Film Contest!!

SE7 · Post by **SE7** » Sat Sep 09, 2006 1:07 am

Hey, I am going to enter a film to a contest at my high school. I really want to win.... so I was wondering if I could get some tips...

Okay the movie can be any genre, under 10 min. long, and suitable for all ages.

If you have any tips on making a great film to enter for a contest, I would really appreciate any comments.. (especially if you have entered a film into a contest)

Also, if you know any sites that show winners of previous film contests, or your movie was the winner of a contest, could you reply to me??? I want to really make this film good.... so any tips or information (or whatever..) would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks,
SE7

Lawriejaffa · Post by **Lawriejaffa** » Sat Sep 09, 2006 3:21 am

No offence but why would anyone even remotely care what or who wins at a high school 'film festival'

Lets be clear, these things are organised as cute distractions... there nothing more... enter your film in it, but really why care whether you win it or not...

ProdigyFilmsinc. · Post by **ProdigyFilmsinc.** » Sat Sep 09, 2006 4:47 am

Hey its a good footstool to bigger and better festivals. But, it really is hard to give good tips, because most of this stuff is learned from trail and error over and oer again. Thats the best way to learn. So trying to tell oyu wouldn't really help.

Lawriejaffa · Post by **Lawriejaffa** » Sat Sep 09, 2006 4:58 am

lol well i cant imagine what kinda foot stool a highschool festival can be. I mean its cute and it means something obviously when ur at a highschool and u are a kid. But in reality it means nothing... The winner of these kind of festivals are never the most interesting and innovative films, there usually the most syncophantic films that are generally pleasing to the powers that be hehe.

A cynical opinion, but then most festivals are too hehe

UFProductions · Post by **UFProductions** » Sat Sep 09, 2006 5:36 am

True that, be original, and stay away from the three mainstays of high-school films; slash horror, gun action, and poorly aimed "social commentary".

SE7 · Post by **SE7** » Sat Sep 09, 2006 6:37 am

Well thanks, I'm trying to get into UCLA Film school, so Lawriejaffa, why don't you go eat yourself... jeeze.. I maintain a steady 4.0 GPA for all four years of high school, and am taking film production classes all 4 yrs also. I think it would look good to the people at UCLA if I won some film contests... So seriously, Lawriejaffa, if you don't having anything that will help me, I don't give a *fcuk about your sucky opionions... But thanks everyone else....

Lawriejaffa · Post by **Lawriejaffa** » Sun Sep 10, 2006 1:16 pm

look SE7 im just calling it the way i see it, u asked for opinions, if what i say damages ur vision of high school high idealism then big deal... its not gonna distract me from my coffee as it were lol... Your right tho, it will look great to the powers that be at UCLA if u've won some irreverant high school film festival so go for it cowboy

SE7 · Post by **SE7** » Mon Sep 11, 2006 2:06 am

lol thanks... but, i'm not doing some stupid little high school film... I'm trying to make it really artistic. I don't want you to think it's a stereotypical dumb amateur movie shot in hopes of winning some little prize. I'm just trying to get my films out there.. But thanks Lawriejaffa for the encouragement...

So I guess I can't get any tips, oh well.. I'll try my best. I'm gonna put a lot of time and effort into this, not for the prize, but for the publicity of my films if I win... Thanks guys..

SE7

Tommo.S · Post by **Tommo.S** » Mon Sep 11, 2006 5:34 am

well i would find out who the judges are. If it's the school itself, i would certainly make one of those typical 'stereotypical teen' films. Guns, action, bad langauge, etc etc. Cos if its the school, most of em will be into the 'steriotypical teen' films. But if the juges are actually industry pros in film, than you gotta try and be real creative and think a little deeper, deep meanings and really try to avoid the 'stereotypical teen' ideas. But ay, the fun of filmmaking! Thinking of an idea!

Hope that helps

Grant · Post by **Grant** » Mon Sep 11, 2006 6:11 am

you can not dismiss the purpose of entering any film contest. It is not rare that directors/producers for full length features are picked from shorts entered into competitions.

Lawriejaffa · Post by **Lawriejaffa** » Mon Sep 11, 2006 9:53 am

Yeah well I dont think anyone is suggesting that its not worth entering ANY film festival, tho im utterly sceptical about any high school affair lol, im sure you can reel of all the shorts that directors/producers picked for full length features from highschool competitions tho... *realisation* OH WAIT - that muuust be how Michael Bay and Bruckheimer find their film ideas... it all makes sense now hehe

Grant · Post by **Grant** » Mon Sep 11, 2006 10:52 pm

Yes Lawriejaffa in some cases that is where their ideas come from......a festival. Advertising and TV use such competitions greatly for ideas. Especially if they sponsor it.

Lawriejaffa · Post by **Lawriejaffa** » Mon Sep 11, 2006 11:21 pm

Wow Grant i never knew HIGHSCHOOL film festivals could be so influential on advertising and television, what a niche source of creativity! How can it remain 'undiscovered' by so many for so long... oh wait... because high school film festivals suck, as most adolescents haven't learned to white balance never mind write a script... muhahahhaha...

Obviously decent film festivals which attract some actual talent can have an influence on TV and advertising... However just think, if it wasn't for high school film festivals where would be youtube be now...

Grant · Post by **Grant** » Mon Sep 11, 2006 11:25 pm

It is not 'undiscovered', they have been used for years. Not just high school ones, but many others.

UFProductions · Post by **UFProductions** » Tue Sep 12, 2006 12:37 am

For those from the land of high-schools of 5000+ students, yes, great films are on occasion produced. And where do those aspiring film-makers next take their work? To a local festival, maybe from there moving on to provincials (state level for Americano's) and even the national level. Just because a movie is made for a high-school festival it doesn't automaticaly disqualify it as utter cr**, that just tends to be the trend.

