Your thoughts on LossFest so far?

I'm slowly whittling my way through the films, right now having only watched & commented on 10 so far, and trying to give in-depth feedback where ever possible. I'm also rating them as I go, 1 star being something that sucked so bad I couldn't even finish it (I've not experienced anything like that in this fest so far), and 10 being a drop-my-jaw-mind-blowing-experience, which I've also not found yet ... though I have rated one a 9 so far, as my highest rating.

My method is to 1st acknowledge those who've commented in my thread, and be sure to watch their films as well & comment, etc. Total honesty, no butt kissing, though I'll try and temper anything that could be construed as negative with some positives as well, etc.

As soon as I catch up on that, then I'll look for names of filmmakers I know & look forward to seeing work from, and get to theirs. After that, it's just going in order of the films listed. As I watch them I drop them into a "watched" folder, and the ones I want to show others will go into a "worth watching again" folder.

So far, I think this is a solid fest, and have been pleasantly surprised in one way or another with nearly every entry.
 
You just made my day.:dankk2:

Darkline said:
1) Collections Vol 4:Mint in Box

This was just effortless, funny, and probably the most engaging short of the bunch. A simple but brilliantly executed premise that pulls you in from the off. Great dialogue, pacing, beats, a convincing lead... technically sound. I think my pick of the lot. it just worked as a package for me like no other did.

2) Acceptance

With the slight reservation of the familiar ending (for my taste), I thought this was great film-making. It reminded me a lot of dogma, maybe 'festen'. Editing was top notch and of all the films on show that tried for that naturalisitc indie feel, I thought this nailed it most effectively; it also created a character you cared about in a short space of time. Really good to see some european cinema in here. This felt like the opening to a feature and was very cinematic without being contrived. I believed every moment of it.

3) Placebo

Just a great film all around. Well, shot, written, lit. Everything seemed to work and was again one of the most all round entertaining films. If I was to nit-pick it was perhaps too flashy in places, and I'd have liked a more conclusive final shot (what happened to the guy?). This aside, there was so much in this short to admire I cant even list them. Great work, very pro.

4) Chalk Dog

I know people will think I'm mad for picking this as it wasn't great technically by any means, and there are so many WTF moments.... but I just love it. Perhaps it was just refreshing after a string of overly sincere short films, but something seemed honest amongst the madness which is what made it stand out. When he was making the dog run around on the chalk marks in his living room with sinister music - I just couldn't stop laughing. The chalk mark at the end in a semi-dog/human shape. It was just fresh. My pick of the unconventional films here. The line 'Do you know brad's dog?', is wicked. Maybe its just my f*cked up humour :huh:

5) The Puppateer

Final of the top 5 is this all action tense piece. I especially liked the bit with the ninja-type guys at the desk and the repeated cutting. I was thinking 'what's going on?', and then a woman walks into the room and says exactly that. Ok I didnt know what was going on at all... I laughed when that guy spits on his own floor for no reason, and I laughed that a guy looking into a microscope is wearing shades! But this was just fun and very enjoyable to watch. It gets straight into it and doesn't let up. Lots of great moments. I remember the last short you made and this is a significant leap forward in my book.... I wanted to see it all kick off at the end, but maybe in a sequel?



good luck to everyone.
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I'm almost done with my viewings/commentary. I have eight or nine more to go. Then I'll begin my second pass through ones that I'm not quite sure of and then make final voting decisions.

Interesting fest, overall. It seems to be functioning, in a vast number of levels, as fests have in the past. There are a lot of correlations.

I've certainly had a pretty good time viewing the films. I hope everyone else has too. :beer:
 
I watched a few of my friends entries first and have finished watching the first zip. So far this may turn into my favorite fest to date. I'm pretty happy so far. A notable upward level of creativty in the writing and directing as well as better acting all around. Some really interesting things in every short so far.

Some minor audio problems in a couple, probably because I'm wearing headphones, but yeah, this feels like a true indie fest where the gloves are off and I'm having a good time.

Just a brief note on the leader being oversaturated, yes it is. There will be some new ones coming down the road soon by various artists to help break that monotony.

Excellent job guys. Best time viewing I've had in a while.
 
You made my day as well! :beer: You guys are the ones that did "Broadcast" right?!? If so, then it is an even higher compliment because I thought that film was absolutely outstanding...if I can make a film of that level someday I would be ecstatic!

Cheers!

Darkline said:
To excuse my 'hit and run' tactic here, let me just say I will hopefully get round to viewing more films, but right now I've only had a chance to watch just over half of them and unfort I dont have time to comment on all of them. So I thought I would group my top 5 and thoughts here instead. sorry...

My top 5 (of the 'in competition' shorts) :

3) Placebo

Just a great film all around. Well, shot, written, lit. Everything seemed to work and was again one of the most all round entertaining films. If I was to nit-pick it was perhaps too flashy in places, and I'd have liked a more conclusive final shot (what happened to the guy?). This aside, there was so much in this short to admire I cant even list them. Great work, very pro.
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I'm getting through the entries when I can ... about 30 deep so far, some great ones - its getting difficult to pick and choose favorites.

