Suggestion to improve Short Film Contest 2006

gadgetguy · Contestant Joined: 14 Feb 2002 Location: Michigan, USA

We're only a couple days away from the close of S F C 2005 and there are less than a dozen entries. I guess that increases the chances of those of us that have entered but it won't help to attract sponsors for future contests.

I have seen some comments about not finding out about it until "too late", and it my immediate thought was "how could they not have heard". But after thinking about it I realized that most of the time that I'm on-line here (which is probably way too much), I never see anything about it unless there is a new/current topic discussing it.

So I would like to suggest that instead of having the link for the contest hidden down towards the bottom of the main screen, there should be a bold link near the top of every page.
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lumis · Posted: Dec 13, 2005 15:29

Shut up gadgetguy! you're going to cost me $500.. kidding

but all kidding aside, i agree.. even though i heard about it a long time ago, i'm sure i could have just as easily missed it.. there should be some kind of perma-link on every page.. i'm not sure how much work that would take or how much of a load that would put on the servers though..
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ozymango · Member Joined: 13 Jul 2004 Location: Portland, OR

I definitely like the idea of putting some little graphic on every page (perhaps in the upper left corner, under the videohelp logo?) during the contest, just a brief blurb and link to catch peoples' eyes.

I like the "theme" thing, where every film has to have some kind of whatever reference to [Baldrick, but could be some other word/theme], mostly as a way of really encouraging people to be creative. And very often we are most creative not when we have no limitationss, but when we do have limitations!

Also I may get pelted with rotten fruit for this, but maybe the prize money amount was almost too much for many people?

That is, you see a top prize of $500 and you go (or at least I go), "WOW!!! That's serious money!!!" Which is great, I applaud it from a financial incentive point of view, but it can also be intimidating -- I've gotta make a knockout movie! And I'll be up against people who probably do this all the time! I'm just an amateur, my film will look terrible compared to the winners! Or maybe I'm just projecting my insecurities on everyone else.

Not that I want to cut down the $$$, but maybe have a bunch more "little" prizes, to maybe encourage people with modest budgets but enjoyable interest to send in something and maybe win $25. Just a thought.

gadgetguy · Contestant Joined: 14 Feb 2002 Location: Michigan, USA

ozymango · Member Joined: 13 Jul 2004 Location: Portland, OR

[quote="gadgetguy"]

dipstick · Posted: Dec 14, 2005 14:56

If I win (and that's a big if), Baldrick can keep the money as I'm not interested in prizes. They tend to be more of a hasle than they're worth. I entered purely for fun and competition, not to mention supporting the site.
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Noahtuck · Posted: Dec 14, 2005 14:59

lumis · Posted: Dec 14, 2005 19:15

if i win the money i'll get drunk for you all

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dipstick · Posted: Dec 14, 2005 20:52

Well I like Southern Comfort or Jack Daniels. So you'll be getting hammerd real early.

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offline · incognito Joined: 05 Jun 2002 Location: Mondo Caine

If we don't get more entries quickly, a 2006 contest seems unlikely. The judges will keep the prize money and get hammered with Jack Daniels themselves.

vhelp · ..Semi Neutral.. Joined: 31 Mar 2001 Location: New York

TGIF everyone

Hi guys..

I thought I would suggest a few ideas for the current and future competitions.

- My suggestion is.., could the subject title change (on-going) to give us
an idea where everything is at, during the run ??

In our case in this years competition, ..when it's finished.
i.e., Short Film Competition 2005 - [ finished ]

Some examples..

Short Film Competition 2005 - [ started ]
Short Film Competition 2005 - [ > 20 entries ]
Short Film Competition 2005 - [ overwhelmed ]
Short Film Competition 2005 - [ near complete]
Short Film Competition 2005 - [ 7 days left ]
Short Film Competition 2005 - [ and the winner is.. ]

-vhelp 3686
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offline · incognito Joined: 05 Jun 2002 Location: Mondo Caine

Well I've looked over some of the entries and I'm pretty pleased. One quietly blew my socks off. Thanks to all that supported the comp.

Late entries will still be accepted but points will be removed to be fair to the others who were on time.

Stay tuned for official updates later.

