alyX on the inside: This Should Probably be Classified
This is the first installment from our blogger Alyx Picard. We’re calling her series “alyX on the inside.” She’ll be giving you a volunteer’s eye view of making deadCENTER a reality. Click through the jump to read her first dispatch, straight to you from the wondrous land of bag swap.
-Ian
The festival may seem far away, but the hangovers are closer than they appear. Are you ready? Already the little worker elves are scrambling behind the scenes to ensure that Big Year 10 goes off without much by way of hitches. And as much as the parties are amazing (next year The Gazette will agree), deadCENTER would be nothing without awesome films to show. The screening process, or as those painfully close to it refer, Bag Swap, is where so much of the work begins.
There is no other earthly power that compares to receiving a bag of potential films for the festival. At first, you peek in and nose around to see which films look to be entertaining, which look awful, and which reek of desperation. Then into the DVD player they go. One by one their fates are decided not by the quality of the artwork on the cover, but by the story on the screen. Ratings range from “rocked” to “yikes” on a scale of 10 to 1, with no added explanation for those that hit middle ground. The film must pass before no less 4 pairs of eyeballs (special forms must be completed by those with an eye patch) and their opinions are diligently documented on the official screener sheet. Then off to Programming they go, where they are placed on a scale that dumps them down a chute marked “good” or “bad” with whistles to boot.
Okay, so it’s not really that simple. No screener can be completely objective, but the screening process ensures that a wide variety of people with different backgrounds have an opportunity to find something to love in each film. Whether it be quasi-budget or the most independent of indies, deadCENTER is really about celebrating independent films and those brave enough to make them. And we have a good time doing it.
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February 9th, 2010 at 11:25 pm
Sometimes I wonder what Star Wars would have been like if it had been written by Maya Angelou. This is as close as I will ever come. I will be following this blog closely in the hopes that I will learn what REALLY goes on behind the scenes at the DEADCENTER film festival. I am expecting some obscene photographs to back up any juicy stories. Thanks, Alyx, for taking the time to let us in on how this thing works. I look forward to this declassified transmission until it is finally banned in this country and made illegal to mention in good company.