Festival/Conference basics (from withoutabox, event website and news articles):
What time is your interview scheduled and who will you be talking with when you call/skype?
- I am skyping with Susan Abbey and one of her ADs Danielle on Monday, September 16th at 3pm.
- I am skyping with Susan Abbey and one of her ADs Danielle on Monday, September 16th at 3pm.
Who started it and who runs it?
- Humboldt Film Festival was started in 1967 by a group of student cinephiles and has been running for 46 years! It is still student led, but Susan Abbey is the faculty director.
What is the mission of the festival/conference? (copy and paste the first paragraph)
- "Our mission at the Humboldt Film Festival is to expose independent filmmaking to a diverse range of viewers, and to break away from mainstream filmmaking; thus coming forth with a deeper appreciation for this medium of cinema as a whole. That being said, we also want to enrich educational experiences and learning opportunities for HSU students by allowing them to focus their creative and productive energies on the development and presentation of the world’s oldest student-run film festival. The integrity of the festival is built on the unique blend of academic interests, cultural backgrounds, and the creative talents of the students. Therefore, it is of the utmost importance that the festival maintains its longstanding tradition as a student-run event - a designation that helps it stand out among a sea of similar festivals."
- Humboldt Film Festival was started in 1967 by a group of student cinephiles and has been running for 46 years! It is still student led, but Susan Abbey is the faculty director.
What is the mission of the festival/conference? (copy and paste the first paragraph)
- "Our mission at the Humboldt Film Festival is to expose independent filmmaking to a diverse range of viewers, and to break away from mainstream filmmaking; thus coming forth with a deeper appreciation for this medium of cinema as a whole. That being said, we also want to enrich educational experiences and learning opportunities for HSU students by allowing them to focus their creative and productive energies on the development and presentation of the world’s oldest student-run film festival. The integrity of the festival is built on the unique blend of academic interests, cultural backgrounds, and the creative talents of the students. Therefore, it is of the utmost importance that the festival maintains its longstanding tradition as a student-run event - a designation that helps it stand out among a sea of similar festivals."
How does this compare with their actual programming choices from the past two years? Be specific in describing what they program (mode, categories within mode, niche, Political? Global? Local? Gender? Sexuality? Race? Any themes that you see? etc...)
- They have an international call and they screen 4 categories of short film:
+ Animation
+ Documentary
+ Experimental
+ Narrative
- The festival is 6 days long with different categories on each night"
+ Local Filmmakers Night
+ Young Media Makers Night
+ Animation & Experiamental
+ Documentary
+ Narrative
+Best of Fest
- Last years winners are as listed:
Austrian Peter Bruenner’s film “In Our Hands” was named “Best of Fest” at the 45th Humboldt Film Festival, sponsored by Humboldt State University’s Department of Theatre, Film and Dance and billed as the oldest student-run international independent short film festival worldwide.
Best in Animation—“Another Dress, Another Button” by Lyn Elliot of the U.S.,“a stop-motion animation exploring the plight of spare buttons—carefully saved, but never used.” Honorable mention went to “The Quiet Life” by Timothy Hittle of the U.S., a clay-mation film 10 years in the making.
- The festival is 6 days long with different categories on each night"
+ Local Filmmakers Night
+ Young Media Makers Night
+ Animation & Experiamental
+ Documentary
+ Narrative
+Best of Fest
- Last years winners are as listed:
Austrian Peter Bruenner’s film “In Our Hands” was named “Best of Fest” at the 45th Humboldt Film Festival, sponsored by Humboldt State University’s Department of Theatre, Film and Dance and billed as the oldest student-run international independent short film festival worldwide.
Best in Animation—“Another Dress, Another Button” by Lyn Elliot of the U.S.,“a stop-motion animation exploring the plight of spare buttons—carefully saved, but never used.” Honorable mention went to “The Quiet Life” by Timothy Hittle of the U.S., a clay-mation film 10 years in the making.
Best in Experimental—“The Olympian” by Gerald Pesta of the U.S., which inter-cuts an 1894 Edison film of Eugene Sandow with a 1996 video of Dorian Yates, offering insight spanning 102 years into the evolution of body-building and the motion picture art form.
