Antman's Short Film Contest #17 - "Open"

[Daniel Rutter]

http://i56.tinypic.com/mv6xht.jpg

It's that time again! Time for another Antman contest.

From AJUK, winner of Antman's Short Film Contest #16:

looking at the older themes they are all simple one-word things like 'Revenge' or 'Ghost' so perhaps I'll go with something similar.

My suggested theme is "OPEN" as in open space, or open a box or open door, open mind etc.

Sounds interesting, right?

Please remember, your entry must follow the rules to be considered a competitive entry:

RULES
Reminder of the Rules:
1) Can't be longer than 5 minutes
2) Shouldn't be rated over PG-13 (Unless changed by the moderator)
3) Video should be posted on vimeo official page ONLY. Videos for the current theme will not be available to view until the contest deadline > managed by Daniel, creator of the official page. The group page is here: http://www.vimeo.com/groups/antmansfilmfestival
4) The winner will have the choice: Be a judge on the next theme, and not compete (or have his entry considered "Competitive"), OR, Forfeit the opportunity to be a judge, and be freely able to enter the next theme with a chance to win.
5.) Usage of copyright/trademarks:
a) Usage of copyrighted objects, images or trademarks is permissible so long as they are not central to the plot of the short. Usage beyond this such as green screen backdrops, fake commercial of a real product, etc. requires release from the copyright/trademark holder.
b) Use of copyrighted music both in lyrics, score or performance, other than such that is recorded incidentally during normal filming, without a release will result in the video being disqualified.
6) Entries must be made specifically for the theme submitted to, within the 2 weeks deadline. All entries made before the announcement of the theme will be disqualified.

As previously mentioned in the Proposed Changes (http://www.hv20.com/showthread.php?39458-Proposed-Changes) thread, this will be the last contest run as it is currently. In the next few days, I will be posting a thread asking for random theme suggestions, which I will write out 50 of these and put them in a hat. Every two weeks (I.E: after the ending of one contest) I will pull a theme out of the hat (and I will film it if you all wish) and we'll go off that. Just to spice things up a bit, I will also suggest a random object or phrase that must be incorporated into the film. Should make things a little more interesting!

I will update accordingly as soon as our new Vimeo page has been created. You can submit your entries at any time, but they will not be viewable until the Deadline has been reached.

DEADLINE IS 12PM UTC, November 14th 2010. Just for those who wish to know, here's an exact time till deadline: Countdown To Deadline (http://www.7is7.com/otto/countdown.html?year=2010&month=11&date=14&hrs=12&ts=12&min=0&sec=0&tz=UTC&lang=en&show=dhms&mode=r&cdir=down&bgcolor=%23CCFFFF&fgcolor=%23000000&title=Countdown%20To)

Contest Judges:
Daniel Rutter
Bif
Vishus


Hope to see some interesting entries! Good luck all :)

[Timbit]

Yay! I just need to finish my entry for Vishus' contest, then away I go! :)

[HueyNRolf]

DEADLINE IS 12PM UTC, November 14th 2010

A bit more editing/post/ encoding/ uploading time after the weekend would've been nice. If you're on the GMT line, you'll need it wrapped and uploaded by Sunday lunchtime. It'll be Saturday for those behind GMT. You and I Daniel (+8/9 GMT) have the jump on them.

[Daniel Rutter]

A bit more editing/post/ encoding/ uploading time after the weekend would've been nice.
Time is set in stone mate, but I'll keep it in mind next time. As it stands, I've added 2-3 days more than the 2 weeks it should be... I think thats enough Post/encode time for anyone.


Yay! I just need to finish my entry for Vishus' contest, then away I go!
Looking forward to seeing an entry from you Tim!

[Timbit]

UTC
Where is the UTC, anyway?? :)

[HueyNRolf]

Time is set in stone mate, but I'll keep it in mind next time. As it stands, I've added 2-3 days more than the 2 weeks it should be... I think thats enough Post/encode time for anyone.

Yeah, two full weekends is good. But for the next one you should make the deadline a more reasonable hour for people in the Americas, which is where 90% of the entrants are. 12PM UTC is between 5~7AM for these guys.

[Timbit]

12PM UTC is between 5~7AM for these guys.
Whoa! It'll require an overnight upload!

