I know why the film was rejected!

This article is very useful to anyone who wants to submit a film to a festival. Because of my experience with Vision last semester, I feel like I knew most of this information already. From jurying the submissions we received, I realized firsthand what it's like to sit through a poorly-scripted or edited film, and I subconsciously absorbed what not to do from watching it. Because our screening was so short, I also know that the shorter the film, the more likely it is to be accepted. Even more frustrating, I know that your film may not be accepted even if it follows all this advice, simply because of the volume of entries received. While I lived a lot of this article first-hand, I think it is a great resource for anyone just starting out with film festivals.

Why was my film rejected?

The tips on how to make sure your film has a chance of getting in to festivals were all extremely helpful AND SIMPLE! Make sure the quality is good, the story concice, and the plot original. It seems like filmmakers get so excited about there film and don't want to cut them down to a good 5 to 10 minutes because they don't want to lose any footage and they don't realize that this is the very reason their short does not make it into the festival.

Posted by Sarah

Response to Festival Article

I think that this article was very helpful. It oulined everything that the judges are looking for when they recieve submissions for film festivals. A lot of it seemed like common sense things that you know you should be thinking about, but you need to be reminded of. Sometimes when trying to make a film, the filmmaker can get hung up on trying to create a masterpiece that he/she overlooks important things that are very obvious to an outside audience. It's very good advice for any filmmaker to keep in mind for future festival submissions.

Idea for Poetic Assignment

After viewing Jennifer Proctor's Flow, I came up with the idea of shooting the beach in a similar fashion to Flow. It would take place at sunrise. Every shot would fade in and fade out. The sound would be the sound of waves crashing, also fading in and fading out. The shots would be of the waves, seagulls flying or walking on the beach, hopefully some pelicans flying, diving, and sitting on the water, and ideally some porpoises swimming down the coast. Then there is the possibility of slowing everything down from the shots to the sound. With the beautiful footage and relaxing sound, I think the film would turn out to be very soothing, just like JP's Flow. Storyboards are on the way...

Vox Populi Plan

Location for Vox Pops:
1) At Johnnie Mercer's Pier
2) Dowtown, near the waterfront
3) Mayfaire Cinemas

Equipment:
Shotgun
Camera
Light Meter
XLR Cable
Sticks

Questions:
-Name?
-Where are you from?
-(Resident) How long have you lived here?
-(Tourist) How often do you visit this area?
-Where is Johnnie Mercer's Pier?
-What is the pier used for?
-What does Johnnie Mercer's pier mean to you?
-What does Johnnie Mercer's pier mean to Wrightsville Beach?
-How often do you go to the pier?
-Do you go on the pier or just to the shop or beach area around the pier?
-Do you know why you have to pay to go on the pier and to fish at the pier?
-Does it bother you that you have to pay to walk and fish on the pier?
-Do you know any of the history of the pier?
-Did you know that the pier was destroyed in the hurricane?
-What do you know about the rebuilding of the pier?
-Does the pier offer things/activities that make you want to go on it? If not, what would you like?
-How has the atmosphere changed over time before/after it was built?
-How was the beach different while the pier was closed? Did you miss the pier or not care? Did people still go to that part of the beach?
-How was fishing impacted by the loss/rebuilding of the pier?

Expert Interview

We have chosen Matt Johnson for our expert interviewee. Matt's father, Bob Johnson, bought the pier in 1969 from Johnnie Mercer's widow. Bob still owns the pier and Matt is the pier manager. Matt was directly involved in the reconstruction of the pier. His family decided to rebuild the pier with concrete instead of wood. Matt has been manager of the pier for many years and will be able to give us a lot of valuable information for our project.

More Research

http://0-search.ebscohost.com.uncclc.coast.uncwil.edu:80/login.aspx?direct=true&db=nfh&AN=2W62520228922&site=ehost-live

This article from the Charlotte Observer describs how the new Johnnie Mercer's Pier was being built of concrete rather than wood. It goes on to discuss the ups and downs of choosing concrete. In our documentary the information on how concrete should make the pier withstand storms can be a good arguement for people to support the reconstrcution by donating when they wish to go out on the pier. This might put our film into the category of a legislative or delibrative rhetorical documentary, meaning our goal is the encourage/discourage - in our case encourage- people to pay the two dollars to enjoy the new pier.

Posted by Sarah