I recently sat down and watched all the entries in the current Bitfilm festival (the machinima ones, that is). With just one exception, they are all very very good movies. In particular I was blown away by Intervention by Phil Rice (footage by Richard Grove, I believe). I hadn't seen it before and was swept up by the unique music and clever use of the GTA IV footage. The story it told and how it was revealed - in a word: Brilliant.
Not to give Phil too big of a head, I have to say I still really enjoy his Blast Supper (the clear winner of Mefune's contest IMO). Very clever use of the lines given and just so much fun.
World Of Workcraft gave me a few laughs, too. I'm not a WoW fan, but I DO work in an office, and I know enough of online gaming to "get it". Funny.
One thing I noticed with many of the entries is that Post Production is a BIG thing. Me, I'm still getting used to being able to edit my films in a basic fashion while others are out there throwing wizz bang special effects all about. I'm jealous. hehe. Actually, I'm inspired. I'm clearly going to have to lift my game in that department. Not that my film looks bad, but there is a big difference between it and ones that have had a decent "make over".
Anyway, I believe the voting ends soon, so if you haven't seen or voted, I suggest you pull your finger out and go do it now!
(And the exception? Pretty obvious...)
I think I'm going to have to sit down and watch all the Bitfilm machinima as well. We've had so many entries for the Expo, it's hard to keep up. I know what you mean about Intervention. Just so many great things about that film. Phil is our best director, I think. My "footage capture" is just Phil being kind to me as his computer at the time couldn't capture in high enough resolution, so he asked me if I could capture the footage and send it to him. Anybody with a fairly high-end system could have done the same.
ReplyDeleteI worry about the Bitfilm a little. Some very good films were submitted that didn't make the cut, while a couple films that were selected are questionable. Of course, judging is highly subjective.
Thanks for the reminder on the voting.
Wow, Biggs, thank you very much.
ReplyDeleteJust found this, late. Bitfilm was our first festival and was fun but the internet based popular vote format is disappointing for such a big festival.
ReplyDeleteStill it brought a bunch of great films together so that is can't be a bad thing!