The Seance, An Arun Vaidyanathan Film Options

[Arun Vaidyanatha...]

Pals,
I have uploaded my short film 'The Seance' which is a part of my feature script here. Some of the festival success of 'The Seance'

IFC MediaLab winner, Weekly Nominee - Sundance Channel and Scifi Channel Exposure contest, Finalist in Hayden Films, Official Selection :- Terror Film Festival,7th Annual Chicago Horror Festival,6th Annual IAAC - 2006,9th annual Boulder Asian Film Festival,Joe's Shorts - Twoboots, New York ,UK horror fest,Cape May NJ state film festival, Atlanta Indo American Film Festival

Looking forward for your votes and comments!

[headcheese]

Wow, you've been all over the place with this.

[Mephistopheles]

Ooo can you post some screenshots or a trailer?

[ValkyrieVerite]

"IFC MediaLab winner, Weekly Nominee - Sundance Channel and Scifi Channel Exposure contest, Finalist in Hayden Films, Official Selection :- Terror Film Festival,7th Annual Chicago Horror Festival,6th Annual IAAC - 2006,9th annual Boulder Asian Film Festival,Joe's Shorts - Twoboots, New York ,UK horror fest,Cape May NJ state film festival, Atlanta Indo American Film Festival"

That's great for your film's success, and I'm not trying to be rude here, but it seems like a lot of directors are submitting "golden oldies" instead of keeping with the spirit of the competition which was to come up with an original short for the dare to direct contest and something to show on Halloween on chiller TV. It seems like people are putting in multiple year projects or cutting up older longer projects down to eight minutes just to enter and win, which granted, everyone wishes to win. I mean, in my mind, it would be like Alfred Hitchcock taking the birds and cutting it up to eight minutes just to submit it for this. I guess Chiller thought most people would be submitting new material just for this contest. At least I hope so. This is not aimed solely at this film but I see a huge pattern here and wish people could've gone out and filmed an original flick for this like in a 24 or 48 hour film project, which is what most of us submitting had to do.

[Georgiahoosier]

I had a similar thought, but would like to point out that none of the people entering something made before the contest was announced has tried to fly it under the radar, they are being very upfront about it, and I don't mind seeing something that has a bit of a "pedigree".

Not to mention it takes some doing to edit a feature down to a short format, in fact that can make for a completely new and different picture from the original, and will stand as a testament to the film maker's editing talent.

As I'm sure many of the directors here will attest, cutting your own film is no fun!

Add to that the rules are very clear about content and as far as I have found there aren't restrictions as to the actual creation date of a film, perhaps that's something Chiller will add for the next one. I hope not because I've already cranked out some ideas for the next competition and want to shoot it while the people that want to be in it are still interested.

Overall I think when the judging process occurs, a good story will be a good story and a bad story will be a bad story whether it was made by someone with a Handycam or by the latest from MGM.

Just my thoughts to stir the pile!

Neil

[Mephistopheles]

I wholeheartedly agree! When it comes down to judging we will be true to what we think and only pick the best of the best!

[ValkyrieVerite]

I agree to a point, and like I said, I'm not trying to be rude towards any individuals and being upfont is fine. But me submitting my high school project from 10 years ago hardly qualifies in my mind as "dare to direct" which implies dare to direct for this contest.

And editing is a hard process, yes, but if a movie can be cut from an half hour movie or even a feature, down to eight minutes, then it was never meant to be a half hour or a feature. The parts that are cut were never essential to the movie in the first place. It was meant to be a short.

And yes, as I said, it's fine as far as the rules (or lack thereof) are concerned, but I believe most film festivals have a "previous year" rule. As in the film was made in the previous year. All I was saying, is I wish more directors could've done their movie for this contest instead of rehashing their own well-trod territory and come up with something new.

But in the end, it doesn't matter, and yes, the judging will decide. Honestly, I don't know why I even posted this, lol. I was just trying to make a point and wish there had been more fresh and original material submitted. I believe the haunted dog, btw, is quite original and fresh and a bit funny, and wish you the best of luck with the contest.