[Daniel Rutter]

New page is up, please make sure you upload it to the right page. Also... ignore the banner in there, it's just a place holder.

http://www.vimeo.com/groups/68115



Whoa! It'll require an overnight upload!
You can always upload the day before... like I used to do with previous contests ;)

[Timbit]

You can always upload the day before... like I used to do with previous contests ;)
I will. :p

[HueyNRolf]

I will.

There's obedience for you.

[paperkut12]

At first I thought the theme would be no theme, but this works too :D.

[paperkut12]

Another thing, I was enjoying having that extra day (sunday) to have to edit and so on if needed (as in the last contest), but I suppose I can live with that. Another thing though, I quite don't understand the pg-13 rating limit. I know originally it was supposed to be that so families or something could watch them together, but really, who does that. Just think there shouldn't be a rating limit.

Just a couple thoughts...not complaining or anything, or think anything is deal-breaking.

[RockDonkey]

I just saw that there is a new Vimeo page. Will the old films this time stay there or will they along with the comments be deleted?

A healthy development would be to hint which things will cause the judges to give minus points. Then one must not disqualify anybody.

[Fade to inferno]

why was there a new vimeo page made?

[Daniel Rutter]

why was there a new vimeo page made?
Well, I asked Shigeta for moderator privileges on his page... never heard back. The other page, was owned by Huey.

The new page is so I can fully control what goes in and comes out of the page. Take a look at the description of the group, you will see our archive page is linked. That was created by Vishus to help me out with archiving old videos and sorting out winners.

[Vishus]

I have been killing myself on freelance work and a halloween video I did myself for a different contest. I'll need to take a break, so if you need an extra judge for next round, I'll do it if you want.

[Daniel Rutter]

I'll need to take a break, so if you need an extra judge for next round, I'll do it if you want
Excellent! Thanks for stepping up Vishus. I appreciate it :)

[Daniel Rutter]

So, has anyone decided if they're entering?

I may be, I'm looking at a free weekend coming up.

[Daniel Rutter]

How about How to get big things in your mouth?

Or better still:

How to get big things OUT OF your mouth.
Wrong thread Huey... moved to http://www.hv20.com/showthread.php?39725-Antman-s-short-film-contest-theme-suggestions-thread.

[HueyNRolf]

Ah!
You're no fun.

[Timbit]

So, has anyone decided if they're entering?
I am, though I'm still trying to get a good idea on "OPEN". :)

[Daniel Rutter]

I am, though I'm still trying to get a good idea on "OPEN".
Yep, it's not exactly an easy one eh?

[HueyNRolf]

How about 'The young curmudgeon?'

[Daniel Rutter]

How about 'The young curmudgeon?'
If you keep posting in the wrong thread Huey, I'll have you reported for spam.

Are we going to see an entry from you?

[HueyNRolf]

I have a lot of experience doing location sound for short movies and I edited a 30 minute short, a few years ago. I've never done one all on my own. But I'm thinking about going it alone on an idea I have (one of many). But it needs to be shot in the summer and by the time my friend has written it for me, it'll be next year.

If you can hang on until then and if I can can shoot and edit within two weeks, I'll be pleased to enter it. Oh and theme needs to fit, so how about 'The Hill'? That's what my movie will be entitled/

[Timbit]

Yep, it's not exactly an easy one eh?
Well, I have a few ideas, but nothing definite yet. :)

[RockDonkey]

Seems I will be entering. Just need to make the deadline, it's as simple as that...

[Daniel Rutter]

Just need to make the deadline, it's as simple as that...
Looking forward to seeing your entry then RockyD.

[burnslluciano]

ill enter these two shorts i did if its cool

Fist

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xWlmaBD26lM

The Wandering Man

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I9yUr7l0Gdc

[Daniel Rutter]

ill enter these two shorts i did if its cool
If they weren't made for this contest, or in the last week that this contest has been going for... then I'm afraid they cannot be entered. Please read the rules of entry stated in the very first post on the first page of this thread. thanks :)

[paperkut12]

So how's everyone coming along? I seem to be in a contest funk as of late..I hope to get an idea and film it..asap.

[HueyNRolf]

Deadline is this weekend. You might get a few hours of post time, depending on your timezone. I'd say you'd need to have everything shot by Friday.

