Film Festival

Posts Tagged ‘Cannes’

Have you ever wondered what it would be like to turn around and see an actor or director sitting next to you at a movie?  I had that experience on several occasions this week at the 2nd Annual Naperville Independent Film Festival or NIFF in Naperville, Illinois.I have been a fan of independent film for a number of years.  To me, independent film offers a more representative palette of human creativity.  It is the minor league for Hollywood films.

When I watch independent films, I look for positive elements that stand out.  Independent film makers do not have access to the same resources as Hollywood film makers, so I believe it is only fair to keep an open mind.  I remind myself to not make harsh judgments by comparing independent film to big budget Hollywood films.  The result is almost always a pleasant surprise.  I now enjoy the wonderful surprises that are created by independent and student film makers.  It is like finding gold nuggets along a path.

I found quite a few gold nuggets this week.  Before I share them with you, I should say that I have no aspirations to be a film critic.  I have a problem criticizing what I have not done myself.  I also have a problem with others criticizing what they have not done or what they are unable to do themselves.  I am a film enthusiast so without further disclaimers, I will provide my positive comments for 6 of the 11 films that I had the pleasure to watch.

The Exhibition by Director Producer Robert MacFarlane is an interesting view into the tortured mind of an artist and accident victim.  The film grabs the audience right away with a scene from an accident.  The story quickly develops with conflict experienced by the main character.  He struggles to produce his art while haunted by the memory of a terrible accident.  The film makes very efficient use of time and images to tell a bigger story, and then resolves very nicely at the end.  Every element in this 8 minute film deserves recognition.

Julius Caesar was once warned about the Ides of March, and as it turned out, March 15th was not a very good day for him. It was, however, an excellent film starring the late great Marlon Brando. Times have changed for the better, and now March 15th is a day to be eagerly anticipated, especially if you are going to submit a film at the Festival de Cannes. The Cannes Film Festival submission deadline is March 15th, 2009, for all you amateur and professional filmmakers.

The festival itself will be held from May 13th -24th, 2009 and will celebrating sixty one years of films entered into this prestigious competition. In 1939, the French minister for Public Instruction and the Arts, Jean Zay, proposed an International Film Festival, but due to World War II the first festival was not held until 1946. With the exception of years 1948 and 1950, the festival has taken place each and every year starting off as a small film forum and slowly turning into a serious competition.

While the Cannes Film Festival submission deadline is the most important date to remember for the filmmaker, it is  equally important to understand what is required for actually submitting the film.The film must comply with the pre-selection conditions meaning that it cannot have been shown on the Internet, distributed internationally, etc.The online entry form must be completed in its entirety.The film should be sent to the address indicated on the entry form. If it is sent anywhere else, it will not be entered into the competition.

Trying to figure out whether you should invest in a flat detector or a flick detector for your photographic art? You’re in the right place! While they are both useful devices, flatbeds and flick scanners really serve different purposes and shouldn’t be confused with each other. Having a firm grip on the differentiating factors between the digit will help you ingest them each for their intended specialties.

Flatbed scanners ingest a form of technology that works for non-transparent objects. While they are generally cheaper than flick scanners, and construe things quite while, they can’t really construe flick negatives cod to negatives allowing the light to transfer through and thus interfere the scan. For already matured flick or another solid images, a flat detector can be an excellent choice. For scanning film, you’ll have to look elsewhere  that is, unless your particular model of flat detector includes a flick scanning adapter. An adapter will allow a flat to construe film. However, the results will probably not be as good as that from a mid-range or meliorate dedicated flick scanner.

Film scanners, since they’re focused specifically on scanning film, do that and pretty much nothing else. However, they do it extremely well. Some are intended to appendage limited types or sizes of film, while others are capable of handling most flick types in general. While limited in the sense that they can’t construe non-film images, when it comes to film, they have a plethora of tools commonly not acquirable to flat scanners, or acquirable only in fashions that work inferior well with photography scans. They also tend to allow more direct power over the impact of scanning and editing.