On the Rocks

[Garnet]

I'm surprised there hasn't been a thread about this already. So how do people think it's going? What's been good and bad for you? Or have you not seen anything? I really wanted to go to the launch and fair on the opening day, unfortunately I couldn't because of essays due. I have managed to see all the half cut events and jerry springer the opera. I really liked some of the student films, although my favourite was actually on the Monday - the stairmaster. There were of course those films that just seemed like a typical arty student film, like what was up with that one with the soup?

[theshadowhost]

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[eagle]

I've been really impressed with the level of talent in St Andrews yet again. I really enjoyed HalfCut last night, but missed the selection evening (I heard that Stairmaster was a great film, but didn't quite make it to the awards night)

(Edited to remove post referring to Shadowhost's post)

[Freaker]

I've been to more things than I had thought I would go to - the fact that it is all in one "dedicated" week and there are so many opportunities is really rather nice! I'm really enjoying it, the atmosphere is great, and there are few things I'd like to see majorly improved - but please, next year, keep online ticket sales in the actual week!

As for the events I've been to - the launch party was absolutely epic, one can only hope that the closing party will live up to it. The Seaside Fayre was good fun, especially with the weather being wonderful that day. Jerry Springer was amusing and extremely well done, although ultimately maybe not my type of humour. I went to a lunchtime music concert in Younger Hall with a 14 year old Canadian playing beautiful piano - and that's the kind of thing I really love about OTR - getting to see something you would not otherwise see! The same the next day, seeing the filmmakers give presentations before half cut. The half cut awards evening was epic as ever with films of a surprisingly high quality, I thought.

All in all an amazing week so far! Now back to my essay so I can enjoy the last few days guilt-free !

[Jono]

I've been really impressed with the level of talent in St Andrews yet again. I really enjoyed HalfCut last night, but missed the selection evening (I heard that Stairmaster was a great film, but didn't quite make it to the awards night)

(Not sure how an event outside On The Rocks Festival is related to this thread?)

HalfCut was part of OTR. Previously a separate thing run by Rouge Productions, which has now been brought under the OTR umbrella.

Yeah, I went to my first ever St Andrews play the other night (Jerry).

After seeing some of the paperwork, i've developed concerns about the inner workings of the festival, although they don't relate to the events themselves. The Union is nothing, if not capable of flying by the seat of its pants.

[eagle]

Jono - Shadowhost has removed the post I was referring to. Must have been posted in error.

[sevenandthedoctor]

The On the Rocks festival this year has been outstanding and everyone involved deserves extremely high praise. All the events I attended have been brilliant and incredibly proffessional - Jerry Springer was both shocking and hilarious, but above all musically amazing and I really enjoyed the History Boys play. The Half-Cut festival was fantastic and a great, great night - the films were all of such a high standard. Tape 04 (the zombie one) stole the show, but I thought Stranger's Hand (the one with the soup) was very intriqguing and played really well, though Paradise Island was brilliantly done and must have taken forever to film. I thought it a bit strange though that some directors had more than one film in the final evening, considering many films from other directors were probably rejected, and was a bit surprised that of the three film awards, one director got two of them. Seems pretty unfair. Regardless, looking forward to a Hamlet and Blind Mirth this weekend!

[dac]

was a bit surprised that of the three film awards, one director got two of them. Seems pretty unfair.

On the contrary, if one director makes the two best films at the festival, why shouldn't he be awarded two of the best film awards?! Surely it would be unfair not to? Do you think films should only be allowed one Oscar each?

[Garnet]

I think though there perhaps should be a limit on the number of films per director. There were 2 directors, who had 3 films each. I think if as they said they got such great response from students across Scotland it seems a shame not to showcase it.

[James01]

I think though there perhaps should be a limit on the number of films per director. There were 2 directors, who had 3 films each. I think if as they said they got such great response from students across Scotland it seems a shame not to showcase it.

I feel I must leap to the defense of the Rogue committee and say that in any case, the best films should be shown, regardless of whom was involved. Quality should not be discriminiatory, even if ends up as a one man show.

We are lucky that the directors you are referring to entered their films and provided us with a night of such fantastic entertainment.

P.S. To the poster above who said they enjoyed the History Boys, thank you very much (I was part of the cast for that). It was my first on stage show and I thoroughly enjoyed being part of it.

[Guest]

I'm am thoroughly impressed with On The Rocks. Although I tend to dread Union-organised events, I can but lavish praise upon anyone involved: right through from publicity, performers, organisers and just people helping out in the box office. I've had the fortune of attending the Launch Party (fantastic), Jerry Springer (brilliant), one of the lunch-time recitals (beautiful), Half Cut (of a surprisingly high caliber) and I've just returned from Hamlet (very good too).