Best in Documentary— “Mijo” by Chithra Jeyaram of the U.S., the portrayal of a mother and child’s intimate relationship in the midst of life-altering medical events. Honorable mention was awarded to local filmmaker Owen Roth for his documentary “Humboldt Slackers” about the growing slack line community in Humboldt County. The sport became a YouTube sensation when Madonna featured professional slackliner and HSU alum Andy Lewis at her Super Bowl half-time performance.
Best in Narrative—“Queen” directed by Adam Rose of the U.S. is the story of Nikki Holiday acted by Ryan Eggold, who also wrote, directed, and produced another finalist in the narrative category, a drag queen cabaret star who looks to fill the void in her life “after her plans to start a family fall apart.” Honorable mention went to German entry “Ab Morgen” by Raphael Wallner and Stefan Elsenbruch about a critically ill man who receives the kidney of a living donor and “fights the circumstances of being responsible for the donor’s death.”
Where is the event?
- The event is held at Humboldt University in their Van Duzer Theater in Arcata, Ca.
- The event is held at Humboldt University in their Van Duzer Theater in Arcata, Ca.
When is the event? (Give dates from last year if not current)
- The event is April 16 - 19, 2014.
- The event is April 16 - 19, 2014.
How do you submit? Snail mail, online, withoutabox, through their site, etc...
- You can submit by snail mail or withoutabox.
- You can submit by snail mail or withoutabox.
When are the deadlines to enter? Early? Reg? Late?
- The deadlines to enter are:
+ Early: November 1, 2013
+ Regular: January 3, 2014
+ Late: February 7, 2014
How much does it cost to enter?
- The entry fees are as follows:
+ Early Entry: $20
+ Regular Entry: $30
+ Late Entry: $40
+ HSU Student: Free, any deadline
+ HSU Alumni/HFF Alumni: $10, any deadline
+ Humboldt County Local: $10, any deadline
Who’s eligible, what are the guidelines to enter?
- The guidelines for entry are as follows:
+ Must be less than 30 minutes
+ But be submitted on blu-ray or DVD
+ Must have English subtitles if in a language other than English
+ Must have been completed prior to 2007
Is there a Student category?
- Tuesday night is Young Media Makers Night
- The deadlines to enter are:
+ Early: November 1, 2013
+ Regular: January 3, 2014
+ Late: February 7, 2014
How much does it cost to enter?
- The entry fees are as follows:
+ Early Entry: $20
+ Regular Entry: $30
+ Late Entry: $40
+ HSU Student: Free, any deadline
+ HSU Alumni/HFF Alumni: $10, any deadline
+ Humboldt County Local: $10, any deadline
Who’s eligible, what are the guidelines to enter?
- The guidelines for entry are as follows:
+ Must be less than 30 minutes
+ But be submitted on blu-ray or DVD
+ Must have English subtitles if in a language other than English
+ Must have been completed prior to 2007
Is there a Student category?
- Tuesday night is Young Media Makers Night
What formats do they except for jurying? DVD, Vimeo, Flash drives?
- They accept Blu-ray and DVD
What formats do they except for exhibition/screening?
- They accept Blu-ray and DVD
What formats do they except for exhibition/screening?
- They accept Blu-ray and DVD
How many films screened at the festival last year?
- Not listed
How long is a typical shorts block or paper presentation block at their event?
- Not listed
How many films or papers do they program per block?
- Not listed
How do people register to attend? Is there a cost to attend as a guest?
- No registration required.
+ HSU Students get in free with ID
+ Other students $3
+ General Admission $5
Look at sponsorship page and see what businesses. Grants and private entities give money to the
event. Figure out how many of each kind and note any leads that might be useful to us.
- The only sponsor listed is Associated Students, a Humboldt campus organization.
What are their sponsorship levels and incentives for each level?
- Sponsors can:
+ make a tax deductible donation
+ place an ad in the festival program
+ sponsor a night of the event
Did they have a kickstarter or indiegogo? What incentives did they have for each level of donor?
