Film Festival Judging

Unknown Screenwriter

Unknown Screenwriter

Looking for gold...

Well for the last 2 days, I've been judging some of the over 200 entries we received for a local film festival.

All I can say is WHOA...

Why?

Because so far, 99% of the films are downright terrible. We have had a few judges with little experience in judging films however, we use a rubric that lets you nail down the problems in all the judged categories.

The biggest problem by far is STORY!

There are none. It's almost as if the entrants (kids, college students, and adults alike) just wanted to go out and shoot something... Just not a story.

The next problems are really bad editing... I've said this before and I'll say it again... If I have to watch another terrible actor wake up, smack his or her alarm clock a few times, rub his or her eyes, brush their teeth, etc., etc. etc. Edits from one scene to another that make no sense.

Next on the list is sound. Really bad sound quality and inconsistent sound throughout.

Bad acting i.e., totally unrealistic and forced.

Having said that... One thing we are all noticing is that almost all the films have really interesting titles and credits... LOL. If the filmmakers would spend as much time on the film as they did on their credits... LOL.

So far, we're only about a quarter of the way through the entries so I'm still hopeful for a few gold nuggets...

I just thought I would share this info with other filmmakers here... I have to stop and think if the HUGE film festivals get this much schlock... Geez... So far, we've had one animated short that definitely kicks ass and has risen to the top.

It's just funny to me that not even the basics are adhered to in any way, shape, or form.

The good news is...

Maybe the competition for really outstanding films isn't as bad as we think... READ: OUTSTANDING FILMS.

filmy
 
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Now imagine they're all trying to be funny...

Heya Filmy (and all you filmmakers out there),

I am the project manager (not the programmer) for a comedy film festival, so it's not really my job to watch everything that comes in - my programmer wades through the boxes and brings to me only his top picks. I still like to take a few entries home every week, to keep on top of what's coming in - from that and what my programmer tells me you're not far off when you say the majority of festival submissions are missing some of the basics...

That's what makes finding those rare nuggets so special and exciting... if it was easy, everyone would be makin' movies!

JonRon
 
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I hear ya Filmy. Story is an area that I struggle with a lot. I never shoot anything until I am certain I have a solid script (or I have a competition deadline to meet heh). It always seemed pointless to me to put effort into all the other aspects of filmmaking when you have a bad story. What's the point? I think people sometimes forget that the whole goal of making a film is to tell a story. We get so wrapped up in technology, and how "cool" it is to make films.

One thing we are all noticing is that almost all the films have really interesting titles and credits... LOL. If the filmmakers would spend as much time on the film as they did on their credits... LOL.
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This is so true! I think the reason being that anyone with some graphic abilities can sit down and make a cool credit sequence / intro. It takes so much more to put together a good story! SFX (despite how hard it is to do them well) seem to be the easy part of making films (ie hollywood and student credit sequences). At least, that's my perception of it.
 
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What amazes me is that people would submit these films. I just finished my first short and I am intensely proud of what I accomplished considering the limitations of my experience and equipment, but I have no misconceptions of its quality. While I will force all my friends and family to repeated viewings I would not subject the same experience to the general public.

As far as sound quality, I can only imagine. I spent two hours shooting. An hour and half editing and roughly TEN hours working with the sound. I say roughly since the combining of mics and Mikey D apparently is a bad idea... "ooh, I wonder what it would sound like if I recorded these bells rolling down this plastic pipe, then played it backwards with a shit load of reverb.... OOOOHHHHH!!!!" And in the end I still feel that the sound can use some more fine tuning.

Perhaps its my insecurity that leads to my perfectionism and perhaps its folks sense of enthusiasm that leads them to present imperfect material, but I can see the bad even when its my own. And perhaps its my intolerance in others lack of perfectionism but being subgected to 198 bad films is what I imagine hell is like.
 
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At least you're trying to be creative...

Mikey D said:
What amazes me is that people would submit these films. I just finished my first short and I am intensely proud of what I accomplished considering the limitations of my experience and equipment, but I have no misconceptions of its quality. While I will force all my friends and family to repeated viewings I would not subject the same experience to the general public.

As far as sound quality, I can only imagine. I spent two hours shooting. An hour and half editing and roughly TEN hours working with the sound. I say roughly since the combining of mics and Mikey D apparently is a bad idea... "ooh, I wonder what it would sound like if I recorded these bells rolling down this plastic pipe, then played it backwards with a shit load of reverb.... OOOOHHHHH!!!!" And in the end I still feel that the sound can use some more fine tuning.

Perhaps its my insecurity that leads to my perfectionism and perhaps its folks sense of enthusiasm that leads them to present imperfect material, but I can see the bad even when its my own. And perhaps its my intolerance in others lack of perfectionism but being subgected to 198 bad films is what I imagine hell is like.
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Like my title says... At least you're trying to be creative with your sound...

One feature we watched (shall remain nameless) had the volume down so low that we had to turn the sound all the way up on the player to hear it. There was this one scene that the filmmaker kept cutting back to over an over again... These two guys smoking a joint talking but we couldn't hear what they were saying because the wind was blowing too hard against the microphone. And, because we had the sound turned up all the way, we kept having people from nearby offices come in during the screening and complaining about the NOT ONLY the noise (they could hear the wind noise through the walls) but apparently, the vibrations from the wind noise was knocking a few things off desks and even a picture fell to the floor...

