JUMP Film Festival - 2007 Winter
Monday, February 5th, 2007 by Lou
We would like to hear your comments, rants, and raves for this last JUMP Film Festival. Dates were February 1-3. Here are the movies:
- 18 Random Things by Alex Nelson, Vince Wagner & Devin Baxter
- Fruitcake of Joy by Alaska Robotics
- Food Fight by Jeff Brown
- Come Una Pietra Scalciata by Jonas Lamb & Caleb Wylie
- Be Nice by Dawson Walker
- Gold Medal Pride by Greg Chaney & Annie Foruria
- In the Offices of JUMP by Clint Farr
- Adventure Club Video Scavenger Hunt by Bad Larry Productions
- Oops by Patty Kalbrener
- Zombie Movie by Kevin Fremlin & Aaron suring
- Yozhik by Arlo Midgett
- Freakin’ Fungus Trailer by Paul F. Disdier
- Intermission by Lou Logan
- Kneading a Metric Ton of Dough by Roald Simonson
- Quest Contest by Greg Chaney
- A Puppet Movie by Caro LeVeque, Lauren Alweis & Eve Southworth
- The Green Room by Alaska Robotics
- Face by Mukhya Khalsa
- White or Wheat by Bad Larry Productions
- bubba by Kenn Magowan
- Catching Bears by Riley Woodford & Kent Crabtree
- Frank Murkowski: A Tribute by Pat Race
February 5th, 2007 at 3:01 pm
18 Random Things - These were clever bits of improv and reminded me a little bit of Monty Python without any sort of linking theme. I don’t really know where to file this film in my brain. It went by fast and involved a lot of gear shifting but I did think there were some moments of brilliance. In the end I liked the content but something about this style of random chaos leaves me wanting something with a story.
Fruitcake of Joy - This was our attempt to make a film in one long shot and it’s also one the first script I’ve completed since returning from my class last spring. The film needs some audio work and I might try to color correct it a bit but the version in the film fest was good and it’s really growing on me as I see it more.
Food Fight - I thought this film could have been shorter and I was disappointed that all the kids were wearing garbage bags.
Come Una Pietra Scalciata - I liked the music but it was hard to just read song lyrics the whole time. I’d like to know what the artists were trying to accomplish because I think I missed it.
Be Nice - The Dawson is going to be a great cartoonist some day and it was nice to see him try out animation. It was also a big fan of Robin’s music for the film.
Gold Medal Pride - I’m not a big fan of getting movie trailers for the film festival unless it’s some kind of mock trailer as a film. Previews and trailers just don’t have as much substance and don’t tell the whole story. Greg asked for some feedback on this already and this is what I emailed him:
As a preview, this it was much too long. It included some great clips but I would recommend that if you want to make a preview for your film it be no longer than three minutes. I would also recommend more tempo changes. Insert some basketball footage between interviews, speed things up and slow them down. The long stretch of basketball footage at the end of the preview started strong and lost steam after it exceeded my basketball highlight reel attention span. If you’re going to market the movie you should re-cut the preview so that it paces faster and gets the idea of gold medal across as efficiently as possible. Once the audience “gets it� you’re done, no need to beat them over the head or give away too many of the surprises. I haven’t seen the film but my recommendation is that you don’t try to make it feature length just so you can call it a feature length documentary. If the story takes twenty minutes to tell then tell it in twenty. If all your best footage would make an award winning short then don’t water it down by trying to reach some goal on the running time.
Greg’s films are getting better and it’s because he’s always looking for feedback, studying the audience and learning everything he can pick up. I just wanted to pause for a moment and recognize the hardest working member of the JUMP Society.
In the Offices of JUMP - This one got some good laughs and I think it was because Clint was brave enough to make fun of himself. .. and so ends the baby baby babe trilogy? I actually sort of hope it continues. I want to see baby baby babe IV. Thanks for putting me in your film Clint!
Adventure Club Video Scavenger Hunt - Nice to see the Bad Larry crew get outside of ski video land and try something new. This jackass style video was great, they did a good job of laying the foundation with the rules and building to a conclusion. The audio could have been better but they pulled together a nice collection of footage that really shocked our crowd. Good thing they weren’t scavenging for governor kisses when Frank was in office.
Oops - This film had a great story and the animated scenes looked really good but the scenes without audio really killed me. I’d also recommend getting away from a reliance on copyrighted music because if you ever want to do anything with your work (submit it to a film festival, share it online) you’ll need to have control over the content. Patty shows a lot of promise as a director here but just doesn’t do her story justice.
