Judging UWOL 23

[Simon Wood]

I vote that we keep them all in the running for the competition. We had a good turn out this round, and lots of different takes on the theme. So it would be cool to keep them all in.

Rule 11. One rule to rule them all...

[Lorinda Norton]

Per Johan, because of where your ending credits started your entry is okay; no worries.

Simon, your points on editing are well-taken, and I agree. Nothing sharpens editing skills like having a mere 3 minutes to tell a story. It has been proven over and over in this challenge and in the DV Challenge that it can be done. That said, there is the occasional story that could be even more fulfilling if given a little extra time. After watching all of this round's entries I thought there were two.

Thinking that in the coming rounds we should place an emphasis on editing, with tips at the beginning and the promise of feedback to help hone the skills. We want to keep it fun, but I think every filmmaker wants to please his/her audience, as well--which adds to the fun!

After chewing on this all night I think we should chew a little more. I want to loosen the time up a bit, but my gut has been telling me that 5 minutes is too long. Split the difference and go with 4?

[Chris Barcellos]

Okay, I sent my votes in this morning. These films all demonstrate great story and/or great technical shooting. A vote for any of them would be right. In this case, I found myself looking at use of theme as the deciding factor. I hate being a judge. :)

[Gordon Hoffman]

Lorinda I'd go for the 4 minute max. Would you want to set a minimum length to or just a max of 4 minutes?

Gordon

[Lorinda Norton]

One of my favorite examples that you will have to read again comes from the DV Challenge. Several years ago we had a winner in the charity challenge that was a 30-second PSA! It was so compelling and well done that it swept the contest--the clear winner.

So there will be no minimum time, but there will be multiple comments regarding the value of keeping it short. I'm really leaning toward the 4-minute maximum, too, Gordon. Thanks.

[Kevin Railsback]

Why limit it at all? If you can crank out a feature film that grabs every one of us in the time allotted then why not? It's still a challenge. But if you give us 40 minutes of drivel then I hope the others that finished a film would call you out on it.

I find it harder to do a longer film that a shorter film. I'm working on making a much longer film and you have to have a hell of a compelling story to hold people's attention.

[Owen Dawe]

I think they call it 'The UWOL Challenge' as the challenge is trying to pick the top three when they're all in that category.

[Gordon Hoffman]

Originally Posted by Kevin Railsback

Why limit it at all? If you can crank out a feature film that grabs every one of us in the time allotted then why not?

I know I have a limited amount of bandwidth that I can use a month and sometimes it's not very fast so if I've got to keep waiting for it to load I'll lose interest pretty quick. I never watch anything over about six minutes as it is because of that.

Gordon