The Film Fest

As promised, here are some words about the film fest. I forgot to bring the digital camera, so there won't be any pictures from the evening, but there are some educational photos below.

Drew, Nate, and I submitted three movies--"The Altar," "The Immigrant Song," and the brand-spankin' new Starting Tomorrow Trailer (it's more different than the teaser trailer).

The trailer was well received, despite one major technical problem that plagued each of the eighteen films--the projector was too dark. With nearly every film, it was a struggle just to see what was going on. And because the films were being judged live, it put the "darker" films at a severe disadvantage. Not surprisingly, the three films that ended up winning were brighter than average.

I was particularly displeased with the presentation of "The Altar," not only because half the time it was too dark to see what was going on, but also because key moments of its audio were muffled and delayed.

For instance, at a key moment in the movie, Jack sees his old notebook (unseen at the filmfest) and as he reaches out, the movie cuts to a quick shot of large, dark eyes, accompanied by a loud burst of a growl/explosion noise. It was designed to be a "jump" moment. Instead, for some strange reason, the sound was quiet, and it came a few seconds too late, ruining the moment. The same problem happened with a gunshot, a door slamming, and a thunder blast.

I'm not saying (necessarily) that those problems kept "The Altar" from winning a prize. But I'm disappointed that the audience didn't get to see the movie the way it was meant to be seen.

Oh well.

On a lighter note (haha), "The Immigrant Song" took second place and will be competing at the regional fest in St. Cloud in a few weeks. And shortly after that, we will have the much-anticipated premiere of “Starting Tomorrow.” I guarantee that we will preview the movie on the projector beforehand. It's really not difficult to do.

Oh yeah, go check out the recently updated Double Deuce Pictures site. And while you're at it, buy me one of those "Starting Tomorrow" trucker hats. They look pretty cool.