Zombie Movie - I think the static sound was a little hot compared to the warning guy. I understood what was happening but I wonder if it could have been made more clear with different dialog. I also thought the end credits were too elaborate and made it feel like just another cut back to the television.
Yozhik - I didn’t notice this myself but someone told me this film used the same pictures more than once and I feel like that’s a no-no. I did like the music but I felt like the montage was really stretched to reach the song length and would have been served better by cutting out a verse or somehow shortening the song. Good use of creative commons music and the JUMP Society mourns the loss of the Pimp my Couch star.
Freakin’ Fungus Trailer - Again, I’m not a big fan of trailers but this almost stood on its own. I was totally floored by the lighting, filming, and other subtle touches Paul incorporated in his film. I can’t wait to see the final version when it gets done this summer. My only criticism for the trailer is that some of the animated text didn’t match the production quality of the rest of the film.
Intermission - sigh. This seemed like a good idea.
Kneading a Metric Ton of Dough - I did like this film the first couple of times through. It was almost trance inducing. I didn’t fair so well on my fourth of fifth viewing. I think the garbled video footage on the end should be cut and I’d recommend ditching the subtitles and sticking with the voice over.
Quest Contest - The ending had a good turn but I didn’t find myself very invested in the beginning.
A Puppet Movie - I think this could be re-scripted and made into a pretty funny short film about a character with a growth on her body. As it was, I found it a little hard to follow. I think knowing and loving the people involved made me work harder to understand it and find meaning. I’m not so sure if anyone else got anything out of it but I enjoyed it more the fifth time than the first time.
The Green Room - This was the hardest film for me to watch. We had a blast making it but it really didn’t turn out like we wanted it to. Thank god for Buck Evans and his music which gave it a little boost. I feel like it’s important to note that we had only one weekend to script, film and edit this short and that we probably bit off way more than we could chew.
Face - Very interesting film, I recently read an article on prosopagnosia and I’m fascinated by the subject. Does anyone know if that was an entry in a stock footage contest? I remember Mukhya did something like that last year. Much better job on the audio recording this time around.
White or Wheat - Another pleasant surprise from the Bad Larrys. This was a really good film. It told a story. The filming and lighting could have been better but I’ll take story and comedic timing over technical expertise any day.
bubba - A good sad film. Perhaps a little bit long but very touching.
Catching Bears - I was very impressed by Riley’s editing, this was his first time making a film like this and without much help he was able to blaze through it and come up with something measuring up to many other state produced nature films I’ve seen. Good use of local music and a good job creating a story from the clips he had. I’d recommend using wireless lav mics on subjects in the future will help pick up better sound. It was a little hard to pick out Laverne when he talked.
Frank Murkowski - I feel bad for picking on the guy but then I remember all the stupid shit he did and don’t worry about it so much. Collette, Riley and Lou created some beautiful music and the State of Alaska provided excellent archive footage. If I felt like changing anything I’d do something different with the headlines and try to end with more of a punchline. As it is, I feel like it just sort of fades away….
February 8th, 2007 at 11:42 pm
Katie’s few cents on a few:
18 Random Things – Nice cinematography and concept. The creativity of the Nelson sibs will take them far. If it takes them near, the better for Juneau. Good job by partners in film. Right on irony i.e.: “Pot head�.
Fruitcake of Joy – Touching, funny and stays with the audience beyond the moment. Nice work Alaska Robotics, with limited local resources (as always). I found myself laughing and crying for the fruit cake bearer simultaneously.
Gold Medal Pride – Ditto Pat’s comments. It’s not easy to pull off a doc without a protoganist/main character/spokesperson. Walter Soboleff anyone? In case the filmakers’ missed it, see Heart of the Game for tips on editing/shooting basket ball footage in a highschool gym. It is now available on Amazon.
Kneading a Metric Ton of Dough –Appreciating this film must have required smoking something unfortunately not in my possession.
Quest Contest – Nice effects and use of local coastline. Funny and well done surprise ending.
The Green Room – Ditto Pat’s comments. Great ingredients. They just need to be mixed and cooked differently.
Face – I needed more of a set up to understand that prosopagnosia is real. Great use of stock footage but the volume took away from the value of it.
Frank Murkowski – Great use of local talent, music writing and media/government resources to send off the worst Governor in state history. It’s fun to use state stuff to make a statement eh? Revision suggestions: use more real headlines instead of net flix. Put on those thinking caps for that punchline!
I would say something about the Bad Larry contributions but they won’t listen to me anyway…
February 9th, 2007 at 5:11 pm
I’ve been very busy this week, so I haven’t had time to post my comments. Hopefully it’s not too late.
