Too Early?

GenJerDan said:
Since no one here really expects to get "picked up" from a tiny short...right?
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Aha! But you're wrong, my German friend! Think of Troops, and 405. The show I work for is a national newsmagazine carried by all NBC O&Os, and I shot interviews of the filmmakers of both of those shorts for that show. We then went to interview the CAA agent (whose card I still have) that picked up the makers of 405 to shop them around town as hot new filmmakers. National coverage, exhibition, and a CAA deal. Not bad for a little short!
 
NBCShooter said:
If the next contest leans toward the romance or comedy genres, I'd be hard pressed to get remotely excited about writing and shooting something for either of those two. Certainly, both genres are arguably the most difficult to pull off credibly.
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I think romance is especially hard, but I think comedies are fairly easy to make. Romance movies can have a variety of basic goals... to make people cry, to make the laugh, to make them spiteful of love, etc... whereas comedies have a broad single purpose with built-in triggers (cliche and tasteless I know, but flatuence gets the boys rolling). For romance, cliche'd moments make all but the most sappy viewer die painful.

I think love, rather than romance, is the true center of what I proposed. The current story in my head actually has very little to do with classical romance.

Oh, and I find comedies infinitely rewarding to shoot when you've got the right actors. Then the biggest challenge is not to screw up takes by laughing, and that's a good feeling.
 
Oh, but I'd also encourage a shortened deadline, perhaps a month. I think people will make a decision pretty quickly about whether or not they'll make one, and it won't likely change.

Fewer entries, yes, but it'll kinda be a palette-cleanser for me. Kinda like that red stuff they include with sushi.
 
Another possibility: realtime. 6 minutes on video = 6 minutes of movie life.

I think someone's proposed something similar... I'm just stating my interest.
 
i hate that idea wcs. Main reason is because a lot of what people here are practicing is editing, sound design, lighting and cinematography. In a 6 minute film without cuts you're likely not going to have enough time and equipment to do any of those well. Even if you continuously reshot those 6 minutes to get the sound, lighting and cinematography right (highly unlikely) you don't get to do any editing, only post.

I want a chance to do everything wrong!
 
After a discussion of story lines with a friend of mine, my vote is for noir. The ad idea is good, but wouldn't really demonstrate the art of story telling (which is a weakness for most, including myself). The romance and musicals would be a good challenge but I doubt there'd be many entries for them. 4 or 5 at most.
 
I figured I would chime in on this. I think that Jarred and Barry S most likely already have something in mind for the next festival so this is all mental masterbation, but if I had a vote I would really campaign for a romance film. I think that there are endless possibilities, plus it is a genre that a lot of people normally don't pay attention to. To me it just seems like an ideal format to explore. The film noir is open because that is a style not a genre, but you're ultimately testing lighting skill in a noir festival.

I'm cool with whatever though.
 
dj200423 said:
The romance and musicals would be a good challenge but I doubt there'd be many entries for them. 4 or 5 at most.
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Well I think that depends on the prize. If someone was going to win an HVX I bet they would call everyone female they know and get some ideas and EVERYONE would be in this contest. If an HVX went up as a prize I bet people would even use vacation days to make the short. I know I would. I know there are not enough available yet for that to become a reality but hey, Jan may have it in the works to sponser next time around. Who knows.

I like the idea of romance only because its so hard. I have been thinking up stories already and havnt thought of one good one yet. I like to think up all the things that come to mind at first and write them down then I make sure I never use them because those were the obvious. Romance is kicking my butt right now but i like thinking about what I can do in 6 minutes for it. Noir also has been kicking around in my head but I think im liking romance more because it gives me the chance to think about specific lighting, make up, shots, and of course story to match. Noir seems like as long as you have high contrast it will look like one. Not much in the way of lighting techniques. (dont flame me on that comment) but you know what I mean.
WCS congrats on your 100th post.
 
dj200423 said:
...The romance and musicals would be a good challenge but I doubt there'd be many entries for them. 4 or 5 at most.
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Gotta disagree...

I think whatever the given genre happens to be, there will be no less then forty entries. DVX Fests have become too big to ever go back to the times of merely an entry or two.

The bottom line is we (for the most part) want to make films that would be viable additions to our portfolio. As many of you know, you may be hard pressed to find a more passionate fanatic for Film Noir than I...
but still, I would not want to see my beloved genre stripped down to clichés.

I think (until we run out of them) we should use the broadest genres and sub-genres possible. We should probably steer clear of micro-genres like Noir and Kung-Fu.

We still have:
-Romance
-Action
-Adventure
-Mystery
-Crime
-Horror
-Sports
-Comedy
-Fantasy
and
-Western

to work our way through (should keep us busy for a while, no?)

:beer:
Callaghan
 
Really, for those who've got a MAJOR desire for Noir, why not just work that style into whatever contest was next? Since it's mostly a technical thing/feel, it could be applied to ANYTHING:
30 second advertising spot
Romance
War
Western
Comedy
Suspense/horror/thriller
Etc.,

Sure, some of the genres would take more creativity to give reason & credibility to the Noir style, but that's what this is all about ... pushing our creative envelope. For those who want Noir, there's no reason they can't do it no matter what the subject is, but I'm not sure forcing everyone to have the same "look" would make it as entertaining to sit through 40+ films.

The same argument could be made for sitting through 40+ romance films, but as wcs stated, it could be more about love, which is universal & wouldn't necessarily be the stereotypical "romance" ... of course, there would have to be strict definitions ... so hopefully it could be about "love", not "romance", and then it opens it WIDE open!

It could be the love of one brother giving his life to save the other, in the line of duty, as they bust down a crime syndicate during the Great Depression (Exploring love, crime/thriller, with a Noir style).
 
That's the one idea that tends to get axed the most. Basically, if you want to see a music video, then just head over to the Clips/Grabs forum ... tons of them on there.

The other catch to doing that, is finding a decent band to work with ... otherwise there's legal/copyright issues ... and not everone's going to have access to a fairly good band, so it'd tip the scales unfairly ... possibly.
 
I like the idea of musical. Hard as all get out to pull off, though. Now, not only do we have to write a script, but compose several songs, and find actors who can sing. Whew. It's hard enough finding actors who can act.

Anyone know the legalities of adapting using a broadway musical? I have one in mind, actually.
 
Envision said:
Really, for those who've got a MAJOR desire for Noir, why not just work that style into whatever contest was next? Since it's mostly a technical thing/feel, it could be applied to ANYTHING:
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Yep. Noir is style, not substance.

Although most people probably equate it with detective stories.

But even detective stories can be...well...anything. SF, Western, Romance, Comedy... :grin:
 
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