One thing I must note is the enthusiasm of students reflected in crowd numbers. Everything i've been to has been packed-there were over 70 people alone at the recital on Tuesday!

I feel that everyone involved, in whatever way, should be entirely proud of putting together something with such professionalism that has been enjoyed by so many people. Bravo.

[Paul Carey]

I suspect that Halfcut will fizzle out in the next couple of years anyway. For the whole time we've been involved it has relied on a very close team of film makers to supply product. I've even seen old Rogue members who have left university roped in to help out with material the likes of Ben Hecking and Andrew Scott to name but a few. Once people like Naysun, KK, Charlotte and the other hardcore members of Rogue move on, the ones that have a passion for film, I doubt there will be anyone left to fill the void.

There is one thing I believe could help. Get a iMovie / CampusMovieFest type event back on the go. I think the last one was 2004?? I'm pretty sure thats how Naysun got started!. That type of event would help sow the seeds for the next generation of would be film makers and perhaps keep the likes of Halfcut ticking over for a good few years to come.

[RandomMusings]

The List has begun posting the reviews up on their website. Well done to Jerry Springer (irrelevent to what people think of the themes in the show, a very strong performance from all involved) and to Hamlet (which I enjoyed being a part of for the past 2 days). I understand the smaller venue shows have also been excellently received and I too have been massively impressed with the audience numbers. I really look forward to Blind Mirth on Saturday (they were absolutely fantastic in their main-stage show last year) and to the Castle Ceilidh/Zebrajam closing events on Sunday.

Finally, on a personal note - thank you so much to everyone who came to see The History Boys. It was my first proper foray into the world of Directing and I absolutely loved every minute of it. Credit must go to all my fantastic cast (including the now short-haired Dr Chris Hooley!) and to the amazing production team who kept me going. It was unbelievable to see the vision in my head at the beginning of the project in November come to life on stage - the 7:30pm performance was the perfect way to round it off with virtually everything as it should be! Thanks guys.

<< All reviews by The List can be found at http://www.list.co.uk/articles/on-the-rocks/ >>

[Barry the Barron]

Thanks for all the good words about On The Rocks. It's been difficult to gauge the success from deep in the middle of it but I'm glad everyone has been enjoying it. All the performances I've seen have been fantastic and people have pulled all the stops out to do shows with very little get in time and often no dress or tech rehearsal beforehand. Amazing.

However - just a little bit about audience numbers. Although they've been good for stuff that people you know have done - so Hamlet, History Boys, Jerry - they've been quite dissappointing for stuff from out of town. Which is a shame as some of the most surprising, interesting, daring and exceptional work has been from other universities. Bear with Me and Glitter were incredible, but despite being short and only £3 barely managed audiences into double figures. Life of Insects in the Byre yesterday had amazingly high production values and I'm sure their later show was equally as good however they suffered a similar fate. For the rest of the year it's almost impossible to see any half decent theatre in St Andrews that isn't done by people we know, so I think it would be a shame to miss out on this chance of seeing new and unknown stuff from the rest of Scotland.

So go on - be daring - take a chance on seeing something you haven't been hearing about for the past 4 months and get a tiny glimpse into what's going on outside the bubble.

[Thackary]

I really enjoyed the films at Halfcut, and I agree with an earlier post that the films should merit the awards, even if they some were by the same director(s).
Paul - I suspect that while there may be a lull in student film production for a year while the new guys find their feet, I think there will always be enough talent to produce a festival with similar standards. I have much faith in student talent!

I'm very pleased that I went to see Bear With Me and Glitter, and I think that people in general should be more open to try new things.

Perhaps the low turnouts for some of the out-of-town shows is indicative of the info-on-demand culture in which we live. We're able to listen to or watch the programmes we want, when we want via iPlayer, 4oD and Sky+ for example, and with custom playlists on iTunes and the ability to download single tracks, we can easily avoid listening to new stuff (intentionally or not).

I really like Hype Machine for introducing me to new music, as it links from a track that I'd like to hear to similar tracks that other people like (and from there to others' blogs featuring even more new music). Twitter is playing a similar role too now - just this morning I read Stephen Fry's tweet about Bat for Lashes, so I'm giving that a listen.

In short, I'm very open to listening to, watching and trying new things, and I think others should be too. You may not like it, but you've given it a try. As a friend of mine said to me a few years back, "I'll try anything once. And then I'll try it again just to make sure".