18 Random Things by Alex Nelson, Vince Wagner & Devin Baxter
This was nice and short. Some of the skits went by so fast, I couldn’t figure them out but overall it was fun. I would love to see this crew put out something with a plot.
Fruitcake of Joy by Alaska Robotics
Generally this was a well done short movie with a good plot. I had mixed feelings about doing this as a one take movie. I felt there were several long pauses when characters were walking down halls that slowed down the pace. The hall scenes were also too dark. Even though this was shot in one take, I think it would have been more enjoyable if it had been cut. After a while, I started concentrating on the fact that it was a one take shot and not on the story. As an academic film exercise it was a complete success but I think for a general audience it should have been shorter. I must say that Lou delivered the line “Why do I have to work with a bunch of retards?� with absolute conviction.
Food Fight by Jeff Brown
Cute, but a little repetitious after a while. The action remained very even (it didn’t escalate), with protective gear and fairly sanitized food, the food fight was pretty tame.
Come Una Pietra Scalciata by Jonas Lamb & Caleb Wylie
I really wanted a little more from this one. It was kind of fun at first but after a while, I was expecting something to happen.
Be Nice by Dawson Walker
Fun to have an animated short in the line-up. Unfortunately, the audio was a little hard to understand at times. Hopefully Dawson will be inspired to do more cartoons and have a little clearer audio next time.
Gold Medal Pride by Greg Chaney & Annie Foruria
Ouch. Too long. I really wish I hadn’t submitted this in such a rough state. The first half made for an OK short film and the second half was a mediocre music video but together they were a long way from a pre-view. If I were going to do this again as a preview, it would be 90 seconds max. Well, my only defense for the long second half is that the song at the end was written by one of the Gold Medal Players. I cut it down quite a bit from the original version but, well, definitely not enough. It’s hard when you are cutting someone else’s music. He didn’t appreciate it. I think the biggest weakness of the “music video� was that the lyrics were buried by the instrumental track. I desperately wanted the music remixed but the guy was in the National Guard and was sent to Iraq. All of the highlight shots I selected went with the lyrics and the lyrics do a fair job of portraying the passion of Gold Medal to villagers. But if you can’t understand the lyrics, it’s only good for about 30 seconds. Hopefully, before I release the final cut of the full length version, I’ll get more critical feedback.
In the Offices of JUMP by Clint Farr
I don’t know if these jokes made sense to people who have never submitted to JUMP but I think Clint did a great job capturing the experience. This was definitely my favorite of the BABY, BABY, BABE series. My only minor comment would be that the audio during the submission scene was uneven and distant. But overall, really cool. I even caught the pull focus shot from the tape to Pat’s face. You know JUMP is doing great when spoof movies are in the lineup. And that girl is so cute you really can’t blame Clint for wanting to see her in the movies…
Adventure Club Video Scavenger Hunt by Bad Larry Productions
This was actually quite an accomplishment. It’s hard for a camera person to follow a developing story in challenging conditions and then to edit it down so it flows from the beginning to a logical conclusion. I can’t wait to see the same approach taken to a ski event. Bad Larry Productions has a future in documentaries.
Oops by Patty Kalbrener
Interesting silent movie. And at times this was really completely silent. I get uncomfortable sitting in a large dark room full of people with no sound. It doesn’t feel natural. Even modest musical accompaniment would have helped. I felt that there should have been some visual clue when the guy is drinking the shots that he is thinking about various possibilities. As it was, it was confusing watching it the first time through. The animation was cool but I felt it could have been used more effectively if it had been used to propel the story. For example, if it had been used to start sequences that didn’t really happen. Another technique that was used, was the shift from color to black and white. Shifting between color and B&W is a powerful mood changing tool but as it was utilized in this short, I wasn’t sure what the intent was. All these things aside, I liked the character development, which is difficult to do in silent movies.
Zombie Movie by Kevin Fremlin & Aaron Suring
This was the most creative use of static I’ve ever seen. The Public Service announcement was very realistic. Short and clever.
Yozhik by Arlo Midgett
This movie left me very conflicted. The music was very well done but the change in mid stream from a cute reflective piece to medical horror story was too abrupt and graphic for me to enjoy. Every time I watched it, I got a little more depressed. If that was the point, I guess it worked.
Freakin’ Fungus Trailer by Paul F. Disdier
I felt that the trailer held up very well as a short film. It’s a little hard to imagine this as a feature length film. It was funny and had some production value but 90+ minutes of green vomit?
Intermission by Lou Logan
A lot of people thought this was a real tape malfunction and so I think the joke blasted by the audience too fast. This is one that could have been a little longer. It sure scared a little girl in the front row during the first Friday night show!
