The Shoot Out 24 Hour Filmmaking Festival Boulder is creating a special and exciting way for community residents to involve themselves in a start-to-finish artistic process regardless of their experience level. To that end, we'll be using the blog to:
• encourage participation in this uniquely Boulder event.
• provide knowledge on filmmaking best practices and behind the scenes stories.
• create a place for dialog with all members of the community interested in filmmaking.
• find out what participants need and expect with the festival.
There will be no The Shoot Out 24 Hour Filmmaking Festival in Newcastle in 2009 with the announcement by festival directors Teresa Conicella, Craig Foot and Kristi Street that they are taking a year off. After 10 years of blood, sweat and tears the hard working trio have decided to declare this a holiday year and are treating themselves to a few work free weekends.
“Organising and staging The Shoot Out requires a huge personal commitment from each of us and we’ve decided to take a year out to focus on other projects and interests.”
“We don’t want our filmmakers to stop making films. In fact we’ll be using this time to think up new and exciting ways to challenge them in the future.” Craig Foot, Director
Since 1999 The Shoot Out team has challenged over 20,000 filmmakers to make over 3,000 short films in 6 different territories; Newcastle, Geelong(VIC), Toowoomba(QLD), New Zealand, Boulder USA and The Hague (Netherlands).
“The Shoot Out has become so much more than just a one off event, it is now a community of filmmakers who have all been inspired by their experiences at the festival.“
Teresa Conicella, Director
The Shoot Out Filmmaking Festival challenges it’s filmmakers to a 24 hour race against time to make the best 7 minute, or less, film they can. The result is a weekend long festival that The Shoot Out filmmakers and audiences alike describe as exhilarating, fast paced and most importantly FUN!
We have been thinking for a while that Wyoming would be the next great place for The Shoot Out 24 Hour Filmmaking Festival. Initially, Jackson Hole was considered but it is a bit out of the way. However somewhat closer to home is Cheyenne, and they are already famous for leading the way with famous gunslinger shoot outs and Frontier Days. So on Friday, I’ll be heading up to Cheyenne along with Alan O’Hashi for a couple meetings regarding achieving such a feat. Stay tuned for more details.
The Castle Rock Film Festival is accepting submissions for the 2009 film festival. This festival focuses on student, short, and feature films shot in the Rocky Mountain region, or produced by those living in the Rocky Mountain Region. Submissions will be accepted thru July 31, 2009. The festival will be held September 11 thru 13, 2009 in downtown Castle Rock, in conjunction with the Castle Rock ArtFest. The film festival is also looking for those who wish to help with the event. For more information, go to the web site: http://www.CastleRockFilmFestival.com, or email Tim Gallagher at tim@CastleRockFilmFestival.com
While in-camera editing may seem backwards, there is a rich history behind it as I have been told by some of my film studies friends.
Some of America’s greatest filmmakers are known to use the technique, from Alfred Hitchcock to John Ford. For a variety of reasons, both of these directors were so sure of their vision was correct, they wouldn’t leave any room for someone to re-edit their scenes. While they shot “out of continuity”, they won’t provide any ”extra coverage” that could be used for changing the context of the scene. Hitchcock was known to fall asleep on the set while his very detailed storyboard instructions were followed out. For him, the camera work was merely a formality.
“Rope (1948)was another technical challenge: a film that appears to have been shot entirely in a single take. The film was actually shot in 10 takes ranging from four and a half to 10 minutes each; 10 minutes being the maximum amount of film that would fit in a single camera reel. Some transitions between reels were hidden by having a dark object fill the entire screen for a moment. Hitchcock used those points to hide the cut, and began the next take with the camera in the same place.”
John Ford didn’t want the studio to mess with his vision, so he wouldn’t leave anything for them to use.
“Ford typically shot only the footage he needed and he often filmed in sequence, minimizing the job of his film editors. In the opinion of Joseph McBride , Ford’s technique of cutting in the camera enabled him to retain creative control in a period where directors often had little say on the final editing of their films. Ford noted:”
“I don’t give ‘em a lot of film to play with. In fact, Eastman used to complain that I exposed so little film. I do cut in the camera. Otherwise, if you give them a lot of film ‘the committee’ takes over. They start juggling scenes around and taking out this and putting in that. They can’t do it with my pictures. I cut in the camera and that’s it. There’s not a lot of film left on the floor when I’m finished.”
It is hard to imagine that approach would work with today’s features, but remember both men were making films back in the 1930s-1940s.
To understand more of what in-camera editing is, the following comes from Videomaker Magazine.
“While the differences between editing in-camera and shooting to edit are many, the main difference between the two is a matter of sequence. When you shoot to edit, you can shoot your scenes out of order (out of continuity), since you’re going to re-arrange them in post production anyway. When you edit in the camera, however, you need to shoot all of the scenes in order (in-continuity). Because in-camera editing requires that scenes be shot in the order, you might have to do some leg work to produce a scene that requires more than one location.”
Practice, Practice, Practice
“When you edit in the camera, you will need to be sure of every shot before pressing that record button. Because you won’t be able to trim a shot later, you’ll have to shoot it at just the right length. Not too long, not too short. Mastering your timing can be challenging. It is difficult to make precise edits in the camera. Practice makes perfect when shooting to edit. Prepare your shot as much as you can before you record. You get only one shot.”
“There will be times, however,when you’ll screw up a shot while editing in-camera. What do you do then? One solution is to rewind, re-cue the tape and try again. In many cases it’s the only option. ”
There will be no The Shoot Out 24 Hour Filmmaking Festival in Newcastle in 2009 with the announcement by festival directors Teresa Conicella, Craig Foot and Kristi Street that they are taking a year off. After 10 years of blood, sweat and tears the hard working trio have decided to declare this a holiday year and are treating themselves to a few work free weekends.