[paperkut12]

Deadline is this weekend. You might get a few hours of post time, depending on your timezone. I'd say you'd need to have everything shot by Friday.

Oh crap you're right. The new deadline totally takes out Sunday for me..lalalala

Not that my one opinion matters, but the deadline for the past contest allowed people to have the weekend to edit, etc..Maybe enough people could chime in to potentially have a change???

[HueyNRolf]

If you're in London you have until Sunday lunchtime. Where Daniel and I are it's Sunday evening. In the Americas, it'll be Saturday afternoon/ evening.

I did try suggesting pushing the deadline back, so everyone gets more prime weekend time. Ah well.

[Vishus]

End of weekend (for everyone) as a deadline always made sense to me! Do we have any entries yet?

[Timbit]

If I can get the time to film what I've written, I'll be entering. It's just having enough OPEN time... :p

[Daniel Rutter]

Do we have any entries yet?
None in the Vimeo group as of yet.


Not that my one opinion matters, but the deadline for the past contest allowed people to have the weekend to edit, etc..Maybe enough people could chime in to potentially have a change???
Huey likes to rub it in everytime I make a mistake, so I'm going to humor him and speak up about this. When I set the contest time, I used UTC... which seemed more world-wide friendly for everyone. Sunday 12pm seemed fine... but obviously not. Why don't I make it Monday 10pm UTC for the next theme?

In regards to this contest... the fact that I chucked a few extra days onto the deadline when we started, should give nobody an excuse to not have enough time to edit. Procrastination is for the weak, people! ;)

[Timbit]

In regards to this contest... the fact that I chucked a few extra days onto the deadline when we started, should give nobody an excuse to not have enough time to edit. Procrastination is for the weak, people! ;)
Or for the ones like me who can't come up with an idea that works until the last week... :p


Why don't I make it Monday 10pm UTC for the next theme?
I like that, as it's often only on Sunday afternoons that I can do anything in regards to filming.

[Daniel Rutter]

Or for the ones like me who can't come up with an idea that works until the last week...
Which is why, for the next contest... you will be given a random plot line ;)

[Timbit]

Which is why, for the next contest... you will be given a random plot line ;)
Which will be much nicer to work on. :D

Even still, my new job will keep me pretty busy until either the snow flies, or I finish up fieldwork (Two to three hours, morning and night, every day). Having said that, I just realized what time it is, so I must go! :) See you all in the winners circle--if I make it there... :p

[HueyNRolf]

Huey likes to rub it in everytime I make a mistake, so I'm going to humor him and speak up about this.

Everyone makes mistakes, but isn't more mature to face and fix your mistakes? I pointed out the problem form the get go, but you chose to stubbornly do nothing about it.

[Daniel Rutter]

I pointed out the problem form the get go, but you chose to stubbornly do nothing about it.
Not stubbornly, I just chose to wait until a majority of people brought it up. That way, it wasn't just one or two who had a problem.

Anyway, the time will be changed for the next theme.

I've never run a contest, I'm still working out the kinks and finding a standard to follow. Give me time, I'll have it running like clockwork.

[HueyNRolf]

Not stubbornly, I just chose to wait until a majority of people brought it up. That way, it wasn't just one or two who had a problem.

Oy vey!
Do you want me to point out where you wrote that the deadline was 'set in stone?'

[Daniel Rutter]

Do you want me to point out where you wrote that the deadline was 'set in stone?'
Use your eyes, and common sense... I said 'SET IN STONE', meaning this particular contest deadline was set... it won't be changed.

[HueyNRolf]

Right oh, Daniel. Carry on. Good luck.
The deadline is Sunday evening (9:00PM) here.
http://www.worldtimeserver.com/convert_time_in_UTC.aspx

I'll be sure to swing by then.

[Jergling]

I just saw this thread in the artistic discussion forum: http://www.hv20.com/showthread.php?39757-three-quot-acts-quot-do-squeeze-into-one-minute!-%29

Prepare for Thnikas 4... to be canceled. It will be immediately superseded by Thnikas 5: One Minute, 3 Acts.

[paperkut12]

How many submissions so far? I'm going to guess not many.

[Daniel Rutter]

None so far.

