11/12

Initially I did not think my schedule would allow me to volunteer with the festival this year. I was disappointing about that, because my first year at UNCW I was able to participate, and I really enjoyed it. I mainly worked in the transportation department my first year and got to meet some really interesting filmmakers. This year, it was last minute, but I did manage to work in some volunteer time. This time around I mostly worked the front gate at Jengo's Playhouse, checking people's passes for the backyard activities. It was not great. It was cold, boring, and lonely. However, it did allow me a free pass to see some films.

My favorite film was Blame. It was about a relationship between a high school substitute and a student, mirroring the plot of the play they were studying in the film, The Crucible. It was fairly predictable, and the high school drama a bit cliche, but it was still interesting. It also had some neat lighting, one scene in particular where the two main characters are sitting in a car. It is raining outside, and they are sitting still. There are cars going by on the street behind them, and at one point the headlights shine inside the car, and with the distortion of the water, it has a nice illumination. There was a twist ending, but I don't think it was justified, like it was not properly setup in hindsight.

I was most excited to see Bernard and Huey. This was not based on too much, I didn't know a lot about the film, but I liked the actors, and the tone the description suggested. I was a little disappointed. The premise was interesting to me, two old friends reuniting, dealing with their lost youth, but I just didn't really understand the development. It might just be me, but I thought the ending was sort of abrupt, and I didn't understand how or why the characters had changed. Bernard has a little more explanation, but Huey, just seems to take a abrupt turn to being a good guy. The ending was just to neat for the rest of the film.

I also saw Everything Beautiful is Far Away, it was OK. A bit slow, and just seemed sort of shallow to me. I feel like it could have been trimmed down into a short, and felt much more satisfying. The Eyeslicer Roadshow Presented in Smell-O-Vision was fairly odd. I didn't personally get it, but I felt bad for the makers, because over half the people left midway through. It was well crafted, and they seemed into the project, but it was a little much for people in a two hour format. Two of the best things I saw were shorts, one before a feature and another in the Cinekink block. The first was a music video but based around a live action mouse, and the other was a sex club choreographed dance.

I am torn on volunteering. On one hand it is a way to get into the festival for free. I think the passes are a bit overpriced, considering how much of a challenge it is to get to enough events to make it worth it. Particularly while you are volunteering it is hard to work out a screening schedule. There was a short I had worked on, that I had to miss because of the schedule. So even though they give you a pass, it is really hard to use it. Most of the films I really wanted to see, I missed for the same reason. It has some networking benefits though, a bit like an internship. If you are interested in getting a paid position in the festival, it is a good opportunity to show if you are a hard worker. On that thought though, if you are not that serious of a worker I would suggest avoiding it. People talk a lot there, and it makes you and UNCW look bad if you don't take the work seriously.