watch 2011 Midknightly Halloween Horror Competition

So these are unsanctioned and unofficial and Knightly I'd gladly remove them, but now that all of the entries are up I thought I'd chime with my votes for categories that weren't covered. This was a lot of fun!


Ray. Damn you. I'm going to have nightmares for a week!

I just wanted to throw out props to rayw.

I've always viewed the horror genre as only encompassing either ridiculous black comedy, or pure exploitation. Never until I saw this did I see value in any horror film (except for perhaps Funny Games). Please note that I am NOT knocking horror fans or any of the movies that I haven't personally seen, but just for myself, this is the first time I've seen true value in the genre.

I thought it was a really good editorial choice to drag it out (and tbh, I skipped ahead a few times because I couldn't handle it ).

The ending shot of the fire could have been more...artistic (not sure if that's the right word) to drive home the emotional message along with the statistics. If that isn't very clear, a specific example is at the end of Whitestone's The Candy Shop (http://www.whitestonemotionpictures.com/films/the-candy-shop/ ). That's a short about the sexual exploitation of children, and at the very end where the statistics are shown they have a very cool background shot of broken candy (that would make more sense if you've seen it), and I can envision something similar incorporating the dolls and the fire.

Another small thing, the title of the film in ALL CAPS made me presume going into it that it would be some dumb action scene or similar. Too obnoxious in my opinion.

Those are the only critiques I have for now (I may go back and try to watch the whole thing, though). Great job, and thank you for sharing and changing my perspective!

Flicker Pictures said:

So these are unsanctioned and unofficial and Knightly I'd gladly remove them, but now that all of the entries are up I thought I'd chime with my votes for categories that weren't covered. This was a lot of fun!

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You forgot the award for best use of an inflatable sex toy.

Oh... yeah... forgot about that...

Award for best dreadlocks goes to Pumpkin Carver.

Results
1st: RayW - Destroyer
- Total: ( 41 - 1 ) 40
2nd: FlickerPictures - The Scream of the Screaming Screamer
- Total: (38 - 1) 37
3rd: DreadyLocks - The Pumpkin Carver
- Total: 35
4th: SuitablePlanet - Devil's Knight
- Total: (34 - 1) 33
5th: Don Patterson - Le Mort
- Total: (30 - 1) 29

As of right now, the Scream of the Screaming Screamer has the popular vote, but I was unable to figure out how to alter the poll to add RayW's submission. As it was a competition for fun, we'll call it with those results which have remained solid since before Ray submitted his entry. Congrats FlickerPictures! you've won the popular vote.

These films were all really fun to watch. Impressive that something important actually came out of a one off, random, spur of the moment competition as well. Makes me happy Thanks to all of you!

These contestants further reinforce the notion that it isn't the equipment but the person behind it that makes the film. Look at Rayw's list...well done, sir!

John@Bophe said:

Destroyer

1 - This movie made it difficult for me to breathe. My eyes watered. You are a brave man, Ray. I understand how this experience must have drained you. If I were judging solely on emotional impact, this would be the hands-down winner.

2 - Visuals (5 of 5) - From the start, this picture just felt dirty. The camera was a depraved voyeur seeking depraved thrills, courtesy of the Destroyer. Even though there were some excellently framed shots, they always came across like a happy accident, as if captured by someone documenting a real-life horrific scene. This is the most powerful assault (on the viewer) I've seen in years.

3 - Performance (2 of 5) - I scored this a little lower only because there wasn't much of a performance to feature in this movie. Not to take away from the actor, he did a fine job. To be fair to others in the competition, there were other performances that were more singularly impressive.

4 - Creepiness (5 of 5) - I don't really need to explain this. You know what you've done.

5 - Story (8 of 10) - One of the features I was looking for in the story evaluation was originality. Unfortunately, as your ending statistics indicate ... this story is sadly not a creative original one. What you DID manage to do, though, is deliver it with a powerful punch. And the use of the doll as a symbolic surrogate was (for me) a fresh, original spin on an old sad tale.

6 - Now I need to go hug my children.

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1 - Sorry about that. I think it's one of those things us dads choose to deliberately not think about, especially due the seemingly pointless randomness of it all.
As the concept began to formulate I increasingly knew this would be a pretty cheeky product to share.
I was surprised by the negative physical effect it had on me due to the psychological trauma it caused me during the filming process. I didn't anticipate that.

