Thoughts on TimeFest

Ive gotten through half the films and one thing that sticks out is the slow pace most of the films have. Hopefully there is a fast action story later on, but the dialogue seems to drag in quite a few, but perhaps its partially due to the acting which few of us have the resources to get pro actors. With 6 minutes you could even do away with dialogue!

All in all its great that people are joining, imagine all the ones that didn't make it in time or the good ideas that never got made. I think this thread is more about constructive criticism and not about insulting anyone. Congrats to everyone who entered!
 
This is only the second fest I have viewed at dvxuser.com, so I can't really say if this was the best or worst or where it falls in line. I will say that I found there to be a a greater disparity in the quality of films in TimeFest than in LoveFest.

That is to say, I have rated most films with either a 1-3 star rating or an 8-10 rating, and not so many 4-7. In LoveFest, I thought that only a few films really stuck out as particularly polished or particularly challenged.

Not sure if that is good or bad - of course it's just my opinion. What is certainly good is the number of entries though, especially from first time filmmakers. I have really enjoyed watching every film that was submitted, as there is something to learn from each one. I hope to be among you for the next fest.
 
Sorry Chris, I found some of your statements a little condescending.

There's nothing wrong with honest critique. I welcome it, because I care less about the voting and such than I do about using these fests to hone craft.

But I agree with MJ. I haven't seen every single one yet, but I kind of feel like the ratio of creative and solid entries is about the same as last fest.

I would agree that the writing in the TOP entries of last fest was hard to top, but I think overall the ratios are about even, I think.

Regardless my point stands. Man-up, and put your money where your mouth is. Write me something for next fest! :)
 
Well this is my first fest and I am also new to DVXuser.com, so it was a pleasure to see so many great films. What I tried to do was find the best qualities of each film and only post positive comments. Not that I didn't make a couple of construstive comments also. But limiting negative commentary helps me to see things sometimes overlooked by others. So based solely on this type of criticism I can get away from the flaws and focus on what was done well. Not that I am better then anyone or anything just my take on it. And I didn't want anyone to think I think I am better then anyone else. I was truly blown away with some of these productions and wondered why they would even submit here if they have so much to offer why not save it for something else. But I soon came to realize just how much of a community we have here and am happy to be a part of something so awesome.
 
Mark Harris said:
Sorry Chris, I found some of your statements a little condescending.
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I am not sure what statements came across that way, but I can assure you, that was never my intent.

Mark Harris said:
Regardless my point stands. Man-up, and put your money where your mouth is. Write me something for next fest! :)
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I created MoviePoet.com for this very purpose, to connect writers and filmmakers. This is a free web site (in the same spirit as DVXUser) that holds short script contests every month. There are now over 600 scripts in our database, a few of which have even been used in fests here (e.g. "The Small Multiple").
 
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My comments on the fest so far:

I watched about half the films on an airplane last night. I Know... certainly not ideal listening situation. But, even using good headphones, about 80% of the films were totally ruined by unintelligible sound, or variations in sound that made the music/effects deafening if I wanted to hear the dialogue. A number of films were highly dependent on one or two lines of dialogue at the end which the filmmakers didn't bother to make clean and intelligible and/or well-balanced with the overall sound.

I balance this with the other 20% of the films in which the sound was listenable, and the 5% or so in which it was actually a great asset to the perception of the quality of the film. And of course all the crap playing on the airplane's TV, which was fine. Certaonly for SOME films, and all the commercially produced stuff from the plane, listening was NOT a problem.

PLEASE, folks! It's only six minutes. Listen to your sound carefully. If there's a crucial line of dialogue, PLEASE, make sure folks can understand it easily. Don't test it on yourself; test with someone who DOESN'T know what the line should be.

I say this with love. Seriously, there are some films that would have gotten a much higher vote, but were ended with a crusial linbe of dialogue that I just couldn't understand even on repeated listenings. If it's that crucial, and you can't handle the sound, at least subtitle it. Dub it badly. Whatever... make it understood!
 
Simon Höfer said:
Yeah, do it!! You lazy bastard :D Writing on DVXuser all day doesn't get a film done :P
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:grin: I like writing on DVXUser all day, bub! And, in fact, it did get a film done because when I reached 1000 posts I had to make on (thanks to you, you arse!) I guess I'll try to do it. What I need is some better equipment and actors. I have a bunch of acting friends, I guess I could call them. Never really thought of that before. :embarasse
 
Michael Anthony Horrigan said:
Still, as far as I'm concerned... probably the best Fest yet.

EDIT: Don't forget, many entries were made from first timers. You can't expect them to be perfect. What would be most valuable is if you went into every thread (especially the first timers) and offered an honest critique. That would be helpful.

Mike
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I don't think he was implying that entries need to be perfect. Also, Chris is one of the few people that seem to get around and comment to most threads whether he is in the festival or not.
 
I would have to agree with chris in a few aspects. I personally think Lovefest drew much stiffer competition, whereas no film in this fest (save for O2) made me smile. I fast forwarded through a few of them because I saw where they were going, or they dragged., or were just undisciplined.
 
Slimothy said:
I don't think he was implying that entries need to be perfect. Also, Chris is one of the few people that seem to get around and comment to most threads whether he is in the festival or not.
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I tend to comment in all of them myself actually.

Basically I think Mark summed up my thoughts quite well in his last post.

I expect to see another thread like this next Fest. There usually is.
The only part that bothers me is that it is usually started by someone who didn't enter the Fest.

Nothing against Chris personally.
I mentioned Movie Poets in my first reply. I was well aware of it.

Comment in all the threads and critique away. That's the best way to help.
EDIT: I know that I learned a lot from honest critiques early on.

Cheers!

Mike
 
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Chris Messineo said:
- Enough with the serial killers
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WHATEVA, I DO WHAT I WANT. :)

CartmanFreakStrike.jpg
 
After reading so many of the reviews, I'm beginning to think THIS was LoveFest...:Drogar-Love(DBG):
 
Blaine said:
After reading so many of the reviews, I'm beginning to think THIS was LoveFest...:Drogar-Love(DBG):
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You think we're being to kind on the reviews?

I have a hard time with knowing what to say. so I err on the side of nice.

I'm so poor at writing i'm afraid I'll say something that comes off asshatish.
 
lol ... i don't think i could have tried to make my response any more light-hearted. maybe i needed more smileys? yay. fun. we're having fun!

no hard feelings Chris. thanks for watching all then films and posting your thoughts.

:):):):):):):):):)
 
I understand what you're saying. If I can't find something good to say, I'm not going to go in and thrash someone but I think it's doing a disservice to just stroke someone. And I'm not saying that everyone's doing that, I'm just seeing more this time around. I haven't seen any Kholi-style reviews...even by Kholi. His reviews could be tough, but a lot could be learned from reading them.

I'm at fault, too. I've been a lot less critical than I was three or four fests ago. I certainly don't want to discourage anyone but...
 
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I agree Blaine.

I was really hoping for some tough reviews of my film. I got a couple but not as many as I had hoped for.
 
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