Lawriejaffa · Post by **Lawriejaffa** » Tue Sep 12, 2006 3:50 am

Oh Grant humour is wasted on you lol, high school festivals are great for hoarding a pile of mediocrity together and setting it aflame, (thats about it) and OBVIOUSY 'real' film festivals are influential on the commercial film market or TV and advertising etc.

So to go back to my original point (that you disagree with me on) i say - yes... yes you can dismiss a mediocre provincial high school festival as something generally irrelevant...

We can agree to disagree hehe

Your right UFP, high school films are 99.9% utter cr**, and cos there entered into a high school festival doesnt mean they are automatically cr** (after all scorcese could enter a highschool festival lol and his film would probably be good.)

Truth is though, these high school film festivals are cute things to make kids do nice things (just like any 'event') school authorities plan etc so thats why as a filmmaker (even when i was a teenager) still wouldn't take it seriously as a 'must have' to my showreel CV etc.

Something actually 'useful' would be (only for the mature adolescent filmaker) would be to make something that was not utterly self indulgent (and cr**) and something that has a purpose for audiences in general. Such a film (and we're thinking out the box here) might not even seem cool to ones colleagues at highschool but could for example be played on a community broadcast channel.

So if i was 14 year old 'Tod' and i wanted to make a film where me and my ugly acne ridden friends shoot pink capped guns at each other in suburbia (so i can impress my friends at a highschool film festival...) well, for one you wouldn't win (and for 2nd id probably kill myself anyway if i was such a sad git.)

However, if Tod made some kind of obscure film about a local poet (featuring a misty eye'd old man quoating works banged with cutaways to flowers and autumn leaves) then BANG your on some community channnel with over a 100k hits, (who then cares about some dumb highschool festival.) The same ugly kid could achieve the 2nd, and so as a kid at highschool thats what i would try for instead of the festival...

And some guy might say 'hey man just go for the festival and have fun!' but don't listen to him, he'll just be an idiot...

UFProductions · Post by **UFProductions** » Tue Sep 12, 2006 4:29 am

^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^
A more eloquently worded version of my first post.

I think an easy way to sum this up would be treat this as if you aren't entering a school festival at all, but are entering in a "real" film festival (imagine you had to lay down money to enter), or even better, treat this as if you had one chance to prove yourself, via film, to a studio represenative. If you want to win a high-school festival, by all means make a high-school film. Your classmates will love it, you'll bask in their adolation for the rest of the day, then you'll go home and realize we'd probably tear it to shreads if you posted it up. Make a real effort and don't pander to a crowd that doesn't understand the art behind what we do, even if you lose, and come off as the "weird kid with the black and white film" you'll have something worth keeping for when it matters.

PS: Don't use black and white just to be "artisty", unless you're doing it for a real reason it just cheapens the film.

Grant · Post by **Grant** » Tue Sep 12, 2006 4:52 am

Lawriejaffa I have been too school and community festivals where advertising agencies have sent people to poach ideas. I have spoken to such people, and seen (sometimes months later) it reproduced on TV. I have also spoken to George Miller (Mad Max director) at a small festival (12 entrants from a city of 50,000) and he uses such festivals for ideas and talent, and he expressed how others in the industry do also.

Lawriejaffa · Post by **Lawriejaffa** » Tue Sep 12, 2006 4:43 pm

Yeah we're just talking about crappy high school film festivals Grant, and lets face it while there might be the unbelievably rare excpetion where someone from a company or agency goes to 'poach' some 14 year olds idea - lets face it... its utterly rare and as a notion can be generally consigned to 'utterly unlikely.'

Maybe its different in Australia... but in the rest of the world high school film festivals are not 'hot property' for execs and producers to get ideas lol, there just cr**-fests for adolescents. Brutal but true... muhahaha

Ornsack · Post by **Ornsack** » Tue Sep 12, 2006 5:03 pm

Our college film festival was the best thing we ever did. Showing our work to a large group of people, and the feedback we got from it.

Go for it, it'll spur you on if nothing else.

And on your CV, if you win, you can put "Was winning awards for film making as far back as school"

"You might as well" is a term I'd use!

And if you EVER think "I'm too good for a crappy thing like that", then you're too big headed and you're gonna fail in life, basically

SE7 · Post by **SE7** » Tue Sep 12, 2006 10:38 pm

Hey thanks for all the tips and replies. Hey Lawrie, I'm not a 14 year old kid named 'Tod'... I'm 16, and make good films. I have a few ideas in mind. I might do a PSA on drunk driving. I have some really good ideas, that with the right music and cinematography, I might be able to pull off. Does anyone have any ideas for an interesting ideas for drunk driving?? I have a few, but really want to make this good. So any replies would be greatly appreciated. Thanks

Lawriejaffa · Post by **Lawriejaffa** » Tue Sep 12, 2006 11:05 pm

hehe okay so your a 16 year old kid called Josh...

good luck on the comp!

SE7 · Post by **SE7** » Tue Sep 12, 2006 11:44 pm

lol not quite Josh either.. whatever, close enough...

But thanks...

UFProductions · Post by **UFProductions** » Wed Sep 13, 2006 2:19 am

I would steer of a public service announcement, it's not pandering to the crowd, but in this case the judges (faculty, I'm assuming). Unless you've got a really stunning concept I would personally move towards something a little more abstract. If you do run with this idea you might wind up being "just another entry" in a festival full of short little PSA's about drunk-driving/drugs/sex/alcaholism/ad infinitum. And that would not be a good feeling.