TimeFest Rankings & Ratings

[Jason Ramsey]

I can say for the first time with full confidence that I am very happy on the whole with how the system worked. It was extremely fair, and on the whole I think representative of the whole user voice just in the way the system was set up. Add to that the fact that we're talking about near 20,000 total entries into the database with the new system and other things that will remain unknown to the entrants (for what I hope would be obvious reasons) and the system is pretty hard to break.

I know you guys just want to know that the voting was fair and representative. Believe me or not, but I'm saying this with full confidence that it WAS. And, it will only continue to get better. The system that is in place now is the basic foundation. changes will be made as necessary, but from here on out, the main goal is continuing to grow the fests and increase the sample of voters. Making the voting system be as fair and representative of the member voice as possible was my number one top priority for this fest.

The addition of a panel of industry professionals is also to allow folks to have both worlds in this festival, and the panel system will continue to grow with the fests. The results of the panel also speaks very highly to the new systems accuracy in that it largely reinforced the popular vote.

I would not have posted these ratings had I not believed the system to be representative. But, I guess I should have known that folks will look at a couple of decimal places and start drawing their own conclusions and thinking they know how the system is setup and works, etc, etc, etc. My mistake. Won't happen again

 

[Michael Anthony Horrigan]

No cries of foul here. He'll, I accurately predicted the top 3!
I do prefer the panel style of voting though.
Have you guys thought about contacting an Independent film magazine or website and asking them if they want to judge a DVXFest?
Could be cool and bring even more exposure.
Plenty of time before the next fest.

PS- Did the panel have a different top 3? I would love to know what their top 3 was. We know #1

Mike

 

[Jason Ramsey]

panel had the same top 3. Won't always be the case I'm sure, but this time they picked the same as all of you guys.

 

[Mark Harris]

Hey jason, this might be something else you don't want to reveal, but just out of curiosity, how was the panel vote set up? Did each rank the entries, or confer together like a jury, or was did it have to be a unanimous vote?

 

[Ben Sliker]

no changed votes factored into the second round. Only new votes had impact on the 2nd round.

cool. nice to know. please post in sticky next time.

John Abbot did go down more for some reason...

I'll remember next time not to let you guys have so much information if you'll just think something shady is going on b/c ratings changed from round one to round two.

Please don't look at a couple of decimal points and think that some shi* is going on....

If you looked at and followed all of the data from the around 20,000 total ratings that were cast across all the films like I did, and Larry did, and Barry Green did, then maybe you'd actually know how things shook down.

Next time I won't tell you anything.

I was merely making an observation, and a facetious one at that. (which ... you made the same observation) I NEVER said that because of inherent flaws in the system, our film went down. Why do you assume that?

Thanks for the post Jason, I like how quick people are to call foul. Kind of humorous.

I never 'called foul' on the system. I was just noticing a difference between our results that DIDN'T follow the norm. This could be attributed to many things, all of them that AREN'T the voting system. (including, *gasp*, people just not liking my film.)

The addition of a panel of industry professionals is also to allow folks to have both worlds in this festival, and the panel system will continue to grow with the fests. The results of the panel also speaks very highly to the new systems accuracy in that it largely reinforced the popular vote.

I would not have posted these ratings had I not believed the system to be representative. But, I guess I should have known that folks will look at a couple of decimal places and start drawing their own conclusions and thinking they know how the system is setup and works, etc, etc, etc. My mistake. Won't happen again.

Now that's just mean. Again, I never questioned the voting system ... yet. If you can imagine, it was more of a "man, i must have pissed people off with those AIM sessions" or "hey, this seems kinda weird, did you pick up on that too?" But unfortunetly, I'll never know why my score went down, again, just making an observation. If it helps the moderators make the system better, great, if they think it's perfect how it is, great. The fact that it's constantly changing and improving is what's important. So ... there's my feedback, take it how you will.



And just for kicks (off topic) as a member of this forum, it is my right (in fact, duty) to question any system i please. Just as it is the moderator's discretion to let us know or not know anything about the voting system. For instance, I think the 2nd round of voting is stupid. Not because our film went down either, but because the voters in the 2nd round watched the films under different conditions than the first group of voters.

I also believe that secrecy breeds contempt. DISCLOSURE PLEASE!

Jason, now it's your right to tell me that you don't give a spit what I think, and you know what, that's cool.

 

[Barry_Green]

Have you guys thought about contacting an Independent film magazine or website and asking them if they want to judge a DVXFest?

The point of the panel is to get the DVXFest entries' work in front of people who can make a difference in their careers. We're not looking for film critics or magazine writers or anyone like that -- I set out to find agents, managers, and producers who are in the position to pull our DVXUser filmmakers out of the realm of the ordinary and grant them the ability to make serious steps in their careers.

