Forum Archive Home -> Short Film Competition 2005 -> Suggestion to improve Short Film Contest 2006
Suggestion to improve Short Film Contest 2006 | ||
| gadgetguy posted 2005 Dec 12 12:32 | ||
| We're only a couple days away from the close of S F C 2005 and there are less than a dozen entries. I guess that increases the chances of those of us that have entered but it won't help to attract sponsors for future contests.
I have seen some comments about not finding out about it until "too late", and it my immediate thought was "how could they not have heard". But after thinking about it I realized that most of the time that I'm on-line here (which is probably way too much), I never see anything about it unless there is a new/current topic discussing it. So I would like to suggest that instead of having the link for the contest hidden down towards the bottom of the main screen, there should be a bold link near the top of every page. | ||
| lumis posted 2005 Dec 13 15:29 | ||
| Shut up gadgetguy! you're going to cost me $500.. kidding :lol:
but all kidding aside, i agree.. even though i heard about it a long time ago, i'm sure i could have just as easily missed it.. there should be some kind of perma-link on every page.. i'm not sure how much work that would take or how much of a load that would put on the servers though.. | ||
| ozymango posted 2005 Dec 14 12:57 | ||
| I definitely like the idea of putting some little graphic on every page (perhaps in the upper left corner, under the videohelp logo?) during the contest, just a brief blurb and link to catch peoples' eyes.
I like the "theme" thing, where every film has to have some kind of whatever reference to [Baldrick, but could be some other word/theme], mostly as a way of really encouraging people to be creative. And very often we are most creative not when we have no limitationss, but when we do have limitations! :) Also I may get pelted with rotten fruit for this, but maybe the prize money amount was almost too much for many people? :| That is, you see a top prize of $500 and you go (or at least I go), "WOW!!! That's serious money!!!" Which is great, I applaud it from a financial incentive point of view, but it can also be intimidating -- I've gotta make a knockout movie! And I'll be up against people who probably do this all the time! I'm just an amateur, my film will look terrible compared to the winners! Or maybe I'm just projecting my insecurities on everyone else. Not that I want to cut down the $$$, but maybe have a bunch more "little" prizes, to maybe encourage people with modest budgets but enjoyable interest to send in something and maybe win $25. Just a thought. :D | ||
| gadgetguy posted 2005 Dec 14 13:05 | ||
That's funny because in the original thread about the contest (or one of the early threads) there were people complaining that it wasn't enough to be an incentive. Personally, I wouldn't care if it was $5 or $5000, it was just fun to participate in this years competition. | ||
| ozymango posted 2005 Dec 14 13:13 | ||
[quote="gadgetguy"]
$500 isn't enough incentive? $500 isn't enough incentive? Yow, I walk six blocks to save a quarter, $500 is mucho incentive to me!!! :D I'm with you, it could be $5, it could be just a note saying, "We watched your movie and it didn't totally suck" and I would still have a good time making my movie and sending it in. :P Very seriously, the thing I'm most looking forward to is getting to see everybody else's stuff. Plus we get to be part of an elite group -- the few, the proud, the shameless geeks who were a part of the very first Videohelp Short Film Contest! :) | ||
| dipstick posted 2005 Dec 14 14:56 | ||
| If I win (and that's a big if), Baldrick can keep the money as I'm not interested in prizes. They tend to be more of a hasle than they're worth. I entered purely for fun and competition, not to mention supporting the site. | ||
| Noahtuck posted 2005 Dec 14 14:59 | ||
I think you just won on that comment alone :lol: :lol: | ||
| lumis posted 2005 Dec 14 19:15 | ||
| if i win the money i'll get drunk for you all :lol: | ||
| dipstick posted 2005 Dec 14 20:52 | ||
| Well I like Southern Comfort or Jack Daniels. So you'll be getting hammerd real early. :x :lol: | ||
| offline posted 2005 Dec 14 21:22 | ||
| If we don't get more entries quickly, a 2006 contest seems unlikely. The judges will keep the prize money and get hammered with Jack Daniels themselves. | ||
| vhelp posted 2005 Dec 16 20:19 | ||
| TGIF everyone :lol:
Hi guys.. I thought I would suggest a few ideas for the current and future competitions. :idea: - My suggestion is.., could the subject title change (on-going) to give us an idea where everything is at, during the run ?? In our case in this years competition, ..when it's finished. i.e., Short Film Competition 2005 - [ finished ] Some examples.. Short Film Competition 2005 - [ started ] Short Film Competition 2005 - [ > 20 entries ] Short Film Competition 2005 - [ overwhelmed ] Short Film Competition 2005 - [ near complete] Short Film Competition 2005 - [ 7 days left ] Short Film Competition 2005 - [ and the winner is.. ] -vhelp 3686 | ||
| offline posted 2005 Dec 16 20:41 | ||
| Well I've looked over some of the entries and I'm pretty pleased. One quietly blew my socks off. Thanks to all that supported the comp.