Jason Ramsey said:
If you guys wanted to do a poll or whatever for unofficial awards that would be cool. Or, if you want to all pm me your write-in suggestions then I can announce any that get enough worth recognizing them for...

and maybe wil be able to do a little something special for them as well. but, at the very least it would be nice to at least give acknowledgment.
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I'm 100% for this, it sounds like a great idea.
 
This really has been a solid line up this time around. I think if I averaged my scores on all the fests Ive voted on, this would probably be the highest average. Some really cool stuff to watch in there and I still have a few to get through. Cheers DVXuser fest participants.... outdone yourselves.
 
Sprocketboy said:
I'm noticing my scoring is changing the more I watch. Some real gems in there.
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I know some folks are ranking/starring the films based on how they compare to each other, but for me personally that seems more difficult than just rating the film on a standard 1-10, 5 being just average, middle of the road indie.

1 means it sucks, was a waste of your life to watch it, and probably didn't even finish (haven't seen any of those).

5 means it was average. Nothing really stood out. May have been able to stand on it's own & had merit, with nothing REALLY poor about it either. Just kind of one of those 'meh' films.

10 means it just blew your mind, you loved everything about it, and struggle to find any critiques to give it (I've only seen one of those so far).

If you rate like that, then you can just rate the film immediately after watching it, and don't have to continually change ratings because someone else set a new bench mark on what you think is the new best film (making that one a 10, and downgrading all others, etc.). Just seems way less time consuming, not to mention easier, since there's only 10 stars, and over 60 qualifying films.
 
I've now gone through almost all of them, still plenty to comment on but I'll get it done.

There are less bad movies this Fest, that equals more good movies overall. I still think that there are less great movies though.
I wasn't blown away by as many this Fest.

It does seem that the majority of filmmakers are improving their game and that makes for a more enjoyable Fest overall.

I still wanted some of the big guns to really wow me though.
Could it be that they just didn't stand out as much this Fest because everyone else has improved?
Could be. That might explain it.

PS- This is not a knock at anyone. There are still some really fantastic entries this Fest.


MAH
 
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Norm Sanders said:
I know some folks are ranking/starring the films based on how they compare to each other, but for me personally that seems more difficult than just rating the film on a standard 1-10, 5 being just average, middle of the road indie.
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This is almost how I rated them. My "middle of the road" tended towards the 6-7 range. (I have a high tolerance for "sub par" filmmaking.:)) I am finished rating them all and only had one 10, a couple of 9's, several 8's, lots of 7's, etc. I am glad I don't have to choose the top 3, I have around 9 films that would be in the running.
 
The Callaghan Top 5: LossFest Edition

#1 Lost at Sea
Favorite Bit of Dialogue...
"POO POO IT! ACTION!"

#2 The Things Between Us
Favorite Bit of Dialogue...
"...What's wrong with this place?! What's wrong with being right here with me..."

#3 Placebo
Favorite Bit of Dialogue...
"Whatever the doctors were testing here, they weren't prepared for the results...not by a long shot.'

#4 Collection Vol. 4
Favorite Bit of Dialogue...
"...This?! This? Yeah, I like this! Not on my watch! This, you...this is...this is nothing to me..."

#5 Acceptance
Favorite Bit of Dialogue...
"Awesome stuff...just like the force. 'It surrounds you...penetrates you...it binds the galaxy together'..."​
 
Good choices! :thumbsup:


CallaghanFilms said:
The Callaghan Top 5: LossFest Edition

#1 Lost at Sea
Favorite Bit of Dialogue...
"POO POO IT! ACTION!"

#2 The Things Between Us
Favorite Bit of Dialogue...
"...What's wrong with this place?! What's wrong with being right here with me..."

#3 Placebo
Favorite Bit of Dialogue...
"Whatever the doctors were testing here, they weren't prepared for the results...not by a long shot.'

#4 Collection Vol. 4
Favorite Bit of Dialogue...
"...This?! This? Yeah, I like this! Not on my watch! This, you...this is...this is nothing to me..."

#5 Acceptance
Favorite Bit of Dialogue...
"Awesome stuff...just like the force. 'It surrounds you...penetrates you...it binds the galaxy together'..."​
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I've viewed and ranked all of the films. At the moment, I haven't given anything below four stars. For a fest like this, I just cannot find myself giving films one measly star. There are a couple that will probably drop to three stars before the 17th, but that's about as low as I'll go. Sure, there are some that didn't engage me at all and I wasn't crazy about (not naming any, so don't ask), but I can tell they made some effort, so I can't give them a "you suck, quit filmmaking" score of one star.

I don't know. I guess I'm like a kindergarten teacher that wants to encourage everyone instead of sharpening them up like a U.S. Marine drill sergeant.
 
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