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WilderWorks said:
I agree there are some great films, and I'm glad that you think the mojo is good. Perhaps I'm wrong, and people are just playing around, but I certainly detect some people who are feeling bummed, overshadowed, and left out. The mojo isn't so good for them. And I think the contest could do more for them, allowing them to get attention, than it can for people who clearly already have the resources and skills to make a great movie. Sure, reward and congratulate those who are doing great work. But it's a shame to see those who aren't yet at that level, or could never afford to be, feeling down.

Again, maybe no one is feeling down. I just get that sense.
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Once again,

I agree, it's not that some of us don't have a tough skin, and there were some films like synthetic love, that show you don't need a huge budget to make a great movie and for me those films are the most motivating seeing people do what you could do, with just enough time and experience. But seeing the films that you know unless you have some serious resources you will never acertian, it gets depressing. I would love to see more films were budgets are restrained to make the competition more interesting for those of us without such heavy resources. It's a different kinda of motivation.

PS. No mojo for a lot of people
 
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I don't think documentaries are a good idea because many of us do documentaries for a living.

As mentioned, there's no reason why you can't do a mockumentary or even a proper documentary with any other topic.

As for budgets, I don't think there's any correlation between the size of the budget and the quality of the film. For an excellent example, look at the current SciFest entries -- some of the best films were done with low or no budgets.


ObNoir: Noir! Noir! Noir!
 
WilderWorks said:
I agree there are some great films, and I'm glad that you think the mojo is good. Perhaps I'm wrong, and people are just playing around, but I certainly detect some people who are feeling bummed, overshadowed, and left out. The mojo isn't so good for them. And I think the contest could do more for them, allowing them to get attention, than it can for people who clearly already have the resources and skills to make a great movie. Sure, reward and congratulate those who are doing great work. But it's a shame to see those who aren't yet at that level, or could never afford to be, feeling down.

Again, maybe no one is feeling down. I just get that sense.
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I kinda want to respond to this because JTyner and I were talking a bit about it tonight... Since it was our first time here, we had expectations vs. what actually has played out.

Let me start by saying, I TOTALLY appreciate the amount of work it takes Jarred and Barry (and anyone else who helps) to put this site and these contests together. I KNOW it's a lot of work, of which a lot goes unappreciated, so I don't want to seem like I'm slamming them.

That said...

I think people who submit a film should be required to view, comment and vote on every film... even if that means allowing an additional week or two to get ballots in. I don't think it's right for some films to have hundreds of replies and others don't even have enough replies to represent the number of contestants participating. At the very LEAST, each film should have the same number of replies as there are filmmakers in this contest. We all submit films and want more than anything to know people watched them... and the only way to know is to hear opinions -- good and bad.

I can only speak for me and JTyner here, but I know we were a little frustrated with the delivery requirements/compression. I don't imagine it's at ALL easy to figure out how to allow contestants to submit films, but it seemed like ZombieFest allowed a mix of wmvs and .movs... being I wasn't a member then, I can only guess that Jarred said to submit your already-compressed movie.... and that's what everyone did. I just know I would have liked more control over the final viewing format since I thought our wmv messed up some of the color and gamma, and was also a bit stuttery (while my own mp4 looks how I intended). Like I said, not a slam to Jarred, because I imagine there were gripes with the way it was done in ZombieFest (hence the change) -- but I know there were a few films that exhibited some problems and I know it must have been pretty discouraging. (I do know Jarred gave us the opportunity late in the game to upload our own wmv's and I had figured out to compress to that format and was ready to do so, but didn't because he said it needed to be 24p and ours was NOT. We shot in 24p, but edited in a 29.97 timelime.)

As for varying levels of quality, high-dollar budgets vs. low, and trying to categorize films as such for competition... I can see boths sides of it. I watched the Zombiefest movies and I saw the same kind of spread. I think it's good as a "newbie" filmmaker to be challenged to produce something even better, and love to be inspired by films like Similo, We Are Not Alone and A Briefcase... and JTyner and I never thought in a million years we'd win this thing. On the flipside, we also know we are still some time away from getting to that level of quality... and it would be discouraging after a time to see the same group of people always winning or always getting the most comments. We're not there yet, so I'm just speculating. As stated, I can see both sides of it, so it's tough.

I said to JTyner tonight that I felt like the voting and comments was almost (emphasis on almost) as much work as making the movie... because I did take the voting seriously... watched all movies at least 3 times... and have tried my hardest to comment on everyone's film (still have 3 to go which I'll get to tomorrow) -- I have a whole notebook filled with scribbled down notes to remember points of each film as I watch it. Maybe I take it more seriously than the fest was intended, but I don't expect to receive more than I put in... and that includes comments and criticisms... that's a bit why I feel an all-must-be-voted-on, all-must-be-commented-on, all-must-be-viewed rule is at least worth consideration.

Anyway... obviously I wanted to share all this because I saw an opportunity and ran with it... hope no one takes offense :)
 
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EditPhish said:
I think people who submit a film should be required to view, comment and vote on every film... even if that means allowing an additional week or two to get ballots in. I don't think it's right for some films to have hundreds of replies and others don't even have enough replies to represent the number of contestants participating. At the very LEAST, each film should have the same number of replies as there are filmmakers in this contest. We all submit films and want more than anything to know people watched them... and the only way to know is to hear opinions -- good and bad.
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I agree. I felt guilty enough not viewing/voting for every zombie film. Now with sci-fest, I'm really falling behind. If I did my math right, that would take about 5 1/2 hours to view every sci-fest entry. Plus downloading and voting. Because my schedule has been so slammed lately, I have to view piecemeal, and if I don't vote immediately, I forget who's film I saw.
 