[Mephistopheles]

Well personally I cant wait to see it!

[Georgiahoosier]

I agree to a point, and like I said, I'm not trying to be rude towards any individuals and being upfont is fine. But me submitting my high school project from 10 years ago hardly qualifies in my mind as "dare to direct" which implies dare to direct for this contest.

I definitely see where you are coming from, and like I said, I had the same immediate feeling about it.

I imagine that when Chiller decides to do this again they will get a feel for what they need to put in the rules and adjust things accordingly.

Even though I'm working on a project right now, I would make sure I didn't shoot it until the official announcement was made for a new contest. Plus I like using their music.

Since this is the first Chiller competition I suspect it hit a lot of movie makers with short notice.

There will probably be some tweaking and tightening of the regs for the next one, and of course now we all know it's coming.

I will have to say, one thing I've noticed is the amount of camaraderie and decorum on these boards, it's been mentioned before but it is very true.

That keeps the whole thing fun, which will keep me coming back for more (they could get some more smileys though, these don't always get the right expression)

Neil

[Mephistopheles]

Fun was the whole intention.

[tejeti]

Sounds like you know a bit about making your movie known. It really sounds cool! I really want to see it. You should post some screenshots or a trailer or something. I'm just purely excited about it.

[Bobzeaux]

On the topic of cutting films SHORT to meet the criteria, I actually had to ADD almost 20 seconds to The Night Before All Saints' to make it elegible. Kind of tricky with animation... *lol*

[Mephistopheles]

Yeah animation can be a bitch.

[garagekubrick]

Welcome to the seance Arun... Can your powerful clairvoyance tell me if there are any pics, clips or trailers for me to consume in the future? Knock 3 times if "yes."

A feature script sounds tasty!

[Mark Harris]

Yeah, I want to see some stuff too. I don't remember this one in Exposure.

As for entering stuff made before, that's pretty much how it works in all film festivals. And frankly, I am just too old to make a new film for every contest It's SOOOOOO much work...

[Arun Vaidyanatha...]

Thanks for the replies pals! I saw the announcement and I wanted to post this short film of mine for the contest. I recently made another short 'One Soul' and its almost nine minutes long, that's the reason I was not able to post that short film (http://www.onesoulthemovie.com). When I wanted to get the funding for my feature script 'The Seance', I decided to do this short and started submitting to festivals. I forgot to mention that this is also part of the official selections in TRIGGERSTREET (Academy Award winner Kevin Spacey's Online film festival).

Regarding Exposure contest, Mine was one of the weekly nominees in the same. The Seance is an indie production and its done with the same sprit of 'Beg, Borrow and Steal'. Like any other Indie filmmaker, I also had all kinds of odds against me in doing that film and by God's Grace, I was able to finish it the way I wanted!

You can see all about me at http://www.arunhere.com and I am really looking forward to be part of this contest! My sincere regards to all the filmmakers and fans in this contest. CHEERS!!!

[horrorgal]

Hey, I found this on youtube, from the sci fi channel sundance channel exposure contest:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4uPEDh3NbFM


So Seance was an official selection and Bloody Mary was one of the winners. We've got a lot of top quality stuff here! I couldn't find Bloody Mary, though. Best of luck to all!

[Lennon]

awwww thanks for ruining it for us! lol jk

[Richard Cabrera]

'The Seance' was a relly nice film.
Shot Very pro. (I wish I had a film camera of my own ;D ) Music was hot, lighting and feel of the film was awesome. If I could comment on one thing... I think the young actor was a little too goofy for the role, lol. But the film was Very interesting!!

good luck!

-Richard

[Georgiahoosier]

The cinematography caught me right away, excellent cutaways, and the music and sound are top notch.

At the open it had the feel of a classic "Night Gallery" ep, but in a good way! Something like a good version of a "Tales from the Darkside"

But it is a standalone product, so don't take it that I'm just making a lot of comparisons.

I am guessing that what I saw on Youtube isn't all of it though, correct?

Overall the kind of shooting and mood I aspire to create!
(and obviously I have a long way to go!)
Neil