2005 Wizard Magazine Direct to Video Contest - FAN FILMS

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diestler
Anybody enter the Wizard Direct to Video Contest this year? If so and you have it available online, please post a link so we can watch your short. I have run across a few doing online searches, but they are pretty tough to run across.

Here is the link to my entry - please let me know what you thought:
Reality Round-Up: Super Hero Edition
I'm too new to post links - so I will just give instructions on where you can find the film - if you go to comics2film.com and then to C2F Cinema! my film should be under there.

diestler
Any thoughts? Positive, negative, either way?

Alex W
Looks very fun. Great sound editing. And I have to say that RealPlayer files usually run terribly unsmooth for me, but yours worked great.

Here's mine:
All's Fair in Love and Police Actions
(can't post links either yet, so I put the URL in my sig)

diestler
Alex,

I had actually already downloaded your film from doing a web search awhile back. Very creative - great work. Maybe we will both get screened in Chicagosmile

Darth-Todd
Hey Good times. Those movies were fun. I also entered my short film as well. It is called "Super BAbe the Trailer" I do not have it online yet, but you can see the Poster and some production stills at the link in my signature.

Good luck to all I hope to have mine posted soon

Darth-Todd
Should have it posted today

diestler
Darth-Todd - your stills look great. Can't wait to see the actual short. Good luck to all. Please let us know when it is posted so that we can download it.

Darth-Todd
Ok I have the new basic site up. When I get home from Work in 2 and a half hours I will uplaod the flick the link is set to go.

the new site address is in the signature below

Darth-Todd
Ok So far I have only been able to get the low rez uplaoded, my hi-rez keeps dying....

check it out at the signature below

Darth-Todd
All right the Hi-Rez is up enjoy. So we should find out by next week right. Good Luck to all. Loved the Hulk. and the amazing race... funny stuff.

diestler
Thanks for your comments on my short, they are appreciated.

I am really looking forward to watching your short. I will have to wait until I get home from work tonight as I work in a "cube farm" so I can't jack up my volume at worksad

Good luck to everyone who entered, hopefully we will all get screened in Chicago - or at least one of us will. If anyone hears back from Wizard please post immediately.

diestler
Thought Super Babe was great. My favorite line was about getting hard to hide it from my girlfriend. I really enjoyed that it was an original idea with an original hero, instead of using heroes that already exist. The lead actress did a fantastic job. The directing was great. Best of luck and thanks for sharing.

Darth-Todd
THanks Man, Ireally appreciate that, it was my first time directing or writing, I really had such a greattime, I need to make another. hopefulyl one with a budget. we had a blast making.

So the contest rules say that the winner will be notified no later than May 31st. That would be Monday the holiday. So do you think we will find out today, either by phone or e-mail.... God I am just tired of waiting. I just want to know.......


Well good luck, and hopefully we'll meet up in chicagco

Alex W
Nice job. Great production value.

Good luck to both of you.

Alex.

diestler
My brother has won a Wizard contest before (write an issue of "Witchblade"wink - and he said he didn't find out until after the deadline for them "announcing the winner." He said if you don't hear by June 1, don't count yourself out. I too just want to know. If I made it great, if not, I just want to know.

Good luck to everyone - hopefully we can all meet in Chicago this August.

Alex W
Originally posted by diestler
My brother has won a Wizard contest before ... he didn't find out until after the deadline for them "announcing the winner."

That's good to know. Does he remember how he was notified (mail, phone, email, pigeon)?

Alex.

diestler
FedEx - he said it came about two weeks after the date they said they would announce the winner by.

Alex W
That's a relief. Glad to hear I don't need to check my spam receptical more often than usual.

Thanks.

Alex.

Scoobless
just watched "Arrant America"... not bad, pretty funny.... quite a few racial slurs..... perhaps more than you needed to get the point across but other than that i liked it

Alex W
Thanks, Scoobless. I considered taking a more nuanced approach, but I found the 4-minute maximum limiting, and ended up erring on the side of "let's make sure everybody realizes this character is detestable" approach, hoping South Park and its kind paved the way enough for that type--though not necessarily caliber--of grating humor.

Taking potshots at the era (and particularly the comics of the era with their self-censorship about Vietnam and use of racial stereotypes--sometimes even with anti-racism intentions!) should have been one of those too-easy, too-obvious parodies, but even without cutting scenes (some probably more offensive, some less), I did find it difficult to hit the right balance--and I'm still not sure whether that's due to overthinking it or underthinking it on my part. Still, I'm more prooud of the writing than I am the animation (grin).

At any rate, thanks for your very valid perspective and I'm glad you enjoyed it anyway.

mavic19
Hi....I represent Unified Studio Productions and we have also submitted a film to the Wizard competition. It is called Batfollies and we should have our website up soon so that you'll all be able to view it as well as all 8 of our other short films. Good luck to all! We enjoyed watching your submissions

Darth-Todd
Can't wait to see it please post us a link as soon as it is ready

Darth-Todd
Hey Diestler,

How long did it take Comics2film to book you're movie. I still have not heard back form them... Bastards.....

diestler
Can't wait to see Batfollies - please post the link once it is up.

