Nice to Break the Routine Sometimes
Real Quick and Off Topic: I just got Animaniacs and Pinky and the Brain on DVD. They bring me to joy of being a slacker college student again. Myspace users can read on my blog over there.
Okay, enough of that.
op:
Tonight, I went to the Phoenix 48 Hour Short Film Challenge. I knew a couple of people who had films entered... ran into a third whom I hadn't seen in a couple of years... and one of them, until tonight, I had only known via MySpace.
It was actually a little better than I expected. Festivals of this nature are notorious for having a broad spectrum of quality. This one was no exception; but while there were bad films in there, there were more good ones than I expected. Good cinematography, one had really cool sfx (especially considering that it had to be shot and edited in two days). Some were weak in story telling. One had a good "single shot" choice, but the acting was horrible. They all had to be 3 minutes or less, and they were required to use a pair of binoculars and the line "Where did you get those pants?" Some did it very well... others shoe-horned it into what was obviously a pre-existing idea (like a bad improv show where the players have all of their "go-to" tactics for the scene or game and the suggestion is awkwardly thrown in as a throw-away line just to prove to the audience that it was improv because "we used your suggestion").
My MySpace friend graciously bought me a drink after the event. She actually came to me for "acting lessons" via the net because she has just taken an interest in film and she has done 0 acting until this project. I gave her what advice I could offer via e-mail. She actually did pretty well in her film, even though there wasn't much of a script to work with. Her piece was selected to be screened in the upcoming Sci-Fi and Horror festival, so good for her.
It was a nice evening out. It's good to shake things up every now and then, especially since I'm about to get back into more routine areas in my life.
Real Quick and Off Topic: I just got Animaniacs and Pinky and the Brain on DVD. They bring me to joy of being a slacker college student again. Myspace users can read on my blog over there.
Okay, enough of that.
op: Tonight, I went to the Phoenix 48 Hour Short Film Challenge. I knew a couple of people who had films entered... ran into a third whom I hadn't seen in a couple of years... and one of them, until tonight, I had only known via MySpace.
It was actually a little better than I expected. Festivals of this nature are notorious for having a broad spectrum of quality. This one was no exception; but while there were bad films in there, there were more good ones than I expected. Good cinematography, one had really cool sfx (especially considering that it had to be shot and edited in two days). Some were weak in story telling. One had a good "single shot" choice, but the acting was horrible. They all had to be 3 minutes or less, and they were required to use a pair of binoculars and the line "Where did you get those pants?" Some did it very well... others shoe-horned it into what was obviously a pre-existing idea (like a bad improv show where the players have all of their "go-to" tactics for the scene or game and the suggestion is awkwardly thrown in as a throw-away line just to prove to the audience that it was improv because "we used your suggestion").
My MySpace friend graciously bought me a drink after the event. She actually came to me for "acting lessons" via the net because she has just taken an interest in film and she has done 0 acting until this project. I gave her what advice I could offer via e-mail. She actually did pretty well in her film, even though there wasn't much of a script to work with. Her piece was selected to be screened in the upcoming Sci-Fi and Horror festival, so good for her.
It was a nice evening out. It's good to shake things up every now and then, especially since I'm about to get back into more routine areas in my life.