- No
What kind of non-traditional film/video events have they had before? Things like Installations,
'Visual Soundwalls,' VJing etc.
'Visual Soundwalls,' VJing etc.
- They put on a Rocky Horror Picture Show Live! event with a costume contest. They sold prop bags and concessions at the door. This was a fundraiser, it was $10 general admission.
- One year they did a fundraiser that featured an "Art Battle" and live music for $5 general admission.
- Eureka! Art's Alive! was an event that the co-hosted with another local film festival, in which they projected films onto old buildings.
- The festival hosts screenings of different movies for free, but has a concession booth set up.
- The Dark Side of Oz was a screening put on by the festival in which they played The Wizard of Oz with Pink Floyd music over it.
- There is a raffle that goes on during the festival.
- One year they did a fundraiser that featured an "Art Battle" and live music for $5 general admission.
- Eureka! Art's Alive! was an event that the co-hosted with another local film festival, in which they projected films onto old buildings.
- The festival hosts screenings of different movies for free, but has a concession booth set up.
- The Dark Side of Oz was a screening put on by the festival in which they played The Wizard of Oz with Pink Floyd music over it.
- There is a raffle that goes on during the festival.
Are there ways in which they have expanded the typical film screening event? How have they
branched out from sitting in a dark room in front of a screen?
branched out from sitting in a dark room in front of a screen?
- No
Is the layout easy to navigate? What makes it easy?
- Yes. There were only 4 buttons/pages.
Is the layout difficult to navigate? What makes it difficult?
- The thing that makes it difficult is not the design of the website, but that there are currently TWO websites, as the old one is still up. There is relevant information that is on the old site that was not brought over to the new one, such as sponsor opportunities.
Can you find the information you are looking for on the homepage or via a link on the homepage?
- No. The website has very limited information. There is no information on sponsorship, attendance, or programming.
Aesthetically, what catches your eye? What's cool about it?
- There really isn't a lot that catches the eye. The page is simplistic, but not in a minimalistic way. It seems very unorganized.
Aesthetically, what doesn't fit in? What makes it look bad?
- There is no alignment. The content seems very jumbled.
Should there be more information? Is the page too bare?
- This website lacks a lot of information.
Should there be less information? Is the page too busy?
- No
What would you do differently if you were to redesign this website?
- If I were to redesign the website I would spend time aligning the elements so that they are aesthetically pleasing. I would make sure that the text was uniform in size and structure. I would also provide much more information.
What would you keep the same if you were to redesign this website?
- The title
- Yes. There were only 4 buttons/pages.
Is the layout difficult to navigate? What makes it difficult?
- The thing that makes it difficult is not the design of the website, but that there are currently TWO websites, as the old one is still up. There is relevant information that is on the old site that was not brought over to the new one, such as sponsor opportunities.
Can you find the information you are looking for on the homepage or via a link on the homepage?
- No. The website has very limited information. There is no information on sponsorship, attendance, or programming.
Aesthetically, what catches your eye? What's cool about it?
- There really isn't a lot that catches the eye. The page is simplistic, but not in a minimalistic way. It seems very unorganized.
Aesthetically, what doesn't fit in? What makes it look bad?
- There is no alignment. The content seems very jumbled.
Should there be more information? Is the page too bare?
- This website lacks a lot of information.
Should there be less information? Is the page too busy?
- No
What would you do differently if you were to redesign this website?
- If I were to redesign the website I would spend time aligning the elements so that they are aesthetically pleasing. I would make sure that the text was uniform in size and structure. I would also provide much more information.
What would you keep the same if you were to redesign this website?
- The title
Audra, did you look at news articles on the fest? That is sometimes the route you need to go for past entries. I found this article that had last years winners:
ReplyDeletehttp://now.humboldt.edu/news/austrian-film-judged-best-overall-at-humboldt-film-festival/
Also, their FB page tells about fundraisers, non-traditional events and other articles...
Check all of this out asap please.
Ah, yes I did see this article. I was unsure as to whether or not you were looking more for a program or what have you. And I completely forgot about the Rocky Horror event! That was the most interesting part! Clearly I was not in my right mind last night.
ReplyDelete