[Daniel Rutter]

I think I'm going to have a bit of trouble judging this contest from the looks of it. My internet is playing up and I'm having trouble connecting (prepaid internet is like that).

Therefor, my judging notes won't be released straight away. Bif, and Vishus... if you could take the lead and kick off the reviews and criticism for me, I will hopefully have mine up within 12 hours from the deadline.

I apologize in advance if this inconveniences anyone.

[HueyNRolf]

My internet is playing up and I'm having trouble connecting (prepaid internet is like that).

Oh no.
I've just checked mine and, it's a bit slower than usual, but well within limits.
Looking forward to the contest.
Good luck everyone!

[Timbit]

Faster than mine, Huey (Even though I'm on wireless high-speed)!

I haven't had time to get anything together yet, but maybe I should scramble something together tonight and upload it ASAP!

[RockDonkey]

Okay boys, mine is up. Deadline beaten. Awesome.

[Daniel Rutter]

Make sure you add it to THIS group page: http://www.vimeo.com/groups/antmansfilmfestival

So far we have no entries.


I haven't had time to get anything together yet, but maybe I should scramble something together tonight and upload it ASAP!
Good stuff :)

[Daniel Rutter]

Make sure you add it to THIS group page: http://www.vimeo.com/groups/antmansfilmfestival

So far we have no entries.


I haven't had time to get anything together yet, but maybe I should scramble something together tonight and upload it ASAP!
Good stuff :)

[HueyNRolf]

So far we have no entries.

What about RockDonkey?
There's still four hours to go, you might get rakes of 'em.
Of course, announcing that it would take you 12 hours to do the judging, instead of deputizing someone else. might have put some late entrants off. But ah well.

[Daniel Rutter]

announcing that it would take you 12 hours to do the judging, instead of deputizing someone else. might have put some late entrants off. But ah well.
Can't help technical issues Huey, so STFU.

[HueyNRolf]

Can't help technical issues Huey, so STFU.

Right oh, Daniel, Understood. I'm looking forward to the contest, just three hours to go. She'll be right!

[RockDonkey]

[QUOTE=Daniel Rutter;363195]Make sure you add it to THIS group page: http://www.vimeo.com/groups/antmansfilmfestival

So far we have no entries.


That's the group page where I went and uploaded it. Later it showed up also at my page. Now I've also been to my page and added it. Can only hope it works.

[HueyNRolf]

. . . and the excitement builds as we get to see the first entry ahead of deadline.
Stay tuned folks. The fun has only just started!

[Daniel Rutter]

That's the group page where I went and uploaded it. Later it showed up also at my page. Now I've also been to my page and added it. Can only hope it works.
It didn't, but I assume your entry was "The Key Obsessed Bartender", I've added it to the group another way.

[HueyNRolf]

So there we have it.

Congratulations to the winner, RockDonkey!

Good job, Daniel.

[Daniel Rutter]

So there we have it.

Congratulations to the winner, RockDonkey!


Yes it appears so. A little disappointing, if anything (the amount of entries, not the film itself).
RockDonkey, we'll all have reviews for you up very soon.

It turns out my net is working fine for the moment, so I'll watch your film ASAP and give you my views. Thanks for participating.

EDIT:

RockDonkey - The Key Obsessed Bartender

Let me first start off by saying, this was weird... extremely weird. I found myself wondering what was being said at times, either due to the accent or the audio itself (It was low at the beginning). I noticed some issues with green screen around the guy-drinking-coffee's head, as well as the bartender. The green screen was quite interesting, it's a tool I've noticed you use quite frequently especially in previous entries to our contest. I'm not sure I understood the story for this entry though, so if you could explain it to me... I'd be happy.

The good: Framing, Excellent use of green screen, acting.

The not-so-good: The audio (with the exception: When they are talking, it sounds great), hard to understand storyline.

Framing: The framing was good, not too centered... great use of room. The only real problem I found with this, was the rather cheesy looking zooms.
Green screen: I already mentioned the bit of fuzz with your greenscreen work, but that may be part and parcel of working with a HV in this instance.
Acting: It was rather off at times, but they all had a certain darkness about them that held me till the end.
Audio: I heard cuttoffs in there, gaps in the audio where there was no ambience... just silence between dialog. It was distracting. Also, the volume on the first few seconds was way too low compared to the rest of the film. There was some meatiness in the dialog audio though, it was well balanced and pleasant to my ears... if it wasn't for the gaps, it would have been great!
Storyline: There's not much to say here, just that... it was odd.

