Round 3 - Rules & Details (Please Read)

Zensteve

Zensteve

Indie Talk's Online Original Film Competition - Round 3

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Important Dates:

Start of competition: Saturday March 19, 5pm pdt
End of competition: Sunday May 1, 5pm pdt

Start of voting: Sunday May 1, 5pm pdt
End of voting: Sunday May 15, 5pm pdt


Category is the following: Any! That's right, any genre - comedy, drama, horror, sci fi, action/adventure, documentary, mockumentary, shockumentary, rockumentary, even clockumentary - will do as long as you meet the other requirements, which are...

Dialogue is the following: "Did you have a good time?" Simple and vague. You should be able to fit this into anything. Does not have to be word for word...we'll also accept, "Have a good time?" or "You have a good time?" or (if Yoda is in your short) "Good time did you have?"

The Prop is the following: A baseball cap. A character wearing it, sitting in a shelf, hanging from a doorknob...whatever, just get it in there. No specifics on what needs to be on the cap...it can be a team insignia, "#1 Grandpa," or even "Fishermen Have Wet Dreams."

BONUS is the following: If the film is in Black and White you will be awarded two bonus points in the Final Judge's Score. You can use color for emphasis (ala Schindler's List and the color red), but the short needs to be majority B&W. The judges reserve the right to say yea or nay as to if B&W is used for the majority of the short.

BONUS 2 is the following: "The Early Bird Bonus" Members who submit their film by Saturday April 30, 5pm pdt (the orginal deadline) will recieve one bonus point in the Final Judge's Score.

Now before you go thinking these bonuses are only a few points, just remember that a few points can make the difference between winning and losing!
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Who, How Much, and Prizes:

Any registered member of IndieTalk can submit a film. (Prem, non-Prem, etc)

You do not need to "sign-up" in advance, though posting a reply with your intention to submit something would be handy. (So we can gossip about you)

There is no entry fee. Not a penny. Just your desire to be the best.

Important Requirement!!

Once you have uploaded your completed, qualifying entry you *must* PM IndieTalk with the URL of your online film.
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Note: There may be a few changes in the upcoming days... mostly clarifications.

Prizes!

Basic (Free) Members that upload a completed, qualifying entry will receive:

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for three weeks.
  • Post in all the forums
  • see the hidden ones
  • look fancy with orange.
  • Compare how much better than Basic Member, here


Everyone that uploads a completed, qualifying entry will receive:

A DVD of "NightBeat", the latest release from HailToTheKing.

Film noir; it's never been better!

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Awards By Merit:

"Judges' Choice" Award

This is the big one.

Lead Moderator Poke will be working with other selected judges, to determine which entry is simply... the best. The winner not only gets some well-deserved recognition on the boards, but also:

1) 12 Month subscription to IndieTalk.com at Premiere Plus level.
2) "The Ultimate Film Festival Survival Guide" by Chris Gore.

You win this title, you're gonna need it.

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"Peoples' Choice" Award

This is done by straight "poll" on the boards. Which film did the viewing audience like better? After they have had their say, the winner will get:

1) 6 Month subscription to IndieTalk.com at Premiere Plus level.
2) Syd Field's Screenwriting Workshop (DVD)

...and that will just make you better for next time!

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"Best Score" Award

This will be carefully considered by the Judges, again.

This Award is only available to entries that have 100% original scores. No royalty-free tunes, nothing left around from last year... simply a score generated for the film in question. Fot the boardmember musician in question:

1) 6 Month subscription to IndieTalk.com at Premiere Plus level.
2) A copy of "From Score To Screen: Sequencers, Scores, And Second Thoughts : The New Film Scoring Process" by Sonny Kompanek
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What Topics Can I Submit?

This thread will be updated on Saturday March 19th, and will announce the basic "genre". It will be randomly selected from a list of genres that may include comedy, horror, drama, mystery, etc. These are just examples, mind you... and Poke may come up with something original, different or simply plain challenging. He may even add incentives to do it in a certain style.

With genre in hand, you'll have 6 weeks (an astonishingly long time) to come up with an original story that is no longer than 5 minutes in length.

6 weeks is enough time for weekend-warriors to get something done, and should also be long enough for full-timers that want to join in to do something on a weekend.

(Note: 5 mins is the maximum allowed, not required. If you can get the job done in 30 or 60 seconds, go for it.)

I'll Just Submit Something I Made Last Year, If Genre Fits.

No, you won't. To make sure that it is a genuine new effort made, a "prop" and a "line of dialogue" are going to be listed along with the genre. That prop (something very common, easy to find, and/or extremely cheap) must appear prominently at some point in the film. The dialogue is a simple sentence that must be spoken.

Examples of props are "two white socks", or "a banana" or similar. You are in hard times if you can't spring 29 cents for a piece of fruit.

