Cheat sheet: - film festival submission 2/3


The Cheat sheet: some selected items

A full cheat sheet includes all the items a festival may ask for and runs for several pages

with thanks to Katie McCullough of Festivalformula 

Why fill out a cheat sheet?
You need a cheat sheet
  • if you're submitting to several film festivals
  • if you're using different film festival platforms
  • You need to be ready for any questions the programme makers may put to you
  • your answers need to be consistent across all submissions

Be selective about the film festival you choose to submit to. Your film may belong to more than one genre:

 human rights  horror  disability  BAME  fantasy  romance  music  faith  documentary  dogs  cats  women director  adventure/sports  science fiction  film noir comedy  student  drama  migrant  environment  erotic  food  LGBT  terror thriller  Western debut

Research the film festivals: learn where similar films to yours were selected. 
Look at the film festival archives. 
Study the theme of the up-coming festival. 

an example cheat sheet
title
Mute
genre
stop motion charcoal reduction student animation about mental health
duration
3 minutes 5 seconds
logline
<25 words Ex-lifeboatman Frank struggles to communicate
synopsis
<40 words Frank’s wife watches Frank struggle to communicate while his mind is at sea recalling a call-out as a lifeboatman. 
director
Nigel Smith
director bio
<40 words, After a career in medicine, Dr Nigel Smith specialises in animated documentaries exploring the subjective experience of chronic disease. His films have been selected at Film Festivals in England and Europe.
[link to website]
head shot
clear head shot so people can recognise you at festival
nationality
UK
date of birth

production country

production date

budget

technical information:

aspect ratio
1.85 [flat] 2.39 [scope] 1.78 [16/9] 1.9 [full]
stills narrative shot from film
‘silent salesman’
killer image ‘hero shot’
poster
portrait still with text, atmospheric close-up
dialogue list
time in/time out/dialogue, makes it easier for festivals to add English subtitles, even if the dialogue is in English, subtitles make it easier
submission format
read the instructions, generally H.264 mp4 
Prores 422 codec
they may request blurry or DCP
frame rate
UK 25 fps but in the States, 24 fps conversion to 24 requires you to drop one frame a second which shortens the film and may affect lip sync and credits


DON’Ts
Don’t send a cover letter unless your film is bang on this year’s theme. 
Don’t contact the programme makers directly. 
Don’t announce that you’ve been selected when you receive advance notice.

 DO
Contact the creative director if you have trouble uploading your film, they may be flexible.
Publicise your film selection and other shortlisted films once the creative director has released a list of shortlisted films.
Follow the creative director and Film festival on twitter and other social media
Promote the festival by retweeting updates about the festival to your followers.

Finally

  Expect rejection but keep submitting

 Next: 

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Is the stool more eloquent than the pulse?

Image
I've always found the stool  more eloquent  than the pulse   A quote from the Madness of King George, from a physician carrying the royal bedpan.  Though observation of excretions are important, they are rarely used in medical illustration.  Saggittal sections, though are common as illusatrations of the human body Anatomy is the traditional bedrock in illustrating medicine for doctors and nurses and yet it can be used inappropriately: sagittal sections of male and female partners during sexual intercourse, for instance, are an example of extreme violence if taken literally. The same applies to coronal section of the brain. Dissection plays a smaller part in medical training than it used to; perhaps because we seek images that convey the living quality of health and disease. Scans have become popular in TV science programmes but do they really convey as much as we are led to believe or are they just a convenient way of drawing atten...
Read more

one step back

Image
setbacks Creative stop motion is an adventure : "Si l'on sait exactement ce qu'on va faire, à quoi bon le faire ?" If I knew exactly what I was about to do, what's the point of doing  it? Pablo Picasso So there are days when you do something new in animation and nothing goes to plan;  you do takes and retakes and when you review the shot,  it's just not good enough because it's overexposed out of focus the camera moved the lighting changed  something crept into shot the composition isn't right What to do when this happens? Take a break. You've probably been bending down drawing or moving characters. Stand up, have a coffee, stop worrying. It might be time for lunch. Walk out. If it's a sunny day, take the camera off the tripod and go and take photos in nature. Rediscover your love of layout, colour and light. Be open Pack up for the day. Remember, this is how long it takes, learning the craft, learning ...
Read more

Submit to a film festival 1/3

Image
Submit to film Festivals Brilliant talk by at the Plymouth Rebel Film Festival  by Katie McCullough and Ian Bignall of Festival Formula Visit every film festival platform  There are lots, it's free, Film Freeway is the best known.  You can search by country and category such as ' animation ' and add filters for submission fee and length of film . By far the best site because it's free to use and includes most festivals.  It reminds you of deadlines and it's easy to upload your bio, headshot, stills and trailer. Your profile is easy for programme makers to scan through. The only disadvantage: it's so easy to register for film festivals that some 'fly-by-night' festivals feature which have no website and aren't 'affiliated' ie aren't acknowledged as genuine on the film circuit; you may not get an official 'selected  laurel' . Registration is free and you may not need to look further. But  Film Fr...
Read more