2 - Since screenplays can be flagged for juvenile On The Nose dialog I think it's safe to say film can have its same counterpart of On The Nose shooting. We all see plenty of those shots with us rooks and can see plenty of them in my own.
Would you and others please share any mathematics or mechanicals on either how those are done and/or how to avoid them?
Which shots did you see as happy accidents so that I can mindfully incorporate those principles into future projects? TY.

3 - Agreed. There wasn't much performance at all, and it wouldn't be fair to others. The one smidgen of performance of mine I see is where I knock the doll off the shelf and it looks so cliché lame that I cringe - but I couldn't give it a hearty throw-down without knocking off the doll's mouth gag.
I needed some glue or something.

4 - Yep. Pretty disgusting to me.

5 - Yeah, it's pretty effing sad that this subject isn't in the least bit "original" in concept. I was hoping the plumes and plumes and plumes of white stuffing coming out of the dolls abdomen would drive home just how gory the real event would be/is ( ). The exponential executional complexity of both gutting the white fluff with red faux blood on my fingers was just too much. Screwwit. Practicality won out on that one.
Also I had intentions of having the cardboard box's bottom be blood soaked as I carried it out to the pyre, but again, the complexity wouldn't be proportional to the eventual effect.

I wonder if viewers see the depth of the "destroyer's" pre-planning for this abduction.
- had box and binding already in van.
- had chocolate for a failed attempt at pacification.
- brought water and washcloth next day KNOWING the child would pee herself over night.
- that creates the false pretense of "washing her" clean.
- brought a lollipop the next day since the child refused chocolate the previous day.
- the dead brush pyre was already prepared days in advance of the burning.

This stuff isn't on impulse.
These monsters really plan ahead.
It's horrifying.

6 - Please, please, please go hug your babies!

Flicker Pictures said:

Destroyer

The Pumpkin Carver

Devil's Night

Le Mort

The Night of the Screaming Screamer

Ray. Damn you. I'm going to have nightmares for a week!

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LOL!
Those are pretty effing awesome, Flick!

Next year I'm going to shoot for something a little less intense, though. Fair enough?

Sorry about the nightmares.

Pete said:

I just wanted to throw out props to rayw.

2 - ... this is the first time I've seen true value in the genre.

3 - I thought it was a really good editorial choice to drag it out (and tbh, I skipped ahead a few times because I couldn't handle it ).

4 - The ending shot of the fire could have been more...artistic (not sure if that's the right word) to drive home the emotional message along with the statistics.

Click to expand...

Thank you, sir.

2 - Pretty effing sad way to do it, eh? Mixed benefit, there.

3 - Sorry, again. I tried to make it just keep getting worse and worse.

4 - I'll have to go hunt down that film, but in the meanwhile I think I understand what you're communicating.
Can't think about how I could make the fire any more artsy... Hmm...
I kinda wanted it just plain and detached - despite the fact we all know what's REALLY happening.
It LOOKS like a plain old rubbish fire - but it isn't.

An that's the shot where my memory card ran outta space like... literally one second before I ignited the gasoline in a huge fireball that made me embarrassingly duck and cringe out of the scene.
The roaring orange burst was magnificent!
A minute later I ambled back to the camera and was like "WHA... ??!!!"
Rewind.
[expletive!] [expletive!] [expletive!]
Ran back to the house, grabbed another memory card, ran back slapped it in there and caught the last thirty seconds of the fire going out.
I synced that fire going out with the 83% being killed with 24 hours data.

Really wished I had caught that exploding fireball and it's "WHOOOOSH!"

Livin' and learnin'.

knightly said:

As of right now, the Scream of the Screaming Screamer has the popular vote, but I was unable to figure out how to alter the poll to add RayW's submission. As it was a competition for fun, we'll call it with those results which have remained solid since before Ray submitted his entry. Congrats FlickerPictures! you've won the popular vote.

These films were all really fun to watch. Impressive that something important actually came out of a one off, random, spur of the moment competition as well. Makes me happy Thanks to all of you!

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Your entry was pretty d@mn funny!
Your actress is a darling hoot to watch.
That Screamer Doll is one lucky blow up doll to score with a girl like her.

I understand about the poll, Knightly, and honestly have zero issue with it.
If the last spaceship leaves Earth at 12noon, then that's when it leaves.
I was... two? three days late?
Yeah, well... Just you guys wait till next year!!!!! LOL!

Uranium City said:

These contestants further reinforce the notion that it isn't the equipment but the person behind it that makes the film. Look at Rayw's list...well done, sir!