The "best film" awards were decided by the membership. The panel vote is an additional thing, unrelated to and unaffected by the membership vote.

The panel is not about fairness -- we've already covered fairness with the new voting system. It's not about popularity, or exposure for the fest, or anything like that. The panel idea is solely focused on putting DVXUser work in front of influential people who can get our users some A-list work. I can't say when or if they'll ever hire our filmmakers, but the goal is to make sure that our filmmakers get their work seen by people at that level.

 

[Brandon Rice]

And judging by the name's you threw out the other night, I'd say you guys pulled together a great panel!

 

[Postmaster]

Amen Barry!

 

[Jason Ramsey]

Ben:

I did post that info in the original round two sticky. more than once

The rest of that was not directed soley at you or accusing you or calling you out. I was just trying to head some stuff off at the pass. People like to take a little information and run with it, so before the conspiracy theories started flying, I wanted to head stuff off before there was 10 pages of speculation based on a couple of decimal points and no knowledge of what actually went on.

Sure. Secrecy can breed contempt, but in some circumstances, it can also aide in attempt to undermine the system. It's pretty obvious how the system works on the surface. Exactly how the data is processed is not something we feel needs to be divulged. The 2nd round did accomplish it's goal. There were mixed feelings about how effective it might be, but in actually witnessing it, it did the main thing I wanted it to do and it was successful. Changes are constantly being made to the system. This time around was a major overhaul and it proved to give us a solid foundation to work from. The difference is we are looking at all of the information and making any changes that we deem necessary as a result. But, the new system is very robust and inherently solves many potential issues just in its incorporation into the fest.

Late,r
Jason

 

[Ben Sliker]

lol ... wait, that's happened before?

cool man. I can only assume it was pointed at me (cause it was the next post.)

man ... i really wanted you to tell me that you don't give a spit what i think.

 

[ConspiracyPenguin]

Ben, I don't give a spit what you think.

Just kidding, also I was not calling you out either with my quote about people crying foul. It seemed like some were considering there was a descrepency and Jason's post also indicated that the thought was around here in some folks's minds. I don't want you to think everything I say is about you, bub! :evil:

 

[Jason Ramsey]

I care what most everyone thinks about where they think this site is headed, and I will hear all reasonable and well informed suggestions/concerns/etc. But, there are times when what you (general you ) may think is not grounded in enough information. I'm very interested in the user experience from their perspective. But, that is only one factor in any decisions that are made as it is a piece of the pie.

 

[ugafan]

just throwing this out there...

round 1
people vote on films, rating the films on a scale of 1-10 stars. the top 8 films are selected.

round 2
people rank the films 1-8. a first place vote is worth 8 points, 2nd place is worth 7 points and so on... most total points is the champ.

no worries if you hate this idea, it was just off the top of my head. :cheesy:

 

[Michael Anthony Horrigan]

The point of the panel is to get the DVXFest entries' work in front of people who can make a difference in their careers. We're not looking for film critics or magazine writers or anyone like that -- I set out to find agents, managers, and producers who are in the position to pull our DVXUser filmmakers out of the realm of the ordinary and grant them the ability to make serious steps in their careers.

The "best film" awards were decided by the membership. The panel vote is an additional thing, unrelated to and unaffected by the membership vote.

The panel is not about fairness -- we've already covered fairness with the new voting system. It's not about popularity, or exposure for the fest, or anything like that. The panel idea is solely focused on putting DVXUser work in front of influential people who can get our users some A-list work. I can't say when or if they'll ever hire our filmmakers, but the goal is to make sure that our filmmakers get their work seen by people at that level.

Never hurts to have even more exposure. Having the top 3 posted in a magazine or another web site would be cool. Especially by those who are willing to be public about it. The panel idea was great, I actually requested it after last fest.
Just looking to have sometimg judged by an independent panel that doesn't mind commenting publicly.

That's all.
Not sure why that idea is always frowned upon?
I can do the leg work if you wish.

Mike

 

[Mattykins]

Barry,

I have to respectfully disagree. You can put films in front of producers, but will that realistically make a difference? I don't see why having a critic or a magazine take a look at get some exposure to the film would be a bad thing. Actually I think it would help film makers here more than one producer seeing it.

I think having several positive reviews by major people, as well as making the films public to more than just DVXuser can generate a nice buzz. After-all, no press is bad press. After exposure, and positive exposure at that, especially if someone generates a great deal of buzz - it might lead to someone out there saying, "people are talking about you - and I want to know why". With a few professionals, you might get a "that was great work. Congrats".

I am with Mike. I don't think it should be frowned upon. Wether its practical or not, that is another animal in and of itself.

