Out of Curiosity - FILM TIME LIMITS - Vote in the poll

[J.R. Hudson]

The fest calls for 5 minute films. What is so hard to grasp about that ? Why try and change it ? Will :60 seconds suddenly make your film better ? Your film being better due to adding minutes aint gonna make it so. It either is good or not good.

I can barely sit through the majority of these films as it is.

5 minutes is good.

Take Brandons film entry; 2 minutes of credits to me was overkill (Yes, Brandon, I know your reasoning behind it). That sequence could have been chopped by a minute and 45 seconds and been just as effective; more effective as my attention waned early, realizing I was seeing the same thing for 2 minutes

(Sorry Bricey; not singling you out; just an example)

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The thing with film is that if a scene or shot or segment isn't pushing your story forward, then it shouldn't be there in the first place. The majority of these films suffer from this very thing.

Think of movies that open with a short sequence that sets up the film.


JAWS

The entire opening sequence (Chrissy being eaten while swimming gorgeously naked) is just over 4 minutes long.

House of a 1000 Corpses

The opening sequence is 4 Minutes 20 seconds

Poltergeist

4 Minutes and 30 seconds

All of these films are very compelling in these small scenes and they each set up the rest of the movie while still standing on their own merit.

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[Jack Daniel Stanley]

John my deal is that the fest was 6 minutes since Sci Fest and it was working well. Only Zombie fest was 5.

And the 6th minute does seem to be the sweet spot. It does seem to make a difference. At least to me, having done 6 of these.

So I think 10 minutes is nuts. But any time someone asks me ... 6 is better than five. Just seems to work out better. There's that one extra page of development.

I couldn't have done ODD Squad, Bone Hand, or REKINDLED without the 6th minute. No way. They were packed right to the end and I think each post contest cut was about 15 - 30 seconds longer.

 

[J.R. Hudson]

6 is good too.

My point was, whether or not it was 1 or 15; the fest is what it is and it doesn't seem broke.

If anything, I wish we had a jury selection.

 

[Slimothy]

3 minutes!!

 

[mjjason]

5 minutes is perfect. Much longer than that tends to be long and drawn out work. 5 minutes force people to get to the meat of the project which is what a short should be about.

 

[Mike@AF]

Nope. That should be the goal of the filmmakers, of course, but that's not the point of the fest. The point of the fest is to get the membership making films rather than just talking about 'em.

Well then I guess I've misunderstood what we're trying to do here. If just making films was the goal then there's been quite a bit of success. I suppose what I'm saying is it's one thing to make a film, it's another to make a quality film. I see room for improvement... and that's with everyone including myself.

I'm not saying the fest is broke. I'm just saying it would be nice to see what kind of films could be created given more time. Most of the films that have been created for the fests thus far seem to be incomplete. Everyone can write a 5 page script and it may end up being 6 min or 10 min. To make it a 5 min film, it may require only a 3 page script, which is much more difficult to have a complete story for. With a little bit more time I think we'll start to see a bit better quality... not with all, but with some. That may be a small improvement, but at least it's an improvement.

 

[J.R. Hudson]

 

[Barry_Green]

Well then I guess I've misunderstood what we're trying to do here. If just making films was the goal then there's been quite a bit of success.

Yes, there has. The fests are very popular, and we're seeing many, many members contributing some great work. And lots of members making lousy work, sure -- but then we can track some amazing growth among them too. It's working quite well. It's a community event, a festival, a party. That's what the point is.

I see room for improvement... and that's with everyone including myself.

Of course there is, and everyone should always be striving. We're not saying that's a bad thing. All I'm saying is: the point if the fest is not to force people into making better films, it's like I said before: to have a fest, to get people making films. Them wanting to make better films will happen naturally.

With a little bit more time I think we'll start to see a bit better quality... not with all, but with some. That may be a small improvement, but at least it's an improvement.

There's nothing in the world stopping people from making longer films. Look at Norm -- he's making his "Berlin" film, and he anticipates it being 20 minutes long. It just won't be part of the fest, is all.