If I recall correctly, it took about a week for comics2film to book my short.

mavic19
Thanks! We can't wait to show it. We've had several viewings of groups of 15 or more people (the largest group was our own premiere group which was 30 people) and everyone laughed their butts off, so we're confident it's funny. As denoted by the title, it is a Batman spoof, but unlike all other Batman spoofs you've seen. The costumes are all custome made and awesome. The Robin costume is probably the best one I've ever seen made and looks just like the one Tim wears now. We'll probably be auctioning them on ebay in a few months after we get our site up and going. It was tough editing all that we had into 4 minutes and Wizard gaves us the ok for 4 min 14 seconds and said they'd just pretend their dvd player timer was a bit off. We'll have the Directors Cut online that is 9 minutes total. Just for a teaser here is the cast of characters you'll get to see: Batman, Robin, Nightwing, Bane, Commissioner Gordon, Det Bullock, Catwoman, Joker, & Harley Quinn. Anyhoo..we're rushing to get the site up and going. Just getting the scripting finished.

diestler
Sounds great - can't wait to see it. Did you see what the Grayson costume went for on ebay? Like $2000! Crazy.

Scoobless
i'll give Batfollies a viewing..... y'know..... give you all the benefit of my epert opinion..... let you know where it could use a little edit or touch up.... just to be helpful..... y'know?

smokin'

mavic19
Yeah..the Grayson costume was cool. I liked the old-school Robin outfit. Ours was made by a friend that is a professional seamstress. I gave her about 5 Robin comics and she took the guys measurements and went to town. It looks sweet. I almost hate the thoughts of selling it, but could use the money for funding future projects.

Darth-Todd
Hey Scoobles Did you watch SuperBabe? what did you think of that?

Scoobless
Originally posted by Darth-Todd
Hey Scoobles Did you watch SuperBabe? what did you think of that?

not yet..... i just started downloading it now

Darth-Todd
cool let me know what you thought

Scoobless
SuperBabe has it's funny points, i liked the end title sequence convo .... although the acting wasn't great sad

not the best amateur film i've seen, but definitely far from the worst...

Jimmy Buggs
where are the links to the other movies? PS super babe sucked.

diestler
The link to my short will appear below this post.

Darth-Todd
Sorry you didn't like it Jimmy. it was my first try at writing directing or editing. I think I could have done a lot worse....


good luck to all

it's a funny thing about that end conversation it was supposed to be something different, but S#!T don't always work out... and that was just some of their ad-libs... I swear they must have gone through like 50 pick up lines....

diestler
Don't get too down on yourself - I think you did a great job for a first time director.

mavic19
Yah...don't sweat any harsh criticism. Just think...a lot of multi million dollar hollywood blockbusters get cracked on by the critics. For a first time production you did well. Your lighting was good and your shot angles were good. That right there is the hard part. As far as bad acting.....well, lol, that's a different story and we all have had issues with that. Most of the time your first production involves casting freinds or family and we all know the risks to that. A suggestion: contact local theater groups and recruit. They are used to working for free and most do a good job. Also post flyers outside your local college theater building. You'll find in almost any fan film or short there will always be 1 or 2 bad actors or actors that don't quite want to follow your script. Since shooting MiniDV is cheap, do multiple takes. Let that adlib and then have them do a spot on take with the correct lines. Then, in post, see what works better. We all tend to get bristled up when someone hacks on our work because it's our baby. But you have to take the good with the bad and improve over time.

Darth-Todd
thanks guys, thats awesome

diestler
Well said mavic19 - I was going to have a similar response for you Darth-Todd, but I was too tired last night to come up something meaningful, so I just made it short and sweet. Everyone looks for something different in a film. Some people love big blockbusters, some like small indie features, some like "talkies," some hate "talkies." But I can tell you this, from being a filmmaker myself - you did a great job on important aspects of filmmaking in your first short - things will only get better from here. As for my short - I have had really positive responses (interviews, festival screenings, etc.) and a few really negative ones - which one would expect. I wouldn't expect everyone to like it, it wasn't made for everyone - it was made for the judges of the Wizard Magazine contest. Don't sweat any harsh criticism too much - even films like "Schindler's List" get ragged on - "it's too boring, too graphic" etc. Just do your best, that's all anyone can ask.

mavic19
Hey..I'm just curious on what everyone is using for equipment for shooting shorts. Since we're all indepenant, I doubt anyone is using a fancy Canon XL-2 (although I would love to have one). My shooting gear consists of the following: 2 Samsumg SCD107 MiniDV cameras, an Audio Technica boom mic & Sony MiniDisc recorder, an Commodore 17" monitor for on location viewing (great picture for an old unit), some tripod based lighting, and two nice camera glide tripods. For an editing PC it's comprised of the following:

Petium 4 3.2GHz
1 Gig DDR400
1x 80gig HD for operating system & programs
2x 250gig HD for video storage
Canopus AVEDV10 video capture/editing card
Radeon 9600XT 256Mg video card
2x Lite on 16x DVD burners

Programs:
Adobe Premiere Pro
Adobe After Effects
EffectsDV Lab
Sony Sound Forge
Pinnacle Studio 9 (for simple editing stuff)
Adobe Photoshop CS

Anyhoo...that's waht we have to work with. Questions? Comments?

Darth-Todd
Thanks all, I completely understand... these movies wer emade for a specific audience, and I think we all catered to it pretty well,

I myself used the following equipment

Borrowed my friends

Cannon XL-1 (wow that was a nice camera but the new panasonic HD cams are awesome)

Edited on an HP workstation got a 160GB drive from fry's for 99$ thta helped with swap space

My hp is a 2.5 Gb pentium 4

have an nvidia card

edited in Adobe premerie, Color corrected in Final Cut Pro, and did sound with Pro tools

also used shake and illusion for some basic compositing

Darth-Todd
Also it was a really horrible week for my delivery.... My cat got very sick while I was in the midst of the final editing, and passed away the day before I deliveried the film to wizard. hence the dedication to my cat... that sucked.... it was very hard.

diestler
Wow - with the computer equipment you use - one would think you would have an XL2smile

I use a Panasonic DVC30 (little bro to the DVX100A - the major difference is no 24P) to shoot on. A Schriber 568 dual pattern shotgun mic with boom pole. SignVideo XLRPRO audio adaptor. Libec M20 tripod. For lighting - I use Snake Lights (dome with bulb - you find them in a pet store) with various watts on the bulbs.

