Your thoughts on LossFest so far?

I've actually enjoyed the majority of the films here. Some of them needed a little polish, but I think this time around we had a lower percentage of bad films than before. Acting is definitely improving, so you guys are either spending more time with your actors and going through the motivations, or you're hiring professionals.

I just wanted to interject that before the hilarity and cyber-stalking continues on this thread.
 
Geez, I'm kind of blown away by this thread .... SOOO much posting about how voting SHOULD be, and/or why, etc. Even if the mods listed out EXACTLY how we should & NEED to vote, people would still deviate from it, because we have our own motivations on what moves, us, etc. Honestly, like art, there is NO right or wrong about it, so I don't know why all the discussions? Let people have their opinion, and leave it at that. :)

Jason Ramsey said:
The system is intended for you to rate each film on its own individual merits, rather than rating them on a comparison basis of the other films in the fest.

You watch a film, and you tell that filmmaker how well you think they did on a scale of 1-10.

the rankings take care of themselves. That shouldn't be your purpose in rating the films. Think of it as an audience member giving their impression to that filmmaker.

I encourage everyone to rate the films individually, rather than comparatively. But, to each his own.

For the record though, the voting process is meant to be a rating system, not a ranking system. The rankings take care of themselves. RATE the films. Don't rank them when voting and the system will excel. It already has excelled, but we always monitor and look for improvements.

lataer,
jason
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Like Jason had said ... it'll all work out in the end, whether someone rates the films in the same way as us or not. I personally can't understand how to 'rank' the films with the 10 star system, when there's only 10 stars, and over 60 films ... I just don't see that many ties happening, and it also seems like more of a headache than simply putting in your own mind what warrants a 1-10, and then rating it accordingly. In the end, the math, the averages, etc. ... all works out one way or another.


CallaghanFilms said:
My "Cup o' Tea" equation doesn't play in to my reviewing/ranking. A good film is a good film, regardless if it is up my cinematic alley or not.

For the record -

My personal criteria is (in order):
1. Writing/Story (not only a well-spun tale, but also a complete narrative)
2. Acting
3. Direction
4. Technical/Everything Else
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I'm not going to say this is right or wrong. Again, all comes down to personal taste. Believe it or not, there are some people (obviously, as filmmakers will put out films that have poor stories, etc.) that don't care so much about story & are moved more by what they SEE. Anything wrong with that? Nope, because it's what entertains THEM and moves THEM. This is exactly why some movies are blockbusters, yet in all reality the story just wasn't that great, or is 'old', etc.

Personally, I give a LOT of weight to the story as well, but I certainly will NEVER discount the technical side of it to next to nothing .... and here's why; Let's say you've got an INCREDIBLE story that's being told around the campfire ... but if that person telling it is a babbling idiot, and can't say much more than a few words without stuttering the hell out of it all over the place, takes twice as long as needed to get to the ending, and says 'Um" and 'Ah" all the time to gather there thoughts & figure out what they want to say next .... well, ya know what? I'm not going to be very impressed, and their speaking abilities would have pretty much ruined the story for me.

But, if you have NEARLY the same story that's still not QUITE as good, but the speaker is gifted at being able to swell their voice in the right spots to command your attention & move you in how they say their words, pausing at the right spots for the silence to creep in, etc. Ya know what? I'm going to LOVE that story better, simply because it was TOLD so much better, than a superior story that was told poorly.

So sure, direction plays a HUGE part of a film, to ensure that it was told well, etc., however the director is also 100% responsible for the technical stuff as well (editing, approving camera angles/movement, lighting, etc. - this is their movie, after all, and they have final say) ... so if they choose to drop the ball on some things for whatever reason, or don't have the skill to make a film look/sound better ... then it'll naturally impact people that are watching & rating it.

Again, no right or wrong, and these are all opinions (including mine, which I may get bashed for here).

Blaine said:
When the voting is done, I'll probably reveal my top 10 but I'd prefer to not have my rankings influence anyone else one way or the other..........

I don't care how anyone else scores the films as long as it works for them. This works for me.
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Amen, Blaine. I concur with NOT posting our favorites. I think it's great that people post something about a film they think is worth watching, incase it's been overlooked, etc., but for the same reason I don't want to read posts before watching a film & giving feedback, I also don't want to be influenced by people who post who their top picks are & why.
 
Norm Sanders said:
Amen, Blaine. I concur with NOT posting our favorites. I think it's great that people post something about a film they think is worth watching, incase it's been overlooked, etc., but for the same reason I don't want to read posts before watching a film & giving feedback, I also don't want to be influenced by people who post who their top picks are & why.
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I feel the same way. As I've stated before, I hate making "top (insert number)" lists in general, and I don't think I would do it in a festival either. A "these are my favorites in no particular order" isn't bad. Everyone has the right to express their opinions. But ranking them before the festival is done is out of the question for me.
 
Yeah, it almost can get to be a lobbiest situation, as if someone is trying to sway an audience to vote a certain way/direction, most especially when it then becomes a debate on why a film should or should not be a certain ranking. Save those discussions, for the actual films, in the film's respective thread, or wait until the festival is over to debate about who you thought should have won instead, not in advance on who you feel should win, possibly influencing others for one reason or another.
 
Norm Sanders said:
Yeah, it almost can get to be a lobbiest situation, as if someone is trying to sway an audience to vote a certain way/direction, most especially when it then becomes a debate on why a film should or should not be a certain ranking. Save those discussions, for the actual films, in the film's respective thread, or wait until the festival is over to debate about who you thought should have won instead, not in advance on who you feel should win, possibly influencing others for one reason or another.
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Ugh, lobbyists. I certainly don't want any political shenanigans in this festival, as I'm sure most don't.
 
I think it is somewhat insulting to our members to say they would be influenced by (gasp) seeing which film someone else is pulling for. We are all adults here. Is this a fest? Yes, but it's also a contest. Should periodicals no longer list the picks they feel will win the Oscars ahead of time? Should I not wear my Steelers garb to the game as to not influence those who want the other team to win?

Come on guys. If you don't dig lists, don't make 'em...but some of us do and will.

:beer:
 
CallaghanFilms said:
I think it is somewhat insulting to our members to say they would be influenced by (gasp) seeing which film someone else is pulling for. We are all adults here.
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You're kidding me, right? It's only kids that are impressionable?? Hmm, so much for advertising then! :evil:

Some people love to make lists & some people love to see them. Other people don't like to make lists, and there are those who don't care to see them. I'm just stating my personal feelings is all.

But, to say it's an insult to the members that they be influenced .... well, hogwash. If Jack Daniel Stanely, Mark, Zak, or other longtime & well respected members on here post who they think is best & why they should win in advance (because they don't just TALK about filmmaking & critiquing others but actually DELIVER the goods with their own films, winning/placing high in the fests), you actually think that a newer member who's still learning the ropes wouldn't be influenced?

I'm just a fan of letting the films speak for themselves, and having discusions that are outside of the film's respecitve thread take place AFTER the festival rankings are announced.

But, that's just me. By all means, carry on. :beer:
 
Zak Forsman said:
amen. every fest is fueled by buzz and chatter about what rocks and what sucks. lists are part of that.
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Well, having finally finished watching everything, I find that this fest turns about to be about like all the rest for me. A few GOOD movies, a lot of AVERAGE movies and as it turns out, about the same amount of BAD movies as the other fests. Today was a tough day of watching.

Some people got better...some didn't.

I was pleasantly surprised by at least three filmmakers who made marked improvement.
 
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