To wrap it up, I'd say that most of what I saw wasn't easy understood until my second sitting. A very nice addition to our contest, and I look forward to seeing many more entries from you. Thanks for participating RockDonkey, congratulations on your win.

[HueyNRolf]

A little disappointing, if anything

Oh I dunno, you did better than I thought you would :hv20-smilie81:

So are you going to have another go? Or is it 'we'll meet again?'

[HueyNRolf]

A very nice addition to our contest

Did I miss something?

[Vishus]

Hey RockDonkey!

It looked great. How much work did you put into composting all your shots? Were any of them "real shots"? you did a great job on most of them so it was hard to tell. Shots like the exterior with the car were a little more obvious, but that's not a big problem. The audio could have used some clean-up, the room-tone hum changed a bit with some of your edits which was a little jarring, but not major. I will admit that some of the story went over my head. Your framing/pacing/acting/colour correction made everything feel very "filmic". Thumbs up!

[Daniel Rutter]

So are you going to have another go? Or is it 'we'll meet again?'
What makes you think I'm walking away? I was given the responsibility of running the contest... I won't be walking away.


Did I miss something?
A very nice addition to our contest on the whole. As in, every entry ever received in this history of this contest.

Thanks Vishus for helping out as judge. It's a shame though that there wasn't any judging to be done though.

I hope to see more entries and interest in the next contest. I'll have that up in the next few hours.

[HueyNRolf]

RockDonkey has submitted two previous entries 'In the history of this contest.'

[Daniel Rutter]

RockDonkey has submitted two previous entries 'In the history of this contest.'
What's your point?

[HueyNRolf]

What's your point?
:hv20-smilie81::hv20-smilie81:

[RockDonkey]

Thanks for the comments. Obviously most of the energy in such a production goes to designing the backgrounds. The keys on the counter is the only
real shot.

Weird as a dream but if you look closely there's a functioning logic that carries the construction down beneath. That is sort of the point here. Further
there's OPEN all over the place. Open can, garbage, door, toilet seat, bridge opening, bar is open etc.

[Bif]

"The Key Obsessed Bartender"

I watched this one twice in a row to be sure I could follow what the film maker was trying to show us here.

The good: A "dark" theme very well done. This is one of the best shorts I have seen in quite a while that actually handled this kind of story well in the few minutes allotted. The green screen work was very well done and on my monitor showed no outline artifacts or faults. The "keying" looked very clean. Acting was very well done and fully supported the film maker's storyline. I "felt" it.

Pacing also worked well, while I usually would have to comment on the camera "lingering" too long on some shots (I am very guilty of this in my own work) in this case on the second viewing I saw where it gave the actor(s) more depth of opportunity to communicate with gestures in a way that built suspense.

Lighting really "set the mood" and was very effectively used here.

The "not so good": The audio. This is often a hard one for us, I listen with headphones and I picked up a lot of what sounded like "electrical hum" and can't do more than guess whether it comes from the camera's built in mic, camera pre-amp, or external amp device. If the camera was run using an AC power adapter rather than from batteries this can be a source of hum on external mics. By the time I turned my listening volume up enough to be able to hear the dialogue, the hum became very disconcerting. If you can't solve that problem with existing equipment you might look into the use of something like the ZoomH2 or the newly released ZoomH1 recorders where you use your camera audio track only as a reference to "synch" onto with the separate recorder's audio.

Or if your camera has an external mic input the solution may be as simple as an inexpensive mic like one of the Azden stereo or mono mics.

For the most part this was a well done effort, one I'm glad I had the chance to see. You're a good "storyteller".

You have a "win" here and congratulations. I am just another participant here who sometimes helps with judging but I thank you for participating and I look forward to your next entry.

Bruce Foreman

[Bif]

Yes it appears so. A little disappointing, if anything (the amount of entries, not the film itself).


I think we're dealing with some "inertia" here. Many may have wanted to create something to enter but just couldn't get it rolling. The one that recently finished up over on dvinfo.net had almost 50 "sign up" and declare intent to submit an entry.

