Tuesday, November 22, 2005
Slipshod
Okay, I reckon its coming up to a fortnight after all the fuss now... so it's probably safe to post this scathing review of The Fly By Night Video Challenge.
It was a great idea.
Just... "Grab a camera, shoot the video, and screen it all in one weekend!" (or so the website claims)
Okay, it's a little more complex than that.
Something... something... Five minute movie clip... something... Theme... something... Weekend.
The Theme was devised to ensure that production began 48 hours from screening time... to give everyone an even footing..
This year's theme was ^#&$*)
ah. yes. quite. Very clever... make them think ya? Encourage creativity, and lateral thinking by giving them an indecipherable bunch of symbols as the main theme, yes? All this while the clock ticks... and time pressure mounts, yes?
HELLO? WHAT THE FUCK WERE YOU GUYS THINKING.
This is Singapore.
It's bad enough that we have a dearth of acting talent, and directing talent, but now you cripple what chances the few people with some skill have out there of turning out something good by setting them some idiotic theme that leads to squat?
First boo boo - stupid theme.
It became evident, watching the 50 short clips being screened and enduring the same swear-sequences over, and over again ad-nauseum that something had gone wrong this year. Okay, it was also mildy entertaining watching several aspiring film-makers interpreting the symbols as the up elevator button (again, and again, and again)... and the floor level, yes, and AND, of course, and then money changing hands... and then...
Yeah. The same scenes taken over, and over again.
Let's face it. Last year's theme, "Fever" was much better. It paved the way to originality. This year's theme shot the organisers, and the participants in the foot with a 12 gauge shotgun. Some of the participants thought so too, and filmed themselves brainstorming frantically only to come up with zip, and deciding to submit zip to the organisers for asking it of them. Yes, quite, how droll.
Flaw number two : publicity.
An open event to the public?
How's the public even supposed to know about it if there's no publicity drive on mainstream media? (Sorry, cowboy caleb... but you're not quite mainstream yknow, what with the lesbian-kissing minions and all) Granted, the theatre at substation isn't large... but scanning the audience I saw mostly participants, and maybe a few of their friends. Fringe event doesn't begin to describe the occasion, well into its third year now.
And where was the media throughout it all? Was there a reporter anywhere in the audience - even a fledgeling reporter for kiddy TV? Perhaps there was... maybe I'm being too harsh. But was the event covered at all, does anyone know?
Flaw number three : Technical Screwups
Okay, I know it was all very last minute and rushed... but enduring technical cockups again and again during the screening (incompatible format, blahblah) was trying.
Not because I didn't expect any... I'm pretty forgiving that way. But because if I was the organiser I'd bleeding try to run a preflight test before the screening proper... or if time constraints don't permit, a limited preflight test, then continue testing the rest of the movies as the first few are screened. Sort of like streaming a media file. Have a separate tech support crew in another room making sure everything is going to play just fine, in front of the audience.
Flaw number four : Post Event Coverage
I think it says it all that the official fly-by-night website hasn't been updated and is still asking participants to sign up.
And that it doesn't even have links anywhere on it to the rules, or anything vaguely useful.
I haven't seen a list of winners anywhere online, or synopses of plots. An email to the organisers to ask that they update their page received a curt reply that they are working on it.
Yes, yes I know... it's a good thing that they organised it in the first place.
But three years in... they ought to be getting slightly better at it, yes? Instead of ensuring that the majority of their submissions will be... difficult to watch, that several of the decent ones will not be screened due to technical faults, and that nobody has a clue after the event who won or what the video looked like.
Mmm. Perhaps I should sign with them next year... I wonder how much they pay? :)
It was a great idea.
Just... "Grab a camera, shoot the video, and screen it all in one weekend!" (or so the website claims)
Okay, it's a little more complex than that.
Something... something... Five minute movie clip... something... Theme... something... Weekend.
The Theme was devised to ensure that production began 48 hours from screening time... to give everyone an even footing..
This year's theme was ^#&$*)
ah. yes. quite. Very clever... make them think ya? Encourage creativity, and lateral thinking by giving them an indecipherable bunch of symbols as the main theme, yes? All this while the clock ticks... and time pressure mounts, yes?
HELLO? WHAT THE FUCK WERE YOU GUYS THINKING.
This is Singapore.
It's bad enough that we have a dearth of acting talent, and directing talent, but now you cripple what chances the few people with some skill have out there of turning out something good by setting them some idiotic theme that leads to squat?
First boo boo - stupid theme.
It became evident, watching the 50 short clips being screened and enduring the same swear-sequences over, and over again ad-nauseum that something had gone wrong this year. Okay, it was also mildy entertaining watching several aspiring film-makers interpreting the symbols as the up elevator button (again, and again, and again)... and the floor level, yes, and AND, of course, and then money changing hands... and then...
Yeah. The same scenes taken over, and over again.
Let's face it. Last year's theme, "Fever" was much better. It paved the way to originality. This year's theme shot the organisers, and the participants in the foot with a 12 gauge shotgun. Some of the participants thought so too, and filmed themselves brainstorming frantically only to come up with zip, and deciding to submit zip to the organisers for asking it of them. Yes, quite, how droll.
Flaw number two : publicity.
An open event to the public?
How's the public even supposed to know about it if there's no publicity drive on mainstream media? (Sorry, cowboy caleb... but you're not quite mainstream yknow, what with the lesbian-kissing minions and all) Granted, the theatre at substation isn't large... but scanning the audience I saw mostly participants, and maybe a few of their friends. Fringe event doesn't begin to describe the occasion, well into its third year now.
And where was the media throughout it all? Was there a reporter anywhere in the audience - even a fledgeling reporter for kiddy TV? Perhaps there was... maybe I'm being too harsh. But was the event covered at all, does anyone know?
Flaw number three : Technical Screwups
Okay, I know it was all very last minute and rushed... but enduring technical cockups again and again during the screening (incompatible format, blahblah) was trying.
Not because I didn't expect any... I'm pretty forgiving that way. But because if I was the organiser I'd bleeding try to run a preflight test before the screening proper... or if time constraints don't permit, a limited preflight test, then continue testing the rest of the movies as the first few are screened. Sort of like streaming a media file. Have a separate tech support crew in another room making sure everything is going to play just fine, in front of the audience.
Flaw number four : Post Event Coverage
I think it says it all that the official fly-by-night website hasn't been updated and is still asking participants to sign up.
And that it doesn't even have links anywhere on it to the rules, or anything vaguely useful.
I haven't seen a list of winners anywhere online, or synopses of plots. An email to the organisers to ask that they update their page received a curt reply that they are working on it.
Yes, yes I know... it's a good thing that they organised it in the first place.
But three years in... they ought to be getting slightly better at it, yes? Instead of ensuring that the majority of their submissions will be... difficult to watch, that several of the decent ones will not be screened due to technical faults, and that nobody has a clue after the event who won or what the video looked like.
Mmm. Perhaps I should sign with them next year... I wonder how much they pay? :)