What Is The Appropriate Online Viewing Format?

For films shot on mini-dv (720x480), reduce to half size.

That means 360x240, for the math-impaired.

There is an allotted 25MB hosting per film. For a full 5-minute film, that is 5MB per minute. Here are some codec suggestions to make it fit.

VIDEO

Sorenson 3
MP4

AUDIO

Q-Design 2

Quality % can be set to 100 for both audio and video.
Setting the BPS between 60 to 80.
Setting a keyframe every 15 frames.

Depending on suggested video codec(s) (and BPS setting) you can compress as low as 1MB per minute, to as high as 5MB per minute.

Also, all the above codecs are included in the basic install of Quicktime for end-users... which means everyone will be able to see/hear them.

If your submission is an .swf or similar, please set the stage at 360x240. (And e-mail or PM Indie or Poke any funky embedding options)

What Else Do I Need To Know?
  • Don't use unlicensed copyrighted material in your film. If you try to pull a fast one and use copyrighted music, you'd better be ready to provide documentation that you had permission.
  • You do not lose any "rights" to your film, by submitting. It remains yours, all yours.
  • This is not the mud-tossing thread. GO HERE if you want to do that. (Not too rowdy, though)
:director: Be creative and have fun, dammit!

PDF version of rules and requirements.
 
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Awesome Zen. I'm in. But that was kind of a given. :) Can't wait to see what Poke picks for this round. Boy do those prizes look good! I mean just for entering you get stuff....cool deals. ;)
 
yes im in too. Will you send the prizes to me in australia from america even if i dont win? (at least hailtothekings nightbeat for a qualifying entery)
 
Yea, I'm in...

Vegas... Film YOUR WORK on the weekends.. Get someone to say the line and hold the "two white socks"...



There's no the "most interesting way using the prop" prize? :yes:
Nothing fancy, just a Kudos for Bragging!
What about an official IndieTalk leaves thingy we can put at the beginning or on our sites? "Judges Award, Indietalk.com filmmaking competition" or something. :D
 
All the rules and prizes are not officially set. There may be an award for best use of prop/line, but chances are it will only be a bragging rights type of award.

I'd like to thank Zen for helping me transition into the lead role here (sorry I can't use a phone Zen ;)), he's been so great on the last two rounds that I wanted to give him a chance to actually compete. Good luck, Zenner.

I do have some surprises in store, I hope you all enjoy them. I will post everything on Friday.

Poke
 
:clap: Zen and Poke, good job on getting this going. :D
 
I might just have to sneek in and get in on the action! I already have some commitment from a few of my friends on this project, so we'll see how it goes. I'm excited for Friday, I can't wait to know what all of the requirements are.
 
I cannot wait to try this. I am dying to know what the genre will be. what prop will i need and can i actually make a halfway decent film with my cheap equipment and no budget. Bwahahahahahaha
good luck all
 
Pfft. All I do is run my mouth. (I'm pretty good at that, though) :blush:

I'm looking forward to relaxing over this one, and letting Poke get all the gray hair this time. :lol:

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Lux - HailKing will get that DVD to AU if you have a completed entry, sure. I'm not sure if they are Region-encoded, though.

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Coot - Did I ever send you the zip-file of "laurels" from last time?
 
Zensteve said:
Lux - HailKing will get that DVD to AU if you have a completed entry, sure. I'm not sure if they are Region-encoded, though.
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The DVD's are region free! I've sent them all over the place and no-one has had trouble. Yep we can get one to you in AU if you have a completed entry Lux. No worries. :yes:

lordshane, a fellow townsman enter this contest next to me? Should be something. Good luck on yours. If you can't get anything going feel free to join up with me. I might be able to use an extra hand. Of course that just depends on when everything is revealed on Friday. 2 more days... :cool:
 
HailtotheKing said:
a fellow townsman enter this contest next to me? Should be something. Good luck on yours. If you can't get anything going feel free to join up with me.
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That's an excellent point, Mr HailKing.

Statistically, there is a good chance that there is someone on the boards near you. (Meaning boardmembers in general).

Films (yes, even shorts) are difficult to do without good help, and this competition may be the perfect vehicle to meet other local filmmakers to collaborate with. :)

Join forces and do it together, or each have a project and do reciprocal work... everyone wins, either way.

By the way, if any composers or musicians are reading this thread... you guys/gals are the cat's meow in competitions like this... and your kind of participation can be done globally. :cool:
 
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HailtotheKing said:
The DVD's are region free! I've sent them all over the place and no-one has had trouble. Yep we can get one to you in AU if you have a completed entry Lux. No worries. :yes:
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Oh kool i look forward to seeing it. Even more an incentive to make this thing!!
 
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