Kneading a Metric Ton of Dough by Roald Simonson
Interesting use of film, peculiar footage and narration. Without being prepared, this one really came out of left field. It’s films like this that keep the JUMP festival from being too mainstream.
Quest Contest by Greg Chaney
My first attempt at a visually driven plot. It wasn’t really a silent movie but it could have been. The music was performed by the Juneau Symphony which was a victory for me. Not copyrighted original symphonic score! Too bad the movie was so simple. I know the beginning was longer than it needed to be. I wrote it for one attacker but two of Connor’s friends showed up so the plot was modified on the spot for two attackers. It ended up being a little clunky as a result. I tried cutting it down but it didn’t really work the way it was shot. I wanted to try After Effects but instead I horsewhipped my Vegas software and was able to accomplish similar results. I put way too much time into this one, but at least the audience laughed at the end so it wasn’t a total waste.
A Puppet Movie by Caro LeVeque, Lauren Alweis & Eve Southworth
The first time I saw this, I didn’t have a clue what was going on. This would have been better with a clear audio track. After watching it a few times, I was able to understand the dialog and I enjoyed it more every time.
The Green Room by Alaska Robotics
Nice silent movie. Musical accompaniment really made this work. There were a couple of places where I was unclear about what happened. It wasn’t immediately clear why the female actress died when she fell down. But my biggest concern was the ending. I was expecting a big payoff, but it just stopped. But as I learned the hard way, in the 48 hour world, endings are tough.
Face by Mukhya Khalsa
I wish Mukhya had incorporated some of her own footage in this piece. The narration was very clear and sounded professional. Gold star for audio quality. I’m not a fan of using stock footage. But as a editing project it was a big success.
White or Wheat by Bad Larry Productions
This was Bad Larry’s best fictional piece yet. After I watched it a couple of times, I think that the guys were supposed to be getting up to go snowboarding in the morning. It would have helped to have stressed this a little more, otherwise I wasn’t sure why these sleep deprived teens would all agree to get up. There were more toast chewing close-ups than I needed, but hey, I don’t think this was made for my demographic. All in all, I really liked the new approach. Maybe next time we will see Bad Larry on the slopes with a story line. I’m dieing to see that!
bubba by Kenn Magowan
Sad, melancholy. If that was the point, this achieved it. I’m not a big fan of dead pet movies. For a silent movie, this was pretty easy to follow. It moved a little slow but I think that set the downbeat mood.
Catching Bears by Riley Woodford & Kent Crabtree
This was in some ways my favorite of the show. Filming bears in the wild is pretty difficult. It was also covered a local subject, contained all original footage and music. All in all a pretty good package. Although Riley is a newcomer to video, is a seasoned media professional with a treasure trove of knowledge to draw from. So I was a little disappointed that the piece wasn’t more focused. First the narration is about the landscape but didn’t tie the landscape to the bears, then about mountain goats, then about the biologist, then detail about the bear snare, then finally about bears. Watching the bear struggle in the trap didn’t convince me that the tagging was worth the trauma. Showing such disturbing footage carries a heavy responsibility to explain why bear is being put through such an ordeal. A general statement like “biologists are going to learn a lot about these bears in order to protect them� is a little too glossy. But that aside, still a good piece of work.
Frank Murkowski: A Tribute by Pat Race
This looks like a home run. I envy anyone who can get Collette Costa on their sound track! My only caution is that the music is copyrighted and so are some of the photos. I’m not sure if you can copyright a headline. This looks like it has commercial potential so I’d check into those issues before including it on a DVD for sale.
I’ve traveled to a few more out of town festivals since the last JUMP festival, and I’ve got to say, we really have a gem here. I’m not aware of anywhere else where locals get such good audiences and festival that is so supportive of local filmmakers!
February 9th, 2007 at 7:43 pm
Greg,
I believe that I’m in the clear. Comment and criticism in the form of parody is fair use and covered United States Code - Title 17 - Chapter 1 - § 107.
Bound By Law
Stanford Library - Copyright & Fair Use
February 27th, 2007 at 4:30 pm
Yeah, I’m late to the party and I write too much. Oh, well.
18 Random Things
Well, they were random, I’ll give ‘em that. Good to see some kids
having fun. Got a few good laughs out of me, too. Not very engaging or memorable,
though.
Fruitcake of Joy by Alaska Robotics
The problem with the single-take gimmick is like that of those old “old
man or elegant lady” optical illusion drawings: Once the viewer sees them,
they can’t NOT see them. I realized early on that this was going to be
one tracking shot and the rest of my viewing experience was tinted by that.