C_S · Member Joined: 23 Sep 2004

You could always submit your contest info. to sites like hi-beam to attract more people, too... Maybe next year?

offline · incognito Joined: 05 Jun 2002 Location: Mondo Caine

Maybe C_S... but we were after current members of VideoHelp more than blow-ins from the general public. There is not much of a kick in seeing outsiders you don't recognize, winning the prizes.

C_S · Member Joined: 23 Sep 2004

Good point, hm.

ozymango · Member Joined: 13 Jul 2004 Location: Portland, OR

Hope nobody minds that I'm bumping this thread -- it seems a more useful and relevant topic line for some of the stuff that's been posted in the "Announcement of Prizes" thread.

I don't so much have suggestions as just ideas to throw out, because I enjoyed the first contest and would love to see more people involved in the next one.

As for whether they're pros or amateurs, I guess I don't really mind one way or the other, for this specific contest, mostly because this time out we only had a dozen submissions and forty votes or so, out of how many possible viewers out there?

So I'm more about thinking about promotion at the moment.

From reading some of the comments in this forum and others, I suspect that some number of people (perhaps a significant number) didn't enter simply because they didn't really know what the contest was about, as this was the first time out of the gate and the rules were pretty minimal. And nothing against all the freedom the minimal rules allowed us creative entrants

, but it may be useful to have more "guidelines," as it were. And those guidelines may not necessarily have to be specific rules, but even just chit-chat feedback in this forum (or a "short film contest 2006" forum) from people who are actively interested in this contest, as viewers, participants, or both.

So we now have some sample films under our belts, and at least the beginning of a conversation about who likes what, and what this contest is "about." And I'm sure the answer to "what is this contest about?" varies for each person.

So, what should we talk about?

offline · incognito Joined: 05 Jun 2002 Location: Mondo Caine

Thank you ozymango. I'm watching this thread so it stays clear. There are various issues. Publicity, rules, timing and support; just to name the headings.

gadgetguy · Contestant Joined: 14 Feb 2002 Location: Michigan, USA

Richard_G · Member Joined: 10 May 2003 Location: Peterborough, England

I was put off as soon as I read the details on how to submit an entry. I have a video editing system that is 100% stable and reliable. I only ever use DV avi, DVD compliant mpeg2 and FLV (for one client) and had no desire to start loading other codecs for formats I have no use for.

I appreciate that the use of DivX was to keep bandwidth down but, for me, the risk of problems in the future was far too great. The use of DivX also meant I was unable to view any of the entries. Could the format not be something a bit more mainstream next time?

Cobra · Moderator Joined: 06 May 2002 Location: UK

Try mPlayer - it should allow you to play back the video files without installing any codecs (provided you download and place the codec pack into the mPlayer codec folder). I am not sure whether mCoder has the same ability (encode to a format without installation of a particular codec) but it may be worth a look.

Hope this helps!

Cobra
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ZAPPER · Member Joined: 03 Jan 2004 Location: GEORGIA US

KISMIF! Keep It Simple Make It Fun!

I would suggest posting the theme in like July or later to kind of put pressure on the contestants if an imprompt to (SP) film compitition is the twist. (Although more time is always nice, it isn't always the real world and dead lines and time restrictions kind of make it a race)

A better definition of what is expected of the "Theme" topic may be in order, but then again, why take away artistic freedoms.

Other than a great big flashing advertisemint right in the middle of the front page I thought that the anouncements about it where fair enough. I mean part of being a menber is coming by the site once and awhile and having a look around.

Kudos and hats off to the staff for what they have done with the first year. And I trust them to do it again next time.

I think if the mods come up with a set of guidelines amoungst themselves to judge for the Baldrick and then let the members vote on the "Members Choice" award, it is a pretty good deal.
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ozymango · Member Joined: 13 Jul 2004 Location: Portland, OR

Supreme2k · Member Joined: 07 Feb 2003 Location: in da hizzy

So...
Why were my suggestions moved. ? They were perfectly legit suggestions (which I underlined to show that they were suggestions). I hope no one thought I meant any harm by them. I would have had more, but most of the best suggestions were already posted.

Edit: for clarity.
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ozymango · Member Joined: 13 Jul 2004 Location: Portland, OR