Late entries will still be accepted but points will be removed to be fair to the others who were on time. Stay tuned for official updates later. | ||
| C_S posted 2005 Dec 18 15:38 | ||
| You could always submit your contest info. to sites like hi-beam to attract more people, too... Maybe next year? | ||
| offline posted 2005 Dec 18 16:01 | ||
| Maybe C_S... but we were after current members of VideoHelp more than blow-ins from the general public. There is not much of a kick in seeing outsiders you don't recognize, winning the prizes. | ||
| C_S posted 2005 Dec 19 00:46 | ||
| Good point, hm. | ||
| ozymango posted 2006 Feb 06 17:11 | ||
| Hope nobody minds that I'm bumping this thread -- it seems a more useful and relevant topic line for some of the stuff that's been posted in the "Announcement of Prizes" thread.
I don't so much have suggestions as just ideas to throw out, because I enjoyed the first contest and would love to see more people involved in the next one. :) As for whether they're pros or amateurs, I guess I don't really mind one way or the other, for this specific contest, mostly because this time out we only had a dozen submissions and forty votes or so, out of how many possible viewers out there? :| So I'm more about thinking about promotion at the moment. :) From reading some of the comments in this forum and others, I suspect that some number of people (perhaps a significant number) didn't enter simply because they didn't really know what the contest was about, as this was the first time out of the gate and the rules were pretty minimal. And nothing against all the freedom the minimal rules allowed us creative entrants :), but it may be useful to have more "guidelines," as it were. And those guidelines may not necessarily have to be specific rules, but even just chit-chat feedback in this forum (or a "short film contest 2006" forum) from people who are actively interested in this contest, as viewers, participants, or both. So we now have some sample films under our belts, and at least the beginning of a conversation about who likes what, and what this contest is "about." And I'm sure the answer to "what is this contest about?" varies for each person. :) So, what should we talk about? | ||
| offline posted 2006 Feb 06 18:02 | ||
| Thank you ozymango. I'm watching this thread so it stays clear. There are various issues. Publicity, rules, timing and support; just to name the headings. | ||
| gadgetguy posted 2006 Feb 06 19:08 | ||
I don't know... Bumping a thread for the purpose it was created for in the first place? :o I guess it's OK, if it's just this once. :wink: :lol: | ||
| Richard_G posted 2006 Feb 06 19:14 | ||
| I was put off as soon as I read the details on how to submit an entry. I have a video editing system that is 100% stable and reliable. I only ever use DV avi, DVD compliant mpeg2 and FLV (for one client) and had no desire to start loading other codecs for formats I have no use for.
I appreciate that the use of DivX was to keep bandwidth down but, for me, the risk of problems in the future was far too great. The use of DivX also meant I was unable to view any of the entries. Could the format not be something a bit more mainstream next time? | ||
| Cobra posted 2006 Feb 06 19:20 | ||
| Try mPlayer - it should allow you to play back the video files without installing any codecs (provided you download and place the codec pack into the mPlayer codec folder). I am not sure whether mCoder has the same ability (encode to a format without installation of a particular codec) but it may be worth a look.
Hope this helps! Cobra | ||
| ZAPPER posted 2006 Feb 06 20:47 | ||
| KISMIF! Keep It Simple Make It Fun!
I would suggest posting the theme in like July or later to kind of put pressure on the contestants if an imprompt to (SP) film compitition is the twist. (Although more time is always nice, it isn't always the real world and dead lines and time restrictions kind of make it a race) A better definition of what is expected of the "Theme" topic may be in order, but then again, why take away artistic freedoms. Other than a great big flashing advertisemint right in the middle of the front page I thought that the anouncements about it where fair enough. I mean part of being a menber is coming by the site once and awhile and having a look around. Kudos and hats off to the staff for what they have done with the first year. And I trust them to do it again next time. I think if the mods come up with a set of guidelines amoungst themselves to judge for the Baldrick and then let the members vote on the "Members Choice" award, it is a pretty good deal. | ||
| ozymango posted 2006 Feb 06 21:03 | ||
I also had some problems encoding my movie (not in viewing any, though) and I think this is definitely something deserving of more discussion. Due to bandwidth issues I don't see any good alternative to xvid or divx, but perhaps somebody or several somebodies may be able to offer conversion services for contest entrants who would otherwise be up a creek? :) Of course there can be a risk in that, if somebody else screws up your work ... but I'll bet this could be worked out between individuals, through open communication on the forum. And maybe it's worth updating a guide or two specifically aimed at contest entrants, for bitrate and filesize tweaking for their entries. I know this was actually the most difficult part of the process for me -- my film ran pretty much right to the maximum alotted time, and due to filespace limitations I had to use a compression bitrate that was a bit smaller than I would have hoped for. :( But I learned a lot! | ||
| Supreme2k posted 2006 Feb 09 09:27 | ||
| So...
