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Arts Alive! 2010 Film Scramble Rules

Arts Alive! 2010 Film Scramble brought to by the South Alabama Film Festival

For this scramble we’ve decided to return to the origins of cinema and emphasize the fundamentals of filmmaking.

Since the beginning of the medium, motion pictures have adapted and remade classic stories. “Alice in Wonderland.” “Frankenstein.” “The Last of the Mohicans.” “A Christmas Carol.” “Dr. Jekyll & Mr. Hyde.” “The Wizard of Oz.” “Ben-Hur.” All are classic tales and all were first put to the flickering screen nearly a century ago, each remade in new eras for new audiences.

Returning to the early cinematic versions of such tales also shows us how their directors dealt with the technological limitations of their times and created the visual shorthand we all grow up and live within on a daily basis. Framing a shot and editing these shots together to create a coherent story in pictures are the essential foundations upon which all films are made.

Filmmakers competing in this scramble will receive two things:

First, each filmmaker will receive an item, chosen at random, inspired by one of the early film adaptations listed below. The item does not mean that the filmmaker needs to recreate their represented story in whole. Instead, the filmmaker can choose a scene from the story (not limited to those represented in these original film adaptations). They can choose to reinterpret the story in a modern setting, concentrating instead on themes. Or, they can simply use the item as a starting point to inspire their own story. All this being said, the use of an item’s symbology, and its importance to the story, is far more important than having that item sitting on a table in the background of a scene. This exercise is meant to broaden the minds of the competing artists, while giving them solid narrative ground upon which to build.

The films and corresponding items are as follows:

Alice in Wonderland (1903) – Queen of Hearts
Frankenstein (1910) – Skeleton
A Christmas Carol (1910) – Chains
Dr. Jekyll & Mr. Hyde (1912) – Graduated cylinder
The Wizard of Oz (1910) – Scarecrow
Ben-Hur (1907) – Whip
Last of the Mohicans (1912) – Tomahawk

Second, all filmmakers will be given a short set of matching rules to which they must adhere. These rules are meant to emphasize the importance of composition within any given frame and how these separate compositions are edited together to create a cohesive whole, many modern options must be stripped away. Again, the point here is not to arbitrarily bind the hands of the filmmakers, but instead teach or reiterate the basics.

The rules for all filmmakers/teams are simple and as follows:

• The camera must remain static.

Action must happen within the frame or through the editing process. In other words, the camera is to remain static. Again, this is to stress the importance of good composition. Where you place your camera in relation to your subjects and their actions becomes of the utmost importance. What does this mean in practical terms? The camera cannot be hand-held. Other techniques are welcome. To those without tripods, do not fret. Remember, many surfaces exist in any given location.

• No zoom.

Close-ups and framing-for-effect are still very possible with editing and compositional experimentation.

• No diegetic sound.

Any and all sound must only be derived and added in the post-production process (in the editing room). Although we are not disallowing post-production audio (sound effects, score, even dialogue), these films should essentially be told visually, much like the early silent days of cinema. In practical terms, what does this mean? No diegetic sounds. The audio from a scene must be created and edited-in separately from the filmed scene. Example: You’re filming a person standing on a busy street corner. You can’t record their dialogue, the ambient city noises and the video with the camera and present them as one.

• All score, sound effects, etc must be either recorded separately by you or exist within the public domain.

Ideally, score, etc. should be the last thing you are thinking about, as you should prepare to tell your story visually and have it stand on its own. If you have an idea for sound/score, great, but it cannot be recorded in the same room at the same time as the action that is being seen on screen.

SELECTED VIDEOS

Last of the Mohicans (1912) (video unavailable)

Alice in Wonderland