The Weight of Trolls?

We got into a discussion yesterday because of the success that the film has had in Melbourne (where it was in the top ten audience choices of the festival), Raindance (where one reviewer made it her 2nd best film of the festival) and Solihull, which gave it 89% approval rating - yet on the Internet Movie Database (IMDB), the movie scores 6/10.

When you take a closer look at the stats, you see that it is some two young men and a weird weighting system that can twist and distort these figures, but when so much business gets done on the wisdom of the crowds (especially when funding new projects), it is a really frustrating representation that seems to discount all the positives. Don't get me wrong - I'm sure loads of the people who gave it 10 were connected to the project and were bias, and it is good to avoid vote stuffing. But to have an arithmetic mean of 8.5 and a weighted average of 6 is quite sizable! Take a look at the stats and come to your own conclusions....

Solihull has spoken...

Solihull Film Society gave Des & Mo an average of 6.2 out of 7, which is 89%! They haven't updated the website yet but this puts us up there with the best of the year in joint 3rd place!!!

Thank you Solihull! x

That went well...

Two screenings of two different films in two days, in two different countries to two very different audiences. One universal response though - positive and bright about 'Des & Mo' and 'I've Got This Idea For A Film'. I'm really happy but so tired. I'm hopefully going to find time this week to do some editing on some other projects, but can't wait to set up some more screenings to keep the momentum going! I'll keep in touch when I have more news!

James

Rome?

Des & Mo was seen at Galway by Susanna from the IrishFilmFesta in Rome and she contacted me today to sort finer details. I'm not sure if I'm allowed to say this but it's being screened on Saturday 3rd December! Shh.... we like an exclusive! I'm really bloody excited to be honest, just to see 'incazzato britannica' in the subtitles when they say 'pissed Brits'. I'm thinking of getting a tee shirt made...

Hit me again!

The 72 project got over 450 unique hits over the weekend, which I believe demonstrates how our films and experience upon the project still have an impact. Please continue to share the website with your friends as the word of mouth is becoming increasingly valuable in this noisy planet!

The website will continue to grow with more information and details. It isn't a graveyard, it's an encyclopaedia. If you want something added, let us know and we'll add it! You can find us online at www.facebook.com/the72project also. In case that is more of your thang.

James x

Screenings!

Two different films, two dates, two cities. It's a busy weekend next weekend!

"I've Got This Idea For A Film" - fresh from it's world premiere at Raindance, this documentary will screen at Filmbase, Curved Street, Temple Bar, Dublin at 7pm on Friday 21st October. Drinks are at 6pm. Get hold of James if you want to go...

"The Ballad of Des & Mo" - still pleasing the audiences that have taken the effort to go see it. One reviewer described how:

"Among the many stand-out moments is the scene which led me to cheer and clap in a cinema for the first time ever during a film. A brilliant moment which alone made the film worth seeing. But it wasn’t the only one, the film was full of superb moments"

The film is screened at the Solihull Film Society, Solihull Arts Complex, Homer Road, Solihull, (B91 3RG) at 6.30pm on Saturday 22nd October. The challenge is to score the best movie of the year in their notorious marking system! For tickets, contact the Box office 0121 704 6962

James is presenting at both events.

What's going on?!

Last week I was ejected from the 72hourmovie Facebook page and blocked from viewing it by the other admins. Naturally I'm gutted because I feel as if I played a big part in developing the group in the first place, and to be ejected is petulant.

A disagreement has arisen between the team over the documentary for the 72 project, "I've Got This Idea For A Film". This disagreement led to the film being pulled from the Galway Film Fleadh in July 2011 despite being selected in the programme. This was a huge disappointment, especially as we were so desperate to get films into festivals 3 years earlier that we were willing to make them in three days!

As far as I'm aware, the disagreement surrounds the fact that James Arneman and Katie Mitchell's documentary doesn't include all of the crew in Melbourne and therefore isn't a fair representation of the 72 process. The documentary isn't by any means negative of the process or by any means derogatory towards what was achieved in Melbourne. Personally I believe it shows us under an incredible amount of stress and emotional pressure and I think it is a fairly objective view of the production, but everyone is welcome to their own opinion.

It is because everyone is welcome to their own opinion that I cannot stand the decision to eject me from the Facebook group and delete evidence of the documentary. For a project which prided itself on transparency it is a shameful low to censor the project in any way. Besides, I continue to promote the films in festivals, including last week in Raindance, and ejecting me is simply denying all those who worked on the project to hear about the project's progress.

I've decided to distance myself from this latest debacle by establishing a website that collates many details about the 72 in one accessible place, and where all details about the project will continue to promoted. It's at www.the72project.org

Hopefully see you there...

James

Curious & spurious

Hmm... I no longer seem to be an admin on the 72hourmovie Facebook page and all evidence of the 'I've Got This Idea For A Film' documentary about the 72 hour project has been deleted. If you find this curious and would like to know why such strange things may happen, why don't you come along to the documentary's premiere at Raindance on Saturday 8th October at 1230 in the Piccadilly Apollo Theatre in London. It's followed by a screening of 'The Ballad of Des & Mo'. The films are followed by a Q&A with myself and the post-production supremo Mike Fisher.

Tschuss,

James x