PRIZE at stake:
The historic grand title as the first ever winner of the Peter’s Prize for Film…
And the eventual appointment as the first ever Peter Solis Nery Foundation Ambassador for Film Arts…
And P10,000 in cash. (Just $200. I know, I know.)
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Only one prize to win.
Only the Best Film wins.
Only one filmmaker (maybe a maximum of two, if shared with a co-director) will be honored.
No runner up honors.
But we are qualifying 30-40 films (official selection) for the competition.
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The contest is simple, and modest.
But with a big vision, and big hopes.
THREE-MINUTE, SILENT FILM.
Easy online submission.
No entry fees.
Send as many entries as you want.
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Three minutes.
180 seconds flat maximum length, including all credits.
Films that have a running time of 181 seconds, or longer, will be disqualified.
Shorter than 150 seconds, or 2.5 minutes, will not be accepted.
2.1 minutes is not really quite 3 minutes.
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Silent.
No audible dialogues.
No narration.
You may use ambient sounds—recorded natural sounds of surrounding and environment.
You may use background music, or film score; but preferably without lyrics.
Or, it could totally be silent, just images.
You may use title cards.
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Music.
Keep it instrumental, or chanted gibberish.
No lyrics.
You don’t want it to be like an MTV.
I mean, perhaps an MTV can win if it’s really outstanding, and out of this world.
A most original song composed for the film.
But why take that chance?
Why not stick to the rules of a silent film?
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Music ownership.
Be sure you own the copyright to your film score.
Compose it yourself.
Create some new music for your film.
If found music (found online, or otherwise), make sure you get permission to use it.
The contest/film festival will require proof of ownership (or permission to use).
Why risk messing up your film with music that is not original, or not yours?
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Many films cannot be distributed because they have music that are stolen from somewhere.
You don’t want your shot to stardom hindered by that.
Create.
You are an artist.
Be an original.
Let’s start the culture of making our own film music.
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There are copyright-free (a.k.a. royalty-free) music online.
But if your film makes money in the future, make sure the music makers do not hijack your film, or get the profit intended for you.
I strongly suggest starting right.
Make your own music, if you really must use music.
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Title cards.
Also known as intertitles.
You may use these for snippets of dialogue—dialogue intertitles.
Like when your actor’s face, or fingers, cannot communicate “F*ck you!”.
Watch very old silent films if you want to use these.
I mean, if you don’t know what they are, don’t use them.
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Intertitles.
You may also use intertitles to provide related descriptive, or narrative, materials.
These are called expository intertitles.
Use them as epigraphs.
Use them as prologues.
Use them as epilogues.
Use them as time and location markers.
But use them sparingly.
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Words.
If your film relies so much on words and dialogues (even in title cards), rethink it.
Maybe it’s not meant to be a silent film.
Maybe it demands to be a talkie.
We don’t want “talking pictures” this year. (To be continued on Wednesday/PN)
