I'm a judge for the "Video Nasty" film festival

[Rev. Powell]

So, as the title states: I've been asked to be a judge for the 9th (?) annual "Video Nasty" film festival.

http://www.videonastyfilmfest.com/

This will require me to watch up to 100 amateur movies (thankfully most of them shorts) and read a number of unpublished screenplays.

I don't think I can mention specific titles until they are officially announced, but just to give you an idea of what I'm in for---the first short I watched was made by "Crap Productions." Both of the shorts I watched so far have been gore-heavy.

More on this story as it develops.

[Chainsawmidget]

Stay Strong, man.  Stay strong. 

Also, give us as many details as you can.

[Paquita]

Ooh how exciting!!  Are there rules for judging or are you able to say you think what crap really is crap and what crap you liked for no particular reason? 

[Rev. Powell]

We're supposed to rate every piece from 1-10 in categories like "cinematography," "performances," "sound," etc. then average them to find the winners. You don't have to explain why you voted the way you did but there is a space to make notes on the online form.

[javakoala]

Let us know if Scarlett Fry has anything in the running. I don't care how many movies that guy has made; he's a rank amateur.

[LilCerberus]

cath catch the horror taxi!

[Trevor]

the first short I watched was made by "Crap Productions."

I made that 

[Archivist]

Are judges supposed to do this according to recognized standards of cinema, or using a Z-grade baseline, or what?

If you've got entrants from 'Crap Productions' and the ones you're seeing so far are heavy on gore, where would Japanese splatter movies fit in this scheme?

[Rev. Powell]

Some of your questions are philosophical ones for which I've got no easy answers, lol. We are just given the scale, categories and the movies and are asked to rate them with no further directions. I'm trying to watch a bunch of them to establish a baseline of quality before I rank them against each other,

[javakoala]

Some of your questions are philosophical ones for which I've got no easy answers, lol. We are just given the scale, categories and the movies and are asked to rate them with no further directions. I'm trying to watch a bunch of them to establish a baseline of quality before I rank them against each other,

If they are anything like the glut of SOV garbage made by Tarantino-wannabes a few years ago, you have my sympathies. Most have little concept of story, pacing, dialogue, character depth/development, and lighting, just to name a few shortcomings.

[bob]

This sounds kind of interesting. Enjoy. 

[Archivist]

If the standard is like Sexquatch: The Legend of Blood Stool Creek, I kind of feel sorry for you, lol.

! No longer available

[Trevor]

Most have little concept of story, pacing, dialogue, character depth/development, and lighting, just to name a few shortcomings.

Sounds like me on my first day* at film school 

* And every other day.

[dean]

If it's anything like a similar sounding film fest here called 'Trasharama' then you'll be in for a treat.

http://www.trasharama.com/

! No longer available

*Note it should be obvious, but the youtube video is NSFW

[Rev. Powell]

Those clips are pretty representative of the kind of stuff that's being offered.

Although... I'm not supposed to talk about specific titles, but there was a 30-minute surrealist short in Arabic, dedicated to John Waters. When I saw that, I knew I was in the right place.