I still like "action." I'm starting to agree about the concern for the "noir" issue. At first, I was like, YEAH, film noir! But since action-adventure is a legitimate genre category, I think it's a valid contest genre. Like Macgregor said, "Guns, cars, and girls . . . what could be better than that?" I guess girls and girls, but that's a whole other genre . . .
 
NBCshooter said:
"Porno-Documentary" cross-genre . . .
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You know, I've actually had an idea for something along these lines for a long time...

And believe it or not, it's actually original.

Someday.
 
NBCshooter said:
I agree. I felt guilty enough not viewing/voting for every zombie film. Now with sci-fest, I'm really falling behind. If I did my math right, that would take about 5 1/2 hours to view every sci-fest entry. Plus downloading and voting. Because my schedule has been so slammed lately, I have to view piecemeal, and if I don't vote immediately, I forget who's film I saw.
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Hey man, I can feel your pain... I work a full-time job plus two part-time gigs, plus at least 10 hours of volunteer work per week, plus two kids and a husband... (and don't forget hobbies) -- there's been a few real late nights to get to all the films, give them proper viewings three or four times, take notes, vote and comment... but it's worth the time. Gotta give if you wanna receive ;) Even if it IS 5 1/2 hours (math isn't my strong suit) that really isn't a lot of time. Almost two weeks from download to when ballots are due, so an hour a day would get you done, and provide time to view things twice. Put another hour a day in and you can get all the commenting in if you don't want to go into too much detail, but at least say something constructive.
 
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Just tripped across this ...

Saw something mentioned about budget constraints, etc. Our film cost us no more than $350 hard costs out of pocket. Who knows ... maybe it LOOKS like it too, but I think it has a higher production value than what people would normally think for $350 ... $250 of which was to feed everyone really well for those 2 1/2 days.

Smart film makers will figure out how to get things done creatively, when they DON'T have the financial resources that others do. Barter your time/services in exchange for locations, do whatever you need to do to get it for free/deferred. Work deals with people, and if you make it fun, then they may very well want to do it again with you ... for free.

If something is horrible to work on, I don't care if the guy can afford to pay me or not, I'm not doing it again. But if I had FUN, then I felt like it was play time, and I'll look forward to doing it again.

Anyway, just my two cents on budget restraints, etc. shouldn't be a concern, as it wasn't for us.

As far as time, I hear you all. I've got a wife, three kids, a full time sales job, as well as two other businesses I'm balancing on the side ... and then here comes Sci-Fi Fest. But we all make time for things that are a priority to us, and those of us who competed FOUND the time to make it happen & make a film. That said, I do believe we should all make the time to critique everyone elses' film, just like we'd want them to critique ours ... kind of that golden rule thing (Do unto others ... ).

I THINK I've responded to every single thread/film ... even started several threads because the film makers never got around to it (or couldn't). That said, I've probably only got half the participants that have actually posted in my thread, if that ... so I can understand, to a degree, those of you who wish more people would comment.
 
EditPhish said:
Hey man, I can feel your pain... I work a full-time job plus two part-time gigs, plus at least 10 hours of volunteer work per week, plus two kids and a husband . . .
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Holy crap, Edit! I didn't know you were a chick! Cool!
 
Hey Editphish,
I am responding to your post about the spread of talents. I think this shouldnt really be viewed more as a contest but as what it says, a film fest. Its a chance to put your work out there for fellow film makers and others to see at thier leisure and talk about them. The winnings are just a perk or incentive to get off the ass and make something. I mean, out of all the film fests that go on in the world, how many DVX users would never even think of submitting anything for what ever reasons. I know I wouldnt have. I would probably still be contempleting my first short and yes, my very first short was for a contest here a while ago. Im my mind I wasnt thinking about the prizes, I was thinking about people seeing what I have done. At the end of the day this is art and everyone creates their art the way they can. Just because its not blockbuster or high budget looking doesnt mean its not as meaningful.
The downside of critiqing is that it becomes a vehicle to judge others and make us second guess our own works. If someone doesnt enter the next fest because they are afraid someone like Jdanstan or mcgreggor is going to blow them out of the water then we have falied as the community this forum has grown to and become. Yeah, it would be nice to be the winner of a dolly and a crane but I think we all win because this gave us the incentive to try and we all wind up with something called experience.
 
I like Norm's post, and agree wholeheartedly. I am single, but I have an extremely busy job, and life. I had to work hard to get a short film together, and we did do it under budget constraints (I only spent about $150, and fed the crew too). We wrote to resource, and did our best. I think I've reviewed each film as well on here, and it's well deserved comments. Everyone was put out to finish these films. Well done everyone!
 
I was just mentioning what I thought the downside of it was. The upside is comments help us all out if they are truthfull and sincere. Everyone loves a little pat on the back and should get one for taking the time to create thier work.
 
Oh Aram, trust me... I think you and I agree. There are upsides and downsides. Like I said, I love to be inspired by some of the beautiful works in this fest -- but like you said, it's a FEST, less a contest. I think the whole point should be comments and constructive criticisms. We can't challenge ourselves to get better if all we ever get are pats on the back :) -- I mean as much as I loved Similo, I found area for constructive criticism. We can tell each other what we did well, but also where we could improve... but it's not so helpful when one movie gets 100+ replies and another less than 1/2 the number of contestants :(

And if we can all fit it into our schedules to makes these films, we can certainly fit it into our schedules to comment on each of them with something constructive. We're ALL busy... I imagine most of us are the over-achiever types anyway... so busy isn't an excuse ;)
 
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