Why were my suggestions moved. ? They were perfectly legit suggestions (which I underlined to show that they were suggestions). I hope no one thought I meant any harm by them. I would have had more, but most of the best suggestions were already posted. Edit: for clarity. | ||
| ozymango posted 2006 Feb 09 10:51 | ||
I'm a bit lost myself, as this thread seems to have been started here, sorta continued in "Prize Announcements," and now back here. I think your responses are in the other thread? :| I just can't keep up on where I am at any given moment! :D Anyway, not to beat a dead horse, but I still think we should have separate categories for pros vs. amateurs! :) I suppose there's always a chance we could be so ovewhelmed with entries that this makes more work, but ... well, I dunno, I just like thinking -- perhaps wrongly -- that contests like this are chances for The Little Guy to make a movie and get noticed! :) So I may be naive and/or idealistic, but there. :D | ||
| Nelson37 posted 2006 Feb 09 17:33 | ||
| I think the contest was a wonderful, interesting bonus run by volunteers with a generous GIFT of prize money by our illustrious leader.
On the pro vs amateur issue, what if a "pro" uses amateur, home equipment? What if an amateur has access to "pro" equipment? (Spielberg's janitor?). What if they lie? How would these be seperated? My suggestion would be voluntary categories for those who admit to having some professional experience, and those who do not. How you would prevent Spielberg from saying he is Joe Smith, amateur, I have no idea. The extent to which people will go for such things is astonishing to those who have never seen it in action. I do think judges should reserve any comment until voting is over. Just one example, those on dial-up might only download those videos mentioned by such a respected individual and not the others, which would bias the voting. Since nobody else has mentioned this, I would like to state that I have not yet viewed any of the films. My reason? I really don't want to know how truly bad my own creations are. | ||
| gadgetguy posted 2006 Feb 09 18:51 | ||
| The more I think about the whole Pro vs. Amateur issue, the more I agree with Vitualis. I don't think it matters if an entrant is a pro or not. A good film is a good film and a bad film is a bad film and there's a huge grey area in between that depends on personal taste.
The fact is that professionals tend to be skilled in their "job" but in many cases are only marginally aware of the other disciplines involved, much less practiced in them. To combine the skills of all the different facets of movie creation is a test on anyone's capabilities, pro or amateur. This years winner was not won because of editing skills alone. There was a keen grasp of the theme, a well thought out plot, clever and unique special effects, good acting, excellent camera work, and impressive style. In other words, Kristy combined everything necessary to create a winning film. :D I don't believe we have anything to fear from some big name director. The fact that they can tell professionals what they want done to create a multi-million dollar blockbuster does not mean that they have the skills to put together a 7 minute film that meets the contest criteria and will be appealing to the judges. It's one thing to know how you want something to look, it's quite another to actually make it look that way. And I don't believe for a minute that anyone would be willing to pay professionals to help them put together a film to enter here. :roll: Well, that's my take on that subject. Of course, if the organizers decide to have separate catagories for Pro and Amateur, I'm OK with that too. :wink: | ||
| ozymango posted 2006 Feb 09 19:20 | ||
| Oh, and more prize money, that would be nice! :D :D :D
I know it's pathetic, but I'm already thinking about my next movie. :) 'Cept I'm not sure if I should keep thinking in the direction I'm thinking (plot, theme, length), because I don't know if the "theme" and running times and what-not will be the same ... so at the moment I've got this "story" idea that I think can be tweaked to fit whatever theme the judges deviously come up with ... :) ... | ||
| gadgetguy posted 2006 Feb 09 19:35 | ||
| I guess that makes me pathetic too. :D I've also been working on a "convertable" script and trying to accumilate some better audio equipment, etc., etc. All in preparation for this years contest.