Dell Inspiron 5100 Notebook
Pentium 4 2.4GHz
512MB RAM (need to upgrade to 1GB because 512MB isn't enough)
30GB HD for OS and Programs
160GB Western Digital 7200RPM External HD for Video
ATI Mobile Radeon w/32MB RAM
Sony 500A - External DVD Burner (4X)

I'm looking to upgrade my desktop PC to something much faster - right now my laptop is better than my desktop, therefore I'm using it for editing, until I get a new desktop. I wouldn't recommend editing on a laptop, use a desktop if you can.

Programs:
Avid XPress DV 3.5
Adobe Premiere 6.5
Adobe After Effects Pro 6.0
Adobe Photoshop 7
Adobe Illustrator 10
(all of which were used on Reality Round-Up)

Alex W
Obviously my film wasn't shot so much as put together with software.

I recorded the voices, song, and sound FX using my Zoom HD based recorder (802 if I remember right) and then edited it all together, along with a few royalty-free gunshot sounds, using GarageBand on an iBook.

After finally getting it down to 4 minutes (which wasn't easy--required cutting a scene, about twenty jokes, and two characters, as well as rerecording AA's dialogue from a slower John Wayne impersonation to the final fast-talker) in Garageband, I imported the audio into Macromedia Flash, created the different backgrounds like a moving storyboard, created the characters (which, believe me, took a long time for such a South Park-level art style), and animated the thing together.

We shot a regular film (I acted, didn't direct) last week on a Canon GL2, and it was amazing what our DP did with just that and a decent lighting setup, so if I was to purchase a DV cam right now for a project, I'd probably go with the GL2. Not cheap, but a great value for the money.

Oh and for someone else who asked where the films are, let's see if I can't link to mine in-message...

Nope not yet.

Click on "All's Fair in Love and Police Actions" in my sig.

Alex.

diestler
mavic anyword on when Batfollies will be up?

mavic19
wow...you've all got great cameras to work with. We only had a little over a grand to spend on a camera and we wanted to camperas to wokr multiple angles with. So, the best overall value we would find in a camera that fit our needs, the Samsung fit the best as well as price. They are not the best, but their picture quality in good lighting is awesome....they just need improvement in the low light area. I would love to have an used XL-1 in good condition or GL-2. As Napolean Dynamite would say: Luuckyyyy. Anyway...yah, we have the computer, we just need to invest in upgrade cameras now.

mavic19
When will Batfollies be up? Good Question: Dan is working on that as we speak. Niether of us has built a web page so we're using Yahoo Web Page builder program to get it up and going. We will have a HighRes download of it on both Wizard Submission and 9 minute Directors Cut as well as streaming video. As always, I would recommend the download. We should have a rough cut web page up here in a day or so

diestler
Thanks - I just flopped up a really crappy website so that I could get the film shown. One of these days I will update my website to look somewhat respectable. Looking forward to the link.

mavic19
Well...we paid for the Yahoo small business website hosting to give us increased bandwidth and 2 Gigs of storage on their server. It's like $11.95/mo. Not too bad.

diestler
Cool - I use dot5hosting which gives you 1.5GB storage plus 80GB in downloads per month (Yahoo is 25GB) - for $5 a month. I looked at Yahoo hosting, but I couldn't pass up this deal.

mavic19
nice! eek! Guess I should have done a bit more research. Did you submit your film to any other sources? We are submitting our to Ifilm as well.

diestler
Yeah, I submitted mine to iFilm, but haven't heard a response yet - they take forever!

mavic19
That sucks. What is that you do diestler? Myself, I work for DirecTV as an entertainment consultant. Kind of a boring job but I get free t.v. and it pays well. Happy Dance

diestler
I work in Administration at a University. Very laid back (great benefits), allows me time to make films.

mavic19
nice. Yeah..I work 10hr shifts so I get 3 days off a week to organize shoots, write scripts, and storyboard. Fun stuff. Right now we are trying to brainstorm a new concept. We are going to work out to 30 minutes this time. Our trademark films are our Misadventures of Hal Williams series which is now up to part 5. You have to watch them in order as there is stuff in each one that will carry over to the next. Very kooky, but funny.

diestler
Man, I wish I could work 4 tens - or 3 for that mattersmile Sounds like you stay pretty busy with filmmaking. I don't make as many films as I would like, but I try to make at least a couple a year. Is your Hal Williams series available online yet? Looking forward to seeing it.

mavic19
we're going to have all of them available at the same time once we get the site up. I've been pushing Dan all week. He's probably getting sick of me. I don't care if the site looks like crap..I just want people to be able to view our work. We can fix the site up later.

diestler
I agree - can't wait.

mavic19
You guys will be the first group notified that it's up and going. Figured, what the hell....we're all in this together. lol

mavic19
OK guys! The site is up! Go to unifiedstudioproductions (.com as this site will not let me post a URL yet) and watch the flick we've posted. The Batfollies Directors Cut and Hal Williams series is all up and running! Jut right click on the icons and SAVE TARGET AS and watch them!

diestler
Awesome - I loaded Batfollies, but since I work in a "cube farm" I couldn't jack up the volume high enough to hear all the dialoguesad It looks hilarious though - can't wait to get home and watch it. I'll take a look at the Hal Williams series as well this weekend.

mavic19
sweet! Too bad you can't "jack" the volume up though. Did you download the Directors Cut?

diestler
Nope, just the Wizard version - I wanted to check out the competitionsmile

mavic19
Right on. If you get bored, there was 5 minutes of footage that was left out that is in the directors cut. Fun stuff.

diestler
If I like the Wizard cut, which I'm guessing I will based on the "silent" footage I just watched, I will also watch the director's cut. I am currently working on the director's cut of my short.

mavic19
sweet. You'll have to give us an full analysis when you are able to watch it with volume on when you get home.

diestler
will do - looking forward to it.

