I had a number of emotions fly through me last night.
I was highly, highly impressed by the standard of movies this year. I think a previous poster said it best- the bar has really been raised this year.
I was also gutted that ours didn't make the cut- I really thought we'd have been up there, but c'est la vi. Next year we'll be back with a bang. Apparently it got a great reception when it got played in Venue 1 (It was the Golfing Louts one- 'Four Irons and a Wood'), but I didn't get to see it, cause I was queueing at the bar for a half hour. *ahem* ....anyway, rant over... needed to get that out of my system...
Now, while I'm here, I might as well give my opinion on some of the movies
Annoy Bill/Kung Fu/The Halls:
Bloody brilliant guys. Well done. I was really bowled over by the effort put into this. I'm eager to ask a few questions. How did you get that shot with the guy spinning over the girl's fist?? Suspend a dummy from a rope or something? Super. How about the bit where she jumps into the air? Digital effect? Also, did you use other software appart from iMovie to get some of the effects? Good show all round- well done.
Killer Hamster:
I have to say, I really loved this one. Not 100% sure if I'd have pegged it as the winner, but it would certainly have made my top 3. Fantastic intro, great plot, sublime editing, perfect score and score-timing, and funny as hell. Beautiful.
Of the above two, I'd probably have picked Annoy Bill etc. as the winner, but my suspicion is that Hamster won because it was mostly done with iMovie and the other won wasn't. Of course I could be talking total shite here, so feel free to correct me. That's just my guess. They were both brilliant though, and I think everybody involved should be proud.
Bully For You:
Wasn't mad about this one personally, but I can see the appeal. It was a great idea and fairly well executed. Great to see a town/gown effort up there too. Might perhaps have been marred slightly by the Raisin scene and the ending. I didn't get the ending at all- perhaps someone could help me out there? I sorta missed what the old guy (main protagonist) said to the other old dude...
The Last Broadcast:
My mate Graham (who loved this one), said it best. This took the best bits of a lot of cool movies and did a great job of merging them into one. Super work, well done folks...
Four Years in a Day:
I was in a bit of a bad mood heading into Younger Hall last night, but this movie had me laughing my ass off. That says it all I think.
The Charlie Chaplin one:
I liked it, but I'm not sure if I'd have had it in the top 12 having seen some of the other ones in Venue 1. Hmmmm. Good stuff though, nonetheless.
I wasn't a huge fan of the 'arty' movies this year. There was some nice cinematography here and there though- I appreciated that.
Running guys:
Really liked the shot at the end of the 'running guys' film when the credits were rolling- you know the beach shot, with the moving sands? I'm not exactly sure what was going on there, but it looked cool. I'd love to know how you folks got the ultra-smooth side-camera shots of the guys running along? That was great camera work.
Highlander:
My favourite of the arty movies was the one with the highlander sword-dude. Fantastic acting performance at the beginning. Well done. Not sure if the ending was congruent with the feel of the whole piece, but nonetheless- great effort.
Girl in white dress:
I think I might be one of the few people who didn't like this one. I did like two elements of it though. The girl-disappearing dissolves were very well put together. Kudos. Also, it deserved to be up there for the original soundtrack- well done there.
Poetry film:
I can see why people might have liked this one, but I didn't. It had it's moments, but I guess I just feel that poetry and film have never merged well. That's my own irrational bias at work though.
The Collector (painter + dead girl):
Again, didn't really like it that much. *shrug*... maybe that's just me...
Did anybody catch 'Love Factually' in Venue 1 by any chance? I thought this one was really well put together and perhaps deserved to make the cut. Well done to all involved there.
I'd be interested to know if many people were making extensive use of software other than iMovie? I noticed there were a good few composite shots in use (text + other stuff overlayed on the main image). I didn't think this was possible with iMovie, but I could be wrong. We resorted to using Adobe Premiere to do a composite shot in ours. We'd have actually done composite shots throughout the movie, but didn't want to over-use other software etc.
Anyhoooo.. this post has come out a bit longer than I intended it to be! I guess it reflects how enthusiastic I was and still am about this whole event. I think CampusMovieFest epitomises the dream university event. A venture that somehow magically manages to get a huge number of people involved in a creative process outside of their requisite chores should be cherished. We are very lucky people.
Actually, the word 'magically' in the above paragraph is a misnomer. This would not have happened had it not been for the hard graft of a good many people. So, Ben, Ben, Victoria, Rachel, Simon, CampusMovieGuys who's names I forget, and anybody who made this happen who I don't know- I salute you.
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