Moondance International Film Festival

February520150

MOONDANCE INFO & INSIDER TIPS ON HOW TO GET A LITERARY AGENT

AURORA BOREALIS

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February120150

LIGHTS, CAMERA, ACTION ! or Adventures in Judging Film Entries in a Film Festival Ways to Better Your Chances of Winning

By Elizabeth English

Founder & Executive Director Moondance International Film Festival

Send in your entry as soon as possible, rather than waiting for the last day of the entry deadline.
Send your film in the format required by the festival. If they ask for a preview DVD in NTSC format, don’t send a PAL format.
DO NOT ATTACH A PAPER LABEL DIRECTLY TO THE FACE OF THE DVD! Paper labels very often cause the DVD to stop, stick, and/or pixillate.
Have the title and other info printed onto the DVD, or handwrite it with a marker pen. Remember, some festivals (not Moondance!) will just toss your DVD, unwatched, if it stops, sticks, and/or pixilates, and not even bother to let you know there was a problem.
Have a DVD or Blu-ray copy of your film ready to send if the festival wants to screen it in one of those formats. Don’t make the festival wait while you try to get back your lone screener from another festival!
When you are asked to send your film in another format for screening at the festival, remember to enclose an SASE (or money for US postage) or your FedEx number, if you want the screener returned to you.
For mailing: Package your screener safely, and send it, and with your WAB tracking number on the DVD or the box (or entry form, release form, & entry fee, if not via WAB) in one envelope or box, if using WAB’s submission service.
Do not use those padded envelopes filled with grey shredded kapok, as it can damage DVD. It also makes a big mess when opened. Use correct postage.
Do not send the submission as registered mail. This often requires the person at the festival who gets the notice of registered mail to go to the post office & stand in line to sign for it. Usually, the mail carrier will not leave the package if no-one is available to sign for it, and it may be sent back to you.
US post offices have a good option: Delivery Confirmation notice. It’s a lot less expensive than registered mail & you can track the package online, to see when it was delivered, and even get a print-out that it was delivered properly, for your records. If you want a confirmation that your submission was received, please send (with your submission package) an attached post card with US postage (if entering a US competition). Write on the postcard: your name and address in the mail-to area, and on the back or in the message area, write: (name of festival) has received the film (title of your entry) on this date_________. Or request email confirmation. Do not send an SASE (self-addressed, stamped envelope) with your submission for return of your preview video or DVD, if the festival or competition announces that they will not return preview submissions. You’ll be wasting the postage.
If you are sending your film to the US from another country, note on the customs declaration that the film has no (or $1) commercial value, or is a commercial sample, so the film festival is not charged a customs fee, in which case, the festival will probably refuse to accept your entry at all, and it will be discarded by the post office or returned to you.
Please remember to write the WAB tracking number on the DVD and the box, not just on the mailing envelope, , if using WAB’s submission service.
Entry fees: Attach the check or money-order with a paper-clip (don’t staple it in) to the front of the official entry form, if you have not paid via WAB. If it’s for a US festival or competition, make sure the funds are in US dollars.
Don’t just toss the entry fee into the bottom of the envelope. When sending a money-order, write your name on it, so we know who it’s from. When sending a check from someone else or a production company, write your name and the title of the submission on it, for the same reason.
If you change your address, phone number or e-mail address, please let the festival know this right away, so they can contact you if your film is selected for screening. Send e-mail addresses for all others who may want to be notified of the film’s status in the contest.
If required for previews, send several publicity stills via e-mail, or a CD Rom with titled stills of your film in the submission package. If not required for previews, don’t send publicity materials.
If your film is selected for screening, the festival will want to use a still for their print program and media promo. Use the best quality photos you have.
Labeling your film: Please label the jewel-box or sleeve the DVD or film comes in, as well as printing the info on the DVD. The festival needs the following information on all film labels: Title of film, name of filmmaker, format, running time of film & genre (narrative feature or short, documentary, animation, etc.).
Plan your film production budget to include film festival entry fees as the main method of marketing your film and your work.
Don’t ask the film festival to waive or reduce the entry fee for you. If the festival has a scholarship program available, it will be announced, and you can apply for it. Most film festivals are made possible by the entry fees collected.
Do not call, write or email the film festival to see if they’ve watched your film and if they liked it. Do not ask for comments or critiques unless the festival has announced they will give them.
If you want a written or oral critique on your film and the festival offers it, and charges a fee for that, add that amount to your entry fee.
If your film should be a finalist or winner, or is selected for screening at the film festival, plan to attend the screening and participate in the festival by watching others’ films, too, as a courtesy to both the film festival that is promoting your film and to the other filmmakers.
If your film is not in English (for a US festival), do not have it dubbed into English. Use English subtitles, instead. Most festivals will not screen a dubbed film.
HAVE A GREAT, EYE-CATCHING TITLE FOR YOUR FILM! The title should be memorable and unique, whether it’s a narrative fiction feature, a short, a documentary or animation. Have a great opening scene and first 5 or 10 minutes.
Don’t start your film with these two all-too-common openings: Shot of a bedroom, guy or woman in bed asleep, alarm clock rings, hand reaches out to shut off alarm, clock falls to floor, anonymous feet pad to the bathroom. OR: camera pans across a mantle or table or wall filled with family photos, showing viewer who the story is about. Been done a million times. Be creative! Do something unique!
Make sure your film has a story. Even if it’s a documentary, it must have a story to follow and keep the viewer’s interest. Select a really good screenplay or story that will be of interest to festival directors AND the potential festival audience who will pay for tickets!
Have a fantastic, memorable, original film score.
If you are the director, be sure to utilize good cinematography, lighting, sound, costumes, hair, makeup, locations, music, sets and props.
Make sure the film’s lighting and sound is the same value throughout each scene. Production values count as much as the story, editing and acting.
Block out blue light, so your film’s colors are natural.
DIRECT your actors. The actors shouldn’t be perceived as reading their lines and hitting their marks. They should not even be acting, but should BE the character, thinking and feeling and reacting, as the character.
For documentary films, try to avoid all those “talking heads”. Use voice-over visuals to tell your story as much as possible.
Edit so that the film segues seamlessly and always flows forward. Edit out all but the gem of the story. Film credits shouldn’t be longer than the film! Please keep them short and sweet, and moving quickly. Consider adding the credits to the end of the film, rather than at the opening. Make them interesting, visually, and with music.If your film should be a finalist or winner, or is selected for screening at the film festival, plan
Make your film as short as possible. Consider ruthlessly cutting that 60-minute documentary to 30 minutes! Make sure your entire submission package is festival- friendly!