Alex W
Looks good. The lighting was great during the night scenes and I like the animated transitions and sound effects. I had a little trouble hearing the dialogue especially during the phone conversation, but the sound effects were spot on. And I enjoyed it overall. Heh. Too bad you had to cut the Catwoman bit for the Wizard cut. My biggest regret is cutting Henny Youngman and a Mexican super hero out of mine.

I'll check out some of your Hal Williams saga as time permits.

Alex.

mavic19
Thanks for the input Alex. The lighting was very difficult for the night scenes. Especially when dealing with cameras that weren't the best in low light settings. Dan did an excellent job with the sound effects and editing. It was a bummer we had to cut the Catwoman bit. After watching the Catwoman movie, I was so pissed it was nothing what it should have bee, that I had to throw that bit in there. There were some audio clips that we just could get the sound boosted up enough on...such as the Nightwing/Dick conversation. We were bummed about that...but oh well....live and learn.

Scoobless
ok... just saw Super Hero Reality Roundup.... liked it... thought the great race part was brilliant....

"Hulk has no professional training" lol

again... any fault is with the acting... which is to be expected with fan films... so no prob there

diestler
Scoobless, thanks for watching it and giving me some specific feedback - it is appreciated. Yes, the acting is terrible - and yes, I can say that, because I was one of the actorssmile

Alex W
Originally posted by mavic19


Heh. What camera is? Takes some skill with the light kit and you seemed to have it.

Alex.

mavic19
we were using a $395 Samsung SCD107. Thanks for the compliment on the lighting.

diestler
mavic19 - sorry about the delayed response, but I had a major computer meltdown on Friday and I just got back up and running.

I watched the Wizard cut twice and the Director's Cut a few times. First off I just want to say great job! I thought your short was pretty funny and there were a couple spots that I laughed outloud (each time I watched it). Dan(?) did a wonderful job as Batman, he cracked me up. Probably the funniest part IMO is when the camera pushes in at the start when he is on the phone and he says, "No." I also really like it when the crook asks him who he is and he says, "I'm Batman." His body language was great. Dan, if you are reading this - great job man! I liked the fact that all the superheroes were lazy and Batman sits around in a got Playboy? shirtsmile The concept was great.

In addition, your costume designer did a wonderful job and the graphics between clips were top notch.

The audio for the Nightwing clip was tough to understand and I'm wondering if you guys purposely mispelled Halle Berry (not Barry) in the cut Catwoman scene? I liked the am not, are too scene, but I agree with Scoobless, one (or two) too many - are not, am toos. (Things are usually funniest in 3's, more than that and you lose something). I thought Robin got shot, but wasn't really sure until I watched the Director's Cut - I thought that should have been a little more obvious in the short version.

You did a great job of lighting the scenes - esp. with such cheap cameras - I commend you there. I liked the bring Adam West thing in, but ended up getting Bat Hombre (great costume there). When Batman eggs on the crook with "chicken, bock" that was good. I also enjoyed the fact that he rides around on a crappy little bike. Wish there was more Harley and Joker (but it was a nice cameo regardless).

Watched the first "Hal Williams" - I'm not a big fan of one location, two people talking shorts - so I didn't dig it all that much - but I'm guessing it was a good exercise for filmmaking. I did like Batfollies enough to give "Hal" at least one more chance, I'll take a look at part two and see if I want to watch all of them.

Keep up the great work! Good luck in the Wizard contest, I think you have a legitimate chance of getting screened in Chicago. Hopefully someone will hear soonsmile

BTW - saw that Dan went to Eastern Oregon University in LaGrande. My in-laws have a cabin in Joseph - small world.

diestler
Ha - just watched "Hal 2" - much better than the first. Great job! Moving on to number 3 - I'll probably have to watch them all nowsmile BTW what kind of software did you use to animate the "pyscho orange?" Just curious.

diestler
Just got done watching 3 and 4 - yes, I couldn't stop watching - I had to see what Hal did next. 3 - great job on opening titles - something different - hadn't seen that before. $800 to rent a house? Damn, I need to move to Boisesmile The best part IMO was the very end about the devil roommate being killed by the air gun (good thing I watched the first one) - and then cut to "I'm Blue" and the devil dancing around. Kinda creepy, but pretty damn funny. You guys do a great job picking the music and you did a good job in 4 with the special effects.

Keep up the great work!

NoWare Man
Hey, this is Dan. You probably won't see me doing a lot of posts, Gary's kinda the voice of out company. Anyways, thanks for the feedback, it's good to hear you enjoyed our movies, and thanks for the compliment on me being Batman, it was definately fun. You're actually the first person to give us feedback on the Hal Williams films we've had, I don't think too many people have watched those yet.

