ASK & DISCUSS INDEX

11 years, 4 months ago - Ian Mackenzie

Tim - I don't know if you've checked out the names on the Jury panel but if not please do on the 9.88 site. www.9point88.com
The reason I mention that is to say that it's not just up to me but up to a prestigious set of Industry professionals and film-makers, who will view a shortlist that I will be involved in arriving at! So best of luck and I'll look forward to watching your film!

Xenia - Great to hear that working on it hasn't put you off! This is such a unique film-making challenge so I don't want to colour anyone's thoughts too much with what I think makes a good short, but a few thoughts would be:
Whether factual or fiction, think about narrative and how achievable that is in the time restriction.
Variation, movement, sound, all add so much and an amazing amount can still be achieved.

Sorry to not be more prescriptive but that's hopefully the point of the challenge, it gets film-makers to work at their playful and curious best, and whilst there is a time restriction, there is no genre or approach (other than offensive material of course) that can't be tried. Best of luck with your entries!

11 years, 4 months ago - Stella Ramsden

Hi- Just a question about the T&Cs- I want to include the title because I feel it's part of the film. Is it just rolling credits that aren't allowed, or would including the title disqualify the film?

11 years, 5 months ago - philip ilson

I'm reminded about filmmaker Vito Rocco, who directed the under-rated 2009 British comedy feature FAINTHEART (starring Eddie Marsan, Jessica Hynes & Ewan Bremner). His earlier short film work included two 7 second epics, shot on 35mm film and premiered at the Edinburgh Film Festival. Both CIAO MAMMA! and BUONA FORTUNA can be viewed on his Vimeo page at http://vimeo.com/76325832 and can serve as an inspiration for filmmakers wanting to make work of an incredibly short nature...

11 years, 4 months ago - Deva Palmier

Hi Ian,

I hope you're well.

My film HUNGER has disappeared from your site.
Please can you let me know what's happened?

http://www.9point88.com/?x=us-en_ninepoint88brand2_639_

Best wishes
Deva

11 years, 5 months ago - Deva Palmier

I love your answer. Very funny. Thank you!

11 years, 5 months ago - Deva Palmier

Hi Ian,
I put two films in to your comp, HUNGER and FIREWORKS.

http://www.9point88.com/?x=us-en_ninepoint88brand2_632_

http://www.9point88.com/?x=us-en_ninepoint88brand2_639_

I love the under ten second remit. It's a great idea.

I shot FIREWORKS on an iphone, used some sounds from FREESOUND and cut it all together in FCP.

With HUNGER, I got some visuals from an old film and put them together with new sounds and again cut it together with FCP.

It felt so natural making these films, that it was a bit like baking a couple of cakes.

And to be sure, once I had made them, I put the kettle on for a cup of tea!

With ten seconds you can do this.

Best wishes
Deva

11 years, 4 months ago - Xenia Glen

Hi Ian,

I've been working on the competition and I'm thinking of submitting a few short films myself.

Have you got any advice you could share on what you think makes a good short? Or could you suggest any short films I should check out for some tips?

Thanks,
Xenia

11 years, 4 months ago - Tim iloobia

I really love the challenge of such a short duration - and have been making ultra short films for some years - but this is one of the shorter durations I have worked within …
So for this competition I entered a little animated short called Goota, and the best challenge was to get a singular idea across, not have it seem rushed or utterly abstract and still have a concluding payoff. Its up to you of course, not me, to say if i succeeded. But I hope you like the silliness. http://bit.ly/1drNmSh

11 years, 5 months ago - Jane Hamer

Thanks Ian. I'll certainly try to finish another :)

Great shorts Deva, interesting clip Philip, and Franz, that certainly got a giggle from me.

11 years, 5 months ago - Franz von Habsburg FBKS MSc

I imagine that the men doing the sprinting have the shortest shorts...