Another suggestion... I think it would be better if the winners are announced before the end of the year so that the 2006 competition actually ends in 2006. | ||
| vitualis posted 2006 Feb 09 22:16 | ||
| I admit that I was surprised by how many people found difficulty with the codec issue.
However, we have to live with real world bandwidth realities. I'm quite happy to accept MPEG-2 + MP2/AC3 audio, but the issue is that for a decent quality clip, the filesize for a 5-7 minute short film at full frame video would be too large to upload (and download for the judges). The reason DivX / XviD / compatible H.263 MPEG-4 + MP2/3/AC3 was chosen is that it provides the best quality / compatibility / size "ratio" overall. For on-line submissions next time around the specs will basically be the same. However, I will allow MPEG-2/MPEG-1/XviD/DivX submissions of any filesize if posted to me on a CD. As for people unable to view XviD AVI clips, then it is time to update your computer. MPEG-4 ASP in AVI format is mainstream. Bandwidth is the issue. If you want to view it for free, then it will stay as XviD. Regards. | ||
| ozymango posted 2006 Feb 10 12:22 | ||
Don't feel that way, Nelson! :o Gee, I'd hate to think people wouldn't enter because they feared competing with me! Seriously, check out my short film ("Baldrick - City of Tomorrow") and I guarantee you'll be inspired -- "If that guy dared submit that piece of crap, hey, I know I could do better!" :P :P :P Seriously, what I got most out of the contest (besides winning a hundred bucks!!!) was a genuine sense of cameraderie (sp?) with the other entrants. To a person I felt no snobbery or anything but good-natured, cheerful support from everybody who made a movie. :) As for how "bad" your own creations are ... well, do you seriously think you could be any worse than a stoned, drunk guy with a slug and carton of salt, at 2 in the morning? :roll: Lumis, if you read this, you know I'm kidding!!!!! :P :P :P | ||
| Richard_G posted 2006 Feb 13 10:17 | ||
I'm running a clean XP SP2 install, with Windows Media Encoder, Panasonic DV codec, Quicktime, Huffyuv and ATI MMC 8.9 loaded. Video software in use is Ulead Mediastudio Pro 6.5 and Ulead DVD Workshop V2. These are all I ever use and all I have ever needed. I don't download video and on the odd occasion I have seen video on the net, it has always been in wmv, quicktime or real formats, the first two I can play, the last I won't install because of it's habit of trying to take over the world! I appreciate that compression is needed to keep the bandwidth requirement down, but I expected to be able to view the entries, which I couldn't. | ||
| Gobs posted 2006 Feb 13 10:55 | ||
| If you're trying to run a clean pc I don't understand how you can like Quicktime. :wink:
IMHO it's the most intrusive annoying piece of video software ever. DivX/Xvid has never messed anything up in my pc. I agree with vitualis: MPEG-4 is mainstream. Bo | ||
| Baldrick posted 2006 Feb 13 11:08 | ||
VlC Media Player! doesn't install any codecs. | ||
| Gobs posted 2006 Feb 13 11:23 | ||
..and is able to play all the formats that were allowed in the competition(even AC3 sound). Bo | ||
| ozymango posted 2006 Feb 13 12:19 | ||
I've never had too many problems with divx/xvid playback, though encoding is another story (but that's my inexperience, not the format!). :) And definitely MPEG-4 is the future, kids. But don't forget that MPEG-4 doesn't automatically equal divx/xvid -- those are codec choices, versus format choices. So I can see why some of us can be big fans of MPEG-4 without necessarily being big fans of xvid and divx. | ||
| dipstick posted 2006 Feb 13 13:04 | ||
| I agree with Richard_G, that a Video Editing machine should only have the absolute least amont of needed codecs installed and nothing more. Everything runs smoothly on a lean machine.
This leaves you with two options. Either d/l and view on a PC you don't care about, or Ghost an image before you install, that you can go back to. I created mine in WMV and BJ_M was kind enough to convert them for me. I d/l and viewed the videos on my LapTop. Next competition, I'll just make my Restore Image > d/l and install the divix/xvid crapware to make my entry, then restore it back to normal. | ||
| vitualis posted 2006 Feb 13 17:32 | ||
| If you need a lean machine, then as before, you wouldn't be installing QuickTime.