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February120150

Writers: Write What You Know!

By Elizabeth English

“A good writer needs to know what it’s like, and “it” can be just about anything. We have far too many writers today who have never ridden a horse, or fired a gun, or sharpened a knife, or fought with their fists, or been shot at. And so on and so on.” ~ Gene Wolfe, science fiction & fantasy writer, interview in a Barnes & Noble book review.

“Write what you know” is the vital, traditional message for all fiction and non-fiction writers, screenwriters, playwrights and journalists. You need to know the details, the visuals, the emotions, the reactions to events, and the totality of the experience, in order to write coherently about a subject, and action, a character and his or her dialog, and for your reader, or audience to relate to the story, the character and the action.

If you don’t know anything, or very little, about a subject, do deep research, learn about it from others, ask an expert, read about it online or in books, go experience it yourself, pay attention as you go through your daily life, listen and look, remember what you’ve seen, heard, learned and experienced, then use it in your writing. It’s a vital element of your “job” as a writer. You would never be hired by any company if you didn’t know anything about the job and had no experience in the work required!

Expand your knowledge and your experiences beyond your desk and computer. Go on out there and see the world, watch and listen to other people, experience other events than usual. Learn to tango, ride a horse, go to a rodeo, cook a foreign dish, go for a long hike in the woods, join a political group, plant an organic garden, build a snow sculpture or sand castle, surf the waves, swim with wild dolphins, visit with the elderly in a nursing home, practice yoga, learn to meditate, shop at a farmer’s market, volunteer to work with an environmental group, attend a lecture, go to a museum or an art gallery, study improv acting, travel to a foreign country, play hide-and-seek with a child, listen to teenagers to learn their lingo, sit in on an Al-Anon meeting, pick apples from a tree, chat with some homeless folks, go on an archaeological expedition, and, above all, remember and use your past, discover your roots. Don’t just rely on movies, TV, social media and the Internet for your writing ideas…that’s not necessarily real life!

Screenwriters absolutely need to know how movies are made, what goes into the project, the budget considerations, and how and why scripts are selected by agents, investors, producers, directors and actors. You also need to know what story, style and subject matter different potential clients want to see. A script is merely a story, a blueprint for a film. Imagine an architect designing a building properly, if he or she knows nothing at all about what the client wants, the details, the budget, and how the blueprint is ultimately selected by the client, is paid for and built by the contractors!

To learn how and why a script is selected and made into a movie, a TV show, or a stageplay, you can volunteer to work as an intern at a production company. Read scripts that have been rejected or successfully produced, and pay attention to why they work or don’t work. You can audition for a part in a film or show, even as an extra, or apply for work on the crew. Direct your own short film. Attend professional workshops and seminars on writing and filmmaking. Networking is another very important method of learning about the film business from all aspects, and for getting your work and talents noticed.

Most importantly, keep writing and experiencing as many aspects of life as you can! Write in different genres to expand your knowledge and talents. Are you a writer of drama? Write a great comedy! Romance writer? Write a scary mystery or an action story. Sci-fi writer? Write a contemporary romance or drama. Have at least 3 to 5 completed, edited and polished screenplays to show. Create fabulous loglines and one-page synopses for all of them. And get an agent, any agent.

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January2920150

MOONDANCE ON NON-VIOLENT CONFLICT RESOLUTION

hdwallpaperck.com

Attention all writers, filmmakers, composers, indie film audiences, colleagues, and friends of Moondance, internationally: In honor of freedom of speech and a strong belief in dynamic artistic expression, the Moondance International Film Festival continues to entertain, educate, reach out, nurture, inspire, award, recognize, promote equality and non-violent conflict resolution, and to encourage talented, creative voices around the world to freely express positive and productive projects in any medium. We actively promote and support non-violent conflict resolution and seek viable alternatives to solving conflicts.

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January1820150