“Oops, looks like Alicia bobbled her line.” “Hmmm. It would
be hard to light that hallway for this style of shooting.” I found myself
examining the technical merits of the film rather than the story.
Still, there WAS a story there and that’s good because there’s
always a danger a gimmick being the whole video. I think that if a couple things
could have been solved (lighting, a steadier camera, and fewer “long walks
down a hallway”) most people would never have noticed this was a single-take…
and that would have been very cool, indeed.
Favorite moment: Alicia not remembering the other two Fruitcake Rules. A perfectly
timed pause.
Food Fight by Jeff Brown
Fun to watch, could have been a bit shorter. I agree wholeheartedly with what
was said earlier, though: No escalation. Loved the panning shot with the sole,
straight-faced kid.
Come Una Pietra Scalciata by Jonas Lamb & Caleb Wylie
I have to admit to being bored for most of this one. Not because it had been
done before, but because nothing really changed through the course of the film.
I found myself noting the differences and similarities between Italian and Spanish
to pass the time…
Be Nice by Dawson Walker
I want to know how old Dawson is. His animation was rough around the edges,
but there’s some real promise here. I was especially impressed by the
lip-syncing. No Monthy Python up-and-down chin movements here; there was an
obvious effort to work in some phonemes. I hope Dawson sticks with it –
a few years practice (and hopefully more JUMP submissions) could surprise us
all!
Gold Medal Pride by Greg Chaney & Annie Foruria
I thought this was maybe a bit long, but I didn’t have a problem with
it because I don’t think JUMP was the intended audience. Someone from
the Lower 48, for instance, would probably be hooked throughout.
But for JUMP, I think the biggest problem was the intro. For a trailer trying
to grab attention, don’t open with a talking-head history lesson; everyone
around here knows who the Tlingit are. Start off with the adrenaline rush. Open
with the basketball game footage!
The interviews were good. I thought they all did a good job of advancing the
story. My only other suggestion would be to perhaps budget in some pre-shoot
time for setting up equipment at the interview locations. Most of them seemed
sort of “ad-hoc,” as if the filmmaker just happened across a subject
while carrying around only their camera. I know it’s a lot more work,
but even a few minutes “creating a set” for the interviewee (setting
up lights, rearranging their workspace, composing the shot, checking exposure
levels, etc) could make a big difference in the professional-feel of a piece
like this.
In the Offices of JUMP by Clint Farr
Loved it. It’s a bit of an inside JUMP joke, but with the inclusion of
the behind-the-scenes office stuff, I think it works for clueless viewers, too.
Props to Clint for poking fun at himself. It would have been hard to enjoy
Yet Another Baby Video, but by making himself the butt of his own joke, by pushing
the joke so far (with Carmina Burana!), it worked.
Loved the fade-to-white joke. Great stuff there.
Also, I thought that the whole feeling around the JUMP office was handled remarkably
well. I’m one of THOSE GUYS that has dropped something off before every
festival. None of my films have been rejected yet, but I can’t help but
worry that those crazy JUMP roll their eyes at my footage when I’m gone.
Especially this year, when I was very uncertain about the JUMP-worthiness of
my sentimental pet video submission.
Anyway, at the beginning of the video I felt as though I, and others like me,
were the ones being made fun of. But by the end, I saw that Clint was taking
all the weight on himself, and that made me forget my own insecurities.
Adventure Club Video Scavenger Hunt by Bad Larry Productions
Great documentary style. Wonderful payoff at the end after wondering if the
story was going to go anywhere. My favorite moment was a transition somewhere
in the middle of the video. I don’t remember it exactly because I only
saw the film once, but I think it ended with the line “Basically if you
got arrested, you automatically won.” Not only did that perfect-linking
transition between scenes get immediate laughs from the audience, it foreshadowed
the ending of the film. Great editing.
And Palin? Awesome.
More to say about Bad Larry after White or Wheat.
Oops by Patty Kalbrener
Good stuff in here, really, but it was spoiled by some stuff that could be worked
on.
The dead-silent audio was already mentioned; it distracted me, too. Overall,
I think the video could have been much shorter, too, especially considering
the repetitive nature of some scenes. I really liked the drawings (can’t
help but think about A-HA’s video), but couldn’t figure out WHY
they were there. Could just be me – I’m sometimes oblivious to symbolism.
Criticisms aside, the video had a good story with a great twist at the end.
I thought it was one of the better entries in the show.
Zombie Movie by Kevin Fremlin & Aaron suring
Short and sweet (or rancid, if you’re of the zombie bent.)