Also, I did manage to watch your film and there were some funny scenes and it was a pretty good premise as well. I'd have to say my favorite part was the Amazing Race with the Flash and Supergirl. You film reminded me of a show called Robot Chicken on Cartoon Network's Adult Swim. They had a segment similar, it was the Real World: Super Hero edition. It came out in the middle of April sometime and thought that was kinda funny that two different people had a similar idea of putting superhero's into reality tv settings. Anyways, best of luck to ya in the Wizard Contest.

diestler
Dan, you are welcome for the feedback - I love to see what other filmmakers are putting together these days. Yes, great job playing Batman! You cracked me up.

Thanks for watching my short and giving me some feedback. Yes, I have seen a few shorts that have Real World: Super Hero Edition - but I thought mine was a bit different because it was all Reality TV, not just one show. I haven't seen the Robot Chicken one though - hmmm - since it is a real production, I'm guessing it was pretty funnysmile Thanks again.

mavic19
Thanks for the in-depth review diestler! We do appreciate that. We also appreciate that you gave feedback on the Hal Williams. Yes, part 1 is kind of slow, but once you get past it, things start picking up in terms of pacing. The Hal shorts are very fun to film and don't cost a dime to produce. As to what program we used to animate the orange, we used Adobe Effects 6.5. Basically, I sat in front of the camera and held as still as possible to do the oranges dialogue, then Dan cut out my mouth and tracked the movements on the orange with some great job in masking. We were initially going to use my eyes as well, but decided it was too time involved...so went with the black dots instead. But I feel they add character. Again, thanks for the feedback! I got to get back to work now, but I shall return!

diestler
No problems on the feedback, I know I like to get honest feedback, so I like to give it as well. I figured you used AE for the effects, but just wanted to make sure. I'm glad you went with the black dots for the eyes and eyebrows - it definitely made it look much cooler and helped define that character. Keep up the good work - I too have to get back to worksad

NoWare Man
Hey diestler, is it cool if we use a few your quotes on our website for our hal williams movies?

diestler
Dan, sure you can - although I'm not sure there is much "meat" in my posts.

diestler
For all you newbies just reading this thread and don't want to read every post, I thought I would give a list of the movies discussed and their links:

Reality Round-Up: Super Hero Edition (my film)
http://www.comics2film.com/movies/moviePage.php?f_id=426

All's Fair in Love and Police Actions
http://www.alexwilson.com/films.php

Super Babe the Trailer
www.makeupbymandi.com/sb.htm

Batfollies (both Wizard Cut and Director's Cut)
www.unifiedstudioproductions.com

Enjoy!

Darth-Todd
What I would really like to know is how many people entered the contest. because you'd think, the other people who entered, would be googling the contest and coming across this thread as well.

What if we were the only four entries. I can't believe that... but what if..... I guess we would all be screened in Chicago then


....

diestler
That would be pretty sweet - but I'm guessing they had at least 100 entries, otherwise they would have announced the winners by now.

Alex W
Originally posted by Darth-Todd
What I would really like to know is how many people entered the contest. because you'd think, the other people who entered, would be googling the contest and coming across this thread as well.

Yeah, but not everyone has the time or inclination to search, much less post. So hello to the lurkers out there. Drop one of us a note if you receive a FedEx package.



Well, I'd be okay with that. I think they reserve the right to limit the number of winners (or not choose a winner), so there isn't necessarily a winner by default. I've only seen the Kool-Aid Man trailer at iFilm as far as previous winners go, so I don't know exactly what their standards are.

Alex.

diestler
Yeah, I can't believe "Fast Times at Hero High" lost to "Kool-Aid" - just my opinion.

"No Superpowers" is pretty funny and I think it was screened in 2002.
http://www.sevenohfive.com/movies.php

mavic19
I agree. Fast Times was way better the the Kool-Aid man one. I think that the only thing the Kool-Aid one had was originality. Fast Times was just a spoof on the old Ridgement High flick. Other than that, the acting, video, and sound was way better in Fast Times. Oh...and guys, just to let ya know, Dan and I will be posting your sites as links on our web page to refer people to your films as well. In the last 2 days since we placed a webcounter we've had over 321 downloads! Not bad. We were also interviewed by the webmaster at www.defenderofgotham.net. Which was pretty cool as well. So if it's ok with you guys, we'd like to add a link to your sites as well to help promote you guys the best we can.

I sure wish we'd hear from Wizard though....I'm passed being antzy. I'm going friggin nutz!

diestler
It's cool if you post my link - I was hoping to do the same for all of your films, once I update my website - which I'm currently working on. I read your interview on Defender of Gotham - it was pretty cool. Maybe all the winners have heard from Wizard already and we are waiting for nothing? I would like to think that at least one of the films posted here made the top 6 though.

Alex W
Please feel free. I've posted links to all of yours as well.

Alex.

Darth-Todd
Yeah I have no problem with you guys posting links. I will add your links to my site today as well.

I also thought fast times at hero high was pretty funny. Kool aid man was ok.. I felt they kind of over did the Oh yeah thing though. by like the 40th time he said it I was like oh no!!! but it was fun and original... Which is what I think helped it out. I mean killer kool aid. that is a new concept....


But man those wizard people. Why do they tell us that, that Winners will be informed no later than May 31st if that is not the case. I guess we should send a stamped and self addressed envelope to wizard for a list of winners like the rules say.

So what is anybody working on for their next project.....

I did watch the first Hal williams.... was knd a slow....I will watch the next one though since Dieslter said it picks up there....

