Musings about JUMP Winter 2010

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Musings about JUMP Winter 2010

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Started 7 months ago by greg chaney
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greg chaney
Member

Comments on January 2010 JUMP Festival

I found the new venue to be both a positive and negative experience. The down side was that the audiences seemed to behave much more formally. The Friday audiences barely clapped or laughed at all. This really was a change from the dynamic excitement that somehow flows through the Silverbow. Saturday’s 7pm crowd was more responsive and the last show at 9pm was the best crowd of the festival. Some of the people I asked about their impression of the two venues, felt that not having real food was another big missing element. With the fixed rows of theater seats, people really didn’t move much during intermission and with the isles being so narrow, people didn’t linger as much as they did in the Silverbow after the shows.

On the positive side, the actual movie watching experience was far superior at the Nickelodeon. Sound and picture quality were much better in every respect. Since the Lucid Reverie crew was running the place, everything was much more stable and predictable than at the Silverbow.

It seems that some of the old energy returned Saturday because there were a few people who started leading the clapping after each film and because the Lucid Reverie crew put in a few chairs and maybe everyone relaxed a little bit. If we decide to continue at the Nickelodeon, then we should probably work a little more overtly on cultivating the positive energy.

My only real complaint is that I didn’t like the over 21 restriction on the 9pm shows. I know that lots of people under 21 came to the late shows at the Silverbow. If there is something that we can do to allow alcohol sales, and still be inclusive, then I’d like to explore that. I know that some folks thought that alcohol sales would boost audience participation but the Friday 9pm “alcohol” crowd was less responsive than the 7pm “sober” Saturday crowd, so I don’t think the relationship between enthusiasm and alcohol is that clear.

Now for a few thoughts about the entries themselves:

JUMP Intro
Nice opening sequence. Aaron is a man of many talents. I liked Libby breaking ice in her extra-toughs. My only minor comment is that when Aaron and Libby were talking the soundtrack changed completely depending on who was on screen. A little blended background sound would have been a slight improvement. But hey, with those kind of special effects, who’s needs audio?

Butterflies of Iguazu
This was a great light hearted start to the festival. Oksana was very enthusiastic in telling her side of the story and Arlo also made it fun. I was impressed that they were able to make such an engaging little film about one butterfly encounter.

The Orphan
Excellent miniatures and stop motion animation. I was able to follow the story pretty well until the last few seconds. Once the witch was pushed into the river, I got a little confused. After watching it a couple of times, I figured it out. It’s always tough to tell a
story without words. The musical accompaniment was cool.

A Documentary Study
(Fear of Birds) I really liked the shot of the girl standing in front of the mural on City Hall with a giant eagle behind her as she described her fear of birds. The ending was a little abrupt. Maybe add a concluding sequence next time… But all in all this was fun and concise.

Actual Warning Label
Hard to believe this was a real warning. The lawyers must have worked overtime on this one. It sounds like the device is something you would want sealed in a high security vault, not something that you would willingly bring into your house. What a great marketing strategy. Nice job of blowing up the house…

Montana Creek Fish Trap
I was recruited by the City Museum to make a three minute silent documentary to be shown along side the display of the Montana Creek Fish Trap. I dusted off an old VHS tape shot by Bob Betts during the excavation and started editing. I entered it in the JUMP festival as an afterthought. I was surprised at the positive feedback it got. I might be inspired to work on it a little more.

Slight of Hand
I liked this one. I am somewhat biased because my son Connor is in it. It was fun for me to watch because I didn’t have anything to do with the production. The first time I saw it was at the festival. My only negative comment was that one of the cards was a 4 then cut to an Ace during the close-up and then went back to a 4 in the medium shot. This confused me. I felt like the whole story built up to going to the fiction reading but it ended before we got there. I wanted just a little more… (which is a compliment)

City one Minutes – there are a lot of these so I’ll be brief:

Dawn
I could smell the rotten fish. I liked the boats that looked like they were traveling on land.

Rain Forest
Cope Park can be wet, pretty and dreary all at the same time.

One Minute Adventure.
One minute isn’t much time to tell a story, it was a fun challenge.

Tracey Fjord
Very cool (ice cold) image of a glacier calving. I like the lady on the boat who seemed completely lost.

Whales
A very nice day and we got really lucky.

