Visions Review

 This was my third year going to visions and it was my first time ever having a film in one of the film blocks. Having my film in the festival was an amazing and incredibly nerve racking experience, that I enjoyed in retrospect but at the actual moment of my film being shown I actually nearly vomited, I was so nervous. I also got to take part in the 1 take video race. even though I had been to visions before I had never done the video race and i have to say I had a great time, doing it. I was a little nervous about it at first but it ended up being really fun and I got to meet two really awesome filmmakers that were on my team. as far as the films go, I saw a lot that I was absolutely blown away by, especially from some that were in the same block that I was in. The Provider and Yamashita were probably my favorite in that block just because they hit hard on an emotional level. In the second block my favorite films were probably Beast and Frogboy. Frogboy was so simple and yet so brilliant all at the same time. I actually hung out with Jehan Madhani, the creator of Frogboy and made a good connection with her. While I was there I talked with alot of really cool and talented filmmakers, like Jean Jacques, the director of Beast. Jean Jacques was quite the interesting individual to say the least. My overall impression of the festival itself is quite positive, I always forget that the entire thing is ran by students. It is put together so well that you often forget that it isn’t ran by a professional team. And i know that we weren't supposed to talk about the after party, but in all seriousness, It was really put together quite well and I had an absolute blast.

Weekly Update

So this week, we pretty much have image lock, we're just fine tuning some things, and tightening up some of the clips. on time we are at about 13 1/2 minutes. We also have taken some of the broll from later in the video and put it over the interview section to help break it up a little. The broll along with the new music that we have selected, and put over the interviews really help liven the interviews up. All that we have to do at this point is finish the animations which are starting to look great. other than that everybody is doing great and things are coming along nicely

Film Festival Selections

-Cincinnati Film Festival: We chose this festival because for one it’s not expensive, coming in at $25. We are also able to make it’s deadline since it is in early May. Another aspect about this festival that makes our film well suited for it, is the fact that the festival itself is partnered with the Cincinnati Comic Expo, which makes our film topic perfect for this venue.

-Superman Celebration Fan Film Festival: This festival has been going on for 8 years so it’s starting to get a good following behind it. The main reason that we picked this festival is because the name of the festival itself is based on a comic book character so our film would fit in with the vibe of the festival from the very start. and of course another reason is that the festival is free to submit to so that is always a plus.

-Albuquerque Film festival and Comic Con: This festival was chosen for a lot of the same reasons that the previous two were. It is partnered with a  comic convention. but an aspect about this festival that really stood out to me was the prizes for the categories is a chance to meet with professionals in the film industry in order to pitch ideas for future projects along with a cash prize. The entry fee is also very low at $10, so that helps the decision a lot.

-42nd Student Academy Awards: I honestly didn’t even think about this until the email sent about it, and then I realized that it is free and said well why not? The SAA’s have been going on for 42 years not so they are a very prestigious award ceremony/ festival. Aside from being one of the biggest awards/ festivals for students, the SAA gives filmmakers a chance to get their films out there to a huge audience start networking with fellow filmmakers. Also the top prize for winning is $5000 so enough said.

-Cucalorus Film Festival is a local Festival here in Wilmington that is actually a midsized festival that operates on a very professional level. I have been to Cucalorus before and really enjoyed my experience there and now that I have a film that I could enter, I figured it would be the perfect film festival to try and get into. Cucalorus brings in filmmakers from all over the country and world creating a unique experience that you don’t have to go far to have. the deadline is in June so we can totally make that, and the entry fee is about $25, a little pricier than some but still manageable. another thing I like about Cucalorus is that there is no real awards given as far as saying whose film is better or worse, it seems to be more about showcasing your film and celebrating the art.

-Cyprus Comic Con Film Festival was chosen because well for one we needed a non regional festival and this Con based film festival seemed right up our alley. The festival itself is a bit new at only two years old but the entry fee is low at only $5 for the early bird special and a prize of $2500 in production services to the grand prize and audience favorites. all in all this festival just seemed really fun.

-Scifi Film Festival is in Australia and has a deadline set for August, one the we can certainly make. Once again the theme of this festival had a huge part to play in why we chose it since the sci-fi theme can totally overlap into the genre of our documentary. There are many different categories to enter in this festival and the best Australian film wins 1000 dollars and so does the best international film, so not that the money is the main incentive to enter but it helps the decision a little.

Update: rough cut done

Since we already have all of the footage that we will need, all we did this week past week was edit the footage that we have into a longer rough cut, that gives an outline of how the film will progress.  we haven't gotten to any of the animations or color corrections yet but we will get there soon. other than that I have a friend helping with the website and another friend helping to develop a poster.

Progress update

This past week we decided to get some extra coverage of Brady. The shots that we ended up getting was just of him hanging out at his apartment, playing video games...being a normal college student. The idea behind this to make him even more relatable to the audience. The shoot went well, and the footage is definitely going to make it in the final cut. As far as editing goes, we've went through the interviews and cut them down to the questions that we're going to be using in the film, and we're slowly creating arks for the questions to follow. other than that everything is coming together well.

Update: week of the Con

So this week was the week of the con. we ended up getting enough coverage of brady, so on Tursday we were able to get an expert interview with him. Friday we went to the con as planned and shot for about seven hours, getting Brady's and Crystals reactions to the con and their interactions with other people, and some broll of the con. on Saturday, we mainly focussed on broll and vox-pops of people at the con and we also got follow up interviews with Crystal and Brady. We ended up getting enough footage so we decided to come home on Saturday night and got back in town on sunday morning at about 2. overall it was a super fun trip.

Update: a problem with Brady

So things were going great but we found out that Brady, our second subject has decided to go home for almost all of spring break. we have come to an arrangement, that i think can end up working, where we will end up shooting him making most of the costume but we will miss out on seeing him making the sword. our plan is to then shoot his main interview on Thursday. hopefully it all works out because we leave Friday for the convention.