Seems like it's getting harder and harder to get people to watch short films

Rippie said:
I'm finishing up a short film I made and have consciously decided to not post it on dvxuser.
I'm very happy how its coming out but after reading threads of others "work" on here
and its amazing how everyone's a critic.

The best part is when you click on the "critics" name and
see the "film" they produced and its laughable that they would have the nerve to put other work down.
Just isn't worth it to me. Of course this is just my own personal opinion.

I agree that this site is much more focused on the technical which is great.
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Critiquing the critics, huh? I'm clicking on your name now... ;)
 
Zak Forsman said:
I hear you. I haven't met many people like that – folks who truly have zero regard for "the interpreters". but if I WERE to meet them, I'd happily slap them across the face, on your behalf of course. :)
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Slap them one for me too. They'll never see the second slap coming... :grin:

Edit: Dammit Zak. Way to light a fire under my ass to get those new promos finished... :-p
 
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“The critic has to educate the public; the artist has to educate the critic.” Oscar Wilde

I think anyone that is ashamed, shy, humble, too embarassed to say their an artist has a self esteem issue. What do you do if one asks what you do? Look to your shoes and pretend you work in retail hehe.

Whether or not you consider your work art, if that is what your attempting then your an artist. It is not humble to deny this in my opinion, on the contrary it only helps to ensures that artists remain in the fringes of social acceptance. The ironically essential black sheep of the bourgiouse.
 
It's NEVER to deny art, but not to create for the sake of art. If you're just creating anything with the knowledge that you can hide under the guise of art whether its good or bad, that denies what the art is about in the first place. The artist creates because he absolutely HAS to. It's how he sees the world and how the audience sees it with him that defines his art.

We're not ashamed to say what we are. Most artists that I know define themselves by what they do. They say "I'm a painter", "I'm an Illustrator", "I'm a sculptor", "I'm a musician"..."I'm a filmmaker". The term artist is so broad and so wide that its hard to call oneself truely an artist unless you do everything that encompasses art. Even artists are specialists... we just have so many different sub-categories and layers of people than your regular painter or sculptor.

Your average painter can exist and create in a vacumn, and work on something until it's done, or in most cases just "good enough".

We have to put together teams of people to run production, act in front of the camera, put the pieces together... so many people, so many moving parts. Film is a living organism and with that many people involved to pull that final creative spark out into the light where it's finally good enough... it's hard to take the 100,000 ft view and say "I'm an artist".

Everyone of us knows this. Some of us specialize in a PART of a film, others take on every role in the production of the film, oversee each step all the way through, but we are aware of the contributions of everyone involved. To take full credit and say "I'm an artist"... for some of us it's not about shame, but the fact that you want to acknowledge that its was the effort of everyone involved that got you so far.

We can strive to be artistic and we can reach that goal in our means of expression... but until we are locked in a room with a brush and a canvas and no one in between our vision, it's almost impossible to take full credit of being an artist.
 
I personally don't think one requires full credit to say there an artist. I'm sure we can imagine anyone making a creative contribution that is artistic - being an artist.

But who cares really - i mean for me its not whether someone calls themselves an artist or not that is the issue. Its the person that is uncomfortable with the term, for connotations that are entirely negative based on stereotype.

I mean - just imagine bursting into the ambassadors bedroom and proclaiming before him and his mistresses...

"Behold... I... am an artist!' (or for extra dramatic emphasise, artist with an e at the end - artiste! Beautiful!!!

Nope, its more this kind of conversation.

Oh so you make films?

Yeah....

Wow cool so whats it like in the arts?/So that makes you a bit of an artist?

What me? No im not gay! I um work for my living - look at all my machines, they prove im not a Secular Liberal!

I go back to Zaks point really myself, and generally agree with your sentiment Rodney.
 
Rippie said:
I'm finishing up a short film I made and have consciously decided to not post it on dvxuser.
I'm very happy how its coming out but after reading threads of others "work" on here
and its amazing how everyone's a critic.

The best part is when you click on the "critics" name and
see the "film" they produced and its laughable that they would have the nerve to put other work down.
Just isn't worth it to me. Of course this is just my own personal opinion.

I agree that this site is much more focused on the technical which is great.
Click to expand...

Hey Rippie, one of my first shorts, was a very experimental point of view short that explored what it was like to break up with someone. I switched between the male and female point of view from start to end. It was around 19 minutes long. I didn't put any music in it because I figured being point of view, there is no music playing in real life. I also didn't do any film filters or much color correction to keep it as real as possible. It was really rough and had a lot of mistakes in it but I wanted to explore it and see what it would be like. It ended up getting a lot of compliments. You can read some of them here...
http://blogs.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=blog.view&friendId=348825869&blogId=366937826

I put up 2 promo clips of it afterwards (with music) just to leave something online for it...

man...
http://vids.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=vids.individual&videoid=30526348

woman...
http://vids.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=vids.individual&videoid=31186987