Only seven of us "finished", and the contest co-ordinator's non competitive entry made a total of 8 entries to view. So what we're seeing here may be the norm for the number of possible viewers and potential participants we have in this contest section.

What it needs more than anything else is promotion and this can be done by all of us.

Bruce Foreman

[Bif]

:hv20-smilie81::hv20-smilie81:

Huey,

I don't want to get anything disagreeable started here, but as a personal favor (and one that will help promote better "fellowship" among all of us here), could you consider not engaging in what looks like petty, sarcastic, "sniping" at the guy trying his darnedest to get this contest thing rolling.

If you and I are going to have a disagreement about this let's be gentlemen about it and "take it outside" (PM).

That need not be, I think we are both interested in the same thing, having fun here. I looked at some of your work on vimeo and enjoyed what I saw.

Ashinoko: It's been almost 50 years since I last enjoyed the charm of some of Japan's countryside and although some things have changed, you gave me a gimpse here that brought back some great memories.

Sankeien Garden: For just "messin around" as you put it in the description you turned up with something I enjoyed. Again, you took me back to a very pleasant fun time in my past.

Highlights Reel: 48 years ago there was some trend for weddings to begin to look like the way the "Western World" does it, but here you give us a glimpse of how far that trend has come and I enjoyed very much watching the event that we hope brings a lifetime of fulfillment for that nice looking couple. It looks like you did a super job here.

I guess what I am doing here is publicly stating that I have taken enough interest in you as a fellow video/filmmaker to go to your vimeo page and look at what you have put up there. And I am just as publicly stating genuine respect for you and your work.

So please, let's both you and I support the contest thing in a positive way and neither of us engage in any negative or sarcasm.

Can we do this?

Bruce Foreman

[RockDonkey]

Wow Bif! Very supportive commenting. That's what gives the film makers that extra energy to get their film done. Nice to read your comments also because I can sense that you've bin there and solved these problems yourself. In particular your thoughts about lingering. I've noticed that you like the same phase as I do. I sort of refuse to be scared of doing that wrong because I know that if I get the script totally right that will have solved the problem.

These cameras aren't really made to be able to handle green screen shots, but as long as I stay out of the light, won't hold a hand in front of the green screen and do a lot of other tricks I get it good enough to make it worth while in my opinion. To be flawless you need to have a team, have better equipment etc.

[paperkut12]

I don't know what I watched exactly, but I'm going to go smoke something and then watch it a few more times :D. I like your visual style and the eerie feeling to the scenes.

When the next contest getting started?

[drapeama]

Strange video RockDonkey, but congrats!

[Timbit]

Sorry I missed the deadline. :(

I was hoping to have my entry done last night (filmed it after 7 o'clock, then hit the editing), but ran into time problems (had to leave to help my dad load grain, then didn't get in until after 12 A.M.--and the computer was turned off. :D ).

So now I'm on here, looking for some music! :) Should I just upload it to the Footage section?

[Vishus]

Timbit, you've done the work, so may as well upload it for us to see!

[Timbit]

Okay. :)

[RockDonkey]

Thanks Drapeama. For this public I don't feel that I have a huge responsibility to hit mainstream cliches on the table. By the way I meant to do the bartender's lines with a french accent, but unfortunately forgot about it.

[Daniel Rutter]

So now I'm on here, looking for some music! Should I just upload it to the Footage section?
Yep, just do that.

RockDonkey, I will be PMing Mal today to do your medal thing, but seeing as Timbit and co are still waiting on theirs (and I emailed him about them the day I took over here)... don't hold your breath on getting it straight away.

Next theme will be up ASAP.

[Timbit]

Next theme will be up ASAP.
Yippie! :D

[Playing]

Hi RockDonkey

I really enjoyed your entry.

A few flaws were mentioned. For me it was the roofline in the opening scene. It looked too much like it was just done with an eraser.

The feel of the whole was great. The story made perfect sense to me. I love weird.

One thing you could play around with: Find some filter that makes the actors look like characters in a video game to match the background.

Don't feel bad for winning by default, you deserve it.

[RockDonkey]

Hi Playing. You've got sharp eyes. If I get around to fix the crane shots I will fix those things as well.