I did love Bat Hombre though!!! ( they paid me 10$ to stand here and say "Bat Hombre"

LOL

mavic19
well...based on the amount of email responses and requests: we are currently working on a 20 minute production of Batfolles 2. I've got 10 minutes of script wrote and those reading it laugh out loud through quite a bit...so here's hoping on a smooth shoot! lol

diestler
I am still trying to cut together my director's cut for Reality Round-Up. I had a hard drive crash during editing, have got a new hard drive since, but am having trouble motivating myself to get back in the editing room. I am also getting ready to shoot a music video for a band in Denver - and getting a cast and crew together for an upcoming short - which many people think is a "Kill Bill" "rip-off" - which is funny since I wrote it before "Kill Bill" was released and if I were to call it a "rip-off" I would say it is far more similar to "The Crow" than "Kill Bill." Oh well, it should be fun to make regardless.

diestler
BTW - "Kool Aid" was pretty original, but it's not even really a comic book. Sure there may have been a few printed special editions, but c'mon.

"Fast Times" wasn't that original, but the production value is huge. It spoofed the real "Fast Times" as well as the "Not Another Teen Movie" original trailer - but hey, it was hilarious! The director of that short is now working on the upcoming "Charlotte's Web" feature and his latest short has an actor from one of my shorts in it - small world (considering they are in L.A. and I'm in Denver - but shot the short in Washington State). The director (Kyle Peck) seems to be a really nice guy to boot, based on email correspondence I have had with him.

Darth-Todd
Thats Cool.... My next project I am going to try something a little more down to earth. I am going to try something with heart and humor. Think a 1o minute road trip meets swingers meets blow. I call it 52 lbs..... then I will try peddling it at some film fests.

I have my synopsis done. but I just need to get off my ass and put it in to script format... Also my buddy whose XL i was borrowing had it and all his equipment jacked..... That sucks so bad. they totally stole his camera and his computers and lights... thank god for insurance. So I am trying to also put together a budget to rent some equipment.

So Denver ugh Diestler? I one time broke down in Grand Junction and was stuck there for 5 days.... what a trip..... Colorado...... (the whole time we were there we were like, Why couldn't this have happened when we where in Denver)

Darth-Todd
What is funny was the day after I watched it... I was watching the Family Guy, and they totally had the Koolaid man bust through the wall and be like Oh Yeah!!!!

and then I think it was this last week on Robot Chicken, they also had the kool-aid man but some one punched him and made him leak and say oh no.

AngelGirl
does any one no any good websites apart from this

diestler
AngelGirl - I know a million good websites - a good website for what exactly?

diestler
DarthTodd - that sucks about your buddies equipment - lucky he had insurance. What are you going to use to film your next short then? Sounds interesting - when you finish it, if you post it let me know, I would be interested in watching it.

Getting stuck in Grand Junction for 5 days - sucko! I guess there could be worse places to get stuck.

diestler
Anyone fans of "American Pie" and/or "Star Wars?" If so, you should check out this hilarious spoof - it's not from the Wizard Contest, but it's a fan film non-the-less. I haven't seen it in awhile, but it was featured on the front page of iFilm today so I thought I would post the link in case you guys haven't seen it:
American Jedi
http://www.ifilm.com/ifilmdetail/489408?htv=12

Alex W
No more filmmaking/animating for me for awhile. I only do it when I don't have anyone else to do it for me. I do have one multimedia educational project I need to do in a few months though.

I've got a number of writing projects cooking. No acting gigs in the immediate future, though I do regular narrating for my audiobook project.

Alex.

Alex W
I think someone was asking earlier about how long it's taking to get accepted at Comics2Film. They just accepted mine this morning. I think it took about 25 days.

Alex.

zirkusaffe
Add another one to the list!

Strange Adventurers: Where Walks the Waitress
ww*w.globo-chem.net*/~jay*/SAFi*nalWeb.m*ov

(remove the *s)

(Quicktime, Sorenson 3, 25Mb)


-j

Darth-Todd
So I take it you entered that in the contest has well? I like you're characters pretty original. though it did remind me a bit of "Mystery Men"

I really liked the effects when the asgardian lobster man used his powers. You also did an excellent job costuming them. So did you know some one at the diner? because that was the hardest thing I came across was to shoot on location. Maybe i's just cause I live in LA. but anywhere you want to shoot here, they want you to have a permit (300$) a cop 75$ an hour, and insurance.... at least 1500$.... it is such a pain in the ass.

My tampon scene was originally supposed to be in the store. but we could not get one store to let us shoot. I also really like how Diestler solved this problem by green screening his super market.... that was a very creative idea. I did the same thing for my giant city window shot.... we couldn't find a building to shoot out of with a city view. so we went and took pictures, and comped them in using a blue screen and shake

Darth-Todd
Here is is link with no stars

http://www.globo-chem.net/~jay/SAFinalWeb.mov

diestler
zirkusaffe - welcome to the board! Really looking forward to checking out your short - but have to wait until I get home from worksad Thanks for posting the link (and Darth-Todd thanks for the "real" link). zirkusaffe, I hope you watch everyone else's short too.

Darth-Todd - yes, I too had some trouble shooting on location - I couldn't get a store to let me shoot in their tampon isle, but I did get a store manager to let me take some still shots - hence the blue screen - which isn't as good as really shooting on location, but it's the next best thing. The problem is, I used a blue tarp with bad lighting, so it was a pain in the ass to get the comp to look halfway decent. Lesson learned.

Alex W - congrats on getting up on comics2film - it should generate a lot of buzz.

mavic19
Hi guys! Dan and I just updated our webpage and added our first short film Battalia ab Magi. It is our first ever film we produced together, but it was done under each of our independant studio names at the time. We had just downloaded an new effects generating program and just put it together to show what the program can do. give it a watch and let us know whatcha think.