 

[Jason Ramsey]

we're not saying your suggestion is a bad one on magazine, etc.. it's just not where we are trying to head with the panel...

Think Barry Green signing JDS to a feature deal after seeing his work in these fests... Now, take that and think even bigger. That's where we'd like to try to get to eventually with panel involvement in the fests.

Later,
Jason

 

[Matt Sconce]

we're not saying your suggestion is a bad one on magazine, etc.. it's just not where we are trying to head with the panel...

Think Barry Green signing JDS to a feature deal after seeing his work in these fests... Now, take that and think even bigger. That's where we'd like to try to get to eventually with panel involvement in the fests.

Later,
Jason

I like it!

 

[Mark Johnson]

I was near the theater door when a television producer arrived and I escorted her back to the VIP room where several other producers and actors were seated. Just as they greeted each other Forsman's IFHY came on the screen and everybody began watching it (by the way, the respect that ALL the audience gave to the films was really gratifying).

Anyway, they all really loved IFHY and I was able to eavesdrop on some of the conversation. The producer I had brought in wasn't really briefed on what the screening was all about and several people gave her quick descriptions of DVXUSER and the festival. In addition to observing them react to Forsman's film, it was so nice to hear outsiders talking about DVXUSER with respect. Hollywood really reacts to hype and buzz so that it immediately became evident to me that this event is a huge brick in the foundation Barry and Jason are talking about. We ourselves have seen some of this with the contacts we've built. Both Tim Abell and Ana Alexander have spoken to their agents, friends and business contacts about DVXUSER.

To be able to host a screening of our members' films at such a beautiful setting right on Hollywood Boulevard was a golden opportunity to raise the bar and begin attracting interest in the industry. You can definitely be assured that many of the people in the biz took serious notice when Barry was on stage explaining about the industry panel.

We received several requests for our reel and we have some meetings now that we are very optimistic will result in concrete opportunities. However, the bigger picture and real benefit will come over time if DVXUSER can continue to screen quality work that is seen and appreciated by the people who have resources and authority to make films. These are now just baby steps really. In the end, the most important factor will be the extent to which this community steps up as a whole to make quality productions. I hope that the ripple in the pond will spread so that we see many new teams bringing their best games to this party. If so, everybody will benefit and the Hollywood screenings will become a "must-see" event in this town.

Many blessings and best wishes to all of you. Thank you for putting up with us in spite of our many flaws. We just want to tell stories and will never stop working on getting better at it.

 

[Slimothy]

I was near the theater door when a television producer arrived and I escorted her back to the VIP room where several other producers and actors were seated. Just as they greeted each other Forsman's IFHY came on the screen and everybody began watching it (by the way, the respect that ALL the audience gave to the films was really gratifying).

Anyway, they all really loved IFHY and I was able to eavesdrop on some of the conversation. The producer I had brought in wasn't really briefed on what the screening was all about and several people gave her quick descriptions of DVXUSER and the festival. In addition to observing them react to Forsman's film, it was so nice to hear outsiders talking about DVXUSER with respect. Hollywood really reacts to hype and buzz so that it immediately became evident to me that this event is a huge brick in the foundation Barry and Jason are talking about. We ourselves have seen some of this with the contacts we've built. Both Tim Abell and Ana Alexander have spoken to their agents, friends and business contacts about DVXUSER.

To be able to host a screening of our members' films at such a beautiful setting right on Hollywood Boulevard was a golden opportunity to raise the bar and begin attracting interest in the industry. You can definitely be assured that many of the people in the biz took serious notice when Barry was on stage explaining about the industry panel.

We received several requests for our reel and we have some meetings now that we are very optimistic will result in concrete opportunities. However, the bigger picture and real benefit will come over time if DVXUSER can continue to screen quality work that is seen and appreciated by the people who have resources and authority to make films. These are now just baby steps really. In the end, the most important factor will be the extent to which this community steps up as a whole to make quality productions. I hope that the ripple in the pond will spread so that we see many new teams bringing their best games to this party. If so, everybody will benefit and the Hollywood screenings will become a "must-see" event in this town.

Many blessings and best wishes to all of you. Thank you for putting up with us in spite of our many flaws. We just want to tell stories and will never stop working on getting better at it.

I've got a pocket full of business cards. People were offering editing jobs, acting services, stunt man services, free lunches and lots of good company. It was really great. I think these events are what you make of them but it starts with the fests. If we can keep trudging as a community, some of us will be able to position ourselves to take advantage of some great opportunities.

 

[Shawn Philip Nelson]

Wow, I never met any industry people nor met anyone that wasnt a long time dvxuser..., the event was fun as hell but I sure missed the boat on any opportunities, I must have been standing in the wrong part of the room.