Alaska Weddings
This was the first wedding video that I have seen that didn’t include any expression of joy. Very enigmatic.

Shipyard
This captured the independent spirit of wooden boatbuilding in Juneau. This is rare and wonderful thing.

Tongue
I couldn’t watch this. A tongue is too precious to waste.

Basketball
Nice day at Capital Park.

Fishing
Neat what you can do with a tripod and a camera and one cast/crew/writer/director man of many talents.

Derring and Down
I didn’t realize that a guitar was a percussion instrument. It looked like a fun night out.

Back in Town
Excellent silent love story. This short really told a story in one minute without words.

Clock
I enjoyed seeing the clock run fast in time lapse. Especially with the bar sounds in the background. I liked the idea of moon time lapse but the moon was too blurry for me to fully enjoy.

Requiem
This was very cinematic. A rainy night can be a beautiful thing in the right filmmaker’s hands.

Hippo's Party
This was a very well executed claymation project. I liked that it was not dialog driven but the story was clear and fun. The hippo’s expressions made the whole thing accessible. I need to find a rubber ducky that can change its expression!

Juneau Fine Arts Camp Shorts
This was fun, short and engaging. Keep making those fun movies.

Ultro Mysterio
This movie really tested my extremely rusty Spanish. I loved the lighting and feel of this film. It really made Juneau look like something out of an old detective motion picture. It was funny and visually engaging. I would have liked subtitles though, Mrs. Figgarola (my Spanish teacher) would not be proud of me.

Peru Roughcuts: The Road
A very good documentary. I like the cuts between the two story tellers and the actual footage. The cuts between the two women as they spoke was almost seamless. Their stories complimented each other so well, it appeared to be scripted. The only disappointment was that the whole thing built up to an image of a bus hanging on the edge of a cliff but there wasn’t a single picture. How frustrating for the audience after all of the build up. Arlo later told me that the whole event was so traumatic that he didn’t feel appropriate grabbing his camera and taking advantage of these people’s misfortune. I applaud his humanitarianism (but damn it Arlo, that’s what American’s are supposed to do!) and think he should have mentioned that in the documentary as well.

Remodeling
Before I made this movie I handed the script around to a few people that I trusted and 2/3 didn’t like it. So I decided to make the short film anyway. Guess what? Only about 1/3 of the audience liked it. Hmm… funny how that works.

Filejerks Rap Session
I would have liked a little back story to go with the rap footage. Who are these guys? It was a nice slice of Juneau nightlife.

Beard Clippings
Well this was an interesting approach to an age old problem (critical missing footage) it goes back to Noah and the 15 commandments. I thoroughly enjoyed this documentary but I was really engaged in the subject and wanted to see Aaron on stage. I felt that the photos could have been left on the screen just a little longer to satisfy my curiosity about the subject of the documentary (I mean wow, Aaron won Alaskan Whaler 2nd place!) without ruining the joke. But even so, it was a fun documentary.

Posted 7 months ago #
amidgett
Member

So, the venues changed in JUMP this year. Nice. My opinion: If I had to choose between the Nickelodeon and the Silverbow, I’d pick the Nickelodeon. I agree with all of Greg’s concerns, however.

Here are some ideas:

You’re not going to have the same food options as the Silverbow, but perhaps there’s an opportunity to make some money on concessions. Seriously, a trip to Costco, a couple cases of candy bars, and you’re in business. (Keep the popcorn, too, of course.) I mentioned somewhere else that I would enjoy a slightly larger selection of soda, if only because I don’t groove on the idea of popcorn with my wine.

The energy level at the show I went to seemed to be fine, but if the others were subdued, I think we could come up with some ideas to rile everyone up. If nothing else, Pat’s announcements at the beginning can go a long way toward setting the tone.

In theory, I don’t mind the over-21 showings. If nothing else, you can plan on avoiding the chatty teenagers and crying babies (though admittedly, that’s not really a concern with the JUMP showings.) Point being, it wasn’t an issue for me.

I agree that the intermission session wasn’t nearly as sociable in the Nickelodeon. My suggestion? Turn off the bottle-cap trivia (which was AWESOME, by the way, and needs only more photos) and create something to draw people back out into the mall. This will also get (most) everyone to walk past the refreshment stands again. Now, how you do that……? Hmmm. Set up a game or contest out there? Sell something? Don’t know, let’s brainstorm.

