. but to qualify, you must present your idea in the form of a pitch in order to enter the fest. and the purpose, is to help entrants focus their ideas and embrace the theme. i believe there is a sense out there that the theme of "loss" was not embraced by the filmmakers to the degree that it could have been?

edit -- nevermind. jason has it covered.
 
Zim said:
Do you know what it means to "pitch an idea"

This is what I'm wondering. If they don't like the "pitch" then are you not in the fest?

Maybe they just want to be more business like.
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yes, but please read the definition of the "pitch" that I included... don't complicate it... it's not meant to complicate things. We aren't screening you. Just asking you to tell us about your story and how it embraces the theme. If you can do this clearly, it will tell us you have a strong vision and you will get the go ahead.

If you give us something like "Uh... well, there's this dude... and he meets this girl, and uh... they go on this journey together, and in the end they fall in love".... well, we'll tell you to think about it some more and come back with a pitch that is more clear.

hope that makes sense... don't freak out about it just yet. Details to come with the rules, and there will be plenty of time to ask and answer your questions.


Think about it like you are writing the back of your DVD cover for your film... something like that.

later,
jason
 
Ok thanks Jason. That doesn't sound bad. I think the freedom that this fest has is what is giving it so many good films.

To many rules suck!!
 
Jason are you also going to be clarifying what kind of marketing materials are allowed? I know podcasts and BTS footage are encouraged, but personally I'd like to have a clarification of exactly what's allowed for trailers and teasers.

Myself and Armisiano created trailers that were filmed completely separately from the actual film, but were also planned as part of the marketing. If you can address this issue that would be great.

Also, I know one thing that really helps in the marketing department is a good poster for the movies. Especially on Myspace and Facebook. Probably a bad place to bring it up especially in the rules, but just wondering if there isn't a way to encourage the use of posters for each film. It only helps the visibility and credibilty of the fests as well as the entrants...
 
I'm sure the rules will include this but can you give an example of what and how much information the synopsis should include as well as an appropriate length (approximate of course) for those of us who have never done this. You guys are probably already covering this, just wanted to check as I'm really not sure what a pitch such as this should be like.

Thanks and keep up the good work Jason and the rest of the mods! You guys have really rocked this last fest - its always been awesome but it seems like the behind the scenes working of Loss Fest has been even more effecient than past fests. Nice work!
 
if i can just offer a piece of advice and some thoughts on the whole trailers thing.... I don't think we need them. for my money, putting out a podcast or series of casts that introduce you and your project are a lot more effective at garnering interest than a teaser. they encourage a dialogue and pull your potential audience toward joining the emerging community hovering around your film. especially if you're engaging them with questions and really trying to get them to participate in some way. we've all seen teasers for indie shorts and features before and they're usually pretty lousy. most of us can't compete with what is thought of as a tight and polished trailer. and I don't think they reflect the passion and enthusiasm behind the production the way a more personal behind the scenes piece does -- one that addresses the audience directly and gives them reason to participate and invest. my 2¢.
 
Zak Forsman said:
if i can just offer a piece of advice and some thoughts on the whole trailers thing.... I don't think we need them. for my money, putting out a podcast or series of casts that introduce you and your project are a lot more effective at garnering interest than a teaser. they encourage a dialogue and pull your potential audience toward joining the emerging community hovering around your film. especially if you're engaging them with questions and really trying to get them to participate in some way. we've all seen teasers for indie shorts and features before and they're usually pretty lousy. most of us can't compete with what is thought of as a tight and polished trailer. and I don't think they reflect the passion and enthusiasm behind the production the way a more personal behind the scenes piece does -- one that addresses the audience directly and gives them reason to participate and invest. my 2¢.
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Coming closer to the time of the viewing witht he correct timing, the release of a trailer could help to drive new viewers to the fest, build excitement from people now hearing about the projects or the festivals. I'm thinking in terms of the last month or 2-3 weeks before viewing opens.

On Facebook for example we had a lot of people join the groups early on, but later, numbers had dropped. Peopel lost interest from the time the project was announced to the time of the actual viewing.

If we had a planned series of trailers designed to regain their interest as well as get new viewers... hell, even something you could send to a magazine liek Videomaker or whatever... its instant information about who what where and when all delivered in 30 seconds.

Maybe we should be looking at a marketing campaign for the festival instead of for individual films.. but interest in a single film and a follow through on that to come to the fest... that can be of benefit to us all....
 
I will include all of this information and will attempt to clarify everything as much as possible.

i'm undecided on trailers. My concern about trailers is that they open up a bit of gray area, and there was some confusion with that this time around. Partly b/c it was the first time we allowed it, partly b/c we did not phrase it properly, and partly b/c folks didn't read the rules clearly enough, or ask for clarification when necessary.

I am undecided. but, as Zak said there are lots of other ways to get bts and promotional material out there... Your teasers could simply be bts interviews, etc...

I'm working on the rules right now. I haven't gotten to that part yet. You guys can feel free to calmly throw out your ideas here for the time being, and I will consider them.

later,
jason
 
lol when you said "the business" I thought you meant the online video business, I imagined all entries being required to insert an advertisement in their entries, after the leader before the entry. :laugh:

I wonder how many "paragraphs" the mods will read until they regret it.
 
My 2p worth would be trailers should be allowed if the rule was they were bespoke.

So no footage from the film, no alt takes, it has to be shot specifically for the trailer. Look at the teasers for AI or T2. No shots from the movie are used, but they generate a vibe and give the audience a taster. Perhaps we can use the same sets, actors even, but nothing that's part of the 6 min story. A time limit of 30 seconds or something to level the playing field?

because we only have 6 minutes to tell a short, there's really a lot of scope left to convey the world in which it is set. A mood setter, a question asked or a statement of intent. something like that.