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I put a fair bit of effort into considering the limitations of my resources as I craft a story to accommodate them, then I try to shove what little I got as far as I can.

Let me know how I can avoid some of those amateur On The Nose shots.
They're bad.
I know they're bad.
I don't understand the math and mechanics of WHY they're bad to avoid them.
Thank you.

JoshL said:

Congrats ray! A winner is you!!!! And I'm all for you trying to be MORE disturbing next year...some of us like nightmares! :-D

And wait until next year INDEED!

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Thank you.
I dunno. I think I'm tapped out on this one. I dug as deep as I got. I don't know how you can get more disturbing without alienating the audience.

Re. next year. Bring it, big guy! Freak us all out!

Congrats ray! A winner is you!!!! And I'm all for you trying to be MORE disturbing next year...some of us like nightmares! :-D

And wait until next year INDEED!

Ray, weird how we both used dolls in vastly different ways.

Adding the On top of the crying sound FX, that made it all the more real and unsettling.

Knightly and John, thank you for taking the time to review these films and offer your thoughts and notes. Next year's competition will be even bigger!

Next year's competition will be even bigger!

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I imagine many of us are already in preproduction.

Flicker Pictures said:

Ray, weird how we both used dolls in vastly different ways.

Adding the

Spoiler

"urine" dripping from the doll was a brilliant choice and sold it for me.

On top of the crying sound FX, that made it all the more real and unsettling.

Knightly and John, thank you for taking the time to review these films and offer your thoughts and notes. Next year's competition will be even bigger!

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<chuckles to self>
Yeah. Considerably.
(I think your doll was much luckier than mine. wink! wink!>

Thank God I brought a gallon of water.
I had to shoot that part about five or six times.

And "Indeed"!
Thank you Knightly & John for the depth of your reviews.
It's important to know if we're on course or tacking off into the bushes.

Uranium City said:

I imagine many of us are already in preproduction.

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Better not be no cheatin' an' such!

That's why there should be a Tropfest-like theme announced at the kickoff.
Even still, people will try to shoehorn something into their canned work.

I was wondering if in an effort to allow an increase production value if a two week turn around time would allow noticeable differentiation between this and a 48hr FilmFest?
(Forgive me for over analyzing).



Also, Flicker... You probably ought to slap a © (ALT+0169) copyright on each of your images.
The double sickle logo is pretty good, thus swipe-able.

rayw said:

That's why there should be a Tropfest-like theme announced at the kickoff.
Even still, people will try to shoehorn something into their canned work.

I was wondering if in an effort to allow an increase production value if a two week turn around time would allow noticeable differentiation between this and a 48hr FilmFest?
(Forgive me for over analyzing).

Click to expand...

I disagree. Don't get me wrong, I do the 48 every year, and it is a blast (though usually I have to score blind, which is an interesting challenge and has taught me more about scoring from a script). What I liked about this is that the end results were more diverse. I liked how the lack of restrictions let everyone be inspired (or not) on their own.

I do, however, agree that a little more time next year would be nice, and would definitely allow for better quality. I'm pleased with what I did, but wouldn't have complained about taking another pass!

(and to vent for a moment, my local 48 stopped giving out "best music" awards, claiming they were "optional" when I asked about it. Not that I'm bitter or anything )

We did a 36 hour project (really 24 for us, we couldn't start until that night) and it was one of the more fun projects we did. It's great finishing something that fast knowing there's no more work to do on it (versus 6 months in post :X)

I'm not sure if I said this yet, but thanks to everyone who watched my short and voted for it. And a very special thanks to Knightly and John@Bophe for taking the time to judge and critique (and of course for giving me an excuse to get off my butt and make something!)

Uranium City said:

I imagine many of us are already in preproduction.

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Not quite, but a co-worker of mine who's a MUA (special effects/horror mostly) saw my short and wants me to film a twisted Christmas short to showcase her work!! Stoked!!

Nice, glad that it will possibly get you more exposure

Great job y'all!

Ray's blew my mind. That was one of the most intense short films I've ever seen and definitely the best IT contest film since I've been around. Well done!

Time for Secret Santa 2011? Someone else needs to be in charge this year but I reckon it's about time to get started!

As the deadline for the 2012 MidKnightly Short Film Fest arrives I unfortunately run across yet another story that inspired my 2011 entry.

http://www.philly.com/philly/news/20121023_Body_believed_found_of_missing_Clayton_girl__12.html

Horrible.
"Tragic" sounds cliché.
Monsters.