Also, good showing out at UAS this year, too; we’re finally getting the word out. I think that venue has potential, too (and a lot of problems, mostly revolving around a distinct lack of refreshments.)

JUMP Intro
Just the right about of anticipatory tension. Was it just me, or did the showing at UAS show the yellow logo for only the briefest moment?

Butterflies of Iguazú
Oksana and I created this (obviously) as a podcast. Our first reaction to seeing it on the big screen in the festival? Holy God our heads are big! Anyway, I like it as a concise little story, but it actually fits better in the context of other the episodes I created around it. I regret that the people who saw it only in the JUMP festival missed out on seeing footage of some of the world’s most extraordinary waterfalls.

The Orphan
I enjoyed the style a lot, though I must confess to not understanding the story behind the… fable, was it? The confetti water was great.

A Documentary Study
Too short! I wanted to hear more about such a rare (I hope) phobia and how she deals with it! Like, is an eagle scarier than a pigeon? What about a flock of pigeons? Do the scariest birds fly or is an ostrich just a giant-legged bundle of terror?!

The shot of the mural, combined with the voice over, was simply perfect.

Actual Warning Label
Proof that a single idea can be an engaging film! I liked it, start to finish. Nice, slow zoom there. I only wish that the massager had been started up for a second or two at maximum zoom. Would have lent a bit of a horror-movie thing to it.

Montana Creek Fish Trap
Okay, yeah, so it’s old VHS footage. Judging by the audience reaction, that didn’t matter one bit. I think everyone can appreciate how incredible a find that was (The fish trap, not the VHS tape!), not to mention the efforts taken to preserve it.

Perhaps it’s because I’ve been working in the interview format so much lately, but I longed for a talking head (or at least a voiceover) as a substitute for the white-on-black title cards. I wonder if it would be worth the time to sit someone in front of a camera and ask them to reminisce about the project? The previous sentence should end with a period, but I prefer the implication made by the question mark.

Slight of Hand
I don’t mind little single-scene stories like this, though I have to confess I searched for (and didn’t find) a deeper meaning at the end of it. But I guess you’d call it a character arc, right?

I saw this twice and have to say I didn’t notice the card changing the first time around. The second time, however, I did – and was REALLY confused. Was that a continuity mistake? Did it have some symbolic meaning?

City One Minutes
I’m glad Greg reviewed them above, otherwise I never would have remembered them all. I had to explain, to more than a few people, what the City One Minute project was. Invariably, there followed a variation on “Ohhh! I wish I’d known that!” I think a brief explanation in the program would be gone a long way towards avoiding that.

I also think 14 of them, back-to-back, was a bit much. While each one was different and had enjoyable parts, I was ready to move on after 7 or 8. Like the rest of the JUMP submissions, maybe this one should have stuck to the 10-minute requirement.

A couple comments for each:

Dawn
I don’t mind tilted horizons… until they’re on a body of water. I always think the boats should be sliding out of frame…

Rain Forest
Certainly captured Juneau in that minute; hope the camera still works.

One Minute Adventure
I was right there with the duck’s little adventure, but the “carrying” part seemed a little awkward.

Tracey Fjord
Always cool to see a big calving event. And, yeah, the lady on the boat was the most memorable part. (Also, were there some up-rez scaling problems on this video? I *think* I remember some weird aliasing on the icebergs…)

Whales
That shot of the four flukes? Awesome.

Alaska Wedding
Weird. Shows you how being selective with your shot choices can change the whole mood of a piece (said another way: I sure hope their whole wedding wasn’t like that!)

Shipyard
I would watch a whole documentary on just that one boat being built (repaired?)

Tongue
I managed to keep my eyes on the screen, if only by watching the actual piercing with my peripheral vision. Fun to listen to the audience reaction, though!

Basketball
I thought this would have been more interesting (though not very flattering) if the basketball player continued to miss every shot all the way through the film. Or even made every shot all the way through. Fun music.

Fishing
I remember some of the shots: the trunk, going into the trees. I can’t remember if we got to see the catch.

Derring and Down
All I remember is the guy playing the guitar. An interesting moment in time.

Back in Town
I liked the ones that strived to tell a story, like this one, instead of just selected images around Juneau. I don’t know what that says in regards to the goal of the overall project.

