And if I was giving the prizes: Little Big Shots 2011 Jury screening (Part 1)

The prize winning films at Little Big Shots are decided entirely by a jury of 10 children. The jury is selected from the film reviewing competition held during and after the previous year’s competition. This year, kids under 15 can review any film at Little Big Shots 2011, and those writing the best ones will win a spot on next year’s jury. Not only do they get to decide the Little Big Shots 2012 winner, they also get a pass to all the films.  The competition for the 2012 jury closes on 4 July, so see here for details.

Nothing More, Nothing Less

On Sunday 1 May, I had the great privilege of watching all the films in contention for prizes at Little Big Shots 2011. The screening took place at Studio 1 at ACMI. I was present in a supervisory capacity, along with festival director, Chloe Boulton. I didn’t have any voting rights, but it was interesting not only watching the films, but also watching the children watching the films. While the films were screening, it is quite easy to notice how well the children are engaged with the films. Children have fewer inhibitions about appearing engaged or bored.

There are two categories of prizes. One for Australian adult-made films, and one for Australian child-made films. The voting process is reasonably simple – each juror is given a sheet with all the shortlisted films and gives each film marks out of 10. The scores are then tallied. This year, 10 child-made films were shortlisted and 13 adult-made films. The 10 child-made films also get their own standalone film package at the Little Big Shots festival, which for me, is a perennial highlight.

Director Reuben Morgan with
a Searching for Nessie actor

In my previous post, I’ve already listed the jury prize winners. I will give my own views on which films I would have given the prizes to, and begin with the child-made films.

My 1^st Prize: Searching for Nessie

My 2^nd Prize: A Duck out of Water

My 3^rd Prize: Shark Pool

Searching for Nessie undoubtedly showed the highest level of artistry of all the child-made films. Parental involvement, Chloe Boulton had been assured, was minimal. The music was atmospheric, the sets were beautifully designed and the fog was a fine touch. I did have some slight reservations over the morality of the film – essentially the Scottish teddy bears were running a Loch Ness monster scam, but apart from that it was a clear winner. An article from The Courier-Mail is here.

A Duck out of Water filmmakers

A Duck out of Water was a claymation film made by Grade 5 and 6 students at Yarraville West Primary School. They have a great film program, in which all Grade 5 and 6 students get involved. In Little Big Shots 2010, the students made Anna’s Doll, a claymation film about the 2009 Black Saturday Victorian bushfires, which deservedly won first prize. Coincidentally, I work with the mother of one of the children who was involved in this year’s film. I found this out when I was promoting Little Big Shots at my workplace by handing out brochures, and so she was able to tell me what an innovative film program the school has. This year’s effort, A Duck out of Water was a very humorous affair, and the claymation showed some painstaking effort. The swimming race, and its aftermath was a quite a hoot.

Animation sequence from Shark Pool

Shark Pool was a live-action documentary made by students from Lithgow High School. It was a engaging and well-made with some decent shark footage and informative interviews.

Of the other films, How Not to Get a Girl was a close contender for my top three. This was a humorous and well-executed simple idea. The main issue I had was the location – it was shot near a main road, and the passing traffic meant that some of the sound lacked clarity.

Lucas Haynes, director of Nothing More, Nothing Less

I think Nothing More, Nothing Less, although not nearly as accomplished as Searching for Nessie, was the most original of all the child-made films. The first time I saw it, I have to admit I was nonplussed. I grasped the film much better when I saw it a second time at the festival itself. The fault was definitely with me, and not director Lucas Haynes. The premise is moving: a 12 year old boy with dyslexia contemplates whether taking a magic pill to cure him. However, he needs to decide whether to do so will kill his creative abilities in the process. While some of the script is a little simplistic, there are some extraordinary visual sequences, which show a true cinematic mentality. I was particularly struck by the final scene where Lucas makes his fateful decision. This film easily has the greatest emotional impact of the child-made films. There a couple of good news articles on Lucas in a The Age and also a local paper. In these articles, Lucas, who is dyslexic, says that he is determined to make his career in film, and in his case there are no other options. Along with Reuben Morgan, these two are definitely filmmakers to watch.