A couple things: I remember the announcer’s voice being spot on. Also,
I initially didn’t get the joke that the zombies were actually interested
in the static. At first, I thought they must have been watching a regular show
that went to static just before the EBS signal (because we’re all couch
zombies in front of the TV, right?), but eventually I figured it out. I think
Pat’s right. Something could be done to make the joke hit harder. I’m
just not sure what that something is.
Yozhik by Arlo Midgett
Editing the Yozhik video was a sort of catharsis for me, for obvious reasons.
After showing it to some friends and seeing strong reactions, my wife encouraged
me to enter it into JUMP. Despite depressing a lot of people, I’m glad
I did. I’ve had many people tell me afterwards that they cried, but that
they also understood that our hedgehog was loved. It’s sad, but I think
it’s a “good sad,” you know?
To address a couple comments:
I don’t believe I reused any photos, but I did use almost every one I
had (admittedly, some are too similar to others). I was surprised to find that
after five years, we had surprisingly few pictures and very little video. I
filled out the song with what I had.
I struggled to find a narrative in both the song and the imagery. Greg said
it went “from a cute reflective piece to medical horror story.”
My knee-jerk reaction was to refute that, but to tell the truth, that’s
a good description of what we went through in real life.
Honestly (and I realized this only in retrospect), I think that frontloading
all the “sweet and tender” footage in the film is what formed a
bond between Yozhik and the audience. Without it, the “medical horror
story” wouldn’t have had the same emotional impact.
I wasn’t setting out to depress anyone, but I have to think a film (any
film) is something of a success if it evokes an emotional reaction.
Freakin’ Fungus Trailer by Paul F. Disdier
Whomever was responsible for the *feel* of this video (the person shooting it,
editing it, or directing it – heck may have been the same person doing
it all) did a great job. I noticed many horror movie styles in there –
styles that are probably cliché, but then… they’re probably
only clichés because they work so well in the genre.
Acting was pretty good, too, if I remember right. It’s hard to sell “disturbed,”
“terrified,” etc.
The only thing that put me off was the constant use of the green titles telling
me what I should feel. They seemed out of place, but I think that’s because
I went into this film not realizing it was a trailer for a longer piece. (Yes,
I know it’s entitled “Freakin’ Fungus Trailer,” but
somehow I thought that the “trailer” was the entire creative piece,
created specifically for JUMP.) As a short piece, I really enjoyed it. I think
it’s the best stab at horror I’ve seen at JUMP so far. As a longer
piece, I don’t know. Story would have to be pretty solid.
Intermission by Lou Logan
Interesting. Some friends and I batted around very similar ideas for a JUMP
intermission segment. Maybe we saw the same energy drink (car) commercial.
Kneading a Metric Ton of Dough by Roald Simonson
I couldn’t get into this video and neither could the people sitting near
me. More than one person I talked to later complained of nausea (from the incessant
hand-held motion of the camera) and was forced to stare at the floor, instead.
I can’t imagine that was the filmmaker’s intention.
My problem was the pacing – too slow. I tried to pay attention to the
narration and the footage, but because there was so much extra time in the video,
I found my mind wandering. I think this could have been very powerful if it
had been half as long, but as it is, I couldn’t even tell you what it
was trying to say.
Quest Contest by Greg Chaney
I thought this film was quite good, if not for the joke ending, for the attention
to composition. I think Greg must have spent more time framing his shots and
post-processing the footage in the film than normal. The stand-out image for
me was the deep black silhouette of the hooded figure near the beginning.
It also left me wanting to know how the fire was wrangled into performing on
cue.
A Puppet Movie by Caro LeVeque, Lauren Alweis & Eve Southworth
Yeah, I didn’t really get this one. Somewhat because the audio levels
could have used some work, but mostly because it seemed like an “inside
joke” that I wasn’t a part of.
The Green Room by Alaska Robotics
Having partially participated in the pre-production parts of this film (whoa
– that just came out like that), I have to say I was disappointed in the
final product. The hardest part of filmmaking, in my opinion, is translating
the images in your head to an image on the screen, and the script that I heard
pitched had more going for it than the final film shows. I think there were
some great images in the filmmakers’ heads on this one, but working by
committee (not to mention being under severe time and genre constraints!) hampered
the transition to film.
I recognize that the piece needed music, but I have to say that, for me, what
was composed did not add to the drama. I kept wanting the music to build, build,
build to something, but instead it seemed to be all over the place, up and down.
Again, time constraints are the only place to lay the blame.
Not to say that there aren’t some great moments in the film, there are.
Parts of the story were told very elegantly, simply with an image or two.
And, hey. “Silent film” as a mandatory category? That’s just
brutal.