But dance? I just don't understand it, no matter how often I try.

[Josherick3]

I've been really impressed by everything that I've seen so far. The 'Otters Sing Lullabys' afternoon last saturday was great, with the quad bathed in sunshine and a 20-piece marching-indie band to finish things off!

I was impressed by Jerry Springer, I thought it was staged and performed brilliantly; not seen that level of excitement for a production in the Union...well...ever. the musical itself wasn't quite my cup of tea, not because I found it monsterously offensive, but a bit one dimensional (lots of operatic swearing and crude poking fun at religious figures/Jerry Springer stereotypes). That said, there were some great musical moments and it did make me chuckle a few times.

Hamlet blew me away last night; brilliant performances all around (especailly from Jamie Wightman) and you could tell that a lot of sustained effort and thought had gone into it. The fact that Hamlet's probably my favourite play didn't do it any harm in my eyes either! One of the best Shakespeare productions I've seen, here or elsewhere.

I was pleased by how Halfcut went, though I may be a bit biased as a Rogue committee member! The standard of films on the second night in particular was as good as its ever been while I've been here, if not better. It also didn't go on too long, which has happened in the past. I thought Trouble in Paradise IV turned out excellently, and was unlucky not to get an award, though Tape 04, the Alice in Wonderland-style stop motion film and Graham Hughes' entries were very strong as well.

I'm going to try and see Much Ado About Nothing tomorrow, maybe Blind Mirth and the Inklight Grand Slam tonight as well if I manage to get any work done on my essay for monday...

I suspect that Halfcut will fizzle out in the next couple of years anyway. For the whole time we've been involved it has relied on a very close team of film makers to supply product [...] I doubt there will be anyone left to fill the void.

It's true that the nature of student film seems to produce a cluster of dedicated/knowledgable individuals making multiple films each year rather than a larger base of people. It's mainly people who have already had an interest in making films prior to coming here, who then develop their skills and get their friends involved; I think St Andrews has 'punched above its weight' a little over the past few years due to the fact that a few good film makers were here at the same time and collaborated with each other. A lot of the prominent Rogue people of the last couple of years (such as Andrew Scott, Jamie Smith and Naysun) have either graduated or are graduating this semester. However, there are several people who've been starting to make films this year, so maybe they'll fill the gap. Also, now that Halfcut's been established as a Scotland-wide festival we should hopefully be able to tap into more of what's happening in other Universities and get tham shown, rather than mostly relying on St Andrews-made films. I don't think it'll fizzle out as long as we do that.

There is one thing I believe could help. Get a iMovie / CampusMovieFest type event back on the go. I think the last one was 2004?? I'm pretty sure thats how Naysun got started!. That type of event would help sow the seeds for the next generation of would be film makers and perhaps keep the likes of Halfcut ticking over for a good few years to come.

Maybe, there was one when I was in first year. I'm not sure if it got more people making films for Halfcut, but it might have created more of a buzz when Halfcut actually happened (I think the cinema was pretty much sold out that year). We tried to do something similar in first semester last year and the year before, but we didn't really get any submissions.

There's always a lot of enthusiasm at the start of the year, I think we probably just need to keep doing more film-related workshops for people who're put off by not knowing their way around a camera or editing software. We probably just have to accept that it's never going to be a mass-student activity.


Yikes! Sorry about the length of this, I need to learn to be less rambling...

[Aureliano]

I suspect that Halfcut will fizzle out in the next couple of years anyway. For the whole time we've been involved it has relied on a very close team of film makers to supply product.

What I find amazing is that the various competitions, screenings and showcases have now amounted to what is essentially over two generations of undergraduates, spanning almost 7 years from the original iMovieFest prep during the 2002-2003 academic year.

Having now been a part of the film crowd outside of the bubble, and met independent filmmakers from the likes of the Edinburgh College of Art and Screen Academy Scotland, I would say that there is more than enough professional content out here in Scotland waiting to be showcased. I would also suggest opening it up to completely independent filmmakers across Scotland, and not just students...

The industry panel with the guys from Pixar and Robert Sproul-Cran worked particularly well, and I was blown away by the enthusiasm and energy of the audience during the Q&A session. It was definitely on par with any official industry happening I've experienced at events such as the Edinburgh International Film Festival!

As for the thorny issue of running CampusMovieFest... There's no reason it couldn't work on an almost yearly basis, although it would need wholly local production support to do so in terms of equipment and other resources. Other towns and cities that run a 48-hour film competition type format also do not provide equipment and essentially draw in self-sufficient budding filmmaker types, rather than a complete cross-section of the student body as the CMF events do in the States.