There was one person who trashed it, trashed the writing, trashed the acting, trashed everything. I didn't know the person, never met them before but they happened to be from DVXuser. I got really upset and checked out what he had done and couldn't find anything. I asked him what he's done that's online and he said nothing. He had 2 HVXs and all this gear and had nothing online to show. He was the harshest rudest critic, tearing it apart like a filmmaker would with a very critical eye and didn't hold back at all. Looking back I've realized that, you know what, it's just a short. And you know what, it could have been better. :Drogar-Happy(DBG):

What sucks is when you get an independent feature on NetFlix and it gets trashed on there. I started looking at some independent features that got distribution and placed on NetFlix, films I've seen that weren't that bad, and you'll read some really horrible reviews. And what's sad is these are reviews that aren't necessarily from critical filmmakers but from the general public. 10-15 reviews on some indie features that are embarrassingly cruel.

My point in bringing this up is, it's better to take your hits/criticism on your short now than on a feature film later. Let them line up to bash it, whoever they might be. Learn from it and apply it towards your next project.
 
GoodLuck, general forum etiquette encourages us not to bash wilfully. If there is anything negative, then it must have a point and a solution. Most of us try to respect that... especially long term users. So when you get a review here it's **usually** one that's well thought out... but of course you'll always get the occasional opinionated jerk.

Here, criticism is intended to show you how to improve. So take it for what it's worth, don't defend valid points, think about it and apply it.

If it's bad, we'll tell you that it is, but we also will tell you WHY...

If it's good, we'll cheer you on and offer a few suggestions to make it BETTER.

DVXUser can be your proving ground before you enter the real world where people hide behind anonymity to say nasty things just because they can. But workshop here, fix the problems before you get there and believe me, they'll have less to criticize...
 
Zak Forsman said:
I just want to reiterate how Rodney is a perfect example of what I'm talking about. I don't see him posting shorts asking for feedback in user films. Maybe he does but i haven't seen it. What he DOES do is he makes a film for every DVXFest theme that comes down the line. His corresponding discussion thread offers a degree of transparency that engages the audience in a sincere and meaningful way, so that by the time the short film is available for viewing, people are invested. and so he likely is one of the first films that they will watch and give feedback on. He also has raised his profile by selflessly promoting the festival and ALL of its participants by focusing on the experience it offers an audience. He doesn't beg people to come watch his shorts, he invites people to participate in the experience. Smart.
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You make it sound like posting a film in the user section is a bad thing. Like you're a pathetic loser filmmaker begging people to come watch your short if you post it there.

It appears the way to go is the dvxfests if you really want some feedback.
 
Rodney V. Smith said:
GoodLuck, general forum etiquette encourages us not to bash wilfully. If there is anything negative, then it must have a point and a solution. Most of us try to respect that... especially long term users. So when you get a review here it's **usually** one that's well thought out....
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I never posted the short on DVX, he just happened to be a member on here who found it on MySpace and commented on MySpace to me. That's old news though, I was just bringing it up to say exactly what you're saying, that you just have to apply the criticism towards future work and learn from it, no matter how critical it is and not be afraid to share your work on DVX or with other filmmakers because it's better to take your hits/criticism on a short than on a feature, especially on one that might be widely circulated on NetFlix/Blockbuster/etc.
 
GoodLuck said:
You make it sound like posting a film in the user section is a bad thing. Like you're a pathetic loser filmmaker begging people to come watch your short if you post it there.

It appears the way to go is the dvxfests if you really want some feedback.
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Look at it this way: at least the DVXFests are advertised. People here KNOW about the fests and promote them outside. So your viewing audience is automatically set. You have guaranteed feedback from the other filmmakers entering and you can learn from their threads.. follow their journeys and not be alone while making your film. Filmmaking can be a lonely process at times, but at least you have other people around who are often going through the same things that you are.

We understand you and we are all ROOTING for you to do well.

Go it alone and post in the User Films section and nobody knows who you are. There is no community focus on user films because most times it is hit or miss.

By engaging in the community, you get out there and share with us, engage us and stop being an anonymous poster. You become an active part of the community with a voice and eventually a face.

Enter the DVXFests and if anything look on it as practice. A way for you to perfect your storytelling, your cinematography... whatever. It's better than going it alone...
 
lawriejaffa said:
Whether or not you consider your work art, if that is what your attempting then your an artist.
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So, I mean, I've never actually driven a Formula One race car, but I want to... So I guess I'm a Formula One driver! Woohoo!!! I didn't know it was so easy!!!! Thanks man!!!

So... where's my paycheck?
 
Jester2138 said:
So, I mean, I've never actually driven a Formula One race car, but I want to... So I guess I'm a Formula One driver! Woohoo!!! I didn't know it was so easy!!!! Thanks man!!!
Click to expand...

Oh cool: Dibs on Playboy Billionaire!

Edit: my bank account does no reflect this and the hordes of gorgeous woman haven't shown up yet. Maybe they're on holiday...
 
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