“Shootin Bricks” wrote: I’m aware that my films have flaws…
Each film I have made is what it is- warts and all. They all represent the best of my ability- at the time and perhaps overall. … I have a tendency when I make a mistake to just say the hell with it and keep going because of the time it would take to correct it.

I’m not trying to be argumentative here but… If you know you’ve made a mistake, and you know it CAN be corrected, but do not out of lazyness the the work does not really represent the best of your abilitys now does it?

I know this is what you mean by ‘lower standards’, I know the two of you

I assume “the two of you” is Hali and I?

would never be able to sleep until you fixed it- I sleep just fine. In fact, if I obsessed over each and every little thing- as the two of you do, I think- I would never finish a film.

I don’t really obsess over details (hali does, to an extent ), my films too contain flaws I was either to lazy, or too caugh up in my own rythym to go back and correct, nothing MAJOR of course, because I DO strive for a high standard of work.

Maybe this doesn’t come as naturally to me as it does to you, maybe I’m not as serious about it as you are. But I’m still proud of my films, I still work hard on them and I do have standards. Just maybe not as high as yours.

I’m sorry if I implied your work was “not worthy” somehow, and that you should not be proud of it. It is plainly Obvious you work hard, and you SHOULD be proud of your own work, if you wern’t, why bother?
You seem to have takem my comments in the brickfest discussion in a way I had not intended.
plainly, you film(s) is not shit, it’s not garbage, it’s not unworthy… my point was simply that I thought the judging was based on the wrong criteria, and that i though there was other work that deserved to be awarded “best of show”. while your films WAS entertaining, I do not believe it displayed qualities that would define it as “best” when comapred directly to some other entries it was compeating against. the judging seemed to be based on simple entertainment value, rather than being judged against the standards and principals that the competition was based on. I’ve said this in the other thread, but your film was not best cinimatography (sp?), it was not the best animated, and it didn not have the most interesting conceptialisation of the music, this being a music video contest and all.
If this had been a different type of competition (say a “dialouge-less” film, or “salute to classic films” competition) I may very well hold the opinion that your film DID deserve best of show. as it may have captured the theme and intent of that kind of competition more completely and effectively that it did for a “music video” comp.
It appears we differ greatly on how wide the definition of “music video” was intended to be in this comp.

Now the questions-
Does the fact that I am not as exacting and willing to release a ‘less than optimal’ film make me less worthy of respect than you?

No, of course not, but you must understand, that part of the respect I, Hali, JamesFM, Buxton etc. recieve is based on the fact that we all strive.
If you are happy to release a film that you know has flaws you could have fixed or ovioded, you must take responcibility for that, and expect that people can/will notice you don’t have the same drive in you. I’m not saying that that’s an invalid way to opperate. Only that actively striving for continual inprovement is part of the respect I, and others, recieve. and give.

When one of my films wins in a contest, does that automatically make that contest ‘invalid’? Tell the truth.

of course not, I’ve outlined my complaints about your “best of show” above, and you are already aware of what induced my protests the first time we really butted heads about competition results. it is just an unfortunate coinsidence you were involved in both situations, it was not you directly I had protest with, but more about the way the competitions were run and organized, the first incident, with the “loophole” in the rules, the second with the method of judging.

It might sound like making excuses, but which film serves better for a newbie to learn from- my imperfect ones or your ‘flawless’ examples?

my films are far from flawless. if I’d produced a flawless film I’d have no where left to go!
and a newbie can learn from both. one is something to aim for, the other film will no doubt recieve many comments about the inperfections, and likely advice on how to improve.
Again I feel as though you’ve formed an opinion that I consider “flawed” films unworthy of attention. I’m not sure how I gave you that impression, but you are incorrect.

And finally, should Brickfilms, as a community, seek to promote your ‘higher standards’ as a matter of course?

not “MY” higher standards neccicarily, no, but aiming for continual improvement should be encouraged “as a matter of course” yes. I don’t know many people who don’t want to improve themselves or their skills in their chosen hobby.