Ali, Ted, and I met with Jenn, and Jenn's mom at the Gatehouse restaurant for dinner. After that, we all headed to the Rochester Movie Makers' Mind2Movie Challenge screening at the Cinema. They screened last year's winner and the 19 entries then had an awards ceremony.
If you recall from the post introducing the Mind2Movie challenge this year, the gist was to try and include three elements in our story: a character, an object, and a scenario. We were scored based on how well we used our character, our prop, and our situation, the storytelling, and the film technique.
This year's winner was team "Claydogh" with its sole member, Ben Doran. (2014-Feb-18 update: You can view "Ed" on Vimeo now.) His film received a score substantially higher than any other team. They said the next 5 teams were differentiated by only 6 points (out of a possible 200). I seem to remember them being in the 140-range; we got 135, and a few people said they really liked ours (including the MC, Mike McFadden.) We're all very … umm … curious about the surly judge who seemed to like nothing about what we made, but three of the four judges thought it was quite good in all categories.
Ted uploaded our film to YouTube and you can watch it there, or you might be able to watch it below. The film is called "The Singer" and was to include an entertainer, a communicator, and a scenario in which the communicator is stolen. Ted plays The Singer, Jenn plays The Photographer, I'm The Conjurer, Lucy is The Singer's Dog, and Maia is The Photographer's Dog. (That's right: we decided to make a movie with two dogs!)
There's a few things we'd like to fix, but it's mostly just fine. We'll probably go back and tweak some things and maybe enter it in some festivals!
Anyway, here's a list of all the participating films and a brief synopsis. I think I fixed all the errors and have a complete list here:
| Title | Team | Assigned Elements | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| Non-Cents (2013 Winner) | The Team That Brings All The Boys to the Yard and They're Like It's Better Than Yours | Touchy host, Exact Change, Meeting Their match | Funny film about two men begging for just the right coin. |
| The Singer | For Fools | An Entertainer, A Communicator, The Prop is Stolen | A photographer's customer refuses to pay. |
| Unanchored | Quixotic Studios | A Sociopath, A Communicator, A Judgment is Rendered on Prop | A morning news show doesn't go quite as planned. |
| I.R.S. vs. Argyle | Left For Dead | A Bureaucrat, Footwear, Character Contacting a Companion | A woman is audited by the IRS for some questionable deductions. |
| Tin Cans | My Couch Pulls Out But I Don't | A Parent, A Communicator, Prop as Art | A mother and son have a relationship that needs better communication. |
| #*14 | Break A Leg | A Periodical, A Healer, Character Develops a Relationship | An abstract piece about the distant future when words are extinct. |
| Hook Up My Son! (Best Editing) | Lemon Fresh Bastards | A Representative, A Game, Character Makes a Wish | A reality-style show about a young man trying to win at dating. |
| Hack 'n' Stack | The Fighting Mongooses | A Criminal, A Container, A Judgment is Rendered on Prop | A man tries to get his shut-in roommate to go out. |
| Night Crew | Come Having Had | An Intellectual, A Periodical, Character Mourns a Loss | A man gives a personal monologue on his late-night radio show. |
| asSAXination | Shunned Duck Productions | A Representative, An Instrument, Prop as Art | Can a man give up his prized musical instrument? |
| Compromise | I Kinda Look Like Trey Anastasio | A Student, A Game, Prop as Art | Parents meet their child's kindergarten teacher who has some unusual teaching techniques. |
| Second Self | Missing Scenes | A Student, A Game, Fabricating the Prop | A man works late on a video game. |
| It's Cheriff | The West Nerds | A Criminal, Currency, A Judgment is Rendered on a Prop | An unruly student butts heads with a stern teacher. |
| Ed (Winner) | Claydogh | A Bureaucrat, Currency, Character Makes A Wish | A stop-motion animation about a man who has a boring life until he makes a wish. |
| Intent to Distribute | I Got 99 Problems But A Team Ain't One | A Bureaucrat, A Communicator, Character Develops a Relationship | A group of filmmakers pitch an emotional story, but the producer has other plans. |
| Final Chapter (Runner-Up) | Moment Driven Media | An Intellectual, A Communicator, Character Develops a Relationship | A disabled writer gets to finish his story. |
| It's Still Real to Me | BB&J | An Entertainer, A Game, Character Mourns a Loss | A clown throws a birthday party for his balloon animal dog. |
| The Astounding Lagomorph | Yearbook Films | An Entertainer, A Game, Character Develops a Relationship | A failed magician finally finds some magic. |
| # | ISCORG Productions | An Officer, A Container, A Judgment is Rendered on Prop | A gruff detective grills suspects. |
| The Wish | Quad Squad | A Student, Currency, Character Makes a Wish | A man trying to write an essay argues with his wife. |
Great overview! And I agree about said judge, He wasn't to favorable on my part either, Maybe just a grump haha! There was a fantastic array of films this year.
Ha! Yup, surly judge is a regular. You can always count on him to have low scores across the board. Least it sounds like he's consistent! :)
This is a great write up. We have so many talented folks in Rochester and it's great to get to work with them. I helped on "Night Crew" and the different styles of film presented at the screening showed that film is an art appreciated and enjoyed by so many! Congrats to winner, Claydough and to all the participants!! All the films were enjoyable.