I find myself thinking about an interesting parallel between The Green Room
and The Fruitcake of Joy. While there are problems with each, I can dismiss
many of them because I recognize the restraints the filmmakers were under at
the time.
Face by Mukhya Khalsa
Wow, one of the first films in JUMP that I thought was almost too short. I want
to know more! Good voiceover, decent visuals, and a topic that’s so strange,
it’s instantly engaging.
Like Pat, I’d like to know if the project had some built-in requirements.
White or Wheat by Bad Larry Productions
I wish the old JUMP forums were still up. I’d love to point to a post
where BLP was (constructively) criticized for showing Yet Another Skiing Highlights
video. If I remember correctly, in response to pleas for “more story,”
someone in BLP responded that they were making highlight videos in order to
attract sponsors. And everyone knows that skiing/snowboarding/skating videos
are big on highlights, small on story. I mean, duh!
I remember thinking that BLP needed to “know their audience.” I
wanted to point out that a JUMP audience isn’t likely to be full of sponsors,
so the requests for “more story” were probably valid, but the BLP
poster seemed to be projecting a “get off my back” attitude, and
I didn’t want him to feel like we were ganging up on him.
With their two entries in this show, I think BLP is finding their audience.
Some people had problems with the close-up bread chewing (Were they trying
to be gross or convey the enjoyment of eating toast?) Some people didn’t
understand why one person would wake all his friends up for a midnight snack.
I, personally, thought the video could have been half as long, but White or
Wheat was still pretty funny.
I think everyone understood what they were shooting for. And though I like
seeing some great skiing and snowboarding aerials, I think this better suits
the JUMP audience.
bubba by Kenn Magowan
Wow, what are the odds of having two sad pet videos in the same show? I worried
about that when I read the program, but after seeing Bubba, I think this was
a very different story than Yozhik. I enjoyed it, even though the program description
gave away the ending.
I’m a little too close to the Yozhik video to do this objectively, but
I think it would be interesting to compare the setups of the two “dead
pet movies’” (as Greg put it) to their respective emotional payoffs
at the end.
Catching Bears by Riley Woodford & Kent Crabtree
This was probably my favorite film of the show. It was a nice little documentary
that tells a succinct story. As Greg mentions, the focus could probably be tightened
just a bit, but I honestly didn’t think that after my first (and only)
viewing.
My only reaction was: Holy shit, that man’s got balls of steel!
I mean, seriously. That scene where the bear tries to lunge toward the guy
with the tranq gun really sticks with you. Especially since you’ve already
learned that the dart takes about 30 minutes to put the bear under. Talk about
faith in your equipment.
Frank Murkowski: A Tribute by Pat Race
Pat offered to show me this film as a work-in-progress a few days before the
first JUMP showing. I made him stop after watching a few seconds – I wanted
my first viewing to be with an audience. And then, since I went to the very
last show on Saturday, I heard all sorts of great reviews about it.
It pains me to say that I think it was over-hyped. I don’t know what
I was expecting, but I wanted something more. For instance, I think the Rawhide
video, from years back, was more memorable.
There’s some good stuff here, though. I loved the awkward footage of
Murkowski dancing with the natives and standing next to Ms. Fur Bikini. Plus
the interspersed “exit interview” footage was a nice touch –
I can’t help but wonder where Pat got these recordings! Even the headlines
had their place (though I’ll bet most people in JUMP’s audience
didn’t need them.)
When the song’s first chorus hit, it had a great impact as a joke, but
I think that was it – a one-trick pony. Also, using the exit interview
footage created conflicting feelings. I couldn’t quite tell if the filmmaker
wanted the audience to join him in mocking our former governor or in feeling
sad for him.
February 28th, 2007 at 11:54 pm
In the Murkowski video I started out wanting to make fun of him but after watching all the footage I sort of started to see the more human side of this misunderstood Franken Murkowski’s Monster. Right now I’d really love to do a short objective documentary on him. Something along the lines of the Chuck Keen film we made. I have this silly idea that there aren’t too many truly evil people out there and I don’t think Frank is really evil at the core either. I’m interested in what motivates him and how processes decision making. Somewhere in there he’s just a dude. He wants to drink a beer and play some softball. I know it.
March 5th, 2007 at 9:55 pm
I wasn’t going to write anything, but I feel I have to now that i’ve been questioned.
18 Random Things
I thought this was a good way to open the festival with, short and some good jokes.
Fruitcake of Joy
I thought that this was a good movie and well acted. Still I grew tired of the walking scenes.
Food Fight
This was good for a little while but it seemed to drag on with no real change. I also think it was too tame. A good foodfight movie would be someone getting hit in the face with a pan of lasagna.
