BIAFF 2014 Post Mortem

A forum for sharing views on the art of film, video and AV sequence making as well as on competitions, judging and festivals.
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Willy
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Re: BIAFF 2014 Post Mortem

Post by Willy »

Tudor Rap
Me too, I enjoyed your film "Tudor Rap" very much, Tim. It is a simple, informative and funny story for little children, and also for adults who don't know the history of Henry VIII very well, and for everyone who loves light entertainment (like me). I am sure that all school children find this a delightful movie. They can learn something in a pleasant way.

My grandson has decided to become a teacher of English. He goes to a Training College. I told him that your film could be very useful for a lesson. Watching "Tudor Trap" is an excellent "listening comprehension" test. At the same time they learn something about English history.

I am sure that you enjoyed making this film immensely, Tim, because it is pleasant to work with children of that age. In the beginning of my career my pupils were about 11 and 12 years old. They still asked me to wipe the blackboard. Two years later they didn't ask me anymore. Young teenagers are still innocent, energetic, enthusiastic and pliable. When watching your film I can feel that your boys and girls were very proud. And I can imagine that their parents are also happy with this film. In a few years their children will be quite different. That's life.

Mind: I think that your target group of audience was more than a group of children and their parents. In my opinion "Tudor Trap" is excellent for an international film festival like BIAFF. It is very entertaining for everyone. It is also super animation. It deserves more than 4 stars.

Crossover
Unfortunately I was not able to attend BIAFF this year. Therefore I watched "Tudoor Trap", "Crossover" and some other movies on my little TV-screen. "Crossover" is another wonderful piece of animation. This fascinating and mysterious movie is short. Only 6 minutes. It could even be shorter without weakening its power. I understand that the judges found this the best film of BIAFF 2014. But "Tudor Rap" is not far behind. It is quite different and it is brilliant thanks to its simplicity. it is a short colourful entertaining movie.

The winners never come back.
Yes, you are right, Ken. I didn't attend all the BIAFFS that are in Dave's list like you. I attended 13 of them. But me too, I know that every year the winners only turn up on Sunday to collect their award and get their picture taken. Winning awards is good for their cv. I am not surprised that most of the diamond and 5 star winners are newcomers. Of course not Ned Cordery and his friends. I also enjoyed their film. But I have never seen their names. Mind: having taken part very often must not be a criterion for gaining an excellent result. The films must be evaluated! Anyway I hope that some of the award winners will also show their filming talents the coming years.

Saturday shows
Some of our forum friends say that the Saturday shows were poorly attended. That's a pity! In the past quite a lot of my movies were screened on Sunday. I was very lucky. But I remember that some years ago my documentary "On the Road to Passchendaele" was watched by only 12 people. How disappointed I was after having made such a long trip. Of course you cannot be in the 4 rooms at the same time. I understand. Poor attendance on Saturday is something the organisers cannot avoid.

I fear that only a few people have watched my film "To Michael, With Love" at Bedford. A shame because "this production slips out of the 5 category". That's what the judges wrote in their report.

Also this time I found the judges' comments very interesting. "To Michael, With Love" was judged by people who are not beginners. "There are a few lapses in it", they said"... "This rather touching concluding sequence was crying out for a big close up of the silver rose popping into the vase. Instead it drops from view in a mid-shot"... I accept this criticism - they are 100% right. I don't agree with everything, but again I appreciated the constructive criticism.
Willy Van der Linden
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TimStannard
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Re: BIAFF 2014 Post Mortem

Post by TimStannard »

Willy, it is a pleasure to hear from you again. I am delighted that you found so much to take from "Tudor Rap", but I have to disagree that it was worth more than the four stars it received (I'd have awarded it three). It is technically and artistically flawed as well as being historically (slightly) innaccurate in places! But it was very enjoyable to make and I am very pleased with it. You are absolutely right - it was made with an audience of schoolchildren and their parents in mind, rather than BIAFF judges. The idea came out of a combination of my Merry Xmas 2010 (which you saw at BIAFF 2012 - http://youtu.be/skpgyUqYjtg) and this film (not submitted to BIAFF) written and presented by my daughter as a school project about the Great Fire of London in 1666 http://youtu.be/kdr65ja73Q4. This film has been show at a couple of primary schools and the kids love it.

I doubt I have long before my daughter becomes un-cooperative so I have to make use of her whilst she's keen.

Of course, having a nine year old daughter is one reason why I was unable to visit BIAFF for the whole weekend and therefore I sadly missed "To Michael, With Love" (the other reason being that my wife does not share my interest in film making - although that is changing since her script was so well received!) It must be a terrible feeling when your film is accepted for presentation at an international festival and so few turn out to see it. Is there any possibility you can post it on-line so more of us can see it?
Tim
Proud to be an amateur film maker - I do it for the love of it
ned c
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Re: BIAFF 2014 Post Mortem

Post by ned c »

Welcome Willy; good to see you in fine form. I have now created a "Bucket List" on which there is an attendance at BIAFF which will have to be next year as time rushes by. It is unlikely that any of our other local film makers will be over as they are at an expensive age (mortgages, young families, evening classes etc.). I am about to start shooting next year's winner (that's how we all start) so have an added incentive to visit.

For DOCUTAH all the entries are programmed and loaded on to portable hard drives, thoroughly tested on the player computers and we don't have any projection problems.

Best wishes to all, what great movies this year and if SW Utah (Zion, N Rim Grand Canyon, Bryce) is in your travel plans stop by for a chat!

ned c
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Willy
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Re: BIAFF 2014 Post Mortem

Post by Willy »

Many thanks, webmaster, for giving me the opportunity to watch the BIAFF-films on the website. The IAC is wonderful. And so is the documentary "Dragonfly" by Andy Holt. What a film! The photography is fantastic! The music is well chosen. The storyline is perfect. It is one of the best nature films that I have ever seen. Hopefully we will see more films made by you in the future, Andy.
Willy Van der Linden
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Willy
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Location: Antwerp Belgium

Re: BIAFF 2014 Post Mortem

Post by Willy »

One of my English friends told me that I should have seen "Crossover" on a wide screen. A fantastic film! An other reason to attend film festivals like BIAFF.
Last week our regional competition, called PROVAC, took place. For the first time in its history there were two categories : fiction films and non fiction-films. Everybody seemed to be happy with that decision. Me too, because you cannot compare apples with pears. Isn't it a good idea for BIAFF. I know that we have already talked about it on this forum. Ned Cordery and some other friends approved with this system. I think that in Hollywood documentaries are not compared with feature films either.

The winning film in the category non-fiction was about four men. They were in their seventies and they were still fit to climb the Kilimangora in Africa. A reportage with interviews. I enjoyed it very much. However, I didn't understand the film that won the trophy in the category "fiction films". I was not the only one. My friend who judged it at the local competition didn't understand it either. Though he had already seen it four times. In the film you could see a man and a woman in their sixties who were making love, but nobody understood who they were in the film. Some friends wondered if they were intelligent enough to understand it. There were many actors in it and many flash backs.
Willy Van der Linden
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