I guess the question is what harm could a trailer do? how could it make the playing field uneven? and then address those issues before you decide if or how to implement it.

The downside is some movies may get more views based on the trailers. Some might use it to add an extra 30 seconds of backstory for their short/world which gives them an unfair advantage (unless everyone made one); but I certainly think there are more pluses to minuses, especially when it comes to outside promotion and keeping interest maintined. You could even set a date for trailers to go live which would be another tier of excitment to the build-up. And of course have a set dvx outro to go on each one. then they could be posted anywhere - youtube, vimeo, it all leads back to a date and this site.
 
Regarding the pitch concept, let me add a little clarification. When you upload your entries the first thing we do is watch every entry and make sure you include the required element(s) (when we have them), make sure it is within the allowed TRT, make sure it is not over the required file size, make sure you followed all the provided rules including proper inclusion of the theme within your story. If you did not encompass the theme within your entry then we DQ your entry and/or make it a non-compete.

What we are doing now is taking the "does the story encompass the theme" part and moving it to the front. If your story does not fully encompass the theme we tell you before you start production, thus allowing you a chance to re-work the story or start a new one and complete production prior to submitting your entry.

That's how you should view our review of these pitches. We are not trying to pre-screen entries and prevent them from entry. On the contrary, we want everyone in who wants to participate.

But the charter of these fests is, and has always been, to get you out from behind your keyboard talking about filmmaking and out behind a camera MAKING a film. DVXuser and DVXfest has a goal of teaching and training filmmakers via peer instruction/review.

So the fests encompass many of the important aspects of filmmaking. The individual threads and outside promotion allow you to exercise your marketing muscles, now we are adding a new skill to the training process. You are querying the studio looking to get your film included in that studios slate of projects for the coming release cycle.

In this case, the query/pitch is detailing how your story fits the theme this studio (DVXuser/DVXfest) has dictated for their upcoming slate of films.

So make sure you see this as an opportunity to grow and to learn and don't worry about us ever trying to find ways to keep you out.
 
LARRY this is different than telling you were the time element is or a glass of wine. If you mods don't like the idea or think it needs something else you reject it. It goes back to the drawing board, whatever. Call it whatever you want too. Now the film is what the mods think it should be not the filmmaker. Also someone can write up a nice pitch, but is that what your going to get?

Sorry guys I think this is a bad idea.
 
I think this is a fine idea. It might be a lot more work for the mods, but it will lead to more clear stories, which is what film making is all about. I've seen a lot of fest entries that were almost uninteligable, especially for Twilight Fest. Some people thought it was make-a-bad-horror-scene-with-no-storyfest.
 
Also Larry you just want people to "start a new one" Not that easy for some people.

For the most part it seems to work pretty good.

Maybe just charge $50 to enter, then the mods can watch the films and toss the ones they don't like before the are viewed like other film fest.
 
Zim - I think the piece you are missing, or we are not explaining clearly enough, is that we already do this. We just currently do it at the time of upload and are now moving it to the beginning of the process.

At present, if "we the mods" feel a film does not meet the theme then we dq it. As you can see from past fests we strive to be inclusive, NOT exclusive. At the moment I can't think of a film that was DQ'd for not fulfilling the theme. All we are asking is for you (the entrant, not you specifically) to clearly state how your story fits the specified theme.

It is first a benefit to the entrant as they have more time to make sure their story fits the theme; and, second, a chance to practice another skill, pitching your story idea.

It's not meant to be difficult, just another way to grow and improve as aspiring filmmakers.


We are not requiring them to "start a new one". We are allowing them the chance to further refine the idea they already had, or if they chose to go in a different direction.

This is the rule, sorry if you don't like it. But if you want to enter a film it is what we require for this fest. If it doesn't work, then like other things that haven't worked in the past, we'll revise or remove it.
 
Trailers for a 6 minute film seem a little ridiculous to me. Not only that, but it has been a long standing rule to show no advance footage of the film to be screened. It would seem that trailers could warrant their own fest...TrailerFest. Just my 2¢.


EDIT: If a filmmaker is having a hard time creating a pitch, it might be a good time to collaborate with someone who is comfortable writing one. I'm sure there are people on the site who would love the opportunity to hone this skill...though you should probably learn it yourself. It is a skill that is going to be required of a producer, a director and a writer. It's a sales game and the sooner you learn it, the better.
 
I guess I'll wait for you guys to finish all the rules. But I hope you see what I'm saying too. This is a great fest and to many rules will screw it up.
 
I think it's a great idea as well. It gives you time to really set an outline to the story, set the important points down and believe it or not, this actually helps the writing process, not hinders it and makes sure the writer stays on point.

Some studios will ask for a 1 page synopsis, or even worse, a full treatment of the story and this is before they even read the script. You can get rejected based on a bad synopsis without anyone ever actually reading your script. As it is, the mods aren't even requesting a 1 page synopsis or a treatment to reject you out of hand. They just want a very basic synopsis, probably not even a very long paragraph, and this will actually help us as filmmakers.

I think its a fair price to pay. Not all contests like the DVXFests are free and the free onses certainly don't offer any prizes. It's one hell of a trade to make sure you;re going to produce a film that's actually on point and not missing the theme entirely like some entries seem to have done.

Edit: as a point, most times you have to pitch in person, and that can screw up even the best script ever written if the director is not a good pitch man.
 
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