And finally there's no reason that next year's local output can't up the ante yet again. The most prolific Rogue members from the past 6-7 years have naturally formed the core of its committees, but have also not relied much on its support for their own work. Their films would have been made one way or the other. Although Half Cut is a festival in name, we originally set it up simply as no other showcase existed to provide a deadline for our projects.

With continued fantastic support from Paul and the NPH, organising Half Cut is now pretty much routine. So I would say that with just a sprinkling of industry support (maybe some open workshops / seminars), and enough talent-scouting from outside the bubble, the event could continue to grow as a 'festival' rather than a local showcase.

It just remains to be seen which St Andrews directors shine in years to come...

[orudge]

Maybe, there was one when I was in first year. I'm not sure if it got more people making films for Halfcut, but it might have created more of a buzz when Halfcut actually happened (I think the cinema was pretty much sold out that year). We tried to do something similar in first semester last year and the year before, but we didn't really get any submissions.

Really? I seem to recall asking Rogue (I think) in my 2nd year (2006/7) if there would be another Moviefest, and was told it wasn't happening. I certainly don't seem to remember seeing anything advertised that year, or the subsequent year. I did know of Moviefest in my 1st year, taking part in it and thoroughly enjoying it (indeed, I actually found a pile of old Moviefest films on the web site before I arrived at St Andrews, and that got me quite interested in it). Would be worth doing again if possible, I'd say.

[Josherick3]

True, there wasn't another imoviefest. We tried organising short film competitions ourselves in the first semesters of my 2nd and 3rd years (I'm now in 4th year). The one last year was called 'KickStart', for films of 5 minutes and under. We did a few filmmaking workshops (which were reasonably well attended) and then publicised it as a way of getting people started. However, we didn't actually get any submissions! I'm still not sure if that was due to lacklustre publicising or people wanting to focus on halfcut.

The imoviefest seems to be a good way of generating excitement and interest, I suppose they provide you with all the equipment and it's a good way of getting a short film made without too complicated an editing process. So maybe something like that would be good. I suppose we'd hoped that we could organise something similar. We tried ReCut in first semester of this year, which was a showcase of some of the best films of the last few years, to try and get some interest going ahead of HalfCut. It wasn't a failure in terms of attendence, but I don't know if people started making films as a result.

[kk85]

Having now been a part of the film crowd outside of the bubble, and met independent filmmakers from the likes of the Edinburgh College of Art and Screen Academy Scotland, I would say that there is more than enough professional content out here in Scotland waiting to be showcased. I would also suggest opening it up to completely independent filmmakers across Scotland, and not just students...

The industry panel with the guys from Pixar and Robert Sproul-Cran worked particularly well, and I was blown away by the enthusiasm and energy of the audience during the Q&A session. It was definitely on par with any official industry happening I've experienced at events such as the Edinburgh International Film Festival!

I would be really cautious about opening Half Cut up to non-student film makers. When we announced Half Cut this year, it was from the point of view that we "still lack a widely recognised forum to showcase [student film] to the public. Half Cut’s purpose is to provide this - to help legitimise student film and also give professionals the chance to see up-and-coming talent." If we open it up to all independent filmmakers - we risk shunting out the student talent. The point of Half Cut is to showcase what student film has been able to achieve, so naturally non-student talent would compromise this goal.

Also, I think the likes of Rich, Dovi and Robert were so enthusiastic about Half Cut BECAUSE it is student run and not an industry event. From the point of view of someone who is trying to "crack" the industry, the Q&A was certainly great - Robert in particular has a really phenomenal track record and knowledge of the industry in Scotland, which is obviously very relevant to us. However, what was really great about all 3 guys was that they just mingled with students and told us all the cool/quirky stuff that we really wanted to know: (Do Pixar animators get free passes for Disneyland? (yes), Does John Lasseter ACTUALLY wear hawaiian shirts all the time? (yes), and how Robert's BAFTA winning documentary was ultimately only ever made because funding had fallen through for his original plan.) I think the whole dynamic and atmosphere would have been different if Half Cut was less student orientated and I think that would be a real shame.

In terms of what Paul says re Half Cut "fizzling" out... there was a lot of new interest in film making this year, but a few first and second time projects hit some unfortunate hitches in their last days of production. Hopefully this new generation of film makers will be submitting their films next year, but even if there is a lull in interest from St Andrews, I think Half Cut itself has successfully raised it's profile and hopefully an increased national interest will secure it's success next year regardless.