Clock
Seeing the world in a different way is always pretty cool. Timelapses have that ability.

Requiem
I remember the truck driving through the puddle and splashing up the reflection. That was cool.

Hippo’s Party
I really enjoyed the attention to detail in the set – I found myself wondering how large it was in real life. The sound effects were great, too, really added to the atmosphere. And I LOVED the storm/water effects beyond the door!

Juneau Fine Arts Camp Shorts
Fun stuff. Now that you’ve figured out a few camera tricks, I’d love to see them incorporated into a story!

Ultro Mysterio
I happen to know the main talent in this film; I’d just spent a month with him in Ecuador. While I liked the little film (the high-contrast, black-and-white, especially) I recognized it for what it was – a Spanish class assignment. Also, I had the almost-uncontrollable urge to correct his pronunciation on a couple words!

Peru Roughcuts: The Road
Mine. I’m a little disappointed that I didn’t have more time to smooth out the edges on this one. Pat asked me, past the official deadline, if I had anything that might be able to round out the festival. I said sure, but nothing more than the videos already on my website. He looked over a few and told me which would be a good fit… about 18 hours before they had to master the festival’s DVD.

The Road was a rough edit only. I knew that if I didn’t at least clean up the audio, it would sound terrible on those big speakers. I was up at 5:30am, polishing that up before work. During that time, I also managed to cut off maybe 20 or 30 seconds from the original’s length before it was time to lock it down. I think I could have easily trimmed out another minute or so and perhaps overlaid some more jungle/road footage if I’d had another evening to work on it.

Also, yeah, no video or pictures of the bus. I felt like pointing a camera in that direction would have been exploitative. (Though if I could do it all over again, I would have at least taken a picture as we drove off.) Mentioning WHY there are no pictures is a great idea, but because this was only ever intended to be a project for the student who took part, I guess it just never came up.

Remodeling
Right or wrong, I sort of think of Greg as a “documentary guy,” and so I sort of think of this as “something different” for him. I liked this short little story. It had some humor and I think the innuendo was subtle enough that the (very) young kids in the audience wouldn’t have been asking mom or dad any uncomfortable questions on the ride home.

Interestingly, I remember thinking at the beginning that the acting was quite good, but then as the scene(s) progressed, less so. My mind wandered a bit, thinking about the chronology of the shoot, the amount of rehearsal time, etc. (This is not an uncommon thought process for me, at JUMP, for what it’s worth.)

I’m writing this a bit after seeing it, but I think the editing, shot-to-shot was sound. I’d like to see it again before committing to the following observation, but… Were most of the shots of the girls composed with the camera lower to the floor? I have a feeling that they were framed rather imposingly (which would, come to think of it, fit their characterizations.)

Filejerks Rap Session
Not much story here, but for someone that didn’t go to the event, sort of nice to see the talent on display. I appreciated that there was more than one camera angle on the event.

Beard Clippings
Nice, creative way to deal with missing footage. Wish I’d seen it first, had then edited some black into The Road when the girls were talking about the missing bus, and then had it play before my film! I think The Black did a great job of illustrating what and why you were doing that (once it was revealed.) My only suggestion is to remove the “experimental” part of the title (if it plays at another festival.) It made it sound like you were unsure of your film, spoiled the surprise a little, and really wasn’t necessary since The Black worked so well.

Posted 6 months ago #
greg chaney
Member

Hey Arlo,

Thanks for posting. I enjoyed your insights.

The fishtrap video was tough to put together because it was created to be entirely silent. It turned out to be harder than I had thought it was going to be. Next time I'll include a something more.

The shots of the women in Remodeling were intentionally close and from a low camera angle. This was intended to accentuate their power and to make them look taller.

As far as acting goes, the hardest thing is to deliver lines naturally and convincingly. They did a great job with the amount of time we had.

Thanks Arlo for posting!

Posted 6 months ago #
greg chaney
Member

One last thought about "Remodeling", the women were supposed to be acting in the movie. the premise of the whole story is that the event is all preplanned so their delivery isn't supposed to be completely natural. We tried several takes with some being very natural and some sounding completely contrived. I tried to select the tone that allowed the audience some hint that women had planned this in advance without it being too obvious. All in all, it was a pretty delicate balance and maybe I should have gone with the more authentic feel.

Posted 6 months ago #

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