Come Una Pietra Scalciata
I heard this song on the radio a little bit after the show, I was like, “Hey! Hey! its the song, the one from Jump!
Be Nice
I’m 14 and Be Nice was my second real movie with this new animation program called toonboom. Its so crazy that it has a BUILT IN LIP-SYNC! It was so easy! You just draw some mouths and put in the audio and BAM! Instant talking. I had to do this movie about four days before the submissions were due so it probably could have been better. I don’t know if many people noticed it by the animation had a shadowy effect. I think it was something to do with the projection? I felt it ruined the whole thing when I first time I saw it but the second time, I saw that nobody really noticed…
Gold Medal Pride
I liked the feel for this movie and the learning about the gold medal basketball tourny. I never had even heard of it before. But the part with the basketball clips dragged on too long and the second time I watched it I grew tired of the song.
In the Offices of JUMP
When I turned in Be Nice the first time I forgot to finalize my DVD’s so there was notjing on them. When my dad told me this I cringed. I felt awkward the next time I came in I felt and thought somebody was going to scream at me, “You fool! Don’t you know how to do DVD’s what kind of man are you!!� Well thats my little story and I thougt the movie was funny and good.
Adventure Club Video Scavenger Hunt
Good lead up to all the crazy stuff they did.
Oops
I thought that the switch from black and white and drawings was distracting but it had a good plot.
Zombie Movie
The makeup was great. But I got it more the second time.
Yozhik
I like hedgehogs and I thought all the pictures were well shot, but after a while it seemed kind of tiring to see the same hedgehog over and over, expecially the second time I saw it.
Freakin’ Fungus Trailer
I thought this one was good and gross and scary
Intermission
I like how people were all dissapointed and “Awwww� “Whats wrong� I laughed at those people in my second viewing.
Kneading a Metric Ton of Dough
I really didn’t get this movie. I thought the weird picture color and not so good sound and length made me get tired of this one. I thought a better Idea would be to have a one consistent shot in fast forward of them kneading the dough. Still kneading a metric ton of dough is cool.
Quest Contest
I thought this had a good blend of color and a very pretty to look at movie. The plot was good and the ending was great.
A Puppet Movie
huh? lost me on this one.
The Green Room
This was probably the hundreth time I saw this one, twice on the DVD once somewhere else and two times in the festival. I just got plain tired of seeing it. i did like the costumes though.
Face
this was interesting I was wondering where she got all those clips. Good movie though.
White or Wheat
I thousht this had a good plot and was a fun movie.
bubba
Sad movie. I want a dog. White and Black shots helped and lack of sound added to it.
Catching Bears
I saw this guy at Fred Meyers yesterday. I wanted to introduce myself but it would be embarissing if it wasn’t him.
Frank Murkowski: A Tribute
It’s Pat’s it has to be good.It’s late I probably didn’t make too much sense and I was talking about myself, and this is really late. Also I said good around 13 times. My bad. I thought it was a good festival this year.
March 5th, 2007 at 10:25 pm
Thanks Arlo for dropping in on this forum. Since the forum is hard to find, I doubt anyone else will weigh in, but thanks all the same for another perspective. I’m still looking forward to talking to Clint.
As far as interviewing the Gold Medal people more professionally, I tried that and gave up. I begged people to move in to better light or quieter settings but for the most part they just refused. If I wanted to talk to them, I could talk to them where they were or not at all. Making a documentary with people who aren’t very interested in participating is really hard. Now I know why no one else has tried to make a Gold Medal documentary. Maybe after they see the final product, next time they will be more motivated to move to better light and less ambient noise.
I basically agree with most of what Arlo said but I think the Murkowski video packed much more punch than the Raw Hide short. It was a significant topic that was handled with enough discretion that it didn’t offend but did get the message across with humor. I’ve been around Frank in a social setting and he seems like a decent enough guy but he really screwed up the state and I don’t think that we should cut him any slack. He may not be totally evil but… I can’t think of a polite way of ending that sentence. I started an anti-Frank video a couple of years ago but I didn’t have enough original footage to really make it work. I never considered using stock footage. Maybe next time.
Well congratulations to everyone on yet another successful festival!
March 15th, 2007 at 7:59 pm
great forum for film-makers and viewers…thanks to those who reviewed our film “come una pietra scalciata”. i thought the films this year were incredible, particularly the Zombie Movie, the fungus preview was terrifying and I though that “Kneading a metric ton of dough” was a masterful piece of work until the end, didn’t quite get how the two pieces connected, give me more of the pseudo-mythology. Big props to the adventure club, these are the kind of people who never let themselves get bored, despite the limitations of their home town, get out there and create!