Oh..I also posted the first of my weekly Batfollies comic strip on there. Dan will be posted some of his art as well. We're trying to come up with new ideas that will keep fans returning to check for site updates. Let us know what you all think.

Zirk. We'll be checking your film out here shortly. Was it also a Wizard competition submission?

Take care guys.
Gary
Unified Studio Productions
www.unifiedstudioproductions.com

mavic19
btw..congrats alex on getting on comics2film! Did they email you a confimation?

diestler
They emailed me a confirmation when Reality Round-Up got added to their site. Looking forward to your first short mavic19.

diestler
ha - got a kick out of the Batfollies comic strip - great job!

zirkusaffe
Hi everybody! Thank you for the nice welcome.

Strange Adventurers was indeed submitted for the contest. It was a close call (we're in Canada and the package got held up at the border) but we've been assured it made it in.

About the diner: we didn't know him before but we had a contact and not only was the guy super nice, the diner had been used in a few productions before so he was used to moviemaking - and by much more involved and destructive crews than us. We couldn't have asked for a better location and because it was a privately-owned interior space we left safe without getting a location permit or an officer.

I'll write back later with some feedback for you guys; I've watched all of them but want to watch them again before I post anything.


-j

mavic19
Zirk. You're film looked really good. The sound editing was awesome. My favorite part is when the Thor-like dude asked the gods if 15% was good enough. I think that their could have been a few more humorous jabs in there, but overall, it was very well put together. Very original. Thanks for sharing.

mavic19
Wow...Wizard assured you they recieved yours? lol We never got any word back. I even emailed Chris Ward asking him to look into and never got a response. We've pretty much given up hope on placing and are just working hard at promoting ourselves now and trying to help others promote their films as well. If it's ok with you Zirk, we can post a link to your site on ours to refer as many people as we can to view your film.

zirkusaffe
We kept harassing them as soon as we found out about the shipping delay - they didn't respond so much as relent.

By all means, please post a link!


-j

diestler
Just heard the winner, not sure on the title of the film - but I hear the winner is Jeff Lofgrin (not sure if that's spelled right), which I'm pretty sure isn't any of us posting on this boardsad I will hopefully have a full list by tomorrow, but for now, this was all the information I could gather.

Alex W
Originally posted by mavic19
btw..congrats alex on getting on comics2film! Did they email you a confimation?

Yeah, they emailed me that it was accepted.

zirkusaffe - I'm downloading now.

diestler - you've got some inside scoop?

Alex.

diestler
Alex - sort of. I'm doing some investigating as we speak. I will post when I have more concrete answers.

mavic19
bummer it wasn't one of us that won. curious if any of us made top 5?

mavic19
Diestler, you watch Battalia ab Magi yet?

diestler
yeah, bummer - I never expected to win, I just wanted to get screened (i.e. be one of the five runner ups) - I hope that list comes through - I will post it when/if it arrives

still at work, so no I haven't had a chance to watch either Battalia ab Magi or Strange Adventurers yetsad I watched SA w/o sound and it looked pretty funny - the graphics on the "Thor" scene looked great! Great work zirk - what kind of software did you use?

diestler
from the sound of things, I think they just came up with the winners - so I wouldn't be surprised if one of us was a runner-up but hasn't heard yet

Darth-Todd
where are you getting this info from?

Darth-Todd
I really want to know how you found this out, or how you're hoping to have the list of runners up. Did you call them or something.....

Well if none of us did win, at least we all had fun making them

Cheers Guys!!

diestler
Yep - I called them. The woman on the phone said they were working on typing up a list of runner-ups as we spoke. I asked if she could email me the list when it was done - which hesitently she said she would - hence, I'm hoping she does.

Yes, I know I had a blast making mine - I better think of a funnier idea for next year's contestsmile

diestler
zirk - just watched SA - thought it was pretty funny - great production value. The costumes were great, the sound editing was great, the special effects were top notch (which software?), and the opening graphics looked great. I thought the funniest gag was the is 15% enough? Reminded me a bit of Mystery Men as well. You should definitely be proud of this piece.

Gary and Dan - just got done watching Battalia Ab Magi - wow that was your first work together? I think you guys did a great job. It was a special effects extraveganza! How long did post take on that short? I thought you guys did a great job with the special effects and it had a story to boot. What software did you use? That couldn't have all been AE, could it?

g14 productions
Hey all! I just an e-mail from Diestler today, asking if my company had won the Wizard contest. Well, if so, he knows more than I do! Did anybody get the list from Wizard of the winners? My crew will be calling tomorrow, but needless to say I'm a little excited!

I haven't had a chance to watch anybody's film yet, but I'll be doing so today and tomorrow. I'm really excited to find such a reaction this year. I've never found anything but the Kool-Aid man flick before, and the less said about that the better.

We don't have our films posted on-line yet (we've been focusing on building some DVD distribution), but we should be doing that VERY soon. I'll let you all know once I've seen your films!

Thanks to Diestler for clueing me in!
Jeff Lofgren

mavic19
Battalia ab Magi wasn't even a project we took seriously, to be honest. The program we used was called AlamDV2. They have a newer version, completely revamped and more powerful called EffectsDV Lab. We just upgraded to it and it rocks! Shooting on that project was done in under two hours. Post took about a week or so. lol. We just came up with a quick concept and dialogue (which i just jotted down on a notepad and we just rolled with it). Amazingly enough, we've gotten a pretty good response out of it without even meaning to.

mavic19
btw..welcome to the board Jeff!

g14 productions
Thanks, mavic! I'm glad to find you guys (and possibly gals?)

mavic19
No gals I know of...lol. Anyhoo, I'm currently download your Harry trailer. You have a chance to watch any of our flicks yet from any posters here?

g14 productions
I just finished watching Reality Round Up and I really dug it. The only thing I've ever seen from Wizard before was Kool-Aid Man and our stuff. I'm sooooooo happy to already see that there's better stuff than what's in the past! I'll watch more soon!

g14 productions
Ok. I just got shut down on posting a link. Darnit. I knew that was going to happen. I'll try to beat the system. Check out: three common letters we all know dot g14productions dot com. Try that. Sorry 'bout that. I'm not so good at the webiquette.