11 years, 4 months ago - Ian Mackenzie

Hi Matt, You raise some very good points about the creative challenge, and in all honesty that was always seen as a possibility, the idea that certain creative approaches or genre will suit the time constraint better. I personally think any self-contained and published piece of content can be classed as a film if that is the view of the creator. Vines are known as vines though, so maybe all of you should refer to your submissions here is Nineeighteights. Hmm catchy...

11 years, 5 months ago - Ian Mackenzie

Great to see everyone's responses so far.

Jane - It's heartening to hear that as a writer you could see a way of still crafting a traditional narrative with the time constraint. I'd also encourage you to try to make another entry if your time and resources allow, we really want film-makers to see the challenge as an opportunity to try out different ideas and techniques.

Deva - Always good to hear someone equating the short film-making process with baking and tea drinking, it sounds considerably less pretentious than the normal comparisons made!

Philip - Thanks for the references there, will check those out, I wonder if Vine got inspiration from Vito's durations?!

11 years, 4 months ago - Chris Drury

I have only just created an account with Shooting People so have only just seen this competition. Looks like a great idea, I will be working on my submission over the next few days. Deadline is coming though, 11th April 5pm is absolute cut off time / date. Good luck all.

11 years, 5 months ago - Deva Palmier

Thanks Jane. Looking forward to yours! XX

11 years, 4 months ago - Matt Jamie

So far I've not seen (or been able to come up with) any entries which I would say are complete "films" in the sense of telling a complete story. Perhaps that's not the point but some of the better crafted entries are great ten second moments of film, but feel like an excerpt from something else (a scene *from* a film, not a film in its own right). The ones with a complete arc tend to be comic sketches - set up, middle, pay off - which works at this length... But is a "sketch" a "film"? Probably... But I've not seen anything tell a full or interesting story very well. Is it even possible at this length ? It's tough for sure. I think it's a great challenge as the story really is key here - great cinematography isn't going to cut it if it's just 10 seconds of pretty...

11 years, 5 months ago - Jane Hamer

Hi Ian,

I've made a short for the competition. We're just finishing a final edit before submitting it.

I've absolutely loved the challenge. Ten seconds is certainly short but I've seen amazing commercials in less, and sometimes you see a scene in a film that's so beautiful it stays with you forever, and so I thought I'd be mad not to have a go.

I decided on no script and to place everything on visuals, quality of light and aesthetics to tell my story. I still found that even in the tiny space of ten seconds you can achieve a degree of a beginning, middle and end which is important to me as a writer - it's a natural instinct to want to achieve that. And so ten seconds fights the grain of that, which meant I spent a lot of time in development and prep finding a way to have a sense of a natural fade - which is certainly difficult when you know it's going to be cut off blunt. I knew that if I found the right piece of music this would also enhance what I had in mind. Because there was no script, and just a paragraph of description, I decided it would be best if I did the camera work. This has brushed up my cinematography skills no end!

Working on the 9.88 idea has also brought about ideas for further films that are connected to this one, and I'm really excited about getting to work on those.

So as you can tell, it's been a great experience all round. It's also been good for me to work to my first brief. The only disatisfying bit has been trying to choose between the images I captured, but I plan to make a longer version too. I am also working on a second film for it, if I can finish it in time.

Jane

11 years, 4 months ago - Jane Hamer

I think the films that work most effectively are those that achieve ‘moments in time’ rather than fighting to fit a story in.

I think some beautiful films have been achieved so far. Some of the drama-led ones remind me of the concept of: Life flashing before your eyes moments. And I think some of these are done beautifully without the need for story, such as: Glasgow’s beauty by Michael J Ferns. It fits the 9.88 brief of captivating, and draws you in beautifully with just one simple shot. It then leaves you wanting more, and the magic of it I think is that it stops at just the right moment. It’s better to imagine she’s as beautiful from the front as from behind. It’s kind of like capturing that moment of falling in love for the first time and the world stops still – and yes, I can actually remember that moment – ha!

11 years, 5 months ago - cath le couteur

'knobbly knees' at www.9point88.com/ made me laugh out loud. loved it.