Killer instinct in Love Is...
Barney the bike enjoys a tickle in Barney
What do a filler kiwi fruit, love-sick bicycle and evil DVD all have in common? They all feature in the entries of Film Northants 2010.Anthropomorphised objects appear frequently in this year's contenders, which were all shot on location in Northamptonshire. The deadline has now closed and all the submissions are awaiting the verdict of judges who have drawn up a shortlist of eight finalists.
Although there were some stand-out films that the judges immediately agreed upon, lots of wrangling and arguing went on between us to establisht he eight best films. The criteria set out to judge the shorts were an evaluation of each of the film's structure, creativity, entertainment value and technicality. However the emphasis was on whether the film worked as a whole and was an original concept rather than if it was technically perfect and filmed on a flashy camera.
We have now agreed on a final eight, although admittedly there was a lot of compromise and one of my choices was strongly rejected. The finalists will be announced exclusively in the Northampton Chronicle & Echo on September 1st.
The festival is now in its third year and it is definitely becoming noticeable that the quality of entries is rising and word is spreading amongst country film-makers. What is particularly interesting this year is the tone of the films. In the 2008 launch year there was a mixed bag of everything from home videos to horror flicks, in 2009 there was a darker tone with films filled with paranoia, mystery, revenge and death, perhaps reflecting the gloom and uncertainty of the financial crisis. But in 2010 the theme running through the majority of films is humour and quirky twists. Perhaps people can see a light at the end of the recession tunnel or indeed want to deal with economic turmoil through wit rather than misery...or it could just be coincidence.
Whatever the reason many of the films have their tongue firmly in cheek, and the awards screening on September 20 should make for a very fun and funny evening.
Come September 1st the voting will open online and then the real battle begins. In previous years I have predicted the winner but this year I literally have no idea who will win, or even who the top three will be, it is such a tight competition. The next tough challenge will be to decide upon the Judges' Choice winner, and also get the awards ceremony organised, on time and on budget.
If only I had an army of anthropomorphised ants to help with the preparation!
To watch all the entries and vote for your favourite visit http://www.filmnorthants.co.uk/
