Two years ago the Association of Independent Creative Editors’ (AICE) Boston chapter decided to create College Park, an editing competition for the college community with mentoring provided by editors of member AICE companies–Panache Editorial, Editbar, Spot! Editorial, Paul’s Place and Accomplice.
Based on the AICE International Trailer Park Competition, the first competition required students to edit a three-minute trailer from the movie 28 Days Later and change the genre from a horror film to a comedy. But this year the concept for the event, called “Filmspotting 2007,” was to edit a :60 second spot for a real life or fictional product using footage from the films Little Miss Sunshine, Old School and New York Stories.
The clever winning spots included the work of third-place winner Ezra Horne of Emerson College. He used an existing product, Dairy Queen hamburgers, and made a humorous commercial about how the burger can lift you from the doldrums of eating the same boring meals all the time. Horne’s editing professor Daniel Gaucher suggested he give the contest a try. And Horne is glad he did.
“The competition has helped me immensely as a film student because it has given me some great contacts in postproduction. I want to either edit or direct for my career, and before I had no professional editing contacts. Now that I have participated in the AICE competition I have a personal connection with two post-houses in Boston,” Horne said.
Horne was mentored by Panache Editorial on Newbury Street. “I worked pretty closely with Ellen Boldis and Josh Sklaroff on my spot, but also got to know Mark, the IT guy, and Noreen and her husband who own the place. I also got to know Beth at EditBar.
“It was fantastic to be able to get feedback from working professionals. I’ve always been able to rope my friends into watching my work, but they don’t understand the terminology, the technique, so their feedback is often ineffective. Having people who have been editing for some time offer their wisdom for free is a wonderful thing.”
The insight they gave him that made the biggest impact on his work was to keep the interest up and use every frame of video to the best of his ability because of the limited time there is to tell a story.
“In my initial cut, the end of the commercial was slow and lost its pace, but using their feedback, I added more material and made the pacing consistent and strong throughout. I feel that editors are some of the most caring and laid back people in the whole TV/film industry, and I can’t wait to be a part of it professionally.”
In a way, he already is. He’s been doing paid edit work for www.Uppereast.com, editing short form video content for the web for the past six months.
Second place went to Wendy Molle, also of Emerson College, who created a new product called Happillion for the depressed population who want to get happy again.
The first place winner, Kevin McManus, also of Emerson College, created a serious spot using funny footage from the films. He promoted a “Kidnap Decoy Child” to help combat the kidnapping of children. The spot had serious and comical undertones, evoking suspense and laughter at the same time. He took home an Avid Express Pro that was donated by Avid Technologies for the first place honoree.
Last year the competition only recruited students from Emerson College but this year students from Massachusetts College of Art and Boston University also participated in the event. The students had one month to edit their spots.
Organizers changed the format to spots instead of trailers since the longer format proved to be a real challenge for students as they tried to manage their school projects simultaneously. “I believe it became a bit overwhelming for the students so this year we changed the formula,” explained Ellen Boldis, president of AICE Boston and executive producer at Panache Editorial. “We gave students more time to work on their projects and that alone was invaluable. We also changed the timing of the event and held the competition in the spring semester, rather than the fall, because it was better for students and their workloads. It proved to be a good decision to move the timeframe.
“All the students did a fantastic job and were extremely creative. The top three commercials were original in concepts and execution.”
Apple and Google Face UK Investigation Into Mobile Browser Dominance
Apple and Google aren't giving consumers a genuine choice of mobile web browsers, a British watchdog said Friday in a report that recommends they face an investigation under new U.K. digital rules taking effect next year.
The Competition and Markets Authority took aim at Apple, saying the iPhone maker's tactics hold back innovation by stopping rivals from giving users new features like faster webpage loading. Apple does this by restricting progressive web apps, which don't need to be downloaded from an app store and aren't subject to app store commissions, the report said.
"This technology is not able to fully take off on iOS devices," the watchdog said in a provisional report on its investigation into mobile browsers that it opened after an initial study concluded that Apple and Google effectively have a chokehold on "mobile ecosystems."
The CMA's report also found that Apple and Google manipulate the choices given to mobile phone users to make their own browsers "the clearest or easiest option."
And it said that the a revenue-sharing deal between the two U.S. Big Tech companies "significantly reduces their financial incentives" to compete in mobile browsers on Apple's iOS operating system for iPhones.
Both companies said they will "engage constructively" with the CMA.
Apple said it disagreed with the findings and said it was concerned that the recommendations would undermine user privacy and security.
Google said the openness of its Android mobile operating system "has helped to expand choice, reduce prices and democratize access to smartphones and apps" and that it's "committed to open platforms that empower consumers."
It's the latest move by regulators on both sides of the Atlantic to crack down on the... Read More