Client Project #6: Possible Festivals and competitions

The nature of this project has been established in a way that my final project will be uploaded to several different festivals and exhibitions. Below are a number of competitions I have been considering for my project:

Soho Film Shorts

Rushes Soho Shorts is a competition that is structured around first time film makers who are newcomers to the exhibition circuit. They have several different awards that cover various areas in film making, amongst which is the documentary award.

Deadline

4th May 2012.

Format

"You have two options for submitting your film.

1. Our preferred method of entry is you uploading your film here. You can upload a Windows Media or quicktime file directly to our server. We recommend encoding your file with a bitrate of 1 megabit/s. Note that file sizes larger than 100MB may not be accepted. Depending on the speed of your network connection uploading the file may take some time. Don’t try and upload a full broadcast-quality copy of your film – it just needs to be good enough for viewing – if your film is shortlisted you will be asked to provide a broadcast quality copy on digital beta or HD cam...
   
2. You can send a physical copy of your film on DVD. Once you have completed your online submission form you can mail us your DVD. You should be sure to mark the DVD with your reference no., name of the film, contact name, email and telephone number then send it to: Rushes Soho Shorts Festival, 66 Old Compton Street W1D 4UH. Please do not put address labels or stickers on your DVD - it will disturb/ unbalance the playback ability on the DVD and may prevent us from watching the film. If you can’t write on the DVD itself, write the details on the DVD case."
   
   
   
   Entries must be under 15 minutes in length. 
   
   
   "Our preferred technical spec is listed below, and should your film be shortlisted we would require this format.
   However your initial upload could be as AVI MP4 WMV MOV MPEG formats if easier.
   
   Video
   • h.264 / AVC 900Kbps CBR
   • 640x480 (4x3) / 640x360 (16x9) square pixel
   Audio
3. AAC audio 96Kbps CBR

Container

• mp4 container (.mp4)
• 1Mbps bitrate total
• "Web Optimized" (moov atom at beginning of file)"
  
  
  

Encounters Festival 2012

"Encounters Short Film and Animation Festival is the UK’s longest running competitive short film and animation festival. The festival presents one of the world’s best-known showcases and meeting points for emerging talent, and seeks to promote the importance of short film as a means to develop the next generation of filmmakers and animators."

Deadline 

6th June 2012

Format

Submissions can be entered physically and digitally. 

Student Film Festival London 2012  


Exposures Film Festival 

Client Project #5: Finding faces

This past week has very much been a process of finding people who would be interested in being in my documentary.

Based on my first meeting with Danny Kaye, I have emailed several original lace houses that remain in Nottingham asking if they would like to be involved with the documentary.

I think perhaps the email I sent out may have given the wrong impression because I have been met with less than enthusiastic responses.

Overall I have found three places in Nottinghamshire that still manufacture lace, but all three have showed no interest in appearing in this documentary.

I think that perhaps from the nature of my email they have implied that I am writing this documentary in a manner where I have labelled the Lace industry as something that is already dead, and cannot be saved.

One manufacturer replied with as follows:

"We have had enough of the word "decline" and are now hopefully on the upward phase.  For this reason I am sorry to advise we would not be a typical example for you and would not want to waste your time."

This unfortunately, serves to be evidence of the typical responses I have received in face of my enquiry. 

For context, this was the email in question, sent to several different lace manufacturers:

"Hello,

My name is Alex Lea-Hayes and I am a 3rd year multimedia student at NTU. For a final project this year I will be producing a short documentary about the decline of the lace industry in Nottingham.

As a person involved in areas that are relevant to the subject of this documentary, I think you could be a valuable person to interview for the documentary and may even know of others who would be of interest.

If you would be interested in taking part I would ask to meet with you in the next week or so for a short preliminary discussion (15-30 minutes) and sometime in the next month to film the actual interview (30 mins-1hr). I understand you will have a demanding timetable and I will arrange to meet whenever is best for you.

If you are interested in taking part and believe it will not infringe upon too much of your free time, feel free to contact me via email or you can call me on (redacted).

Sincerely,

Alex Lea-Hayes."

*

After the unsuccessful attempts on the email front, I have arranged to set up a meeting with Amanda Briggs- Goode, head lecturer for Textile Design at NTU.

I met with Amanda on the 19th of January. Our meeting was approximately half an hour long and we covered a range of topics.

Amanda seemed interested in helping me with my documentary and has said she is also comfortable being in front of camera and has done so before.

I also found out that Amanda is the curator for the lace archive in bonnington, which may serve as an interesting place to film some locational photography.

From the meeting with Amanda I got several potential contacts that she recommended may help with filming.

Of these contacts, one person she mentioned stood out in particular was Debbie Bryan. Debbie Bryan owns and runs a small shop in the lace market that is one of the last independent design shops that makes products using lace.

I have now contacted Debbie Bryan and asked her if she would be interested in appearing in the documentary, I will post any updates as they happen.

Client Project #4: First Meeting Summary

As I have chosen to take the competition route, Danny Kaye will be acting as my client.
Today was my first meeting with Danny out of the proposed three.

The meeting began with myself quickly summarising in brief what my project is and what it involved.

"It's a brief documentary piece on the dwindling lace market in Nottingham."

DK wants know what type of process I have made over the Christmas break, in all truthfulness, not much at the moment. I'm stuck at a cross roads in where to go.

Initially I wanted the Povey brothers (former owners of Fewkes embroidery, referred to in the proposal) in the documentary, but they are proving hard to get hold of and I have begun to worry.

After the meeting I have been given a few names and places to investigate, that may help kick start my documentary:

Clooney Lace in Nottingham, they still manufacture lace using traditional methods and are one of the last remaining houses that still uses these methods.

Amanda Briggs-Goode, head lecturer for textile design at NTU and person in charge of the lace archive in Bonnington.