Too funny...

Even though most of the films are terrible, I still really enjoy watching them. I can't give them a high score but I do make a notation on the judging form (they get these back) to KEEP TRYING! Making films is hard work, so never give up! I totally applaud ANYONE who gives it a try. Along with the bad score however, I try to give as much HELPFUL feedback as I can. Even when a film totally sucks, you have to appreciate the effort that went into it. At least somebody tried. I would never want someone to QUIT because their film got low scores...

If that makes sense...

filmy
 
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I find the sound mixing process to be quite interesting personally! And it certainly takes the most time! That's probably because I'm not experienced with it either.

There's nothing better than a well mixed indie film though! (well a well mixed film with a story but...)

I would never want someone to QUIT because their film got low scores...
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I agree. The people who have the guts to go shoot something deserve a good deal of respect! It takes someone with initiative to do this. Most people just sit around talking about making films and never get around to it. I'd never want to see someone give up because of a single piece. Heck, even the pros are never fully happy with their own work! Always something to improve!
 
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filmyjumper

Shaw said:
I find the sound mixing process to be quite interesting personally! And it certainly takes the most time! That's probably because I'm not experienced with it either.

There's nothing better than a well mixed indie film though! (well a well mixed film with a story but...)



I agree. The people who have the guts to go shoot something deserve a good deal of respect! It takes someone with initiative to do this. Most people just sit around talking about making films and never get around to it. I'd never want to see someone give up because of a single piece. Heck, even the pros are never fully happy with their own work! Always something to improve!
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I've had the occasion to be around filmyjumper during a few of his jaunts up here in Northern New Mexico and I have to say that this guy is simply the best. When everyone is sitting around taking potshots at filmmakers with awful movies, filmy is always pointing out the fact that they got off their butt and made a movie, give them a break. Most people I know that are into filmmaking never really know what it takes to be the point man, take the initiative, find the other people, and make a film -- good or bad but they sure as hell know how to KNOCK them!

This is one of the reasons everyone keeps asking him to be a part of the process. He keeps them honest and he's never afraid to speak his peace whether or not it is politically correct. We just wish he lived up here instead of Las Cruces.

You feelin' me filmy?
 
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Even though most of the films are terrible, I still really enjoy watching them. I can't give them a high score but I do make a notation on the judging form (they get these back) to KEEP TRYING! Making films is hard work, so never give up! I totally applaud ANYONE who gives it a try. Along with the bad score however, I try to give as much HELPFUL feedback as I can. Even when a film totally sucks, you have to appreciate the effort that went into it. At least somebody tried. I would never want someone to QUIT because their film got low scores...

If that makes sense...
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Yeah that makes sense. It is really cool that you have that kind of respect for folks, I just hope that it is appreciated. If these filmmakers are truely interested in improving and mastering the meduim then they should.

I just know that when it comes to myself I will not be able to ask strangers to look at anything I create untill I reach a certain level of polish. I am not looking for perfection, I can't imagine there is any such thing, I just want to make sure that when people give up some of their time to view my work that I show them respect by presenting something that is the very best that I can offer.

Having said that, it has been said that my expectation for myself and for others is far too high.
 
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Aw shucks...

TheThing said:
I've had the occasion to be around filmyjumper during a few of his jaunts up here in Northern New Mexico and I have to say that this guy is simply the best. When everyone is sitting around taking potshots at filmmakers with awful movies, filmy is always pointing out the fact that they got off their butt and made a movie, give them a break. Most people I know that are into filmmaking never really know what it takes to be the point man, take the initiative, find the other people, and make a film -- good or bad but they sure as hell know how to KNOCK them!

This is one of the reasons everyone keeps asking him to be a part of the process. He keeps them honest and he's never afraid to speak his peace whether or not it is politically correct. We just wish he lived up here instead of Las Cruces.

You feelin' me filmy?
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Uh... Sure. LOL. Thanks for the kind words...

I totally feel the same way about the polish and not wanting to let the work be seen until it's as close to perfect as I can get it. I guess the problem here is that perfection is relative... LOL.

filmy
 
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wrecklogo.gif

Im going through the review process now ..its fun to hear all the ponts of view ,,quite honestly i look for something good in each one ..i like to think we have something for everyone ..
The website for The Wreck-Beach International Film Festival has been updated .Most of the films to be shown have been listed although some changes still might occur..
Check it out seee whos films are making it at
http://www.wreck-beach.org/filmfestival/showing.php
 
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I love this thread, I've been helping in judging films and scripts.. and yes, there are a lot of bad ones, even in scripts... Some is just bad format in sense of, the scenes doesn't make sense reading it nor it has enough explaination to make the paragraph easier to understand, i think the writer assumes that we all know what he's talking about :)

I have been rejected a few times with short films, some because the theme is not what their festival is looking for (some festival have a yearly theme to go with), other times, it doesn't bring the audience out (because festival need to generate revenue with your film, if yuo can being 100 people to the show, then you definetely GET in even the film is boring) :)

So, anyway, as I was taught, you must join the game to beat the game (in any competitions - olympics, martial arts, film, etc) and networking is important too :)

Johnny
 
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