Next fest is: Twilightfest!!

current episode is a comedy. a guy and a gal playing strip poker with a mummy. Sounds like something LaBonney would come up with :evil:

Later,
Jasopn
 
Well I think at the end of the day, twist or no twist, good is good. If you do it well, you do it well.

If you show up on the board two days from now and say: "Script done!" We know your twist ending will probably suck.

I will likely do some kind of examination of paranoia or some such.
 
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Mattykins said:
I feel as if this might result in 80 films with the same general idea.
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That's what they said about LoveFest -- we expected 80 romantic comedies. That's not how it turned out. Don't sell the membership short -- embrace the idea, watch the creativity, and see what happens.

But I have a feeling twilight is synonymous with twist. And thus most entries will include twists.
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And "Time" is synonymous with time travel -- how many time travel films did we have in TimeFest? A few, but not a lot.

As in every fest, some people will reach for the low-hanging fruit, and some will blow us away with amazing creativity.
 
Zak Forsman said:
personally, i'd love to see the lack of a twist as a requirement. haha!
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I am VERY tempted to propose exactly that. In the past we've thought about banning guns, or other quick 'n' easy crutches that people reach for, just to make them stretch their creative muscles as far as possible. In the end we never do it, because we want you to have the freedom to make the film you want to make, but -- as an exercise, I'd personally love to see how people embrace such a restriction!

Maybe we'll donate a prize to "best Twilight Fest film *without* a twist ending" or something, just to get the filmmakers here to start thinking deeper about what this fest's possibilities encompass?

I mean, Shatner saw a monster sabotaging the plane's wing. Nobody else saw it, but he did. He grabbed a gun and shot the monster and saved the plane. In the end, there *was* a monster sabotaging the wing. Where's the twist in that? Sure, he got locked up in the loony bin for saving the plane, which is irony, but it's not a "twist"...

Keep in mind that the inspiration for this fest is not just Twilight Zone, it includes Outer Limits, Goosebumps, Amazing Stories, and all sorts of other shows of that ilk.
 
Mark Harris said:
Well I think at the end of the day, twist or no twist, good is good. If you do it well, you do it well.

If you show up on the board two days from now and say: "Script done!" We know your twist ending will probably suck.

I will likely do some kind of examination of paranoia or some such.
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Script Done!! (kidding) I agree with you though. Good is Good and with all the talent here I am sure we will see some incredible stuff. M. Nights or no M. Nights I can't wait for this one. I need to go back and check out some Twilight Zone, Amazing stories, etc.
 
Barry_Green said:
I am VERY tempted to propose exactly that. In the past we've thought about banning guns, or other quick 'n' easy crutches that people reach for, just to make them stretch their creative muscles as far as possible. In the end we never do it, because we want you to have the freedom to make the film you want to make, but -- as an exercise, I'd personally love to see how people embrace such a restriction!

Maybe we'll donate a prize to "best Twilight Fest film *without* a twist ending" or something, just to get the filmmakers here to start thinking deeper about what this fest's possibilities encompass?

I mean, Shatner saw a monster sabotaging the plane's wing. Nobody else saw it, but he did. He grabbed a gun and shot the monster and saved the plane. In the end, there *was* a monster sabotaging the wing. Where's the twist in that? Sure, he got locked up in the loony bin for saving the plane, which is irony, but it's not a "twist"...

Keep in mind that the inspiration for this fest is not just Twilight Zone, it includes Outer Limits, Goosebumps, Amazing Stories, and all sorts of other shows of that ilk.
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There was a twist in the ambulance as I recall? But you're right, that story pretty much captured our imagination without much of a twist.

But in any event, I don't think a good twist is "low hanging fruit." I think a good twist is really hard and I barely ever see it done, and even rarer that it's done well. There are a lot of "bad twists" and even more "no twists" in short films. I think a short film without that kind of reversal is usually flat.
 
It's been a while since I've seen that episode, but if there was any twist it was that he was actually right and there was a monster, right?

As for "low hanging fruit", I mean it's the first idea that occurs to people, and if they just grab that instead of reaching further, then it might limit the creative options they would otherwise be able to embrace.

All I'm saying is: don't immediately grab onto the first concept that presents itself. Push further. Maybe in pushing further you do find a twist that you want to do that would be genius. That's entirely possible, but it's not likely if it's the very first thing that occurs to you...
 
I say this theme is plenty versatile, it would be a gross miscalculation to underestimate the talent and creativity of this board by suggesting this fest will produce many similar entries. Could it happen? I suppose, but this community has such talent (as we just saw in TimeFest) that I think they can pull of unique entries.

Regarding the twists (again) I think if your idea contains any cliche twists that should be an immediate red flag. Maybe it's just me, but I don't think we want to see 10 films that turn out to be a dream. I say, if you are going to do a twist, do a damn good one that no one would expect; something that pushes your ability as a creative thinker, something clever and thought out.
 
Barry_Green said:
All I'm saying is: don't immediately grab onto the first concept that presents itself. Push further. Maybe in pushing further you do find a twist that you want to do that would be genius. That's entirely possible, but it's not likely if it's the very first thing that occurs to you...
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Great advice!
 
Barry_Green said:
I am VERY tempted to propose exactly that. In the past we've thought about banning guns, or other quick 'n' easy crutches that people reach for, just to make them stretch their creative muscles as far as possible. In the end we never do it, because we want you to have the freedom to make the film you want to make, but -- as an exercise, I'd personally love to see how people embrace such a restriction!

Maybe we'll donate a prize to "best Twilight Fest film *without* a twist ending" or something, just to get the filmmakers here to start thinking deeper about what this fest's possibilities encompass?

I mean, Shatner saw a monster sabotaging the plane's wing. Nobody else saw it, but he did. He grabbed a gun and shot the monster and saved the plane. In the end, there *was* a monster sabotaging the wing. Where's the twist in that? Sure, he got locked up in the loony bin for saving the plane, which is irony, but it's not a "twist"...

Keep in mind that the inspiration for this fest is not just Twilight Zone, it includes Outer Limits, Goosebumps, Amazing Stories, and all sorts of other shows of that ilk.
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Making a rule that essentially bans a twist at the end is a bad idea. While it's true that there were good TZ episodes that didn't have twists, by and large the franchise is known for twist endings. To say we CAN'T have a twist ending puts a severe handicap on making a 'Twilight Zone'-style film, and an unfair one, I think. If you want to do that, then change the name of the Fest to somthing else and give it a different theme. The AlternateFest -- where the story takes place in an alternate reality or parallel universe -- would be an idea. But if it's TwilightFest, then twist endings should be allowed, encouraged and embraced as homage to that show.

My 2 cents.
 
I agree that attempting to pull off a twist at the expense of everything else might be a bad idea, and we might get tired of watching a festival full of shorts desperately and unsuccessfully trying to pull off a twist. But whether it's a TZ-inspired story or any short film story, I think that a reversal on the dramatic expectatons is one of the strongest storytelling techniques in the short form. Most of us usually find shorts without a twist (whether it's drama or comedy or sci-fi or horror) to be somewhat unsatisfying. A great twist is absolutely golden. But it takes a great idea and some great writing to deliver it successfully. Sometimes a twist is a bit more obscure too. I loved Zak Forsman's short "I F**king Hate You" and in my mind there is a twist in it. The ending is a surprising reverse of the direction it was going. But it wasn't a twist that changes the entire world of the story (like many Twilight Zone twists do so well).
 
I have everything lined up (if the rules don't mess me up). Waiting on that greenlight and then I have a lot of calls to make.
 
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