In any case, I thought that QT could play MPEG-4 ASP (H.263) video in AVI format on a Windows machine (at least it should since it uses its own MPEG-4 codecs). MPEG-4 is the way of the future and it is main stream. I do not support proprietary formats like QT or WMV. AVI has the best support over all operating systems and hardware devices apart from plain old MPEG-1 and MPEG-2. XviD comes is different "colours" I agree, but I linked to the stable version you should use in the competition. It doesn't "take over" anything except allows for playback of XviD and DivX encoded clips. If you prefer something with more support, then download the DivX package. If you are really paranoid, then the simplest way is to get yourself the Knoppix boot disc. This plays XviD and DivX clips just fine and it won't touch your Windows HDD. Regards. | ||
| gadgetguy posted 2006 Feb 13 20:04 | ||
| Complaining about the Divx requirement is much ado about nothing. I don't have any use for Divx/Xvid, (other than the competition), but it's just not that big of a deal. You put it in, encode your video, then take it off, no biggy. (OK, so there's a little more to the encoding part then that, but still, it's not that big a deal.) | ||
| Richard_G posted 2006 Feb 14 03:30 | ||
| I wouldn't install Quicktime by choice, Mediastudio Pro needs it and installs a bare version itself.
A number of people keep saying that Divx is the future, for what? For me, DV is my initial format and DVD compliant mpeg is the final. Why would I want to compress a 2 hour movie down to fit on a CD, I've got a DVD writer for the end product? | ||
| Baldrick posted 2006 Feb 14 04:40 | ||
| divx is not the future. avc/h264 is. convert your hdv to avc on bluray. :)
how about the prize money in future competitions? more cash? less? hardware prizes? | ||
| gadgetguy posted 2006 Feb 14 06:55 | ||
| Since you asked...
I would love to see a VX2000 or PD170 as a prize for everyone that enters plus individual and catagory prizes at twice the value of this years. (Hey, it never hurts to ask.) :wink: | ||
| vitualis posted 2006 Feb 14 16:14 | ||
I think you are entirely missing the point. Unless you are willing to PAY ME to download your DVD compliant MPEG, it won't be accepted for upload into an internet based competition. In addition, unless you are willing to PAY to download to watch the video clips, it will not be released in MPEG-1 or MPEG-2. As per Baldrick, MPEG-4 is the future in terms of video discs for both Blu-Ray and HD-DVD. In terms of internet distribution of video, the latest QT codecs are either MPEG-4 H.263 (i.e., compatible with DivX/XviD) or MPEG-4 H.264 (i.e, AVC). As before, I will not use WMV or QT. These are proprietary formats and though they may work well for YOUR particular Windows setup, they don't have very good cross-compatibility with other operating systems. Regards. | ||
| gadgetguy posted 2006 Feb 21 15:29 | ||
| Another suggestion regarding prizes.
How about a Certificate of Participation for each of the entrants as well as Certificates of Award for each level of winners. Signed by the "Contest Director" and "Site Administrator". Either a physical document, suitable for framing, mailed to the participants by post or a pdf document attachment emailed to the participants, that can be printed to become a document suitable for framing. Did I mention it should be suitable for framing so it can be hung in a prominent location and admired by all? :lol: | ||
| Baddox posted 2006 Feb 23 14:00 | ||
| @ Baldrick regarding prizes:
Of course most everyone will agree more prizes would be more enticing, but more prizes were not needed in this competition. Prizes were already very gracious, and I liked how things were changed to award 6 different films. I think how ever much prize money you can afford should be distributed among 5 or 6 films like you did in this competition. That's more appealing than only the top 3 films getting prizes. I could see some hardware prizes being cool, especially if you or other admins have used stuff to donate. (Even an old sub-300-dollar minidv cam, or minidv tapes, or a nice camera case would be cool to get, in my opinion, it wouldn't have to be anything like an XL2 or alienware editing studio :-) ) Basically, the prizes were top-notch for this competition. | ||
| gadgetguy posted 2006 Feb 24 10:31 | ||
| I was mostly joking about doubling the monetary awards. As I said all along, I would have entered even if the prize was only $5. It was fun to do regardless. But it would be nice to see some top prizes include some video production hardware, Cams, Mics, Lights, that kind of thing. Or 100 packs of Ty blanks, burners, or firewire cards, something along those lines.
Of course that gets into shipping hassles, but if you can find sponsors from some of the advertisers, maybe you can get them to throw that in too. On a more humorous note... I suggest all judges come from Offline's place, based on this post. | ||
| axeminister posted 2006 May 24 06:27 | ||
| Noob here:
I think it also takes time to build a following. If the first contest didn't have a lot of entries, that's ok, each one will have more as more people find out about it. I stopped by yesterday and registered, I'll check back frequently for the announcement for the next contest, I'll enter a movie and vote. There's one more person anyway. Remember: If you build it, they will come." I can't wait for the call for a film. I'm itching to write and shoot something new for a reason. Axe |
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