Anyways, Waiting for Harry is the first part of three stories that tie together to make "Noir", our first-feature length film. The three stories are all film noir stories from different eras of filmmaking. If all goes well, we'll finish editing/scoring etc. by the end of this year, and start shopping for distribution deals and at festivals next year.

mavic19
Your quality is very good, from what I have seen. Audience base might be a bit limited due to language, but it looks great. What camera are you shooting with?

mavic19
hey diestler, the nice thing is that Wizard allows multiple submissions. Get several ideas, shoot, and send! lol. Got better odds that way! I do agree with Jeff, I think the quality of films will just continue to get better with so many programs out there making it easier to edit. But nothing will replace a great script, good production quality, and good acting.

g14 productions
Noir is intended for an adult audience. We'll be doing pg-13 trailers as we work on deals, but we wanted to capture the true feeling of the film. Our writers do like to drop the "f-bomb" a lot!

As for equipment-- we're very lucky! We have access to a range of Panasonic DVCPro 50 cameras. Noir is being shot on the Panasonic SDX900 (and 910 with an upconversion to 24p). Both of our Wizard shorts were shot on the Panasonic 910 (DVCPro 50 as well). We edit on an Avid Media Composer. We've shot one short film on HD that we hope to enter next year, although it's not really comic related. We're not sure if it'll fly, but we'd love to get it a little attention.

And I'm with Mavic, Diestler. We put in 2 this year, and may do more in future years! These are the projects we have the most fun doing!

g14 productions
Hey all! I just watched all four films. I've gotta say it's a real pleasure to see everything you guys (no gals!) are doing! There's some great stuff on this forum. I'm really excited to be able to see it all. It's late, so I'll have more coherent comments on all the films tomorrow!

diestler
mavic (Gary) - is this the website for the software?
http://fxhome.com/effectslab/

If so, is it really only $65? The effects in that short looked top notch. I'm glad it's getting a good response, it deserves it.

diestler
Jeff - welcome to the board - sorry I wasn't able to post more last night - I was dead tired and went to bed around 9:30. Well for everyone eagerly awaiting the list of runner ups - I still haven't got it. But based on what Jeff said, if he hadn't heard, I'm guessing nobody has heard. When I was on the phone yesterday, it sounded to me like they just announced the winners minutes before I called. We'll see. Hopefully we have at least one runner up. But hey, now we have the winner on the board - assuming I didn't get bum informationsmile

Jeff - thanks for watching all the shorts - I'm curious to see what you thought of each of them. As for multiple submissions? I was barely able to get one together on time - long story - maybe I should start now for next year? Yeah, Jeff, your films do look great. Wonderful production value. Sounds like G14 has pretty sweet digs.

If I hear anything, I'll be sure to post.

mavic19
Yup, it's www.fxhome.com The software is actually about $99 after the conversian into the eurodollar. It's well worth the money.

diestler
$99? Damn - I'm definitely going to have to pick that up - thanks for the tip.

g14_matthew
Hey everyone!

My name is Matthew Balthrop. I am one of the 'core four' of g14 productions along with Jeff, David C., and Kelli. I also play Mark Millar in our short film "Ultimate Eye for the Vertigo Guy".

Just wanted to let everyone know that it's offical! g14 was fortunate enough to have won this years Wizard Direct to Video competition. So, hopefully we will see all of you out there! We would love to meet everyone!

Please feel free to visit our website (currently being re-vamped, pardon our dust) and check out two of the trailers to our new feature film Noir. As for when everyone can see Ulitmate Eye, well, I'm sure we'll figure something out in the near future!

By the way, checked out the other shorts and just wanted to tell everyone nice job! I love fan films and these were really fun to watch. I especially got a kick out of the trailer for SuperBabe. Funny stuff Todd!

Nice to meet everyone and I hope to hear from you soon!

Matthew

diestler
Congrats guys! I'm glad I didn't give out bum info. Still don't have a list of runner upssad If anyone comes across them please post. Can't wait for the winning video to be posted online - please let us know when it is.

diestler
Sorry if I ruined the surprise for G14 - I know I would have liked to know. BTW - forgot to welcome you to the board Matthew - so welcome. Dying to see "Ultimate Eye."

Alex W
Congrats, Matthew!

Alex.

Darth-Todd
Congratulations. Can't wait to see it. "Ultimate eye for the vertigo guy". that sounds pretty darn tootin.... Thanks for the compliment.... Keep your fingers crossed guys for those 4 runner up spots.... Good luck


-Todd

diestler
I think there are 5 runner ups - even better odds.

mavic19
Well....at least this will ease up the ulcer created from the wait! lol.

diestler
It's almost worst now because I never expected to win, I was just hoping to sneak in at the #6 spotsmile

Alex W
Matthew-- how were you notified? FedEx, mail, email, phone?

Thanks.

Alex.

mavic19
hey...there's always next year! lol. Come back better (can't say bigger, cuz of the 4 minute limitation). Just got to think of a new nifty project

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